“Hidden Religious Landscapes”: Religious Minorities and Religious Renewal Movements in the Borderlands of the Serbian and Romanian Banat

Author(s): Aleksandra Đurić Milovanović Aleksandra / Language(s): English Issue: 52/2021

Abstract: The paper explores the ways religious grassroots actors in the borderlands contribute to the new understanding of cross border regions and religious groups in the space between the Serbian and Romanian Banat from the perspective of the anthropology of borders. The border region included in this paper was the place of interreligious and interethnic encounter, where religions and languages mixed and there was a continuous interaction between Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Protestants. By studying the region that had strong cultural, historical and religious connections, the aim is to provide new insights on the borders and religious groups that are understudied. This article explores the “liminal” character of religious identities, development of renewal movements and crossing symbolic boundaries with the examples of the “home-grown” religious movement of the Lord's Army (Rom. Oastea Domnului) emerged in the first decades of the 20th century.

”The Force is Great” Enchantment And Magic in Silicon Valley

Author(s): Stef Aupers / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2009

In the social sciences, magic and technology are generally depicted as incompatible. Challenging this claim and, more specifically, the assumption that technological experts are at the frontier of a progressive ‘disenchantment of the world’, this contribution presents a strategically selected case study of renowned programmers in Silicon Valley who refer to themselves as ‘technopagans’. These specialists conceive of the act of programming as magical, because they feel they interact with a technology- based reality that can no longer be completely understood and controlled. Technopaganism can thus be explained by classical theories of Marett and Malinowski in which they connect magic to feelings of insecurity and impotence vis-ŕ-vis the (natural) environment. Paradoxically, it is concluded, the modern process of rationalization produces a re-enchantment of digital technology.

„Amoris laetitia” wyzwaniem dla duszpasterzy wobec osób żyjących w związkach

Author(s): Mariusz Ostaszewski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 23/2022

In Holy Father Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia the idea of contemporary married couples facing up problems is clearly visible. What is underlined is the issue of accompanying the people in their everyday hardships. The Pope emphasizes that the matter of couples living in non-sacramental relationships is difficult for the Church. In his teaching Francis highlights and encourages to talk with those, whose life situation is inappropriate.He encourages priests to introduce those people to good that flows from the Gospel, so they could live according to and feed on God’s Word. In such situations a lot of patience and careis needed to unite those human beings both with their loving God and the joy that derives from the Gospel. The amount of civil divorces has been growing lately, which, consequently, leads toincreasing number of cohabitations, such as partnerships and non-sacramental relationships. This problem was already noticed by the Pope Paul VI in his Humanae vitae Encyclical, where he encouraged priests to create ministries connected to families, which was supposed to improve the conditions of this social group. Furthermore, one cannot imagine the suffering of such people, whose situation is improper to the church’s teaching. The Church Community, following evangelical requirements, cares about spreading the neighbourly love to such people, following Jesus’ teaching mentioned in the Bible (cf. Mt 22,39). Every christened person is brother and sister in faith. It is worth introducing into pastoral care different means of helping those people feel included in community of faith. Pastoral discernment is imperative in determining their participation in liturgical and prayer life. There is a need to provide conditions, in which they do not feel separated or excluded from the Church, but let them feel that Church is their mother who wishes to care for them and support them in their Bible-based life (cf. AL 299). All christenedpeople belong to one community believing in Jesus Christ. That is why the Pope Francis in his teaching states very clearly the importance of accompanying those Church members. Immense pastoral care is a great impulse for those who are lost in their life situations and are not able to find the way out on their own.

„Amoris sagittae et spicula”. Cielesne aspekty mistyki bł. Doroty z Mątów – próba reinterpretacji

Author(s): Monika Jakubek-Raczkowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 15/2014

The paper is devoted to the physical aspects of asceticism and mystical experience of Prussian female mystic, the blessed Dorothy of Montau, analysed based on the detailed and vivid description of John Marienwerder. It makes an attempt of hypothetic identification of actual character of somatic effects of visions and mystical unions with Christ (sweating, hot flushes, pain) with special consideration of spiritual “stabbings” of heart (and other bodily parts) with arrows and spears of Divine Love and the symptom of enlarged womb. The interpretation by John Marienwerder, rooted in the medieval knowledge of physiology and set in categories of the bridal mysticism, made a considered apology of the Prussian recluse. In effort to reinterpret the somatic symptoms described by medieval theologian, this paper controverts also the attempt of their evaluation and analysis appearing in contemporary scientific literature employing methods of the so called psycho-history. Most likely neither the female psychology nor the religious hysteria were responsible for the carnal symptoms described by John Marienwerder. The mystic throughout all her life heroically struggled with the consequences of scalding she had suffered as a child and of multiple childbirth intertwined with carnal mortifications, however the main cause of her painful experiences most probably was a progressing heart disease. Its increasing untreated symptoms (natural history of illness) can be identified in the writings by John Marienwerder and analysed in the light of contemporary medical knowledge. The holiness of the recluse manifested not only in the sphere of asceticism, renouncement, zealous religious practice and contemplation, but also in transmitting the corporal suffering of somatic origin into the sphere of deep spiritual experience based on the idea of Compassio Christi.

