Transitions Online_Around the Bloc-Georgian, Russian Church Leaders Discuss Abkhaz Schism
Georgia and Russia have no diplomatic relations, but their Orthodox churches remain on friendly terms.
More...We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.
Georgia and Russia have no diplomatic relations, but their Orthodox churches remain on friendly terms.
More...
The legislator in the Code of Canon Law of 1983 states that those who have received sacred orders are qualified, according to the norm of the prescripts of the law, for the power of governance, which exists in the Church by divine institution. Lay members of the Christian faithful can cooperate in the exercise of this same power according to the norm of law (can. 129). In the article the author analyzes the basics of the cooperation of faithful lay faithful in the power of governance and their participation in the collegial organs of the particular Church, i.e. the finance council, the pastoral council and the mediation council.
More...
Orthodox bishop denies anti-Semitic overtones in remarks about ‘ritual murder’ of last czar and his family.
More...
The paper is based on the field research in the area of Ladovica village, Vlasotince Municipality. The subject of this research is a Serbian custom which refers to paying respects to the souls of the deceased - All Souls' Day, the aim of which is to determine the differences that occurred in time by comparison. Respondents, the residents of this village, talk about customs related to All Souls' Day, remembering the past. They testify that Ladovica village did not allow the customs used by their ancestor, which they spread to their descendants now, to fall into oblivion. Family members of the deceased in this village continue to respect certain rituals, whereby, in their belief, they are provide with fertility, peace, and life, which in many situations depends on their ancestors. However, it turned out that some customs were modified; namely, the inhabitants unconsciously accepted new trends imposed by modern life.
More...
The paper discusses the Christian symbolism in the F.M. Dostoevsky’s novel “Notes from Under-ground”. In particular, it deals with the relation between the spiritual experience of the writer and the art form of their works. The paper reveals the development of the Christian symbolic worldview of M.F. Dostoevsky during the writing of “Notes from Underground” and “Crime and Punishment”, as well as discusses the features of the Christian symbolism in its distinction from the sign. The conclusion has been made about the supreme nature of the Christian character. Therefore, the concept of ascetic symbolism which assumes the symbolic structure of the inner world of a person and their consciousness has been introduced. The symbolic structure of consciousness has been revealed through the distinction between two levels of consciousness (primary and secondary). The following methods have been used: approaches of the historical-cultural and comparative academic schools.
More...
Today, when the Romanian society has reached a real crisis caused by the loss of the authentic moral values and when the religious attitude fades away, especially when we think of the decisions taken by the public institutions and not only, decisions which influence people's life, the Church shows that It is ready to keep the communion and its final beneficiary - the citizen. A relationship as such is based on the common faith in God.
More...
Lord Jesus Christ came into the world as Light, so that “whosoever believeth on Him should not abide in darkness” (John 12, 46). The children of Light receive His words as food and taste of the eternal life, as “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4, 4).
More...
Among the main discoveries concerning the literary activity of Maxim the Greek is the identification of the series of items written by him in Greek. By now we can be quite sure that our Hagiorite even during his sojourn in Muscovy composed a great number of his works simultaneously in Greek and in Church Slavonic. Basing on the newly discovered facts several specialists have made an ill-founded conclusion that the total corpus of Maxim’s writings should be considered as the phenomenon of post-Byzantine literary activity. However during the years the Hagiorite was kept in Muscovy the self-identification of the writer changed considerably. By the end of the 1530th when Maxim the Greek was allowed to continue his literary work his purpose was to declare his orthodoxy in every possible way. Therefore he started to compose one after another the volumes of his selected works. Doing it he tried to imitate the patristic tradition and at the same time he tried to be in the mainstream of the Muscovite ideology of his time. The popularity of the manuscripts composed of his writings and the authority of his personality prove Maxim’s opera were considered to be the natural part of Muscovite literary tradition.
More...
Ivan Panayev’s story “The Daughter of a High Official” and Vladimir Odoyevsky’s story “The Painter” were published in the journal “Otechestvennye Zapiski” (“Domestic notes”) in 1839. The plots of these stories are similar to each other. The events take place in St. Petersburg of that time. The key problems put forward in them are creative work, expression of the ideal, discovering and maintenance of the artistic identity despite the misunderstanding and pressure of the “crowd”. However, in spite of being formally similar these stories demonstrate that behind the external religiosity there is philosophy and worldview that are not absolutely Christian by character, and the text of an apparent romantic character conceals Orthodox values. Thus, if at first sight Odoyevsky’s story resembles German Romanticism, the study of the poetics of “The Painter” discloses the deep worldview and spiritual ties of the writer with Orthodoxy. In the story of Panayev a Christian tradition gets exposed. The direct introduction of the gospel text into the narration makes it possible to ennoble “positive” characters and to give solemnity to the narration. However, Fichtian Philosophy and the cult of a creative personality is affirmed in Panayev’s story. It brings him to the philosophy of Romanticism and alienated from Christianity. The conflict between the artist and the “crowd” in Panayev’s story takes a social subtext, thus, foretelling the development of the “natural school”.
