The formation of the monastic communal living traditions in the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius

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Abstract:

The article is devoted to the emergence of the monastic communal living traditions in the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, one of the significant monasteries in Medieval Rus. The paper focuses on the activity of Sergius of Radonezh who contributed to the revival of the lost tradition of communal living and the enhancement of the principles and rules of monastic life. By using conventional sources (Life of Sergius of Radonezh, etc.) and relying on historical anthropological and hermeneutic approaches, the author focuses on the reconstruction of some aspects of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius monks’ everyday life, trying to identify internal and external factors that determined rules and standards as well as particularities of the monks’ lifestyle. The author concentrated upon the monks’ daily routine, monastic obedience, nutrition and clothing, embodiment of Christian ideals of monastic life, which quite often coexisted with deviations from monastic life standards, as well as on the existence of succession in the revival of the lost traditions of the monastic life.

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