„Cultural, Religious and Humanist Inheritance of Europe“ – Its Future Legal Relevance

Author(s): Alexander Balthasar / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2015

By the Treaty of Lisbon, the “Masters of the Treaties” not only completed a catalogue of founding values (Article 2 TEU) but provided also an indication where from these values “have developed”, i.e. “from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe”. This contribution - originally presented at the Third Annual Conference of the Czech Association for European Studies Prague, 12. and 13. June 2014 - aims at analyzing the normative relevance and implications of this indication which might mean a considerable change of paradigm for secular Member States like Austria, Czech Republic or France.

Човекът в търсене на смисъл: изборът между страдание и удоволствие

Author(s): Kameliya Slavcheva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2015

This study examines the problem of the meaning of life and the choice between suffering and pleasure, according to the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, written by the wisest king that ever lived on Earth, and according to the greatest psychiatrist, founder of the doctrine of Logotherapy, the author of one of the greatest books of our time: Man in Search of Meaning and The Doctor and the Soul – Viktor Frankl. Can we find some similarities in their statements, research, and philosophy? Where is the meaning of human existence: in pleasure or in pain? Why is it important for everyone to find meaning in his/her life? Is this the driving force of humankind forward? Can you live with dignity; what it means, and how to help people that lost the meaning? These are the questions we try to find answers for in this study. The aim is to follow the similarities between the two authors, and to find where modern psychology, logotherapy meet the faith in God.

Чудеса херсонесских епископов в контексте раннехристианской агиографической традиции

Author(s): Alexandr A. Romensky / Language(s): Russian Issue: 10/2018

The article is devoted to the concept of miracles in the “Lives of Holy Bishops of Chersonesus” and the “Miracle of St. Capiton”. Miracles in the people’s representation of the early Middle Ages proved clearly the advantages of the preached religious doctrine and served as the main argument of sanctity. The resurrection of adolescent after baptism by the Holy Bishop Basileus is analyzed in the perspective of “baptism of the dead” in the Early Christian heresies. The miracle with the entry of Bishop Capiton into the fire symbolically dates back to the Old Testament narration about miraculous deliverance of three young men in the “fiery furnace”. The description of the miracle is very close to the ceremony of fiery initiation. Similar plots are found not only in Byzantine, but also in Latin sources, as well as in the later Islamic tradition. The information about miracles and supernatural phenomena helped to construct the sacred topography of Chersonesus—Cherson.

Чудесата на архангелите в манастира Дохиар: Текстове и изображения

Author(s): Ivanka Gergova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 63-64/2021

The legendary story of the Athonite Dochiariou Monastery is associated with the protection and help of the Holy archangels. The body of narratives has continued to grow over time to take on its final form in the early sixteenth century. The earliest extant texts are Slavonic translations associated with the pen of Vladislav the Grammarian (the second half of the fifteenth century). A bilingual (in Greek and Slavonic) manuscript of the late fifteenth century is kept at Dochiariou, providing an account of the miracles worked by the archangels at the monastery. Versions of the Dochiariou legends were gaining currency in Russia to be included in the reading menaia, synaxaria and panegyrika. Thesaurus by Damascenus Studites played a significant role in the popularity of the miracles. Proskynetarion of 1843, published in Dochiariou, gave a detailed account of the miracles.The earliest representations of the Dochiariou miracles have been lost, though there are written records of their existence of the fourteenth century. The full cycle of the miracles is illustrated at the catholicon of Dochiariou as well as at the refectory and on the phiale. The monastery published also a series of prints circulating the main scenes of the Dochiariou cycle and rendering them generally available.The earliest in Bulgaria illustration of the miracle with the boy rescued from drowning is at the Church of the Nativity in Arbanassi (1640s). Three of the scenes from the cycle occur on a series of icons of the Archangel Michael with scenes of the miracles of the archangels painted in the late eighteenth and throughout the nineteenth centuries. An analysis showed that they had been inspired by Damascenus Studites’s Thesaurus. The murals at two churches within the complex of Bachkovo Monastery (of the Holy Archangels and the church of the same name in Kluviata locality) include cycles of scenes of the Dochiariou miracles, modelled on a 1809 Dochiariou print. The emblematic scene depicting the rescue of the boy from the waves is found on iconostases painted by masters from Debar in the late nineteenth-century Bulgaria’s northwest. A woodcarver, possibly coming from Debar too, sculpted the episode of translating the treasure at the church of the village of Teshevo, the region of Gotse Delchev.

