«The Legend of the Virgin’s Assumption» as the literary monument of the transition period

The paper is devoted to the research into the literary nature of the liturgical work, personally edited by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The monument is considered in the context of the transitional processes affecting the Russian literature of the second half of the 17th century. An emphasis is put on the aspects of «the Tsar’s» edition of the monument that distinguish it from the well-known canonical versions of «The Legend of the Virgin’s Assumption».