Sadness and repentant tears іn the estimations of the Kyiv an Cave Lavra community

The aim of this article is to reconstruct the ideal component of the emotional world of the Ukrainian Middle Ages, namely, the evaluation attitude of the monastic community of the Kyivan Cave Monastery to repentant sorrow and tears on the basis of sources that represent the Cave tradition, and to compare these estimates to those in the translated and other original texts. The methodology of the study includes application of historical-comparative, historical-chronological, historical-systemic and interpretation methods. This methodological approach allows, through a detailed analysis of the contexts, to reconstruct the view of the Cave community on the repentant tears and sorrow during a certain chronological period (11th - 16th centuries), in connection with the Christian and ancient Russian traditions. The academic novelty is represented by identification of religious and ethical foundations of human experiences of the emotional world of the medieval society, in particular the perception of sorrow and the tears of repentance, which had a potential impact on the real component of the emotional world. Assessment of repentance of joyless emotions in the environment of the Cave community is revealed in detail. The scientific knowledge of the Kyivan Cave Patericon as a valuable source for the reconstruction of the Old Rus’ age «ideal» emotional sphere has acquired further development. Conclusions. As a result of the analysis of the texts, it was found out that the evaluation of tears and sorrows of repentance in the community of the Kyivan Cave monastery were defi nitely positive. This is substantiated by the numerous contexts of the Kyivan Cave Patericon, the Teachings of rev. Theodosius and the Words of St. Cyrill of Turov. The unhappy emotions analysed were the subject of instruction. Their value was affirmed by the authority of the Scripture. They were understood as the pledge for the salvation of the soul, referred to in the context of feats, as achievements attributed to the saints. According to the text, the repentance of sorrows and tears had positive consequences, including the most important one for the Cave community - eternal joy in the Kingdom of Heaven. The revealed evaluative attitude to the analysed emotions is consistent with the Eastern Christian and old Russian traditions.