Services to the Saints Savva of Strozhevsk and Macarius of Kalyazin: The Problem of Attribution

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of liturgical texts — services to St. Macarius of Kalyazin and St. Savva Storozhevsky. Its purpose is to establish the attribution of these services. The article examines hymnographic material using comparative, historical-literary and textual methods. The possible creator of these texts is considered to be Markell Bezborody, a talented Russian hymnographer of the 16th century. The analysis is carried out on the material of three services: to St. Savva Storozhevsky, St. Macarius of Kalyazin and St. Savva Krypetsky. The works of Markell have no parallels in the hymnography of other creators, and therefore it is impossible to recognize as belonging to him that which in no way agrees with his life principles and hym­nographic style. The article concludes: hegumen Markell cannot be considered the author of the studied services, and it is impossible to talk about several authors. The researcher believes that the author of both services could have been the Pskov hymnographer — hegumen Vasily-Varlaam.