Prayers and Spells Against Unholy and Evil Spirits in a Nineteenth-Century Prayer Canon

Author(s): Ivona Karachorova / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

In this article, the object or research is a block of six apocryphal prayers from the end of the 18th or the beginning of the 19th century. Among them, there are several prayer charms, of which two are supposedly written by Basil the Great, and four by John Chrysostom. On the basis of four transcripts in manuscripts from SS Cyril and Methodius National Library in Sofia, the inclusion of this block of prayers into prayer canons against evil spirits and demons, which have a diverse composition and are composed according to the regulations of the Orthodox Church, is traced. Among the above-mentioned prayers, for the first time, prohibitive prayers are attested, which so far have not been included in the classification of apocryphal prayers.

Zusammenfassungen

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): German Issue: 3/2002

Summaries of the articles in the issue.

Table of Contents - 1/2002 issue

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2002

ToC: 2002, issue 1 In Bulgarian and English

Водата – граница

Author(s): Georgi Gerov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2002

Богородица – Хестия

Author(s): Elena Popova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2002

Дългия живот на един мит. (Житийния цикъл на Йосиф Прекрасни в галерията на църквата "Рождество Христово" в Арбанаси)

Author(s): Margarita Kuyumdzhieva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2002

Кивот (ковчег) за мощи от Германския маннстир край София

Author(s): Elena Genova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2001

Пътят на хаджията. Структурата на една изложба

Author(s): Svetla Moskova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2001

За няколко възрожденски щампи от Арбанаси

Author(s): Diana Kosseva-Toteva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2001

Символика на ламята в средновековната българска дърворезба

Author(s): Valentin Angelov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2001

Although intended for the Christian temple, ecclesiastical woodcarving represents compositions influenced by the Folklore and the ancient Eastern mythology. It contains images of sirens, unicorns, centaurs, sphinxes, etc., but the lamias (dragons) are the most interesting among them. They appear on the royal gates, by the Crucifix, on the columns and woodcarving panels, etc. These teratological motifs offer very different mythological-folklore interpretations: the lamias as apotropaic sign, as chtonic creature, representing the great Mother-Earth, as one participant of the dual nature of the world, etc. Only in the late iconosthasis (the end of the 19th century and during the 20 century) the lamia appears according to the orthodox Christian ideas as a symbol of evil or Satan, but that means the end of the great epoch of the ecclesiastical woodcarving and its symbolic importance.

Реставратор или изкуствовед (Двете хипостази на Любен Прашков)

Author(s): Elka Bakalova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2001

The relation between the immanence and transcendence within the religious imaginary in Sandu Tudor’s akathist-hymns

Author(s): Carmen Ciornea / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

The topic approached in this study involves identifying the particular notes of Father Daniil Sandu Tudor’s akathist-hymns, mystic poet (neohymnologist) of the Romanian Orthodox Church - by applying a hermeneutic from the perspective of iconic anthropology structure. The fact that the akathist-hymns were accepted by the Romanian Orthodox Church in her liturgical corpus and are thus enjoying the status of sacredness, specific to the religious texts, requires the identification of appropriate ways of reception of this type of creation. Knowledge, in the neo hymnologist poet’s point of view, does not have much in common with the exercise of reason because the ultimate goal is deification. But even if you take the world transcendental teleological support, it can be achieved only by our way of thinking and behaving in the real world. The relation between immanence and transcendence clearly derives both from the dual nature of Jesus Christ and God’s Trinitarian status. The sacrificial and redemptive Cross - Christian symbol and sacral value - necessarily requires the supreme sacrifice model, which is the one of the Savior’s crucifixion, model that intermediates the relation between heaven and earth, between immanence and transcendence.

God’s immanency in Abraham’s response to revelation: from providence to omnipresence

Author(s): Tudor Cosmin Ciocan / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

My assertion is that God’s biblical image may not reflect entirely His existence in itself as well as His revealed image. Even if God in Himself is both transcendent and immanent at the same time, and He is revealing accordingly in the history of humankind, still the image of God constructed in the writings of the Old Testament is merely the perspective made upon God by His followers to whom the He has revealed. That could be the reason why for centuries God’s biblical image seems to emphasize more His immanence, starting with Pentateuch, where God cohabites with Adam on Earth, then He reveals Himself to Abraham and Moses and so on. Somewhere, after the Babylonian exile, the image suffers slightly differences tilting towards God’s transcendence. In a path already created and grounded by Israel’s ancestors, even this new color of transcendence bears the nuances of immanence. How can this be possible? Let’s take a look on the revelation received by Abraham from God and see how this can fit the profile. Instead of the transcendence of God regarded by others in the differentness of Yahweh appointed by Abraham in his walking out of Mesopotamia, I will prove otherwise, that Abraham is on the contrary proving God’s immanency in this very differentness of His in relation with other gods by providence and omnipresence, indwelling His creation.

