The concept of “miracle” in a Christmas story on the example of the collection “Christmas miracle”

The article reviews the conceptual approach used in literary criticism to reflect on the writer and the reader's perception of the whole complex of concepts, meanings, images, symbols that make up the concept of “miracle”. The choice of this concept was dictated by the title of the collection of works “Christmas Miracle” (2016), the artistic intent of the writers and the genre signs of a Christmas story. Having started from understanding the word “miracle” in several dictionaries, the author proceeds to consider it as a concept in a number of short stories of the collection, relying on the linguistic expression in the word “miracle” and cognate words, analyzing in more detail its implementation on different text levels: motivational, plot-compositional, figurative. It is important for modern writers to show the emotional and moral effects of a miracle on others, on the awakening of a person’s soul, faith in God, love kindness and compassion for one's neighbor.