The lives of saints have long been the main content of the Menaia-Reading books—works of Russian Church history and spiritual teaching literature. Narratives about the lives of saints of the Orthodox Church are presented in the Menaia-Reading books in the order of months and days of each month. Of the four known works of this kind, the Menaia-Reading books by St. Demetrius of Rostov, written in Church Slavonic, since the 18th century served as the favorite reading of the Russian Orthodox people.