May 11, 2017 in the Hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral Cathedral Temple Christ the Savior in Moscow His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' led the seventh ceremony of electing and awarding the laureates of the Patriarchs literary prize named after saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church: Managing Director of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Barsanuphius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga; Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk; the first vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' for Moscow, Metropolitan Arseny of Istra; Metropolitan Longin of Saratov and Volsk; the abbot of the St. Andrew's Stavropegic Monastery, Bishop Theophylact of Dmitrov; Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Exarchate, Bishop Pavel of Molodechno and Stolbtsovsky; Bishop Nikodim of Edinet and Brichany; Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archpriest Nikolai Balashov; Chief Editor Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate Archpriest Vladimir Silovyov; Deputy Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archimandrite Savva (Tutunov); employees of the Publishing Council, the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate and other synodal institutions, clergy and monastics.

The event was also attended by members of the House of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize, Russian literary scholars, journalists, representatives of government and public organizations, cultural figures.

The Soyuz TV channel broadcast live from the Hall of Church Councils.

The ceremony began with the screening of a film dedicated to the history of the Patriarchal Literary Prize.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill addressed those gathered with the Primate's word.

The acceptance of applications for the Patriarchal Literary Prize began on September 14, 2016. During the seventh award season, 50 applications were received from various regions of Russia, as well as from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Latvia. March 28 this year at a meeting of the House of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize was approved short list 2017 nominees, which included:

• Irina Anatolyevna Bogdanova;
• Dmitry Mikhailovich Volodikhin;
• Vasily Vladimirovich Dvortsov;
• Viktor Ivanovich Likhonosov;
• Boris Fedorovich Sporov;
• Alexander Borisovich Tkachenko;
• Archpriest Yaroslav Shipov.

• Bishop of Molodechno and Stolbtsovsky Pavel, Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Exarchate;
• Yu.M. Loschits, writer, publicist and literary critic, laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize;
• K.P. Kovalev-Sluchevsky, professor at the Institute of Journalism and literary creativity, writer.

Then the election of laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize took place: members of the House of Trustees filled out voting ballots. The ballots were transferred to the Counting Commission. Members of the Counting Commission counted the votes, filled out the protocol and handed it over to His Holiness the Patriarch.
During the voting and counting of votes, a film about the nominees for the 2017 Patriarchal Literary Prize was shown.

His Holiness the Patriarch presented the laureates with a diploma and badges of the Patriarchal Literary Prize.

All the 2017 award nominees were also invited to the stage - I.A. Bogdanova, D.M. Volodikhin, V.V. Dvortsov, A.B. Tkachenko, to whom the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church presented honorary diplomas.

IN musical accompaniment The ceremony was attended by the choir of the orphanage "Otrada" at the Nikolsky Chernoostrovsky Monastery in Maloyaroslavets Kaluga region.

At the end of the evening there was a concert.

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The Patriarchal Literary Prize was established by the Holy Synod at its meeting on December 25, 2009 (magazine No. 115) in order to encourage writers who have made a significant contribution to the establishment of spiritual and moral values in life modern man, families and societies that created highly artistic works that enriched Russian literature. This prize has no analogues in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Local Orthodox Churches.
The first laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize in 2011 was the writer Vladimir Krupin. In the second award season (2012), the winners were Olesya Nikolaeva and Viktor Nikolaev. In 2013, the awards were awarded to Alexey Varlamov, Yuri Loshchits and Stanislav Kunyaev. In the fourth award season (2014), the winners were Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov, Valentin Kurbatov and Valery Ganichev. In 2015, the prize was awarded to Yuri Bondarev, Yuri Kublanovsky and Alexander Segen, in 2016 - to Boris Ekimov, Boris Tarasov and priest Nikolai Blokhin.

Word from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill at the ceremony of presenting the Patriarchal Literary Prize 2017

Your Eminences and Graces! Dear fathers, brothers and sisters! Ladies and Gentlemen!

Christ is Risen!

I warmly greet you all. We have gathered in this hall to elect for the seventh time the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius. And I am sure that today, as in past years, the new laureates will be truly worthy authors.

According to established tradition, I would like to preface the ceremony with some reflections on the fate of Russian literature.

Once I had the opportunity to read an article in a well-known foreign publication dedicated to current state Russian literature. The article was published under a very bright and provocative title: “Is Russian literature dead?” I will not retell the contents of this article - I think the essence is clear from the title. The author’s main message was that Russian writers allegedly “shredded”, the last great works were written several decades ago, and the authority and influence of Russian literature on the minds of contemporaries is no longer what it used to be.

