I. Shmelyov's poetic novel "The summer of the Lord" as an encyclopedia of Russian orthodox holidays

Ivan Shmelyov is a firmly religious, truly Orthodox writer. The writer’s religiosity was can be attributed to three main reasons. First, he was brought up in a patriarchal family in the spirit of the Orthodox traditions. Second, he married a religious woman. And third, he had a pure Orthodox attitude towards the excesses of the revolutionary period and the death of his only son Sergei. This article analyses Shmelyov’s prose poem “The Summer of the Lord” and the way Russian Orthodox holidays and related traditions are reflected in the poem. The overall purpose of the analysis is to prove that Shmelyov’s novel can be interpreted and used as an encyclopedia of Orthodox holidays. This literary work, being the quintessence of Shmelyov’s creativity, is based on the writer’s childhood experience of the Russian patriarchal society. Using his childhood experience, the author shows the beauty of Russian Orthodoxy, its value for a particular family and for society as a whole. The chapters of “The Summer of the Lord” - “Holidays”, “Joys”, “Sorrows” are organized within the annual circle and church calendar...