The linguistic situation and linguistic consciousness in Muscovite Russia: perception of Church Slavonic and Russian

 

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If in a bookish Church Slavonic text demonic speech can be endowed with signs of a Russian spoken language, then in a proper Russian (non-bookish) text, demons can express themselves in an abstruse, "gibberish" language, which can apparently be considered as a kind of generalization of foreign speech in the linguistic consciousness20. In both cases, of course, what we have before us is nothing but anti-behavior, i.e., Russian speech and glossolalic speech appear as functionally correlated phenomena.

No less characteristic is the current idea that the devil loves being called devil in Russian, but cannot stand the Church Slavonic name demon (Zelenin, II, p. 89); here, a specific attitude to both Church Slavonic and Russian is clearly pronounced, when Church Slavonic speech is associated with the power of the cross, and Russian speech is associated with an unclean, diabolical beginning (cf. the opinion of John Vishensky that with the help of the Church Slavonic language one can fight the devil). In the same way, in a certain contingent of native speakers of the Russian language, such a Russian word as thank you (truncation from save, God) can be perceived precisely as an appeal to the Antichrist21. This is directly connected, of course, with the distortion of the word God as an etymological component of this word (cf. § 5), but the very possibility of such a perception characterizes the general attitude towards the Russian language as a distorted Church Slavonic (cf. § 2).

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In all these cases, the opposition of the Church Slavonic and Russian languages ​​is seen as the opposition of the Divine and Satanic, although in some cases this is manifested at the level of phonetics, in others at the level of morphology. We saw above that this or that deviation from the canonical form of a sacred word, insofar as it is perceived as a distortion of this form, is naturally associated with the opposite content (see § 5); in the examples cited, this kind of distortion is simultaneously associated with the Russian linguistic element - the Russian language, in accordance with the direct statements of the ancient Russian scribes, appears in such cases as a sinful distortion of the sacred Church Slavonic language, which is attributed to diabolical intent.

Boris Uspensky
Published in "Byzantium and Rus" (M., 1989) p. 206-226

 

 

Rejoice, You Grace-filled

 

 

Bishop Fotii of Triaditza

CALL TO SPIRITUAL CORRECTION
[ISPRAVLENIE – straightening up]

Anniversary of the visit of the Iberon Montreal icon to Bulgaria

 

In 1995, my beloved, when brother Joseph – savagely murdered two years later, brought to us in Bulgaria, to our church, to the temple under construction and to this holy convent the Montreal icon of the Mother of God, our ever-memorable Matushka Abbess Seraphima was often saying when word came up for the icon “The icon is here so we could straighten up our lives; it’s here to call us to begin a correction of our lives.” The Slavic word 'исправление' (ISPRAVLENIE) means “redress (repair), making good (bringing back in order), improvement”, but also (it means) “hard work (zealous labor), exploit”. (Let us remember the beginning of the Troparion of St. Theodor Tyron – вел∙я вер¥ исправле’н∙¯“ [Great are the faith’s works (exploits)...]) And so (spiritual) reformation is an exploit – an exploit we have to go back to again and again if we desire to walk in spiritual life as Orthodox Christians.

Whence does ISPRAVLENIE (spiritual correction) begin? From the awareness of our sinfulness, of our insignificance, of our poverty, but not just from the awareness, not just from the mindset, not just from thoughts in that direction, but [rather] from a feeling – from a spiritual feeling at that. And that feeling is revealed in the heart according to the measure of our selflessness [dedication], i.e. according to our willingness to deny ourselves and seek not ours; according to our willingness to seek God’s in all things – to seek God’s will, to seek what pleases God, and not what pleases us, our (utter) egotism [SAMOST], our self-love.

In the whirlwind of everyday relationships and affairs it is hard, very hard for us to go back to the awareness, to the thought that we have to work in our heart, to work towards that selflessness, in order to have revealed in us the feeling of our own poverty, leprosy, sinfulness, which is the ISPRAVLENIE (correction)’s starting point. And a sign for whether that feeling is revealed in us and to what measure that feeling is found in us is the way we endure the attitude of others towards us, as well as what our attitude is towards the others. The way in which we perceive the attitude of others towards us is a reliable, solid measure for whether we have sprouting in our hearts a sense of our nothingness, sinfulness, poverty. And you know very well from experience how the human heart responds when someone does what we wish not [to be done], when someone affects us, when in one or another way someone treads upon our self-love. Here then, in those moments, revealed is what we actually wear inside [ourselves]. And by those feelings by these thoughts that shoot up right then – in a flashing instant, in such trials, we can determine: do we have within us the germ of ISPRAVLENIE (correction) or not; we can determine the same also by our attitude to others – what is it, what is our measure towards the others – a holy evangelical one, wide, full of patience, of willingness for us to endure the other’s weakness, the other’s manifestation of passion i.e. the other’s disease, that same disease that we, too, carry ourselves, but perhaps manifested in a different way; or else – that measure of ours is not holy evangelical, but it is (just) ours, deeply ours, deeply our own, arranged by our (utter) egotism [SAMOST]. And when the measure in this sense is ours and not evangelical, then springing out of the heart are both frustration, and anger, and resentment, or vice versa – depression, gloom, megrims, (and) God forbid – despair. If we try to treat others with an evangelical measure, if we try to endure the attitude of others towards us, even when it is – in man’s (common-day) wording – bad, with evangelical measure again, then that feeling will begin to sprout in our hearts, which gives growth to ISPRAVLENIE (correction). And furthermore – upon those who labor in that respect the Lord bestows comfort, bestows peace so they may taste, make sure that the path they have embarked upon is correct, that it is the path of God, the path of Christ and not our own. And then it may well be so that when we are blamed – whether fair or unfair, when we are reproached, when we are blasphemed – we may have peace in the heart. Such peace as (the one) we all felt in those most blessed days the Theotokos autumn Pascha in 1995, when here with us we had visiting the icon – the Iberon myrrh-gushing icon of the Mother of God. But this is a consolation, a visit by the Lord, divine mercy of the Heavenly Queen. And then (what)? Then it is the turn of trials, too, so we may make sure that it takes work and work again so that our hearts may become a receptacle for at least the germ of the holy evangelical virtues.

