About Literary History of “Word about the Star of Irania”

The article presents textual materials for fifteen copies of the Old Russian homilia “Word about the star of Irania”, which is known in the manuscripts of the 15th – 17th centuries. Twelve copies of the Word are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. Based on textological analysis, we distinguish two editions of the work: Short and Extensive. In the process of creating the Extensive Edition, the text of the Word was verified with the “Tale of Aphroditian the Persian” and the Christmas homily of Russian origin, often attributed to John Chrysostom “Now of my nature”. At the same time, the context of the Word in handwritten manuscripts testifies to an earlier origin of the monument than the copies that have come down to us, and also makes it possible to assume that the author of the monument was a person from the encirclementof Kirill Turovsky. The Extensive one, created on the basis of the Short, introduces additional details into the text and strengthens the motive for the transfer of power from the pagan gods to the born Christ. A Short edition of the Word seems to be the closest to its archetypal text.