FROM THE BRITISH ISLES TO SOLOVETSKY MONASTERY: HOW AN IRISH PRAYER BECAME PART OF THE CHURCH SLAVONIC TRADITION

The Medieval Prayer of Confession of Sins (with the incipit Domine Deus meus omnipotens, ego humiliter te adoro) exists in Latin and Church Slavonic versions. It was written on the British Isles under Irish influence. The oldest Latin manuscript versions come from the ninth century and the prayer was known in continental Europe, especially in places connected with activities of Irish missionaries. The Church Slavonic translation most probably originated in the tenth or eleventh centuries in Bohemia and then was transfered to the East Slavonic area. Textological and philological arguments for this hypothesis are presented in the article together with characterization of the newly discovered versions of the prayer (both Latin and Church Slavonic). Especially, the second known Church Slavonic version recorded in the manuscript of the Solovetsky Monastery from the late fifteen century brings new evidence on the textual character of the prayer and modifications based on copying of the text.