Orthodox Christianity in Imperial Russia: A Source Book on Lived Religion

348 Pages·2014·6.8 MB·English

by  Heather J. Coleman

Orthodox Christianity
in Imperial Russia
Orthodox
Christianity in
Imperial Russia
A Source Book on Lived Religion
Edited by Heather J. Coleman
Indiana University Pr ess Bloomington & Indianapolis
Tis book is a publication of Manufactured in the
United States of America
Indi a na Univer sit y Pr ess
Ofce of Scholarly Publishing Library of Congress
Herman B Wells Library 350 Cataloging-in-Publication Data
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA Orthodox Christianity in imperial
Russia : a source book on lived religion /
iupress.indiana.edu edited by Heather J. Coleman.
pages cm
Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Some materials translated from the
Fax orders 812-855-7931 Russian.
Includes bibliographical references
© 2014 by Indiana University Press and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-01313-2 (cloth : alk. pa-
All rights reserved per) – ISBN 978-0-253-01317-0 (pbk. : alk.
paper) – ISBN 978-0-253-01318-7 (ebook)
No part of this book may be reproduced 1. Christianity – Russia. 2. Christianity
or utilized in any form or by any means, – Russia – History – Sources. 3. Christian
elect ronic or mechanical, including life – Russia. 4. Spiritual life – Russkaia
photoc opying and recording, or by pravoslavnaia tserkov'. 5. Russkaia
any information storage and retrieval pravoslavnaia tserkov' – Russia. 6.
system, without permission in writing Sermons, Russian. 7. Miracles – Russia.
from the publisher. Te Association of I. Coleman, Heather J., [date] editor of
American University Presses’ Resolution compilation.
on Permissions constit utes the only BR935.5.O78 2014
exception to this prohibition. 281.9’47 – dc23

∞ Te paper used in this publication meets 2014001386
the minimum requirements of the Amer-
ic an National Standard for Information
Sciences–Permanence of Paper for Print-
ed Library Materials, A NSI Z39.48–1992. 1 2 3 4 5 19 18 17 16 15 14
Contents
· Acknowledgments · vii
· A Note on Spellings and Dates · ix
· Maps · x
· I ntroduction: Faith and Story in Imperial Russia
Heather J. Coleman · 1
1 T e Miraculous Healing of the Mute Sergei Ivanov,
22 February 1833 · Christine D. Worobec · 22
2 T e Miraculous Revival and Death of Princess
Anna Fedorovna Golitsyna, 22 May 1834
Christine D. Worobec · 31
3 M onastic Incarceration in Imperial Russia
A. J. Demoskof · 43
4 L eters to and from Russian Orthodox Spiritual
Elders (Startsy) · Irina Paert · 58
5 S ermons of the Crimean War · Mara Kozelsky · 72
6 T e Diary of a Priest · Laurie Manchester · 85
7 “ Another Voice from the Lord”: An Orthodox Sermon
on Christianity, Science, and Natural Disaster
Nicholas Breyfogle · 95
8 A Ukrainian Priest’s Son Remembers His Father’s
Life and Ministry · Heather J. Coleman · 107
vi Contents
9 A kathist to the Most Holy Birth-Giver of God in Honor of Her
Miracle-Working Icon Named “Kazan” · Vera Shevzov · 131
10 A Nineteenth-Century Life of St. Stefan of Perm (c. 1340–96)
Robert H. Greene · 139
11 W riten Confessions to Father John of Kronstadt, 1898–1908
Nadieszda Kizenko · 152
12 An Obituary of Priest Ioann Mikhailovich Orlovskii
Laurie Manchester · 172
13 N ot Something Ordinary, but a Great Mystery: Old Believer
Ritual in the Late Imperial Period · Roy R. Robson · 184
14 Orthodox Petitions for the Transfer of the Holy Relics
of St. Stefan of Perm, 1909 · Robert H. Greene · 192
15 Dechristianization in Holy Rus? Religious Observance in
Vladimir Diocese, 1900–1913 · Gregory L. Freeze · 208
16 P etitions to the Holy Synod Regarding Miracle-
Working Icons · Vera Shevzov · 229
17 M issionary Priests’ Reports from Siberia
Aileen Friesen · 249
18 P etitions to “Brother Ioann” Churikov, 1914
Page Herrlinger · 262
19 A rchimandrite Toviia (Tsymbal), Prior of the
Trinity-Sergius Lavra: Memoirs and Diaries (Selections)
Scot M. Kenworthy · 269
20 “From Ignorance to Truth”: A Baptist Conversion Narrative
Heather J. Coleman · 288
· Glossary and Abbreviations · 313
· Further Reading · 315
· List of Contributors · 319
· Index · 321
Acknowledgments
This book h a s be en a tr a nsnationa l a n d coll ecti v e
efort from its inception, and it is a pleasure to thank the many people
who have made it possible.
My frst debt is to the contributors who responded so enthusiasti-
cally to my initial proposal and have shaped my thinking about lived
Orthodoxy in imperial Russia. I thank them all for their interesting con-
tributions, but also for help in conceptualizing the project, for reading
drafs of the introduction, for answering innumerable questions about
Orthodox theology and practice, and for helping to solve various transla-
tion puzzles.
I am grateful to colleagues in Russia who assisted with the acquisi-
tion of copies of archival and published documents and images, includ-
ing Alexander Polunov and Ksenia Sak in Moscow, Pavel Rogoznyi, Irina
Poltavskaia, and Boris Kolonitskii in St. Petersburg, Oksana Mykhed in
Kyiv, and the very helpful staf of the State Archive of Vladimir Oblast.
Contributors frst presented their work to one another at a work-
shop, “Faith and Story in Imperial Russia,” held at the University of
Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, on October 1–2, 2010. I am grateful to the
Canada Research Chairs Program, as well as the Department of His-
tory and Classics at the University of Alberta, for sponsoring that event.
Mariya Melentyeva provided logistical support and linguistic advice
during and afer the gathering. Even her family in Kharkiv got involved
in sorting out the mysteries of nineteenth-century Ukrainian agricul-
tural implements and other translation challenges! Many thanks to Mel-
anie Marvin of the Department of History and Classics for all her help
vii
viii Acknowledgments
with travel and local arrangements for the colloquium. I would also like
to thank cartographer Michael J. Fisher for his careful professionalism.
Janet Rabinowitch at Indiana University Press was enthusiastic about
the project from the start. I am grateful for her sound advice and for shep-
herding the manuscript through the contract stage. Many thanks also
to the “anonymous” readers, Paul Vallière and Patrick Lally Michelson,
for their atentive reading of the manuscript and their valuable and en-
couraging comments. Afer Janet’s retirement, Dee Mortensen took over
the project with grace. I thank her, production editor Michelle Sybert,
and copyeditor Candace McNulty for their careful work to prepare the
manuscript for publication.
And fnally, because they are the ones I really get up for in the morn-
ing, I would like to thank my husband, François Bégin, and our children,
Nicolas and Anne, for their support and love.
A Note on Spellings and Dates
We have pr eserved the geogr aphic ter ms in the for m
they are given in the sources. Tus, Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv or
Kharkiv are rendered as Kiev or Kharkov in the text. Where a standard
English-language form is accepted, such as for the Dnieper River, we have
followed it. For simplicity, sof-signs in place names have been dropped.
All dates are given in the Julian Style used in prerevolutionary Rus-
sia. In the nineteenth century, these dates were twelve days behind the
Gregorian calendar used in western Europe and North America.
Biblical quotations are rendered in English using the Revised Stan-
dard Version. Te psalms were numbered diferently in the Russian
Bible. We have indicated this where relevant.
ix