The book is devoted to the study of holiness in Russian spiritual culture, its origin, the clarification of the original meaning of the word denoting holiness (*svet-), and the role of the mythopoetic substratum on which the concept of holiness was formed, and, above all, to how, after the adoption of Christianity in Russia, holiness was understood in its most diagnostically important personified embodiment — in its bearers, the saints. As a rule, each part of the book is built around three main themes: a) the personality of the saint, b) the type of holiness revealed to the saints, c) the "main" text associated with the saint – his "Life" or his own work. Particular attention is paid to the historical context and spiritual situation of the epoch, to the problem of creative assimilation of the heritage of the Old Testament tradition, Greek speculation, Gnosticism, not to mention, of course, the New Testament and the patristic heritage. In this circle, Jewish, Greek, and Iranian themes naturally arise. Without them, it is difficult to understand the specifics of the phenomenon of holiness in the Russian spiritual tradition.

The publication was carried out with the financial support of the International Foundation "Cultural Initiative".

For the convenience of reading/understanding by untrained readers and the correct display of the text on most electronic readers when making up the electronic version of the book, the following replacements have been made:

1. The letter "ук" is replaced by the letter "у".

2. The letter "есть" is replaced by the letter "е".

3. The letter "от" is replaced by the combination "от".

4. The letter "omega" is replaced by the letter "o".

5. The letter "Zelo" is replaced by the letter "Z".

6. The letter i is left as it is.

7. The letter "yat" is replaced by the letter "е".

8. The letter "(и)я" is replaced by the letter "я".

9. The letter "юс малый" is replaced by the letter "я".