|The Life of the Saintly and Pious Juliana Lazarevskaja by her son, Calli stratus Družina-Osorjin|
|The anonymous Life of Boyarina Morozova, Princess Urusova, and Maria Danilova|
|The autobiographical Life of the Protopope Avvakum.|
THE LIFE OF THE SAINTLY AND PIOUS
The nobleman Callistratus Družina-Osorjin, a boyar of Murom, was so moved by the death of his mother, Juliana Lazarevskaja ( 1604), that he devoted himself to writing a biographical account of her pious life, which had been distinguished by unceasing toil, consideration for the welfare of her family and subjects, and the repudiation of all luxury. This it was possible to do only in conformance with the established pattern of traditional hagiography; remarkable, however, is the fact that a layman should attempt to express himself in so ecclesiastical a genre as hagiography. As a result, his Life, although not lacking the usual elements of hagiography, represents a clear secularization of the genre itself. The biography is composed against the genealogical background of a noble family and presents an affectionate, warm, colorful picture of life among the provincial gentry during the time of Tsar Boris Godunov. The main tendency is no longer that of characterizing sainthood and devotion to ascetism by traditional means, but of creating an individual portrait of a gentle, benevolent, and pious noblewoman.
The text is taken from Vol. I ofas edited by G. Kušelev-Bezborodko.