Let's leave aside the fact that the article was published in a foreign weekly. Unfortunately, one encounters similar pessimistic views among representatives of the domestic intelligentsia. At such moments, I always want to ask my interlocutor: “Where do such thoughts even come from? Really writers of the 19th century or were there better conditions for creativity in the 20th century or more food for thought than today?”

Talented people are born and live in any era. The question is not at all that we do not have new Pushkins, Dostoevskys, Chekhovs, Pasternaks. We have them. The question is how to reveal these writers to the world, how to make their work the property of the whole society.

To explain my thoughts, I would like to make a short excursion into history, to the 30s of the XIX century. The well-known censor at that time, Alexander Krasovsky, speaking about contemporary literature, once called it disgusting. Probably, his judgment would not have been so interesting if not for the fact that Krasovsky lived in an era that would later be called the golden age of Russian culture.

So, you ask, was the critic ignorant? No! Krasovsky was an educated, well-read man, he knew several foreign languages. What prevented him from seeing Pushkin or Gogol? What was the reason for such blindness, which did not allow us to see in our contemporaries brilliant writers? Perhaps insensitivity, inattention to the artistic word?

It's no secret that Pushkin's later, more mature works, which we admire today, were greeted by many of his contemporaries very coolly and even with misunderstanding. There were also those who wrote about the general crisis of literature and the decline of Pushkin’s talent. And even “Boris Godunov,” written earlier, was not immediately accepted and understood by readers.

So, after all, in to the greatest extent determines the ability to see? Maybe a look from some historical distance? This question is not rhetorical; it requires serious thought. It is important to understand that literary process- this is not one, not two or even three names. This is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. The literary process is formed in a certain cultural environment and through the efforts of not two or three outstanding people, but the entire writing community. How does fertile soil contribute to rapid growth And successful development plants, just as a healthy and properly organized literary process contributes to the emergence of new geniuses and beautiful works of art.

The Lord does not leave any time without talented people, without real writers and poets. Let me emphasize once again: there are talented authors in any era, and our time is no exception. It is important not to overlook these talents. Contemporaries, especially the writing community, editors, publishers, should try to notice talents, support them, especially at the beginning of their journey, give them the opportunity to publish, and tell readers about them.

Today, aspiring authors have to face considerable difficulties when publishing their works. Many publishing houses simply refuse to allow authors to publish their works, citing the current laws of the market, which require, first of all, what will sell successfully and what will make a profit. The sad tendency to make money from literature, unfortunately, often leads to the fact that most publishers are not interested in the actual artistic quality of the work, but in how similar it is to one of the box office novels in order to continue that line of bestsellers.

Such market filters become a big obstacle for original and truly talented authors. And those who are able to influence the cultural environment and who have some leverage, including the publishing process, are called upon to overcome these obstacles. I am deeply convinced that special role Editors and publishers must play a role, that is, people on whom the publication of certain authors depends.

I hope that the Patriarchal Literary Prize will also make a significant contribution to the discovery of new names, in support of gifted masters of words. This support is extremely important for writers and poets. Do we realize how many authors we don’t know only because there was no one next to them who was sincerely interested in their work and helped them reach the reader? Do we realize how many talented people are no longer published, precisely because there were those nearby who did not have an impeccable sense of language, were not very well versed in literature, but at the same time considered it possible to give negative reviews. Other examples can be given: more than once talented writers and poets found themselves unable to appreciate the works of their contemporaries. How many texts were lost because they were not printed on time?

In general, this is a very serious topic - the ability to see, understand, feel, and much here also depends on how the public consciousness is oriented. If in the 19th and 20th centuries (at least in the first half of the 20th century) literature was an important source of food for thought, today literature occupies only a part, and far from a dominant one, in the increasingly powerful information flow. It is becoming increasingly difficult to discern a talented author in a huge array of information. In addition, the attention of the vast majority of people today is focused on electronic media. mass media. The general acceleration of the pace of life is another factor that adversely affects reading in general and the ability to identify outstanding authors. There is no time to read a book from beginning to end, but in order to understand the author’s intention, to feel the beauty of the style, you need to not only read, but also reflect on the book!

So, of course, it is not only a matter of publishers and editors, but also of how much the general cultural context contributes to the orientation mass consciousness to the field of fiction. And we all need to think carefully about what should be done in order to fiction regained its position so that people read not only light, action-packed books, but also texts created by masters of words containing deep thoughts.

