Narratives of outdoor services in non-clerical Orthodox communities in Tambov region (1960s – 1980s)
https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2026-1-65-84
Abstract
The article is devoted to the narratives of outdoor services (especially at holy wells) in Tambov region during the post-war years. These services were of particular importance for the Tambov region: as a result of Stalin’s repressions almost all churches have lost their clergy and church buildings were closed. Therefore, believers had to look for other places for worship services.
Furthermore, due to the fact that in this region there were many “true Orthodox Christians” who had never prayed in the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate – the custom of performing alternative services at holy wells arose in among them. Narratives of such services currently exist in non-clerical Orthodox communities in Tambov region.
Supporting agencies: The article was prepared as part of the “Traditional Communities in the Post-Secular Era” project with the support of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for the Humanities and the “Living Tradition” Foundation.
About the Author
P. G. Chistyakov
Russian State University for the Humanities;
Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox University of the Humanities
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Peter G. Chistyakov, Cand. оf Sci. (History), associate professor
6-6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125047
23b, Novokuznetskaya St., Moscow, 115184
References
1. Chebotarev, S.A. (2004), Tambovskaya eparkhiya 40–60 gg. XX v. [Tambov Diocese 1940–1960s], Yulis, Tambov, Russia.
2. Chistyakov, P.G. (2006), “The pilgrimage to the well in the ‘Kurskaya Korennaya pustin’’ in 1940–1950”, Religiovedenie, no. 1, pp. 38–49.
3. Chistyakov, P.G. (2006), “The veneration of miraculous icons in modern Orthodoxy (The Jerusalem Theotocos icon from Bronnitsy)”, in Russele, K. and Agadzhanyan, A., eds., Religioznye praktiki v sovremennoi Rossii: Sbornik statei [Religious practices in modern Russia. Collected articles], Novoe izdatel’stvo, Moscow, Russia, pp. 273–289.
4. Chistyakov, P.G. (2019), “The processions of the Cross with the Jerusalem Theotocos icon from Bronnitsy, Bogorodsk county of Moscow region”, Studia Religiosa Rossica: Russian Journal of Religion, no. 1, pp. 101–116.
5. Khun, U. (2012), “With icons and chants, or the Bishop who fled from his parishioners: Mass pilgrimages in Russia during the Stalin and Khrushchev eras”, Gosudarstvo, religiya, tserkov’ v Rossii i za rubezhom, vol. 30, no. 3–4, pp. 232–256.
6. Lavrov, А.S. (2000), “Witchcraft and Religion in Russia: 1700–1740”, Drevlekhranilishche, Moscow, Russia.
7. Levin, O.Yu. (2021), “Tambov Diocese under archbishop Ioasaph (Zhurmanov): 1946–1962”, Bogoslovskii sbornik Tambovskoi dukhovnoi seminarii, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 102–114.
8. Odintsov, M.I. (2003), “Activities of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1943–1958”, in Murashko, G.P. and Odintsov, M.I., eds., Vlast’ i tserkov’ v SSSR i stranakh Vostochnoi Evropy: 1939–1958: Diskussionnye aspekty [Power and the church in the USSR and the countries of Eastern Europe: 1939–1958: Controversial aspects], Institut slavyanovedeniya RAN, Moscow, Russia, pp. 253–373.
9. Shkarovskii, M.V. (1995), Russkaya pravoslavnaya tserkov’ i Sovetskoe gosudarstvo v 1943–1964 gg.: Ot «peremiriya» k novoi voine [The Russian Orthodox Church and the Soviet state in 1943–1964: From “truce” to a new war], Prosvetitel’skoizdatel’skoe ob’’edinenie «DEAN+ADIA-M», Saint Petersburg, Russia.
10. Shkarovskii, M.V. (2005), Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov’ pri Staline i Khrushcheve: Gosudarstvenno-tserkovnye otnosheniya v SSSR v 1939–1964 gg. [The Russian Orthodox Church under Stalin and Khrushchev: State-church relations in the USSR in 1939–1964], Moscow, Russia.
11. Vorontsova, E.V., Allenov, A.N., Elagina, V.S. and Korshikova, E.A., eds. (2021), Derevenskie svyatyni: sbornik statei, interv’yu i dokumentov [Village shrines. Collected articles, interviews, and documents], Izdatel’stvo PSTGU, Moscow, Russia.
Review
For citations:
Chistyakov P.G. Narratives of outdoor services in non-clerical Orthodox communities in Tambov region (1960s – 1980s). Studia Religiosa Rossica: Russian Journal of Religion. 2026;(1):65-84. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2026-1-65-84
Views:
59
JATS XML
Email this article 