Remember – any retreat, apostasy from faith included, each and every departure from the Lord, from His holy will, from the evangelical holy Commandments, starts from the human heart – exactly from it. The enemies from without are external enemies and it is quite understandable that they are doing their obscene, repugnant to God, demon’s work. The worst thing is that quite often the Lord is being resisted by ourselves and we do this whenever we depart from Him, when we voluntarily open our hearts to the action of sin, and therefore – also to the action of demons. Each retreat starts from the heart and in our times of terrible confusion in the Church we witness this in the tragedy – worthy of Jeremiah weeping, in the tragedy unfolding in ever larger and larger scales in the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. And when that apostasy starts in the hearts – especially of the bishops and clerics, then the consciences and the hearts of many people faithful to Christ are being crucified by those same hierarchs and clergy whose hearts have become a source of apostasy. By saying this, I am not blaming, not judging anyone. I do repeat: all this is indeed worthy of Jeremiah weeping because one sees with one’s eyes, one senses internally with what frantic rage the devil seeks to suppress, to remove from the earth’s face all hearths of true Orthodoxy. All of us are on that front-line, although we are far from the developments taking place today in the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, and tomorrow those may explode who knows where. And so – let us watch over our hearts. And may we know: this is where that ISPRAVLENIE (correction) starts, about which Matushka [Seraphima] used to speak with a few words but so wonderfully and with such power. And so, after her holy prayers, let us bring the altar of the LORD another Isaac by sacrificing our own hearts. Let us sacrifice them to the LORD into the fire of conscience, in the fire of self-denial, in the fire of the love for our Savior – Jesus Christ the Lord, to Whom – along with His Most Pure Mother – Most Holy Theotokos, glory, honor and worship, now and ever and for ages eternal. Amen.

„Православно Слово“ (Orthodox Word), #4, 2005

*        The address was made on November 24^th (November 11^th, O.S.), 2004 at the "Shroud of Most Holy Theotokos” convent, Knyazhevo area, Sofia.

 

St. Kosmas of Zographou, 22 Sept. 1323 – преп. Козма Зографски

 

 

A Bulgarian who avoided marriage in his youth, he secretly left for Mount Athos. Even then, on the journey, the devil tried to undermine the youth's aspirations, disturbing him with a vision of an insurmountable sea abyss surrounding the Holy Mountain. The youth's fervent prayer dispelled the demonic obsession.

 

On Mount Athos, Saint Cosmas was accepted into the Zographou Monastery. There, he served as a novice for a long time, then became a monk and was appointed ecclesiarch. Saint Cosmas received the special grace of being a seer of the Heavenly Abbess of Mount Athos, who, on the Feast of the Annunciation at the Vatopedi Monastery, deigned to visibly reveal to him Her care for Her earthly lot: he saw a woman of regal beauty and majesty, who presided over both the church services and the refectory, while all the monks were Her obedient servants. Soon, the saint was ordained a deacon, and then a priest, which spurred him on to new ascetic endeavors.

 

Desiring salvation, the saint – through fervent prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos – was again granted a sign of Her special protection: he heard the voice of the Mother of God, emanating from Her holy icon, asking Her Son, "How can Cosmas be saved?" The Lord's answer was: "Let him leave the monastery for silence." Having received the abbot's blessing, Saint Cosmas withdrew to the desert, and there, in a cave carved into the rock, he began a new ascetic struggle of silent solitude. God did not abandon His faithful intercessor: the saint was granted the gift of clairvoyance.

 

Just as at the beginning of his ascetic life, the enemy of mankind attempted to divert the saint from his chosen path, so the days before his death were also a grievous trial for the righteous one. Shortly before his death, the God's chosen one was honored with a vision of Christ Himself, who informed the saint that before his soul departed for the Kingdom of Heaven, Satan himself and his horde would cruelly beat and wound him. Prepared for suffering by divine consolation, the saint courageously endured the terrible diabolical mockery permitted by God, and on the third day after the ferocious beating, having received the Most Pure Mysteries, with praise on his lips, he peacefully departed to the Lord. God, "who glorifies those who glorify Him," miraculously glorified Saint Kosmas after death: during the saint's burial, a multitude of animals and birds flocked to his cave, as if understanding the shared loss of the Holy Mountain. When his body was lowered into the grave and covered with earth, each of the dumb creatures emitted a mournful cry, paying its final respects to the saint of God. When – as was customary – 40 days after the all-night vigil, the brethren uncovered the holy remains of the righteous man to transfer them with honor to the monastery, they were miraculously missing — the Lord had concealed them. This was in 1323.  

 

 

 

Apolytikion in the First Tone
In the cave where you have settled, you have been imitating by deeds He Who was born in a Cave, O Kosmas, most blessed one. You have endured even to the very death the demonic struggles and have, through grace, become a model. Your body immortal lasts for ever in the secret treasure until the Second Judgement and the Resurrection. Glory to Him Who had granted you firm strength, glory to Him Who had exalted you, glory to Him Who had made you famous in the Heavenly Kingdom.