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СпутникиРНSpaceXРоскосмосNASACrossings of Time
Of the Cross — Centers of Times...
Of the Great Week — Remembrances...
Of Exile... From the Temple... Of Monday...
Of Prayer — of Mystery... Of Tuesday...
Of Betrayal — of Wednesday...
Of Passion — of Thursday...
And of Denial... Of the Disciples...
From Their Teacher... Of Signs...
Of the Darkening — of Conscience — of the Priests...
Of Earthly Wealth — of Harvesters...
Of Those Who Spurned — And — Forswore
Heavenly Wealth — Abundance...
Darkening of the Living Light — of the Sun
By the Shadow of the Dead Moon...
By Mirk — And — Murk...
Darkening of the Holy — of Light...
Of Crucifixion... Of Friday...
Of Pietà... And — of Mourning...
Forgiving... And Farewelling...
With the Body... Of the Soul... And of the Spirit... Of the God-Man... Of Oneness...
Tearing... Like — Bursting...
Of the Cosmos... Of Being — With Non-Being...
Mixing... Shifting...
Of Space — of Time — of Times...
And — In the Singularity — of Polarity
Of the World's Birth — Rebirth...
From Hell — of Adam — of the Bone — To the Constant
Of Paradise — of Iriy — of the Heavens — of Christ...
Through — the Carrying — of His — Cross...
Through — Currents... Streams...
Of Blood... Of Sweat... Of Tears...
Of Flowing... Of Pouring-Forth...
Of Grace... And — of Tenderness...
Of Love... Of Hope... Of Faith...
Thinning of Worlds...
Of Limits — And — of Boundaries...
Their — Release...
From — Enclosure... From — Fetters...
Of Prophecies — Ancient — Pronouncements...
Of the Word — of God — Embodiment...
Of the Life-Giving — Cross
Myrrh-Flowing...
Of the Myrrh-Bearers — Vigil...
Of Peace — Finding...
Through — Christ...
Through — the Lifting-Up — of His — Cross
Salvation... Of Unveiling — of the Gospel...
And — Gaining — of Life — Eternal...
Of Evangel...
Of Blessing...
And — of the Hope — of the New — Covenant...
Of Despair — Overcoming...
Of the Old — Covenant... Of the Sabbath...
Of Death — Interment...
And — of the Miracle... Of the Holy — of Light...
Of the Divine — Resurrection... Sunday...
Of the Divine — Resurrection... The First Day...
Of the Divine — Resurrection... The Day of the Sun... Rising... And the Lord's — Day...
Crossings of Time
Of the Cross — Centers of Times...
Of the Great Week — Remembrances...
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ESSAY (English)
Essay: "The Cross as a Coordinate System"
On the sticheron "Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross" by Maria Smyslova (Millionshchikova) and its English translation
I. The Idea: the Cross Is Many-Formed
At the heart of the sticheron lies an image that cannot be reduced to a single meaning. The Cross here is not only an instrument of execution and not only a symbol of salvation; it is a coordinate system, a grid in which time and space receive their place. Hence the twofold formula of the opening: Пересеченья Времени (the horizontal, the flow, the succession of days) and Креста Времён Средоточенья (the vertical, the point of assembly, the center). The Cross sets the axes along which everything else is laid out: the Great Week, the darkenings, the currents of blood and tears, the thinning of worlds, the Resurrection.
This idea also determines the structure of the text. The sticheron is built as a litany: short lines-as-names, each beginning with "Of...", each an element of a mosaic. But the mosaic does not fall apart, because it has a center — the very Cross that in the Russian version is placed in the opening and in the English version is fixed in the title: Crossings of Time.
A separate word should be said about spacing. In the Russian original, words are pushed apart by spaces within lines — and this is not decoration but breath: the pause between words becomes as much a unit of rhythm as the word itself. The English translation does not reproduce the spacing literally; its role is taken by dashes and ellipses. But the principle is preserved: the line breathes rather than merely enumerates.
II. The Cross in Three Dimensions: from Coptic Tradition to the Chrismon
The idea of "the Cross as a coordinate system" has not only a speculative but also a historical foundation. In the Coptic tradition, three-dimensional crosses have survived — not flat images but three-dimensional constructions that have not only height and width but also depth. Such a cross cannot be overlooked: it occupies a place in space, it is voluminous, it has a front and a back, it is visible from any point. This is precisely the "coordinate system": three axes that define volume.