The wonderful Russian poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky was able to accurately assess the scale of Pushkin’s gift when he was still very young. I quote: “For everything that happened to you and that you brought upon yourself, I have one answer: poetry. You do not have talent, but genius... By virtue of the authority given to me, I offer you first place at the Russian Parnassus. And what place if with the height of genius connect and lofty goal! Probably, only a person who had not only literary talent, high professional qualifications, but also very strong eyesight, able to discern spirits (see 1 Cor. 12:10). So the question arises: can a person living in our fast-moving, bustling time have such vision, or is modern man completely deprived of the opportunity to see the essence of things, to be able to find talents and support them? I don't think there is a simple answer to this question. But we live in the era that God has assigned to us, and our task is to create tools that enhance our spiritual vision and give us the opportunity to find talents, feed on their thoughts and the beauty of the style.

As you know, in the future Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky tried to defend Pushkin, and who knows how the human and literary life poet, if not for the help of Zhukovsky. And today it is important for us to learn to be attentive, to learn to see talented contemporaries and to help, in whatever way we can, the people whom God has gifted. Then our literature will be enriched with new names and wonderful works of art. God grant that the Patriarchal Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius, Equal-to-the-Apostles, may serve as a modest, but quite effective tool that would help not only specialists identify talented authors, but also the general reader to get acquainted with the work of their remarkable contemporaries.

Thank you for your attention.

Press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'

In the Hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal to the Apostles were announced and awarded. The award was established in 2009 and was first awarded in 2011. Both ecclesiastical and secular authors can receive the award. The examination of works is carried out by a council of experts. He is appointed by the House of Trustees, which includes representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the literary community. The Chamber approves the long and short lists of nominees and then selects the laureates.

Over the course of five years, the Patriarchal Literary Prize has won special recognition in the literary community. In the opening speech of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' there was not a word about the nominees, only about the most important thing - that Russian spiritual culture has always been literary-centric, the moral idea has always stood at the center of creativity.

“It is important to pay attention to literature, to help writers who, with their creativity, affirm the traditional values ​​of our people,” the patriarch noted. “A person communicates with a thousand readers through a book. So that our modern literature, developing the traditions of Russian classical literature, rooted in hagiographic literature, and today has helped our people admire the image of a holy man."

Of the 37 nominees on the short list this year, there are 8 candidates. Among them are literary critic Vladimir Voropaev, historian Dmitry Volodikhin, poet-bards Novella Matveeva and Archpriest Leonid Safronov, actor and director Nikolai Burlyaev.

“To be among the applicants for the Patriarchal Literary Prize is a very high award in itself,” says National artist Russia Nikorlay Burlyaev. “Personally, I’m happy that I lived to see this day, because I never thought of being an actor, but I became an actor, then a director, I always dreamed of being a writer.”

Based on the results of a secret vote, which took place during the ceremony, the winners were poet Yuri Kublanovsky, prose writer Alexander Segen and front-line writer Yuri Bondarev. Member of the Great Patriotic War, he built fortifications near Smolensk in 1941, then fought at Stalingrad, participated in the liberation of Kyiv, and reached Poland and Czechoslovakia. Bondarev is the author of numerous novels. The most famous are "Liberation", " Hot Snow", "The battalions ask for fire." Yuri Bondarev is confident that literature is called upon to assert the boundary between good and evil. Here the main thing for a writer is conscience.

“Without art there is no technology, without art there is no goodness, there is no justice, there is no great reverence for man and his abilities,” Bondarev said. “Why does a state exist on earth? So that a living creature endowed with reason proves that it is capable of creating ".

Writers of different views and directions became nominees and laureates of the Patriarchal Permia. Another thing is important.

“This must be faith coming from the depths of the heart, and literature that is in harmony with this faith,” said Alexander Arkhangelsky.

The Patriarchal Prize is awarded "For a significant contribution to the development of Russian literature." And this time its laureates are writers who affirm spiritual and moral values ​​in human life, family and society.

On May 18, 2016, in the Hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' led the sixth ceremony of electing and awarding the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church: chairman, first vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' for Moscow, viceroy, chairman of the Publishing Council, executive secretary, viceroy, employees of the Publishing Council and other synodal institutions, clergy and monastics.

