On the Source of the Quotation from a «Biographer» of st. Sergius of Radonezh in prince E. N. Trubetskoy’s Lecture «Speculation in Colours»

• Main Author: Pavel Khondzinsky
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: St. Tikhon's Orthodox University 2014-12-01
• Series: Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия I. Богословие, философия
• Subjects: icon; image; St. Andrei Rublev; Holy Trinity; St. Sergius of Radonezh; Prince E. N. Trubetskoy; N. F. Fedorov; Anthony (Khrapovitsky)
• Online Access: http://pstgu.ru/download/1418721176.1khondzinsky.pdf

In his lecture «Speculation in Colours» prince E. N. Trubetskoy quotes an unnamed «biographer» of St. Sergius of Radonezh, who reported that the saint «erected a church in the name of the Holy Trinity as a mirror for all those whom he had gathered for communal life, so that the contemplation of the Holy Trinity might vanquish the fear of the hateful dividedness of the world». It is however noteworthy, that detecting the source of this quotation has not been possible up to this day: in fact, none of the ancient Vitae of St. Sergius contains it. Besides, although we can say with certainty that it was St. Sergius who has initiated special veneration of the Holy Trinity in the Russian tradition, an analysis of text sources shows that the idea of unification of the whole creation on the model of the Trinitarian unity — that exactly idea which was elaborated by prince E. N. Trubetskoy on the basis of the passage cited — is not presented in them. This makes the author of this article believe that the source for this quotation belongs to a much later epoch. His research let him claim that the source of the quotation is a text by archimandrite Anthony (Khrapovitsky) which was interpolated by N. F. Fedorov into his own discourse and reproduced by prince Trubetskoy in Fedorov’s «transcription». This conclusion enables us to make our apprehensions about the Old Russian tradition more precise and to assess critically the concepts of modern theologians, philosophers and art scholars based on this quotation.