ТDiffi cult Passages from the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete in Church Slavonic (Interpretation Options Based on Song 1)

Nowadays most people do not show deep understanding of profound
words and expressions in Church Slavonic language, which is a part Russian
language. It is necessary to rediscover the lost values using alternative syno
nymous substitutions that do not distort or simplify the Church Slavonic
language but, on the contrary, introduce accuracy and liveliness into the obscurity, which became a part of the texts in Slavonic Church language.
Another way to make the texts clear is to use a commentary.
The article uses the fi rst song of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete in
Church Slavonic to analyze hard passages and suggests the ways of interpreting
them. In addition, the research offers a technology for correcting
the canon. The paper discusses:
— interpreting the canon from the perspective of a person who is in the
Church recently;
— comparing individual manuscripts and old printed versions of the Lenten
Triodion with the modern liturgical text, as well as with the text, which
has been amended by the commission headed by Archbishop Sergius
Stragorodsky and other editors, with other translations of the canon;
— identifying similar and different passages in order to fi nd and analyse
obscure words and expressions;
— systemizing lexicographic data that can shed light on little-understood
places;
— searching for Church Slavonic synonyms based on a reverse translation
from Russian into Church Slavonic;
— identifying parallels in the Holy Scripture in Church Slavonic;
— drawing up a list of possible synonymous substitutions for the diffi cult
words or expressions.