ИСТИНА

Beliefs and rituals related to the cult of Saints have an important role in the lives of Russian Orthodox Christians. One of such rituals is “pilgrimage”. The theme of this article is the Holy Trinity-Saint Sergius Lavra, and how I.S. Shmelev depicted it in his short novel Pilgrimage. Moreover, in this work there is a depiction of such a religious ritual as “wandering”; Rituals that accompany wandering are depicted. We can see that the author uses abundantly such images as smells, colours and sounds while describing the monastery. By using these images, he shows the monastery’s atmosphere in a good light. The smells of musk, warm and bright colours, sounds express the power and greatness of the monastery. Feelings of people who perform the pilgrimage ritual express their attitude towards God and all living beings on earth and are masterfully describe via illustrations. It is emphasised that pilgrims who departed to saints to the monastery for purifying themselves of filth believe that the more they detach themselves from daily routine, the stronger their purification will be. It is shown that for getting rid of selfishness one should give up all that bad that he or she encounters on the way. The monastery’s peaceful and ordered life is described. The life where there is no place for vanity.