Sacred Image as a Local Patron? The Icon of St Nicholas of Mozhaisk in the Petseri Monastery in Setu Folklore
Sacred Image as a Local Patron? The Icon of St Nicholas of Mozhaisk in the Petseri Monastery in Setu Folklore

Summary/Abstract: The present article is an attempt to find reasons why a certain iconhas been of extraordinary importance in the religious life of local peasants. Is it due to the iconographic type with its connotations; were these known and possibly modified and accommodated according to the needs of worshippers? Is it due to the person of the saint depicted, his contamination with historical and mythological characters? Answers to these questions are sought from the folklore,beliefs and customs of the Setus, a Fenno-Ugric Orthodox group inhabiting the Southeast corner of Estonia, as well as from the travellers’ and clergy’s descriptions of the image of St Nicholas of Mozhaisk, located in the Petseri monastery.

• Details
• Contents