The Myth of Russification: Addressing the Language of Church Preaching in the Post-Polotsk Period
https://doi.org/10.53822/2712-9276-2024-3-188-201
Abstract
The article explores the established practice of Uniate clergy delivering sermons in Polish within the Uniate Church in Belarusian lands at the onset of the 19th century. It also delves into the responses of Russian authorities and Orthodox clergy regarding this matter. A significant challenge encountered by Orthodox hierarchs in Belarusian dioceses during the post-Polotsk era was the custom of delivering sermons in Polish, also known as the “Belarusian-Polish dialect”, within Uniate churches. This tradition had been established since the late 18th to early 19th centuries. The article sheds light on the efforts made by Western Russian Orthodox hierarchs to address the language issue. The conclusion drawn is that the Russian Orthodox Church’s activity in Belarus played a foundational role in the emergence of the modern Belarusian people as an integral part of Eastern Christian civilization.
About the Author
V. A. Teplova
St. Cyril Turovsky Minsk Theological Academy
Belarus
Belarus
Valentina A. Teplova — Candidate of Historical Sciences, Head of the Department of Church History and Church Practical Disciplines of the Minsk Theological Academy, Associate Professor at the Belarusian State University
27 Zybitskaya str., Minsk, 220030
References
1. Bobrovsky, P. O. (2014). Russkaia Greko-Uniatskaia tserkov’ v tsarstvovanie imperatora Aleksandra I [The Russian Greek Uniate Church in the Reign of Emperor Alexander I]. Minsk : Entsiklopediks. [In Russian].
2. Gustova, L. A. (2009). “Ne upovaite na nepravdu...” (razvitie pravoslavnoi bogosluzhebnoi formy v obriade Greko-katolicheskoi tserkvi Rechi Pospolitoi: protivorechiia i modifikatsii) [“Don’t Put your Trust in the Untruth...” (the Development of the Orthodox Theological Form in the Rite of the Greek Catholic Church of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: Contradictions and Modifications)]. In Obretenie obraza: pravoslavnaia belorusskaia kul’tura v slavianskom mire (pp. 195–216). Minsk : Belorusskaia Pravoslavnaia Tserkov’, 2009. [In Russian].
3. Zapiski [Notes]. (2019). Minsk : Medial. [In Russian].
4. Zapiski Vasiliia (Luzhinskogo), arkhiepiskopa Polotskogo [Notes by Vasily (Luzhinsky), Archbishop of Polotsk]. (1885). Kazan : Izd. Kazanskoi dukhovnoi akademii. [In Russian].
5. Iz Litovskoi konsistorii, ot 13 ianvaria za № 34, “O vvedenii po tserkviam propovedei na prostom obshcheponiatnom iazyke, a takzhe besed iz katekhizisa” [From the Lithuanian Consistory, Dated January 13, No. 34, “On the Introduction of Sermons in a Simple, Generally Understandable Language to the Church, as Well as Conversations from the Catechism”]. (1883). In Zapiski Iosifa, mitropolita Litovskogo (Vol. 3). Saint Petersburg : Tip. Akad. nauk. [In Russian].
6. Milovidov, A. (1900). Zaslugi grafa M. N. Muraveva dlia Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi v Severo-Zapadnom krae [The Merits of Count M. N. Muravyov for the Orthodox Church in the North-Western Region]. Kharkiv : Tip. Gubernskogo pravleniia. [In Russian].
7. Polnoe sobranie zakonov Rossiiskoi imperii: sobranie 2-e : v 55 t. [The Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire : 2nd Collection: in 55 Volumes] (Vol. 4). (1829–1830). Saint Petersburg : v Tipografii II Otdeleniia Sobstvennoi e. i. v. kantseliarii. [In Russian].
8. Sviateishemu Pravitel’stvuiushchemu Sinodu, ot 13 ianvaria za № 35, o snabzhenii sviashchennikov obraztsovymi propovediami na russkom iazyke [To the Holy Governing Synod, Dated January 13, No. 35, on the Supply of Priests with Exemplary Sermons in Russian]. (1883). In Zapiski Iosifa, mitropolita Litovskogo (Vol. 3). Saint Petersburg : Tip. Akad. nauk. [In Russian].
9. Tatarov, V. Istoricheskoe opisanie Kievetskoi tserkvi Sedletskoi gubernii Bel’skogo uezda [Historical Description of the Kiev Church of the Sedletsky District of the Olonets Province]. (1879). In Kholmsko-Varshavskii eparkhial’nyi vestnik, izdavaemyi pri Kholmsko-Varshavskoi arkhiereiskoi kafedre: za 1879 gg. Varshava : Tip. Varshavskogo uchebnogo okruga. [In Russian].
10. Teplova, V. A. (2004). Vremia Nikolaia I i tsivilizatsionnyi povorot v sud’be Belarusi [The time of Nicholas I and the Civilizational Turn in the Fate of Belarus]. In Rossiia i Belarus’: ot veka XIX k veku XXI (pp. 35–46). Brest : UO “Brestsky gosudarstvennyi universitet im. A. S. Pushkina”. [In Russian].
11. Lastouski, V. Iu. (1992). Karotkaia gistoryia Belarusi [A Brief History of Belarus]. Minsk : Universitetskoe. [In Belarusian].
12. Marozava, S. V. (2014). “Svaei very lamats’ ne budzem…”: Supratsіў deўnіzatsyі ў Belarusі (1780–1839 gady) [“We Will Not Break Our Faith...”: Resistance to Devonization in Belarus (1780-1839)]. Grodna : IurS. aPrynt. [In Belarusian].
13. Marozava, S. V. (2002). Unіiatskaia tsarkva ў etnakul’turnym razvіtstsі Belarusі (1596–1839 gady) [The Uniate Church in the Ethnocultural Development of Belarus (1596-1839)] [Abstract of the dissertation of Doctor of Historical Sciences. National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Institute of History]. Minsk. [In Belarusian].
Review
For citations:
Teplova V.A. The Myth of Russification: Addressing the Language of Church Preaching in the Post-Polotsk Period. Orthodoxia. 2024;(3):188-201. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.53822/2712-9276-2024-3-188-201
Views:
96
Email this article 