THE ATTITUDE OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH TO THE HUMAN PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT PERIOD

The article deals with the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church to the human prenatal development. Due to the increase of high reproductive technologies application around the world including Russia the Russian Orthodox Church admits the necessity of stating its own opinion of the human embryo value. The research is based on the analysis of hagiographical materials, biblical texts, liturgical tradition, church iconography, patristic heritage. The paper concludes that the Russian Church considers the human Embryo to be an absolute value. The most convincing evidence can be found in hagiography. For instance the life of St. Sergius of Radonezh says that God has chosen the great man of faith in his mother's womb. As for patristic heritage many years ago Holy Fathers taught that a child leads its own spiritual life in his/her mother's womb. As Athenagoras writes the embryo in the mother's womb is a living being who is under the God's care. The most convincing proof that the Russian Church has always regarded the antenatal life as human and individual is liturgical tradition. Among the Russian religious holidays are not only the holidays like the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God, John the Forerunner, Our Lord Jesus Christ but also the holidays of their conception. There are a lot of monasteries and cathedrals sanctified in honour of these events. Biblical basis of the Russian Church proof of conception as the beginning of human life is Gospel of Luke (1:41-44) describing the meeting of Lady Mary and Righteous Elizabeth. The Book of Psalms of David the King and the Prophet says about every person as the God's creature known by the God even in the mother's womb. Iconographic tradition knows the icons Conception of the Most Holy Mother of God, Conception of St. Ann, Conception of John the Forerunner. Thus the Russian Church highly respects a human life from the moment of conception assuming that an embryo formed or unformed is a true human being shaped in the image of God. The proof is found in the liturgical tradition, gospel narratives, hagiography and church iconography