Чудотворни мироточиви икони и съвременни поклоннически практики сред православните християни – по примери от Тереспол (Полша) и Шумен (България)

Author(s): Daniel Fokas / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2020

A widely popular concept among Orthodox Christians is that religious images as intermediaries between man and God (the Mother of God or the saints) can give material signs of the divine presence on Earth and often do so. First comes the veneration of miracle-working icons, which are connected to narratives of miraculous events and considered the most helpful mediators for prayers addressed to God, the Virgin or a saint. Another popular notion is that icons can miraculously renew themselves or exude holy oil or blood, and give out fragrance. Two cases of largescale myrrh-gushing from the recent years offer different examples of the emergence, development and interpretation of such miraculous events in Orthodox shrines. The first case is from the town of Terespol in Eastern Poland (since 2010) and the second one comes from the town of Shumen in Northern Bulgaria (from 2017). In the Polish case, the myrrh-streaming continued for a long period of time, encompassed other icons as well and was accompanied by stories of miraculous healings. It was approved by the Church as a manifestation of divine nature. All these occurrences gave an impetus to the development of the veneration of the myrrh-streaming icon of the Theotokos Gorgoepēkoos (She Who Is Quick to Hear) and stimulated pilgrimage to the town.In the case from Bulgaria there was also large-scale myrrh-streaming, but it happened only once, at the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God (15 August). The event was accepted just as a divine sign and was interpreted mainly as given for the sake of penance and strengthening of faith. The fact that no myrrh was gathered and there were no consequent miracles made the Church take a more passive position and the local bishop just unofficially referred to the general Orthodox idea of myrrh-streaming icons.Events of this kind, which were traditionally taken for miracles, often provoke scepticism and doubts of falsification in modern times. For that reason, they are examined by committees appointed by the Church or inspected by bishops, and even submitted to chemical tests. All these processes emphasize the icons’ multifaceted presence in local communities and in society in general.

Шиизмът – религиозната форма на идеята за социална промяна

Author(s): Bogdana Todorova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2020

Iran is the bosom of Shi'a. The article aims to trace and analyze the role and place of Islam in Iran, to consider the dogmatic differences between Sunnis and Shiites in the context of the geostrategic rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. It has been suggested that Shiism is the religious form of the idea of social change through an interdisciplinary and problem-thematic approach. Original ideas and literature have been proposed to enrich the Bulgarian scientific knowledge of Shiite Islam, with a scientifically applied effect.

ШТА ОДРЕЂУЈЕ ОНОСТРАНУ СУДБИНУ ДУШЕ?1

Author(s): Zorica Kuburić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 29/2018

In this text the author investigates whether there is a contradiction between theassertion that a soul’s destiny in life after death is determined by condition of one’s mindat the moment of one’s death, and the assertion that soul’s destiny in life after deathdepends on one’s deeds performed during lifetime. Although the viewpoints insisting on thequality of the mind and quantity of deeds seem inconsistent, the author will attempt torefute such an opinion. He warns of danger of unilateral insistence on only one out of twoaspects – pharisaically on evident deeds and gnostically on the state of the mind. Havingconsidered dilemma over whether God punishes sinners for educational purposes, orwhether one’s each sin brings one into trouble, and the teaching about the Judgment Dayand hell, the author claims that it is not so important which theological viewpoint wemaintain, but whether we truly remember that we will die and to which extent we reallylook after our soul.

Шуньята в семиотической модели Дхармы

Author(s): Linnart Mäll / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/1988

В. П. Васильев писал более ста лет тому назад: «Идея о пустоте есть понятие субъективное и вместе трансцендентальное; с одной стороны, это то, что мы отыскиваем как нечто самобытное, самостоятельное, прочное, независимое от форм; в этом случае она есть и не есть, существует как бытие отрицательное или противоположное всему видимо существующему, которое становится само несуществующим уже в отношении к этому бытию; с другой стороны, это есть то отвлеченное и истинное бытие, которое существует во всем, ни в чем не заключаясь и все заключая в себе, хотя и ничего не содержа; одним словом, это объект, сходный с субъектом, и объект, который как скоро входит в наше мышление уже становится чем-то субъективным; следовательно, то, что не вообразимо, что не может быть предметом цели и стремления.

