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284 GERHARD PODSKALSKYcanon of prayer expresses a similar wish encompassing all other desires ofthe heart: to become the "imitator of Christ." 60 With this, the ideal of theimitatio becomes the central point of Kirill's spiritual aspirations and standsabove all other motivating factors.As examples of the imitatio Christi in the pain of martyrdom, the KievanChronicle depicts the death of the two princes, Igor' Ol'govich (d. 1147)and Andrei Bogoliubskii (d. 1174). 61 Like Christ, Igor' tells his murderersthat they are about to kill him as they would a thief (Matt. 26:55), and thatthey know not what they do (Luke 23: 34). Along with the reference to thenakedness of birth and death (the tearing off of the monk's habit; cf. Job1:21) there are even overtones of the classical theme of monastic mysticismin the imitatio. Before he dies, Igor' can still repeat Christ's last words:"Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 34:46). In thedescription of Prince Andrei's murder, the comparison of the ringleaderwith Judas, the betrayer of Christ, is noteworthy. Even before he dies, inhis prayers the prince recalls the bloody atonement of his Lord for theredemption of sinners; like a "lamb without blemish" (Exod. 12:5), hecommends his soul to God. The similarity to Christ's Passion is clearlyintentional, at least on the part of the chroniclers. As early as in the reportof the martyrdom of the two saints, prince-martyrs, and sufferers (strastoterptsy),Boris and Gleb, we find the image of the "slaughter of the(defenseless) sacrificial lamb" central to the interpretive scheme; their participationin Christ's Passion is further characterized by an anticipation offorgiving their murderers, following the example of the Redeemer. 62 Theliturgical office (Sluzhba) of the Feast of the Translation that is dedicated toBoris and Gleb intensifies the comparison with Christ's Passion by addingthat the two brothers not only realized a radical imitatio Christi (Matt.10: 21), but that they also let themselves be killed by their own brother. 63Briefer allusions to the topos of the imitatio can also be found in the OldRus' lives of the confessors. The life of Feodosii was determined bypoverty, humility, and labor in the imitatio Christi even before he entered60On editions and bibliography, see Podskalsky, Christentum, pp. 241, 243, 245.61PSRL, 2 (St. Petersburg, 1908; 2nd ed.: Moscow, 1962):345-54, 580-95; see Podskalsky,Christentum, pp. 224, 228.62On editions and bibliography, see Podskalsky, Christentum, p. 110 (Skazanie), p. 114(Chtenie); also see Freydank, "Die altrussische Hagiographie," p. 81. This particular motif isalready mentioned in the account of the Primary Chronicle: Podskalsky, Christentum, p. 212(with fn. 943).63Podskalsky, Christentum, p. 233 (on the edition, p. 235).