FOUR “PRAYERS” OF MIKHAIL LERMONTOV

Lermontov’s contemporaries were against the judgments about the poet’s “amorality” and “lack of religious belief”, who was, in fact, a truly devoted Orthodox Christian. This is reflected in his poetry: four works out of a short list of his poems are entitled The Prayer, in other words, aspire to “raise the heart and mind to God” directly. The article analyzes these poems that present different possibilities of implementation of this devotion. Lermontov is extremely diverse: from an “invoking” prayer and a direct “request” he comes to the revelation of the Holy Mother icon and to the understanding of a special influence of a prayer on a human’s soul. Joint review of these prayers forms an idea of a “full cycle” of the Divine’s poetical discovery: from romantic appeal to the Almighty together with perception of the darkness of a chosen way, to ironical “pleading” to the “Heavenly King” to liberate him from the ties of Junkerdom; from a passionate monologue to the Holy Virgin with prayers for the miserable beloved, to understanding of a prayers’ special meaning for a Christian, to creation of an overall wide and whole image of a prayer. A prayer without an “invoking” or a “request” is joyful and blessing at the same time; it is intended for a difficult and sad moments of life.