THE RECEPTION OF ATHONITE HERITAGE IN UKRAINE (10th–16th CENTURIES)

Abstract

B a c k g r o u n d . This article is dedicated to a comprehensive study of the reception of Athonite heritage in Ukraine during the period from the 10th to the 16th centuries, which is a crucial element in understanding the spiritual, cultural, and social development of Ukrainian lands. Athos, as a center of Eastern Orthodoxy, played a key role in shaping monastic traditions that became the foundation for the development of monastic life in Kyivan Rus'. The author meticulously examines how the Athonite tradition, deeply rooted in Eastern Christian monasticism, influenced the establishment and functioning of Ukrainian monasteries, particularly the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, which became a center of spiritual life and the spread of hesychasm in Ukrainian lands.

M e t h o d s . The article analyzes two main aspects of the reception of Athonite heritage: monastic and scholarly. The monastic aspect pertains to the influence of Athonite traditions on the organization and spiritual life of Ukrainian monasteries. The author demonstrates how Athonite practices, especially anchoritism, were transplanted to Ukrainian soil and adapted to local conditions. Special attention is given to the role of St. Anthony of Pechersk, who, having been tonsured on Athos, brought the core principles of Athonite monasticism to Rus', which shaped the subsequent development of ascetic traditions in Ukraine.

Results. The scholarly aspect encompasses the impact of Athonite spiritual ideas on Ukrainian philosophical and aesthetic thought. The author explores how the ideas of hesychasm, which originated on Athos, permeated Ukrainian lands through translated literature written by Athonite and Ukrainian monks. Significant attention is devoted to the influence of the works of Gregory Palamas and Gregory of Sinai, as well as other mystical-ascetic literature, on the formation of the spiritual worldview of Ukrainian scholars and theologians. The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra played a vital role in this process, being closely connected with Athos and becoming a center for the dissemination of hesychast ideas in Ukraine.

C o n c l u s i o n s . It is emphasized that the influx of the Athonite fall into the development of Cossack piety deserves special respect. It is shown how the Athonite monks, who arrived on the Ukrainian lands, molded the religious traditions of the Cossacks, promoting the ideas of twinning, lovelessness and the cult of the Virgin Mary as the patroness of Sich. Athonite ideals found their expression in the established Cossack monasteries and monasteries, which fueled the development of a special type of "Cossack piety", which became an invisible part of the national identity of Ukrainians.