Щрихи от книжовно-певческите връзки между Рилския и Зографския манастир

(Неизвестни рилски певчески ръкописи в Зографския манастир)

Author(s): Goce Risteski / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 104/2019

This paper discusses contacts between Rila Monastery and Zograf Monastery in the realm of musical manuscripts. It sheds light on unknown musical manuscripts produced in Rila Monastery that are now housed in the library of Zograf Monastery. Their authorship and contents are focused on. The study of thеsе manuscripts is part of research programme for cataloguing of the manuscript collections of the Athonite monastery.

Эпитафия Иоганна Юнгшульца в церкви Св. Марии Бывшего доминиканского монастыря Эльблонга

Author(s): Dmitrij Vadimovich Valkov / Language(s): Russian Issue: 2/2019

The funeral epigraphic material of Elbląg and the surrounding area, relating to the period preceding the XVIth century, remains, first of all thanks to the researches of Polish epigraphists, relatively more explored and introduced into the scientific circulation array. At the same time the Renaissance-Baroque gravestone monument of the XVIth–XVIIth centuries, which is extremely important for the comprehensive study of the reformed Circum-Baltic, often continues to need a detailed research commentary. To the epitaph of the burgomaster of Elbing (Elbląg) Johann Jungschultz (1583–1630), as well as to the Latin text of the funeral Eulogy, associated with this epitaph, composed by the Bohemian humanist Venceslav Klemens, is expected to address in this article. The epitaph of Johann Jungschultz was established in 1630–1640. From the compositional point of view closest to the epitaph of Johann Jungschultz, and almost prototypical for it, is the epitaph of Edward Blemke (1591), in the St. Mary’s church of Gdansk. It allows to speak about the author of the epitaph of Johann Jungschultz as oriented to samples of the Dutch monumental tombstones of the end of the XVIth century, or even as belonging to the circle of Willem van den Blocke (circa 1550–1628), which was the principal mediator of the influence of the Dutch art in the South-Eastern Baltic in the end of XVIth – the first quarter of the XVIIth century. The compositional and decorative solution of the epitaph also has close matches in the works of Johann Pfister (1573 – circa 1642/1645 or 1648).

Этноконфессиональное содержание оппозиции «свои и чужие» в огузском эпосе

Author(s): A. Adzhalov / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/1986

В качестве основных членов оппозиции «свои» и «чужие» в эпосе выступают соответственно «Огузы» и «неверные». Хотя данное противопоставление для текста имеет универсальный характер, неравноценность его членов видна с первого взгляда. Первый из них («Огузы») - обозначение чисто этническое, а второй («неверные») - конфессиональное. Вполне допустимо, что такое несоответствие возникло значительно позже под влиянием книжной традиции при записи текста в XVI веке. Здесь перед нами единственный случай во всем тюркоязычном фольклоре, где «чужие» определяются по конфессиональному признаку.

Этнокультурные наименования одежды в русскоязычном художественном тексте Казахстана

Author(s): Meruert Razbiekowa / Language(s): Russian Issue: 2/2018

The article considers ethnocultural names of Kazakh people’s clothes and their use in Russian literary texts. It also explains the names of clothes. Peculiarities of translation from Kazakh into Russian are discussed in the article in terms of artistic bilingual¬ism, types of artistic bilingualism, literary bilingualism. The cul¬tural originality of Kazakh people is explained by the names of clothes: ancient traditions, labour activity, social status, family affiliation. The article analyzes the translation or well-known Ka¬zakh writer I. Esenberlins novel Nomads into the Russian lan¬guage. The author of the article introduces various ways of intro¬ducing namings into Russian literary text which are quite sig¬nificant in Russian-speaking system.

Юбилейна кръгла маса в чест на проф. дфн Албена Георгиева

Author(s): Valentin Voskresenski / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 28/2014

Южнославянската ръкописна традиция на книга Битие (археография, структура и сегментация на текста)

Author(s): Tatyana Slavova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 57-58/2018

