The article considers specific features of Russian services dedicated to saints. In the study of hymnography, following the statute of Jerusalem (Typikon), one of the most important categorising features is the status of the service (sextic, doxological, polyeleos and vigils). Each category reflects the degree of reverence for the service. Sometimes, with increasing status of the service, a geographical spread and increasing commitment can be observed. Two services to SS. Boris and Gleb and the service commemorating the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra to Bari are taken as an example. Since the status of the service is often dependent on liturgical practice, sometimes the current version of a service can achieve an enhanced status by adding missing elements. Some services to saints offer the possibility of lowering its status depending on liturgical needs. Compilated services consisted often of a new combination of hymns. One of the copies of the service in memory of the martyred Saints Boris and Gleb shows the process of drawing up a version when there are two variants in the same locality: in case of conflict, the service contains two options of hymns. The article describes the practice of correcting services, using examples from manuscripts which preserved such corrections.
Victoria Legkikh (Viennа, Austria)