More...
The subject of research is the motif of donary, the object of study is a series of “Christmas stories” by N. S. Leskov. The research paper envisages the content, functions, manifestations of the motif of giving gifts in the gospel story of the Nativity, in Christmas cultural traditions. Versions of the motif of donary, its types, gifts and donations are systematized in the yuletide stories of Leskov. The motif of gift-giving accomplishes various artistic functions such as: formation of the subject, characters, typologization. The motif of donation is cross-cutting in the whole of the series of yuletide stories and plays a cycle formative role. A gift-giving motif is seen by Leskov as an important way of depicting social and cultural domains including functional culture and daily life of the characters. The key function of the gift-giving motif is formation of the Christmas contextual content in Leskov’s yuletide stories characterized, as it is known, by the representation of common (worldly) situations, absence and/ or revealing of mysticism, often by their humorous connotation etc. The gift-giving motif becomes a means of presenting Christmas semantics that enriches Leskov’s texts with Christian motifs, images, symbols and concepts.
More...
The concept of lie corresponds in Dostoevsky’s novel “The Demons” with the concepts of truth /Verity, indicating a hidden connection of the novel with the gospel texts, in isolation from which it is impossible to perceive the deep meaning of this work. In the novel the word “Verity” is often used in the context of the concepts “faith” and “people”. These concepts reside in the conception of soil that forms the basis of the theory of pochvennichestvo, and are related to the Messianic idea of Russia. Based on false notions actions and words of the characters-“demons” (Stavrogin, Pyotr Verkhovensky and the other members of the revolutionary cells) overlap and interact with actions and words of Shatov, a “new man” who accepted the Verity of Christ. Dostoevsky constantly puts the questions before the reader: where is truth and what is it? what is Verity? The article comes to the conclusion that “lie” and “truth” as such in the novel “Demons” are not antagonistic, but serve to make visible the evangelical Verity in the novel.
More...
Historically, the Gospel motif (a message about salvation of the mankind) appeared in various genres of Christian literature. Today in literary studies it becomes urgent to study not only the textual parallels with the Gospel, but also the world model embodied in a literary text. The subject of this study is the Gospel motif and artistic tools of its embodying into the corpus of the N. S. Gumilyov’s works. While analyzing Gumilyov’s works (poem “Prodigal son”, poetic drama “Gondla”, poem “The Second Сanzone” and “The townlet”) the debate between the representatives of Russian modernism is taken into account. Having mastered the school of symbolist poetics, Gumilyov in his works implements another conception of earthly existence, not opposed to spirituality. Gumilyov’s “Poetic sermon” of the enlightened existence is analyzed in the context of his polemic with the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The article shows that the Gospel motif has become one of the key motifs of Gumilyov’s works since 1911. It affects the choice of stories and images, brings together the writings of different genres, reveals in their aesthetics the Christian image of the world, values and ethics. In the poetics of the works one can see a conceptual meaning of a newfound Eden as an element of the worldview.
More...
The propaganda posters in “Segodnyashniy lubok” and “Windows of satire of the Russian Telegraph Agency (Okna ROSTA) and Glavpolitprosvet” series are similar both in visual and verbal sense. Many artistic principles, first invented for the World War I posters by V. V. Mayakovsky, K. S. Malevich, D. D. Burlyuk, V. N. Chekrygin, I. I. Mashkov, and A. V. Lentulov were developed further in the posters of the Civil War and early Soviet Republic period (1919 to 1922) by V. V. Mayakovsky, I. A. Malyutin, A. M. Lavinsky, A. S. Levin, O. M. Brik, and others. One of the features characteristic for both was the use of symbols derived from the Bible and Russian icons. And while its presence was moderate in the war-time posters (showing the contrast between the enemy and the Soviet heroes by means of color and dynamics, usage of the three-color set characteristic for Russian icons, some more elements of an icon), it is much more pronounced in “Windows of satire of the Russian Telegraph Agency (Okna ROSTA) and Glavpolitprosvet”. They are abundant with quotes from the Bible (e.g. “light of truth”, “sun of truth”), follow the solemn style of the Psalms, and borrow the color and composition from the icons extensively. By these means Mayakovsky stressed the importance of the workers’ and peasants’ cause and raised the mundane work of rebuilding the post-war economy to the level of the quest for the Promised Land.
