Pragmatic and axiological strategies of secular people in epistolary communication with the clergy

Basing on handwritten archival documents of the 19th century, the article considers some peculiarities of epistolary communication between secular people and the religious community. In such communication, addressers and addressees are representatives of different cultures, which makes it necessary for the addresser to build communication regarding the addressee's status, axiological and pragmatic priorities. In the letters analyzed, this can be seen in theme preferences, in the way how evaluation criteria are chosen and text is built in general, including its style. Pragmatic and axiological orientations of addressers are realized in different ways depending on their level of general and speech culture, religious orientation, and relationship with addressees.