Epistle of the Monk Hermes to Abba Doulas

Translated from Ancient Greek, foreward and notes by

Abstract

In this collective article, prepared on the basis of a one-year course on Greek ascetic literature taught at the MThA, the first Russian translation of the epistle of Hermes the monk to Abba Doulas is presented. The preface discusses the history of the discovery of this document by the Italian Byzantinist Antonio Rigo, provides information about the author and the addressee of the letter, provides a brief analysis of ascetic terminology. In the Russian translation, an attempt was made to preserve the stylistic irregularities of this short text in order to convey the living breath of the personal correspondence of devotees of the 5th century.