The event was also attended by the Chairman of the Moscow City Duma A.V. Shaposhnikov, Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District M. Zyazikov, Deputy Chairman State Duma RF FS S.V. Zheleznyak, first deputy leader of the faction " United Russia", coordinator of the Inter-factional deputy group of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in defense of Christian values ​​S.A. Popov, Chairman of the Union of Writers of Russia V.N. Ganichev, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation for Culture V.I. Tolstoy, President V.A. Alekseev, members of the House of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize, Russian literary scholars, journalists, leaders and representatives of public organizations, cultural figures.

Before the ceremony, creative meetings of some of the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize of past years with readers took place.

Visitors to the event were given a special issue of the magazine of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, “Orthodox Book Review,” dedicated to the Patriarchal Literary Prize and the 2016 nominees. The issue contains photographs, biographical information, excerpts from works, interviews, as well as a selected bibliography of the nominees.

Then elections took place for the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize, which were determined by secret vote of the members. The counting of votes was carried out by the counting commission, which included: A.N. Varlamov, writer, philologist, researcher of the history of Russian literature of the 20th century, laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize in 2013; V.A. Voropaev, literary critic, professor at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov; V.N. Nikolaev, writer, laureate of the Great Literary Prize of Russia, laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize 2012.

His Holiness the Patriarch presented the laureates with a diploma and badges of the Patriarchal Literary Prize.

The laureates addressed words of gratitude to His Holiness, members of the Prize's House of Trustees and all participants in the ceremony.

All the award nominees were also invited to the stage, and the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church presented them with certificates and memorable gifts.

His Holiness again addressed those gathered:

“Dear laureates! Dear nominees! Dear participants of the ceremony!

I congratulate all of us on this bright, kind and, as it seems to me, very necessary event for our people.

We noted creative path wonderful authors. Through this award, I hope many people will recognize their names. Therefore, my special word of gratitude to the participants of the award - both laureates and nominees.

I would like to wish you, dear writers, God’s help in your difficult task, so that you always have the strength to burn the hearts of people with a verb, so that you always have the courage to see the truth and, if necessary, fight for the truth. So that you always have enough health, despite your age and external circumstances of life, to fully reveal your abilities for the benefit of the Church and the Fatherland.

Christ is Risen!"

At the end of the evening there was festive concert, which was attended by the winner all-Russian competition“Voice” Hieromonk Photius (Mochalov), choir Valaam Monastery (artistic director A. Zhukov), soloists musical theaters, laureates international competitions vocalists and performers of instrumental music.

The Patriarchal Literary Prize was established by the Holy Synod at a meeting on December 25, 2009 (magazine No. 115) with the aim of encouraging writers who have made a significant contribution to the establishment of spiritual and moral values ​​in the life of modern man, family and society, who have created highly artistic works that have enriched Russian literature. This prize has no analogues in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Local Orthodox Churches.

The first laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize in 2011 was the writer Vladimir Krupin. In the second award season (2012), the winners were Olesya Nikolaeva and Viktor Nikolaev. In 2013, Alexey Varlamov, Yuri Loshchits and Stanislav Kunyaev received awards. In the fourth award season (2014), the laureates were Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov, Valentin Kurbatov and Valery Ganichev. In 2015, the prize was awarded to Yuri Bondarev, Yuri Kublanovsky and Alexander Segen.

Press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'

The prize winners were Boris Tarasov, Boris Ekimov and Priest Nikolai Blokhin

Text: Tatyana Vladykina/RG
Photo: Arkady Kolybalov/RG

On May 18, at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius were awarded. The winners were Boris Tarasov, Boris Ekimov and Priest Nikolai Blokhin.

I hope that the prize will allow us to identify new authors and honor writers who continue the best traditions of Russian literature in their work,” the Patriarch said, summing up the results of the competition. Before the award ceremony, His Holiness criticized some.

Today, sometimes literature becomes simply a means of making money, and texts appear that cannot in any way be called literature, and sometimes they are simply pure hackwork: literary, stylistic, semantic,” said the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. He admitted that such texts make him feel ashamed.

In this feeling, he is supported by the majority of previous laureates, meetings with whom took place on the eve of the ceremony. One of them, writer Alexey Varlamov, told RG about what the prize is given for and what is special about it.