Akin to this is the three-dimensional Chrismon (☧), the monogram of Christ, assembled from the initial letters of the Greek words ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ — "Christ." In its earliest form it is the crossing of I and X (iota and chi), that is, the first letters of the name Jesus Christ: "I" + "X." In the Chrismon the Name is encoded, assembled from initials — and it too is conceived not flatly but as a sign that gathers space around itself. The Chrismon is the Cross and the Name in one; it does not "depict" Christ but carries His Name in its structure.
Hence an important conclusion for understanding the sticheron: the Cross in it is not a flat symbol but a three-dimensional structure within which the whole action unfolds: the Week, the darkenings, the currents, the thinning of worlds, the Resurrection. The mosaic of the poem is assembled not on a plane but in volume, defined by the Cross.
III. The Cross as Sign and Standard of Victory: Constantine and the Constant
There is one more layer that explains the line "From Hell — of Adam — of the Bone — To the Constant."
According to tradition, the emperor Constantine before the battle at the Milvian Bridge (312 AD) saw in the sky the sign of the Cross with the inscription "In this sign, conquer" (Greek ἐν τούτῳ νίκα — "by this, conquer"). The Cross was obtained by him not as an instrument of execution but as the standard of Victory — a signum, a military banner carried before the army. Hence the chain of meanings that the English text holds:
· Sign — that which was seen in the sky;
· Sign also — that which is carried as a standard (Latin signum — both "sign" and "standard" and "banner");
· Constant — both the mathematical constant (an unchanging quantity, a reference point in a coordinate system) and Constantine, who obtained the Cross as a standard.
The line "From Hell — of Adam — of the Bone — To the Constant" gathers this together: from hell, from Adam, from the bone (the rib from which Eve was created — and the bone that was not broken in the Crucified) — to the Constant, that is, to that which is unchanging, to the reference point, to Constantine who obtained the standard of Victory. The Cross here is both a mathematical axis and a historical standard and a theological constant of salvation.
That is why the opening of the English translation reads Of the Cross — Centers of Times: the Cross is not one of the centers but the center around which all the others gather (Iriy, the God-Man, the singularity of polarity, the Resurrection). It is voluminous, like the Coptic cross; it carries the Name, like the Chrismon; it is a standard, like Constantine's; it is a constant, like a reference point in a coordinate system.
IV. The Russian Version: Image as Breath
In the Russian text the key images are unfolded through grammatical ambiguity and paronymy — a play of words that holds several meanings at once.
"Пересеченья" — is both "crossings" (points where coordinates intersect), and "the way of the cross," and "transitions." One word carries three meanings, and all three work.
"Средоточенья" — from "sredotochie," that is, center, the point into which everything converges. In combination with "Креста Времён" a double genitive arises: the centers of the Cross and the centers of times simultaneously. The Cross turns out to be both the center and that which is centered.
"Смешенье — Смещенье", "Теченья — Источенья" — paronymic pairs in which one word flows into another and the meaning shifts as when a liquid is poured. This is precisely "fluid meaning" — the principle that became the name of the English version.
"Ирия" is left untranslated — as the Slavic paradise, which cannot be rendered by a single English word without loss.
"БогаЧеловека" — with a capital "Ч" inside the word, which visually shows the union of two natures: God and Man in one word, as in one Person.
"Сингулярности Полярности" — a scientific-theological oxymoron: the point in which polarity converges without being destroyed. This is the center of the text, its semantic singularity.
V. The English Translation: The Search for the Word as Theological Work
The translation of the sticheron is not a literal rendering but a search for an equivalent that would hold both meaning and register and wordplay. The process went through three versions, and each choice was a decision.
"Пересеченья" — Intersections (version 1) or Crossings (version 2). Crossings was chosen: it is closer to "crossroads" and "the way of the cross," and above all it contains Cross, the very Cross that becomes the axis in the opening. The title Crossings of Time holds both "intersections of time" and "the way of the cross of time."
