The Ascetic Chapters of Mark the Hermit in the Slavic Translation
The Ascetic Chapters of Mark the Hermit in the Slavic Translation

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the Slavonic translations of the ascetic works of Mark the Hermit (first half of the 5th century), which have not been studied yet within the context of monastic literature. It establishes that the work On the Spiritual Law has two translations: one predating the 14th century and a second, made during the Tărnovo Literary School together with the sermons of Abba Dorotheus (6th century). The same text, in a third translation, is distributed as excerpts, again with a linguistic characteristic of the Tărnovo manuscripts. The work is composed in the form of chapters containing wise sayings, instructions for the spiritual improvement of the monks and biblical quotations. It follows the tradition founded by the works of Evagrius Ponticus, with many of the ideas for monastic discipline similar. The miscellanies containing the works of Mark the Hermit differ in composition across Bulgarian, Serbian, Moldavian-Wallachian, and Russian literature. An attempt is made to trace their composition by making assumptions about their sources and composition in the 14th – 18th centuries.

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