Topical Analysis of the Christmas Sermon by St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow

Abstract

The article analyzes topoi — stable semantic foundations of argumentation — in St. Tikhon’s Christmas Sermon (January 7, 1919). It examines how in the times of civil war and anti-Church persecution the Patriarch constructed pastoral rhetoric based solely on spiritual rather than political categories. Topical analysis reveals his value system: a causal link between personal spirituality and societal peace, emphasis on repentance and love, and rejection of faith without deeds. Notably, the sermon avoids the «external enemy» topos, highlighting its pastoral, not ideological, orientation.