Congruence of rituals and theatre.

Author(s): Tudor Cosmin Ciocan / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2015

I have started this research as a response to a pejorative question that religious rituals are merely theatrical, and the personnel involved nothing else but actors; beyond this there is nothing any religion suggests, e.g. healing, divine touch, blessings et.al. This paper is about rituals and their meanings and roles played as in social drama and theatre play. Considering the relationship between ritual and theatre to be reciprocal I will use their functions to evaluate the process of religious ceremonies and the role they play for adherents/participants, as if they would be attending a play. Religious Studies and Drama joint study offers the opportunity to combine two complementary humanities subjects, as both drama and religion are mainstays of cultural practice.

Scientific Consensus, Public Perception and Religious Beliefs

Author(s): Mihai A. Gîrţu,Tudor Cosmin Ciocan / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2014

Starting from the recent public debate over global warming we discuss the scientific consensus and public perception on climate issues. We then turn to the ongoing debate on diets and nutrition, comparing scientific perspectives, public views and religious standpoints.

Post-Pope: A postcolonial approach to religious pluralism in Argentina

Author(s): Miguel M. Algranti / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2014

In this paper I will review the impact of the designation of Jorge Bergoglio as the Catholic Pope on the field of religious heterodoxies in Argentina. From a post-colonial approach, i will consider his designation within the historical relations between the State and the Catholic Church in South America and its capacity to organize one of the most hegemonic and constitutional socio symbolic frames in which religious practices and beliefs struggle for legitimation and negotiates their position on Argentina’s religious field. In this context the concept of religious pluralism, proposed by the social sciences, operates as a device that regulates and administrates religious diversity rather than protecting it.

Българо-румънски колоквиум „На север и на юг от Дунав: търговци, мисионери, пътешественици (ХV–ХVІІІ век)“

Author(s): Penka Danova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 31/2015

Porażka Ojca

Author(s): Maciej A. Sosnowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2 (7)/2015

The father is a dialectical figure. Taking C. Schmitt’s “state of exception” as a point of departure and drawing from G. Agamben’s and W. Hamacher’s analyses, I would like to present in my article the sense of this figure in the context of Hegelian speculation. Although “father’s” tendency appears to be a tendency towards the fullness of identity and pleroma, yet, it hides in itself negativity which cannot be eradicated and which condemns it to unresolvable ambiguity; whereas this ambiguity must lead to the sublation of “metaphysically” understood “fatherhood” for the sake of love.

Житието на Рада Пловдивска и националното еманципиране на българите през Възраждането

Author(s): Maria Levkova-Muchinova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1-2/2014

The article is dedicated to a written monument from the time of the Bulgarian Revival, which is relatively little known to scientists – Life of St. Rada of Plovdiv written by Hadji Dimitar Panichkov. It seeks the place of this literary monument in the context of hagiographic literature created in the XIX century, and among other literary interpretations of the legend. Life of St. Martyr Rada of Plovdiv is not only a literary monument from the nineteenth century, but also an interesting source of information about important events and persons in the history of the city during the 1820’s and 1830’s, and in a broader context – about the historical environment in which Bulgarians build their national identity. It is a valuable documentary evidence of the mentality of Bulgarians from the time of their National Revival. Between attempts at reforms in the empire, military conflicts and liberation movements of the neighboring Balkan nations Bulgarians obtained their national emancipation, with their saints, heroes and role models, national myths and national identity based on them.

Jarosław Woźniak. Rozwój mediów w przekazie wiary w archidiecezji lubelskiej po roku 1989. Wydawnictwo Gaudium, Lublin 2015 ss. 250.

Author(s): Mirosław Chmielewski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2015

In his monograph entitled Development of the media at the service of faithtransmittance in the Archdiocese of Lublin after 1989, Rev. dr Jarosław Woźniakaims to answer the main research question of how the Archdiocese of Lublin hasresponded to the contemporary challenges of media communication. The methodologyhe uses relies on the pastoral paradigm, with its three cornerstone principles:to observe – to assess – to act. The way in which the author of the monographapproaches the exploration of his research material leads him to assume a tri‑partitestructure of his text.Apart from these three core components, the monograph also includes an introduction,conclusions, four annexes and a list of references. Chapter one offersa synthetic outline of the teaching of the Catholic church on mass media. Chapter2 relies on archive materials and the sources created by the author of the monograph.Both these sources are used in order to depict the evolution of the activitiesundertaken by the Archdiocese of Lublin in the domain of media communication.Chapter 3 lists recommendations and tasks for the future development of theArchdiocesan media in the evangelizing activities of the Church. The monographalso includes a vast archival documentation, which is divided into four annexes.A definite advantage of the monograph is that it presents an outline of the historicalevolution of the Archdiocesan media and that it develops valuable practicalrecommendations, which are worth elaborating an extrapolating on the area ofpastoral practices in the domain of media.