The article studies the South Slavonic tradition of the biblical Book of Genesis, preserved in eight copies from the 15th–16th century. The orthographic and phonetical features, text structure, and the segmentation of the text by headings in all known South Slavonic copies point to a common Middle Bulgarian hyparchetype (х1) of Turnovo provenance, dating from the fourteenth century. This hyparchetype apparently had mechanical defects – missing or misplaced book chapters from the Оctateuch, and included as interpolations at least two excerpts from Palaea Historica and three unidentified non-Biblical fragments. Significantly, it segmented the text of the Book of Genesis (Оctateuch) by means of interpretative titles that, in addition to their exegetic function, most probably had a liturgical role. These headings were secondary to the translation and could be attributed to scolarly activity in Turnovo. The Middle Bulgarian hyparchetype (х1) generated at least two copies that turned into protographs (P1 and P2). P1 served as the foundation of Wallachian-Moldavian manuscripts (such as GIM–Moscow, Barsov collection, No. 3; Collection of the Romanian Academy of Sciences No. 85; RGB–Moscow, Rumyantsev collection, No. 29), whereas P2 gave rise to the five manuscripts originating from Western Bulgarian lands and Serbia (RGB–Moscow, Grigorovich collection, f. 87, No. 1/М 1684; Library of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb, No. ІІІ.с.17; RGB–Moscow, Sevastiyanov collection, f.270, No. 1/M. 1431; Church-Historical and Archival Institute, Sofia, No. 351; Krushedol Monastery, No. 81). While P1 restricts the additional headings only to the main text, P2 expands their use to the manuscript’s margins as well. P2 includes also a short description and interpretation of the first five Old Testament books.

ЮЖНОСЛАВЯНСКИ ИЗБОРНИ ПРЕПИСИ НА СКИТСКИЯ ПАТЕРИК

Author(s): William Feder / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 17/2017

Five South Slavic excerpt versions of the Scete Paterikon (all 14th c.) are examined with a view to establish the sources of their selections. Three of them are definitely, the fourth probably, copied from the 9th–century Glagolitic protograph, kept at Ohrid. The fifth (cod. Rila NMRM 2/25) copies a hitherto unknown 9/10th–century Glagolitic compilation, entitled “slovesa dushepoleznaya sventyh otec”, which had access to the protograph before it lost its first 6–7 quires. Together with the seven known full copies of the protograph they have important contributions to make to the task of reconstructing the idiolect of a 9th–c. reader in North–East Bulgaria, who profusely annotated the text and was poweful enough to ensure that all of his annotations superseded the original translation in the copies produced on his watch.

Южнославянските наследници на търновската версия на Служебния миней от XIII век

Author(s): Mariya Yovcheva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 65-66/2022

This article examines nine South Slavic manuscripts originating from the Tarnovo version of the Menaion, as the earliest among them are the two thirteenth-century codices of the copyist Dobrian (ОGNB 32 + 24.4.12 (Srezn. 59) of the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences and ОGNB 33 + GIM Uvar. 1176-4°). Arguments for their relationship are some identification markers from the calendar and the contents of the offices. The indicators specific to this family are given primary importance in the examination of the manuscripts, but others are also applied, based on the opposition new-redaction / old-redaction (i.e., menaia structured according to the old Studite typikon and composed before the fourteenth century / menaia structured according to the Jerusalem typikon and composed mainly during and after the fourteenth century). Twenty-three menaia manuscripts and four early printed books (Greek and Church Slavonic) are used as comparisons. The data obtained lead to several conclusions: (1) the Office Menaion, formed during the thirteenth century in the Bulgarian capital, is non-homogeneous since it contains both unique and old- and new-redaction specificities; (2) although related to the fading Studite liturgical practice, this version was actively used and modified in a Bulgarian and Serbian environment until the seventeenth century. In the fourteenth century it was developed, in connection with the newly introduced Neo-Sabaitic (or Jerusalem) typikon, by adding new hymns, making the compositions more complex, standardizing and updating the calendar, sometimes even by commemorations of the Studite type; (3) the three main levels – calendar, contents, and structure – show an unequal degree of redactor intervention in coordinating the Office Menaion with the new liturgical regulations; (4) not only the protograph but also all subsequent copies are of a hybrid type. This article presents arguments of a diverse nature for the localization of the earliest Bulgarian sources, i.e., the Dobrian codices and menaia of the fourteenth century (No. 19 of the Krka Monastery, No. 33 of the Cetinje Monastery, Zograph 115, Paris. Slav. 23): (1) the area of original copying and distribution; (2) the focus on the feasts of the Theotokos and the registration of a unique commemoration, Consecration of the Church of the Theotokos on 22 August, in ОGNB 33; (3) two commemorations confined only to this family – St Philothea Temnishka on 28 May and St John of Rila (on 18 August, with the canon in Tone Two), which are not supported by other old-redaction liturgical books. The hypothesis is advanced that the place of origin of the Tarnovo “new menaion” and of part of the Bulgarian copies could be the Monastery of St. Bogoroditsa Temnishka.