THE FIVE PRAYERS OF ALEXANDER SOLZHENITSYN

Abstract

he article consistently analyzes "Akathist" (1952), "How easy it is for me to live with You, Lord!.." (1960s), "Strengthen me…" (1964-1967), "Lead us, Lord, to live in health, strength and a bright mind..." (in the late 1970s) and "Prayer for Russia" (1990s). For the first time, these five personal author's prayers, composed by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, are correlated with the stages of his life and work. For the first time, it is shown how the spiritual development of Solzhenitsyn as a man goes hand in hand with creative searches, philosophical reflections, and the evolution of Solzhenitsyn's artistic techniques and means as a writer. Solzhenitsyn's personal hymnographic corpus of texts reflects both his private life circumstances, anxieties, aspirations, worries, and major public issues. At different times, different themes and motifs come to the fore in Solzhenitsyn's prayers. It is noted that not only the content of prayer texts differs, but also their form. Also, for the first time, Solzhenitsyn's prayer "Strengthen me..." was introduced into scientific circulation.