More...
The significance of this research paper derives from the little coverage of the poetics of Volkov’s prison camp prose. The article deals with the analysis of the role of the Evangelical Counsels in forming of the moral image of a Soviet citizen and the ideology of the socialist system in Oleg Volkov’s autobiographic novel “Sinking into Darkness” (1987). The research paper examines the peculiarities of transformation of human’s spiritual state under conditions of the totalitarian system and camp confinement. The images of righteous men, bearers of Christian virtues, their place and function in the society of that time are analyzed. It has also been ascertained that the Evangelical Counsels are represented by Volkov as the most important base of any political and social system, as a measure of human spirituality and a reason for country’s spiritual renovation, the crucial role in which belongs to the community of believers. Some positive experience of familiarization with the moral ups under conditions of the unfreedom of a totalitarian society, more specifically the prison camp can be fixed. This historical movement is defined as the Way of the Cross, which leads to the spiritual renovation of Russia.
More...
The article offers the analysis of functions and symbols in one of the writings of modern spiritual prose, the story “The spring of soul. Life scenes of Ann, the servant of God” by E. Dombrovskaya. Based upon the Orthodox traditions the author gradually follows a criterium that separates spiritual and clerical aspects of a Christian’s life, reveals the experience of step-by-step “heart purification”. The dreams interpreted by the author within the patristic learning play a role of a descriptive and symbolic analog of the character’s spiritual experience. The dreams are revelation on the implication of bygones. These dreams are systematized, unified by a cross-cutting topic of the orthodox Christian’s way of life and are meaningfully and structurally included in Ann’s ascetic experience, her stepwise way of attainment of humility and “spiritual gifts”. The author avoids “deviations” towards the aspects of human soulfulness. The dreams partly show character`s psychological wellbeing. They become the signs of God’s will, related to destinies of Orthodoxy in Russia. All the dreams are filled with Christian symbols such as the cross, Jacob’s ladder, communion cup and the cup of affliction, church, icons, icon frameworks, images of the Saviour and Holy Virgin, Saint Sergius of Radonezh and Saint Prince Vladimir. The key meaning belongs to theme images of cross, heart and spilled blood. They are seen as the principal reference points on a Christian’s way and as a guarantee, an antidote against “pharisaical mind”. Dreams as the harbingers of the “unseen world” are closely connected with an epiphanical principle in depicting.
More...
The study focuses on understanding the main determinants of the formation of Ukrainian identity in Galicia. Namely, the influence of external factors of a denominational nature in the process of identifying the Galicians, who were at a crossroads among Russophilism, Poloniaphilism, Austro - Russism and Ukrainophilism. Methodology. The methodology includes using of comparative and axiological methods. The studying of changes in culture as the results of intercultural contacts and knowledge of the values of a certain cultural community in their connection with an objective reality are analysed by the author. Scientific novelty. Scientific novelty of work consists in generalization from the point of view of Cultural studies the main reasons for the victory of the Ukrainian identity amongst Galicians, as a result of intercultural interaction, in this case Russian expansion in the form of the Orthodox identification. Conclusions. The main external factor influencing the formation of modern Ukrainian identity in Galicia was antagonistic situation in Europe and the attempts of the Russian Empire to undermine Austria-Hungary using as a weapon, religious affiliation of the Galicians. Its implementation failed owing to transformation of consciousness of European society in the modern era when religious identity became secondary and was approved by the national one. For approval of Ukrainian identity in Galicia it had significant consequences, as evidenced by the further activity of the Greek Catholic Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky.
More...
The purpose of the article is to define the distinctive features in the folk trend of the Ukrainian Church embroidery of XVII–XVIII centuries. The rich collection of the embroidery artifacts at the National Kyiv Pechersk Historical and Cultural Reserve was taken as the basis for our research. Methodology. The methodology included the use of the historical systematic method to delineate the all-inclusive characteristics of the folk tradition development in the Ukrainian Church embroidery of XVII–XVIII centuries. The typology definition method was used to classify the embroidered items according to the manner in which the art folklore affected their embroidery. Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of the article is the fact that the author is the first to research the stylistic peculiarities of Ukrainian Church embroidery of XVII – XVIII centuries, determined the folk understanding of religious image. Conclusions. The Folk tradition was an important factor affecting the formation of iconic language of the Ukrainian embroidery of XVII–XVIII centuries. The embroidered artifacts of that period could be provisionally divided into the following three groups: the products of the leading embroidery centers, which followed strictly the Eastern Christianity iconography with little affection of the Folk aesthetics; the second group includes the embroidery artifacts produced by the provincial workshops. The latter are distinct by the emphasized archaic approach and simplification of the canons. And the last group is characterized by the primitive features of embroidery produced by the peasants
More...