The award is not given for separate work, but for the writer’s total contribution to , says the writer. — In my opinion, this prize is important for its desire to reunite form and content, to reunite meaning and style. With its value-based approach to literature, to the affirmation of human dignity, to the affirmation of goodness, mercy, in general, everything that we rely on, thanks to which we exist, which Russian literature has always defended. At the same time, it is necessary that this be said not declaratively, not verbosely, in good Russian language, with taste, with that degree of intonation penetration when the writing profession and craft do not contradict good intentions, so that these good intentions were supported by literary skill. The situation is remarkable in that today a lot of books are published by church publishing houses. The church has something that, unfortunately, has been lost in the secular system of books - a fairly well-established book distribution system. In church shops, along with literature of religious content, with sacred scriptures, prayer books, literature on the history of the church, both classical and modern are sold. And, of course, this literature is of a certain kind and variety. I think that being on the short list of the Patriarchal Literary Prize can serve as admission to a church-going reader.

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The Patriarchal Literary Prize was established by the Holy Synod in 2009. It was first awarded in 2011, the first laureate was the writer Vladimir Krupin. IN different years The winners were Olesya Nikolaeva, Viktor Nikolaev, Alexey Varlamov, Yuri Loshchits, Stanislav Kunyaev, father Nikolai Agafonov. Last year the winners were Yuri Bondarev, Alexander Segen and Yuri Kublanovsky.

In the Moscow studio of our TV channel, Metropolitan Clement of Kaluga and Borovsk answers questions from viewers.

- The topic of our today's program is “Patriarchal Literary Prize.” Who and how was it founded?

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill took the initiative to establish such a prize in 2009; at a meeting at the Publishing Council, he said: “We need to find forms of encouragement for modern authors who write in moral themes and on topics that lead people to God, promote goodness, love, harmony, and peace in the life of our society.” We consulted, then took the blessing from His Holiness the Patriarch to develop a program for presenting Patriarchal Prize. In December 2009, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church established this prize, and this year we will be presenting it for the sixth time.

- What is the main goal of this award? What goals are pursued besides promotion?

The main goal is to encourage writers not only financially (the prize also has a material component), but also to support them in their creative work. Now the market system dominates in our country - not only in everyday life, but also in the world of creativity. Mostly books are sold that make a profit, but in them there is a dominance of debauchery, debauchery, and violence. Books about goodness, our culture, and the spiritual values ​​of our people are published in smaller editions, and the writers who create these works are not in such demand. Our task, on behalf of believers, is to thank the authors who write on good topics.

It is impossible for modern man to live without fiction. In the old days, in the 14th - 17th centuries, there was no fiction; people read the lives of saints, the Psalter, “The Ladder,” stories about ascetics, and epics. And only from the time of Peter I did fiction appear. Now it plays a big role in human life and society. It is impossible to imagine a cultured and developed person without a book, therefore the Patriarchal Literary Prize is intended to support those creators who write on good topics.

- The main provisions of the award say that its material part is allocated from the church budget.

That's right, there are no special projects or sponsors supporting this award. The church lives on voluntary donations; this is the contribution of many people. The award rewards those who contribute to the spiritual development of our society. A work of art has a great influence on people's consciousness. Let us remember the recent Soviet past: many of the intelligentsia came to faith by reading F.M. Dostoevsky, A.S. Pushkin. Not only in the 19th, but also in the 20th century, many writers connected their work with the Church. They didn't write to Soviet time about God and the Church directly, but they talked about goodness and gospel truths. Through this, people developed love for their culture and came to the Church.

- How are the laureates of the Patriarchal Prize determined?

There is a certain procedure for submitting documents. Heads of Local Orthodox Churches, dioceses, self-governing Churches that are part of the Russian Orthodox Church, literary communities, magazines, and heads of regions can recommend for the award. On their initiative, a list is formed, and then the House of Trustees selects a Council of Experts, which is updated every year. They process submitted applications and get acquainted with the works. Most of the candidates are famous writers, but there are also new names that are not very well known in Moscow.

The Council of Experts is reviewing the entire list of candidates for nomination. This year there were fifty-four applications. The panel of experts recommended eight writers, who were shortlisted (shortlisted). This is done by the House of Trustees, which is headed by the Patriarch. Several meetings take place: at the first meeting the general list is reviewed, the Council of Experts is approved, at the second meeting the short list is reviewed, the third meeting will take place in the Hall of Church Councils, where the selection and presentation of signs to the laureates of the Patriarchal Prize will take place. Voting takes place openly, without booths, everyone receives a ballot and marks their choice. The counting commission sits right there, which enters the result into the protocol, which is handed over to the Patriarch. He announces the names of the laureates.

