HAGIOGRAPHY OF DABRO-BOSANSKI ISTOČNIK

Аннотация

The authors publishing in the journals of Dabro-bosanski Istočnik, Bosansko-hercegovački Istočnik, and Istočnik view the terms of biography, life, and hagiography as synonyms. Upon the establishment of the aforementioned journals, the intention was to regularly publish hagiographies in a section entitled 'Biographies of Saints', but the idea was soon discarded. Nevertheless, the practice continued occasionally for some time. Over the course of time, the focus seemed to have shifted from lives of saints' to their oeuvres, with some of titles featuring a particular subgenre. They were published by various authors as translations and for various reasons. If the initial publications served as a source and an inspiration during a liturgy, later the focus was on encouraging the clergy by drawing a parallel with church dignitaries and apostles, in the first place on introducing them to the works of the latter. The clergy seem to have perceived parallels between their own time and the era of early Christian persecutions, which may explain their strong interest in the volumes on the Apostolic Fathers. The messages were rather explicitly expressed. Out of the twenty-six hagiographies published, we find difficulty labeling three of them under the genre (Saint Stephen, Dionysius the Aero pagite, and Jacob, brother of Jesus). As the most of hagiographies appear in earlier editions of the Apostolic Fathers, it seems that this presented a form of resistance and defense of national interests in a period of hardship. By comparing translations from Russian, we can, with utmost certainty, claim that they originate from a work entitled Biographies of Saints by Demetrius of Rostov, and several of the printed editions of the identified sources can be traced accordingly