The purpose of the research is to systematize information about the works of Odessa composers of the second half of the XXth – beginning of the XXIst century, who appealed to the Catholic liturgical genres and characterization of masses by A. Tomlionova and O. Poliovy, representative of the demonstration of approaches to the interpretation of genres of Catholic liturgical tradition by contemporary representatives of Odessa school of composition. Methodology of research is the use of historical, cultural and analytical methods. This approach allows to highlight some figures of Odessa school of composition as representatives of Ukrainian cultural space, which is multidenominational and open for experiments concerning the interpretation of genres of Catholic liturgical tradition. The scientific novelty of the research is to highlight the tradition of interpretation of Catholic Church genres by artists of Odessa school of composers from the middle of the twentieth century to nowadays. For the first time ever the paper studies «Solemn Mass» by O. Poliovy and offered a new view on the mass by A. Tomlionova in the context of the musical culture of postmodernism. Conclusions. Considering the creative achievements of the contemporary composers of Odessa school, it is worth noting their constant interest to the genres of Latin liturgical tradition. Special aspects of their interpretation consists in a free approach to the liturgical texts, from which a composer, according to the plan, selects fragments that serve as signs only indicating the tradition, but not subordinate to it as the works were conceived not as liturgical but the concert ones. Such approach is due to the specific postmodern thinking, and peculiarities of the religious map of Ukraine with prevalence of Orthodox denomination, according to which the majority of Ukrainian artists are bystanders of Catholic tradition, but not its representatives. In the works of Ukrainian composers, there is also a tendency to preserve the Orthodox identity while applying to the Catholic liturgical genres through stylistic allusions to the Orthodox music and focus on the prominent world masterpieces of the Catholic music, which reflect this tradition.
More...
The purpose of the research. The study analyses some aspects of the development of sacral symbolism of khachkars. It describes the historical traditions, which have influenced the development of the symbolic field of khachkars and defines the basic types of symbols and historical transformations of their interpretation. It allows to conclude, that the formation of a sacral field of khachkars was a result of synthesis of Armenian pre-Christian and Christian traditions. The methodology of research includes methods of comparative analysis and synthesis, historicity and contextuality and also a method of iconological analysis. Scientific novelty of research consists in the accurate formulation of the thesis about binding and accumulating function of khachkars, who were the major link of preservation and transfer of sacred Tradition and its substantiation. Conclusions. Khachkars are thoughtful evident demonstration of fundamental laws of a Universe and sacral embodiment of the idea of immortality through passage through The Nether (death) and rebirth to "the life eternal". Their main task was to direct through symbols to the supernatural, to the Higher Being, because the nature of symbols influences people who do not have an idea about their true sacral meaning. The natural assumption is that this complicated high art of creation of khachkars was purposefully developed and transferred by the masters, who knew the Tradition and who wished to keep and transfer it to the following generations, which that most likely happened in the professional (craft) unions.
More...
The purpose of the research is to study Baptism of Kievan Rus' and the gradual spread of Christianity as a factor of transformation of popular views on the "zalozhny" dead. The methodology of this research is based on the historical- cultural approach, which allows to consider the mentioned above views as an element of traditional culture system taking place in various historical periods (pre-Christian and Christian eras); the activity approach, which allows to review the category of human substantive work, specifically mythopoetic texts as well as funeral and memorial traditions. The scientific novelty of this work lies in definition of Baptism of Kievan Rus' and gradual spread of Christianity as the first factor of transformation of views on the "zalozhny" dead category. During XI-XIX centuries as a result of Christianization process we can see a transition from peremptory social ostracism and utilization of dead bodies by throwing them out to wastelands and marshlands to a collective burial of "zalozhny" dead in unhallowed lands ("skoudelnytsya") without burial service, but with some kind of a public dirge. Conclusions. We consider the spread of Christianity on the territory of Kievan Rus' as the overriding factor among those which caused transformation of folk views on the "zalozhny" category of dead, with change of worldview as a main lever for this transformation. The status and meaning of these views were modified: while they had been a natural part of thanatic views in pre-Christian period and had served as a live and functioning part of a mythological knowledge, as well as a living reality for a mythological consciousness carrier, with the spread of Christianity they existed as a part of syncretic popular beliefs, stopped being intransigent and peremptory, and were gradually displaced by the Christian teaching. A complex transition from the mythological worldview to the Christian religion is represented in Ukrainian folklore texts, which share elements of both worldview systems at the same time.
More...