- Are there any favorites this year?

It is very difficult to say who will become the laureate, because all the people are interesting.

- Can you name the names of the experts?

This year the expert jury is headed by Yuri Mikhailovich Loschits, poet, prose writer, and publicist. The jury includes: Abbot Evfimy (Moiseev), rector of the Kazan Theological Seminary; Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov, writer, laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize; Alexey Nikolaevich Varlamov, writer, member of the Union of Writers of Russia, Dmitry Mikhailovich Volodikhin, Russian historian, writer, literary critic, doctor historical sciences; Maria Aleksandrovna Gorodova, Orthodox writer, correspondent, columnist " Russian newspaper"; Victor Miroslavovich Guminsky, Doctor of Philology; Vladimir Alekseevich Kotelnikov, Doctor of Philology; Olesya Aleksandrovna Nikolaeva, poetess, writer, laureate of the Patriarchal Prize; Alexander Yurievich Segen, famous writer, laureate of the Patriarchal Prize.

- Among the nominees there are priests, for example Andrei Tkachev. Are there any other clergymen?

This year there are two priests on the list of nominees: Father Andrei Tkachev, writer, preacher, missionary, and Father Nikolai Blokhin. Interesting person, came to the Church at an age; with the blessing of Metropolitan Pitirim and Father John Krestyankin, he was engaged in the publication of Orthodox literature and its distribution. For this he was sentenced to four years more than a year. He himself says that if he had not been convicted, he would not have become a writer. While in prison, he began to write. The purpose of all the artistic works of Father Nikolai is to lead a person to God, to show that life is not accidental, to point out man’s responsibility for his salvation.

I have in my hands the magazine “Orthodox Book Review,” which came out today. There is a wonderful story by Father Nikolai, “Parishioner.” He describes the usual life story, there are many of these in Rus'. The priest arrived at the temple, at the first service there were only two people - two women. The priest began to talk to them and asked them to come to the next service with their husbands. One says that she does not have a husband, and the other says that she has best husband. As a result, it turned out that the priest is from the same village where this woman lives. He remembered her and her husband. It turns out that he drank and often beat his wife, but this woman is ready to endure and believes that she must save him. “This is my cross, I have to carry it,” she says. The policeman suggests putting him in prison, the neighbors advise her to get a divorce and leave him, but she is afraid that he will die. The woman believes that he was given to her because of her sins and she must carry her cross. Which actual topic! After all, we grumble when we bear the burdens of our neighbor...

Other nominees include nun Euphemia (Pashchenko), famous writer, physician Writes interesting essays and notes. I remember very much interesting work about God's world. A bird sang wonderfully in the park. A man sat and thought: “What a creation of God! Why is she singing? Probably makes me happy." Another person reasoned: “What kind of bird is this? Sparrow? Definitely not a nightingale. He sings better!” The third person heard the singing and thought: “What kind of crow has come to us? Incomprehensible singing! The author reflects on who is right and how people evaluate the world around them differently. The world was created by God for man. Mother Euphemia writes about how we should perceive the world around us.

If you think about it, you can see that everything in the world is focused on man. The sun shines, rivers, water - everything for a person. The Monk Macarius of Egypt beautifully said in the 4th century: “The sun, stars, moon, forest, rivers, seas, all animal world, the earth was created for man to live. And man was created so that God could live in him.” Mother Euphemia wants to convey this to her reader. People of the Church write on such important topics for modern people, because most people do not know the Bible, but through such works they learn who the Creator is and where everything comes from.

I also want to name the names of Alexander Gromov, Boris Ekimov, Alexey Karpov. Alexey Karpov has a large series of historical books; he published “Life wonderful people" This is Boris Tarasov, a wonderful person who did a lot for the development of literature, a teacher at the Literary Institute, and was its rector; Valery Sergeev, who wrote about the early Russian Middle Ages, is the author of a book about the life of St. Andrei Rublev, published in the series “The Life of Remarkable People.” This interesting people, which convey to the modern Russian the concepts of God, goodness, show traditions, historical path our people, the Orthodox Church.

- Secular writers - nominees for the Patriarchal Prize- believers?

They are all Orthodox.

The regulations say that the prize was established for writers who have made a significant contribution to the establishment of spiritual and moral values ​​in the life of a modern person, family and society. But morality exists not only in the Orthodox faith...