"Средоточенья" — Concentrations (literally), Confluences (mergings), Centers. Centers was chosen: Focus is the point one looks at (optics), whereas Center is the point around which everything is arranged (structure, the universe). The plural Centers is not a mistake but a move: the Cross is many-formed, it has many centers, and this supports the idea.
"Седмицы" — the Great Week (a calque of the Greek Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς). The term is precise and liturgically recognizable.
"Ученики" — Learners (version 2) proved a weak point: in the Gospel context it is always Disciples. The replacement was made deliberately: Learners sounds like a course audience, Disciples — like a community.
"Тайны" — Secret (version 2) is grammatically shaky: of Secret reads as "of a secret." Replaced by Mystery — both more precise and liturgically appropriate.
"Знаменья" — Portents (version 2) in English almost always means "ominous foreboding." In the Gospel context "signs" is Signs, semiotically neutral and more canonical. Replaced.
"Бденье" — Waking (version 2) = "being awake," but not "vigil" as a liturgical term. Replaced by Vigil.
"Чаянья" — Longing (version 2) = "yearning," not "hope." Replaced by Hope.
"Истонченье" — Refining (version 2) shifts the meaning toward "purification." Replaced by Thinning — the thinning of boundaries, which supports the following line "Of Limits — And — of Boundaries."
"Граней" — Edges (version 2) is weaker than Boundaries. Replaced.
"Чуда" — Wonder (version 2) drifted toward "amazement." Replaced by Miracle — an event, not an emotion.
"Воспоминанья" — Recollections (version 2) is bookish but grammatically correct; Remembers is a verb, not a noun. Remembrances was chosen — a noun with liturgical breath ("in remembrance of…").
"Пьята" — added as a separate line after Of Crucifixion... Of Friday...: Of Pietà... And — of Mourning... This builds the chronology of the image: event (Crucifixion) → day (Friday) → image (Pietà) → state (Mourning) → transition to "Forgiving and Farewelling."
"Воскресенье" — a threefold litany in the finale: Sunday → The First Day → The Day of the Sun... Rising... And the Lord's — Day. Three registers of one day: everyday, biblical ("the first day of the week"), cosmic (the day of the sun), and eschatological (the Lord's Day). This is the counterweight to the threefold Darkening in the middle of the text: darkening three times — and resurrection three times.
VI. What Holds the Text as a Coordinate System
In the final version the Cross runs through the whole text as an axis:
· Cross in the opening (Of the Cross — Centers of Times) →
· Crossings in the title →
· Cross in the line Through — the Carrying — of His — Cross →
· Cross in Through — the Lifting-Up — of His — Cross.
Centers of Times in the opening echoes Singularity of Polarity in the middle — two points of assembly, the beginning and the center.
The threefold Darkening (the darkening of light, of the holy, of conscience) is symmetrical to the threefold Resurrection (resurrection as event, as day, as the Lord's Day).
The water line — Currents → Streams → Flowing → Pouring-Forth — is subordinated to the "coordinate system": it is not a competing metaphor but a stream that flows within the grid defined by the Cross.
VII. Conclusion: Translation as Discovery
The history of this translation is not a history of selecting words but a history of discovering them. Each replacement was not an "improvement" but a return to the idea: Learners → Disciples because disciples are not an audience; Wonder → Miracle because a miracle is not an emotion; Recollections → Remembrances because remembrance in the liturgy is an act of memory, not a bookish reminiscence.
And above all: the translation preserved what makes the sticheron a sticheron — the possibility of reading it as a mosaic that gathers around the Cross. In the Russian version this is held by the ambiguity of cases and by paronymy; in the English version — by the precision of terms and by the axis Cross running through the title, the opening, the middle, and the finale.
The Cross as a coordinate system: in Russian — Пересеченья Времени, Креста Времён Средоточенья; in English — Crossings of Time, Of the Cross — Centers of Times. In different words, but about one thing: time and space receive their place only where there is the Cross. And that Cross is voluminous, like the Coptic crosses; carrying the Name, like the Chrismon; manifested as the standard of Victory, like Constantine's; and unchanging, like a constant — the reference point around which everything gathers.
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The essay is based on the work on the translation of the sticheron "Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross" by Maria Smyslova (Millionshchikova), Maria the Artisan, 27 September 2026 (M.I.).