THE THEME OF THE CROSS IN RUSSIAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE

Larisa Germanovna Vetelina

Kostroma Diocese Training Center for Church Specialists, Kostroma, Russia

Email: loragerman@rambler.ru

ORCID: 0009-0004-4806-2064

Issue: № 2 (34), 2026

Pages: 121–135

Annotation

The article examines the image of the Cross in Russian classical literature, its symbolic and metaphorical meaning, the traditions of the Christian understanding of the Cross and its multiple meanings. The material embodiment of the Cross and its spiritual significance are studied. Special attention is paid to the so-called faleristic trend: the description of awards of the Russian Empire, used in literary works as an artistic detail or characteristic. The article analyzes the works of V. A. Zhukovsky, A. S. Pushkin, L. N. Tolstoy, A. P. Chekhov, I. S. Shmelev, M. A. Bulgakov. Russian literature, as an important component of Russian culture and Orthodoxy, for many centuries reflected not just church life with its realities and symbols, but the life of a Russian person inside and outside the Church, his spiritual thirst and search for a Way, the desire to find himself with God, to connect with him. That is why the theme of the Cross is presented in a very broad and meaningful way.

Keywords

Image of the Cross, Russian literature, symbolism of the image of the cross, Church, Orthodoxy, Path, pilgrimage, the Lord, trials

For citation

L. G. Vetelina. The theme of the Cross in Russian classical literature // Ipatievsky Vestnik. 2026. № 2. P. 121–135 (In Russian). https:// doi.org/10.24412/2309–5164– 2026–2–121–135