So far we have not had non-Orthodox writers, although this is possible. If the author does not want to connect himself with the Church and faith, the question arises: without knowing and understanding the Gospel, is it possible to understand Russian culture? Is it possible to make a positive contribution to its development? The peculiarity is that Russian culture is Orthodox by nature; it arose with the adoption of Christianity. Prince Vladimir brought faith, language and culture to our land. This year we celebrate the millennium of the Russian presence on Mount Athos, which had a profound impact on the spiritual state of Russia, the spiritual development of our country, and the monasteries that were centers of education and culture for many centuries. It is very difficult to separate our culture from Orthodoxy.

- What about Soviet writers? You said that they wrote about morality.

Absolutely right. They were believers at heart, they grew up in Orthodox families, in Orthodox culture, their parents were Orthodox, they were all baptized. But they could not write about God. Now we are learning a lot. Marshal K. Zhukov - Soviet commander, and he had an icon of the Kazan Mother of God. He was a believer at heart, but could not declare it. Take M. Sholokhov: you can see many Orthodox elements in his work. Unity Foundation Orthodox peoples published a series of books “A.S. Pushkin and Orthodoxy", "F.M. Dostoevsky and Orthodoxy,” including “S. Yesenin and Orthodoxy", "M. Sholokhov and Orthodoxy". Mikhail Sholokhov describes Orthodox traditions, moreover, Christian commandments, although he could not openly write about God.

- Are books by Orthodox writers published by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church?

The Publishing Council is not involved in publishing activities, we only regulate them. They are published by publishing houses, including the publishing houses of the Moscow Patriarchate, Sretensky Monastery, and Nikeya. Our task is to assign the stamp. This is not censorship. We grant this publisher the right to distribute books through the church network. Our duty is to protect the parishioner from bad literature. If you don’t have a vulture, you need to think about whether this book is worth reading. The stamp is assigned not only to theological and catechetical books, historical, spiritual, but also to fiction. There are a lot of books that pass through us that I would recommend reading.

I recently read from Father Nikolai Agafonov how a young man walked towards faith. He served in the army, and he did not have any spiritual books, but only anti-religious literature, from which he learned about God, discarding the husks of propaganda. Question from a TV viewer: “I’m 85 years old, I don’t hear anything, I pray to the Lord two hundred times and Mother of God as many. Am I doing the right thing?

Praying is right, but I advise going to church; if you can’t get there, ask a priest to come who can administer unction to you and commune you with the Holy Mysteries of Christ and explain how to pray. If you can read, he will give you a prayer book and the Gospel. Be sure to contact the priest.

- Where can I buy works by the Patriarchal Prize nominees? Only in the church shop?

No, something was published and sold on the church network. But for the most part - in secular stores. We always contribute to the publication of works by laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize. We have books by Father Nikolai Agafonov, Viktor Nikolaev, Olesya Nikolaeva. We cannot force the publishing house to release certain books; we recommend it. It all depends on the work. Publishing houses operate on a commercial basis, even church ones. If it's not profitable, they can't publish. We recommend those authors who are worthy of the Patriarchal Literary Prize, or those books that have received awards from the “Enlightenment through Book” competition. In addition to the Patriarchal Prize, we support writers and publishers in this competition. There are twelve nominations, including “Fiction”, “ Historical literature", "Children's literature". These books are also present on the church network.

Question from a TV viewer from Moscow: “I visit the Kaluga region, there, especially in the villages, there are a lot of Old Believers, they have home churches, but I don’t go there. Will Orthodox chapels be built?”

Yes, a large temple will soon be restored there. Now Kirov has its own diocese - Pesochnya (this is the old name of the city). I will convey your request to Bishop Pesochensky and Yukhnovsky Maximilian. There is a project to make at least a small chapel in every village.

- Sometimes you go to a bookstore - there is a variety of literature. But you don’t see what you need.

It is almost impossible to find Orthodox literature in secular stores. In Moscow, we talked with representatives of a number of stores so that they could separate Orthodox literature from other literature. Previously, there was a section of religious literature, there were Orthodox authors and some dubious philosophical, occult teachings. A number of book chains have dedicated a section for Orthodox literature, but there is a problem: what is put in a prominent place is what is quickly bought. Naturally, people have a stereotype that they can only buy Orthodox literature in church. And in secular stores they buy technical or entertainment literature. Nobody goes to a bookstore on Arbat to buy a Bible, so they don’t pay as much attention to it there.

We propose to the Patriarch to expand the network of Orthodox bookstores. Not only in Moscow, but also in major cities regions should have large Orthodox bookstores. Orthodox souvenirs can also be sold there, because opening a store is quite expensive. You can distribute both e-books and videos. We are trying to implement this project.

- In some church stores you can also find classical literature.

Yes, these are both the “golden” and “silver” centuries of Russian literature, and modern authors, laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize. Here is another question: not all churches, cities and parishes are equally supplied with literature. It depends on the parish and diocese. The Publishing Council cannot do anything here. With the blessing of the Patriarch, we have prepared a list of literature that should be present in every Moscow church; this is about two hundred to four hundred titles, including fiction. I think this will contribute to the development of the book business. People will know that in the temple, in addition to several prayer books and akathists, there will be a good selection of books that they can buy for themselves or give as gifts. This good gift. If we give a book young man, he will definitely read it. Through reading he learns about God and truth.

- Nowadays a book is a rare gift. It is more convenient to download the book and read it on the device monitor.

Yes, but the perception of a book is completely different - electronic and printed. You take a small magazine and perceive the text, every word, in a completely different way, understand the topic more deeply, and become a participant in the events described. Electronics is a completely different perception.

One of the victories of the Soviet state is the victory over illiteracy. Soviet Union was one of the most reading countries. Now the picture is depressing. Russia is getting lower in this ranking. Reading is becoming less popular. The problem lies in our schools, as Patriarch Kirill noted at a meeting of the trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize. He noted that at school they stop understanding literature and reading. I noticed that the teaching of literature there is fading away. How do you strive to solve this problem within the framework of the work of the Publishing Council?

Why did Russia lose its primacy in the list of the most reading countries? Development e-books, the advent of the Internet attracted some of the reading people. But it is not main reason. Reading people in Soviet times were mainly people between the ages of eighteen and thirty and schoolchildren.

We are now experiencing a demographic crisis. Since the beginning of the 90s, there have been half as many children born in Russia as in Soviet times. We have lost people of reading age, the country has aged, and this also has an effect. Advances in technology have also affected reading.

But this is a crisis not only of the school, but also of the family. Nowadays there is little reading in the family. A common situation in a Moscow family: everyone comes home and everyone goes to their “gadget.” Some go to the TV, some go to the tablet, some go to the phone - parents come first. Children do not see their parents reading, do not see books in their hands - only TV, the Internet. The child, while small, leafs through the book, and then demands a phone, smartphone, tablet, etc. His parents give him this. They pay off the child. After dinner, a loving parent will gather the children, take a book, read the Gospel, the life of a saint, a fairy tale, and talk. When a child grows up, he will take " Captain's daughter", read it again and talk. They go to church with the whole family; it won’t be a punishment for a child to go to church while dad watches TV.

Today I see that children do not know what saint they are named after. Why not tell your child about his patrons? Grandparents' Angel Day - let's read about the patron saints. Children don't see an example! Trying to reform the school system for twenty-five years, we have lost the main thing - Russian literature. I was shown a textbook about five or six years ago: for studying A.S. One and a half pages are allotted to Pushkin! On thirteen pages - modern prose, the work of the author, a former drug addict, with all the appropriate jargon and corresponding descriptions. What is this for? This is not an introduction to life. The school is designed to teach: you need to read A.S. Pushkin, classics of the 19th - 20th centuries, modern authors. Take the works of Nikolai Agafonov and read them! Children do not see this example at home. And the school doesn't give it. We need to increase the hours spent studying literature. This is the basis.

Literature of the 19th - 20th centuries is an example of the Russian word. We must teach to love great things Russian word. Everywhere our writers are valued and known, but our youth are practically not familiar with the work of F.M. Dostoevsky, but Western writers are popular among her. This is a mistake in reform school system. The President of Russia ordered the creation of a Literature Committee, and Patriarch Kirill headed it. The school should increase the study of literature and history.

- I would like to hear instructions from you, what do you recommend reading?

I wish God's help. Tomorrow we will celebrate writers who have worked for the benefit and development of our national culture, so I wish to read more. Remember: the main book of our life is the Gospel. We must learn to read the Gospel daily, this is the word of God, it was read by the great classics. In Kaluga we held the action “The Gospel is the book of life. We read together during Lent.” Let's turn to this eternal book. My teacher called the gospel “the oxygen of eternity.” Let us breathe it in order to gain eternal life.

Christ is Risen!

Presenter Sergey Platonov
Recorded by Yaroslav Truntseva