Храната и храненето в средновековните славянски пенитенциални текстове

Author(s): Desislava Naydenova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 4/2018

The article examines the evidence on food and nutrition found in the Slavic penitentials. Unlike the law texts in the Western historical tradition, the Slavic mediaeval law texts are poorly researched and (rarely) used as a source of information about the Bulgarian history and culture. The manuscript tradition of the Slavic penitentials (the volume of manuscripts, their frequency, editorial interventions) shows that for a long period of time (almost until the 18th century) they have remained among the main texts used by the priests during the sacraments of confession and repentance. Therefore, they can be a source of important information about the everyday life of the Bulgarians. An emphasis is put on the diet, the ban on certain foods, the role of food and nutrition in relation to the people following other traditions such as heretics, Jews, Armenians. It is argued that penitentials reflect a kind of duality. On the one hand, they may be regarded as attesting the everyday lifestyle – the Christian calendar, the observance of certain hygienic norms, while, on the other hand, they reflect, to the highest degree, the concepts of purity and impurity which are characteristic for the “primitive” cultures and the blurring of which might have led to supernatural punishment.

Християнски празници и народни обичаи – тяхната символика и отражението им в изкуството

Author(s): Ivaylo Kostov / Language(s): English,Bulgarian / Issue: 2/2016

Culturologically, a feast is a compendium of a kind, encompassing and evincing all elements of cultural identification when it comes both to a community or an individual. Such elements encompass also all the symbolic archetypes associated with the national mentality. Studying the ways in which they are being realised can help to establish the mechanisms of how cultural phenomena are produced. Or taking the liberty of paraphrasing the biblical saying: ’Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them ‘, there would be similar moral strength and a more clear tendency to the words ‘Wherefore by celebrating their feasts ye shall know them’. This problematics manifestly has its effect on arts to further miraculously translate into the society too, transforming into a creative urge, needed for artistic output.

Християнският възглед за страданията в контекста на библейските идеи за Божественото наказание

Author(s): Konstantin Kovachev / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 2/2015

The article is about the Christian and ethical views of the problem related to the suffering reflected in the light of the Biblical points of view and ideas in terms of God’s Rightness and Punishment.

ХРИШЋАНСКА ЗАЈЕДНИЦА НАЗАРЕНА У СРБИЈИ ДО 1914. ГОДИНЕ И ПРОБЛЕМ ЦИВИЛНОГ СЛУЖЕЊА ВОЈСКЕ

Author(s): Nenad Ž. Petrović / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 30/2018

Nazarenes were a small religious community that spread rapidly in the 19th century in the southern parts of Hungary and from there to Serbia. These zealots of Christianity advocated for the recognition of conscientious objection and demanded that servemilitary term without weapons. Their attitude stemmed from a radical interpretation ofthe Gospels. Everywhere they encountered the misunderstanding and resistance of both– the church and the state. In Serbia, they were punished by draconian prison sentencesfor refusing to serve under arms but also because of the confession of their faith. The Orthodox Church has encouraged the authorities to spread the repression against the Nazarenes. The article was written primarily based on unpublished documents from the Archives of Serbia.

ХРИШЋАНСТВО И КОПЕРНИКАНСКА РЕВОЛУЦИЈА

Author(s): Nenad D. Plavšić / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 33/2020

The period of the occurrence of modern science cannot be truly understood without looking into it in relation to Christian religion. The influence of Christian theologyon science, at the time of Copernican Revolution, was huge. This can easily be seen if welook at the life and work of the great scientists who gave the biggest contribution to thatastronomical scientific revolution which happened in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Certain scientific concepts, held by their pioneers, were often the consequence oftheological belief. The religious belief that the universe is in order was in the very heart ofscience of that time. However, it is well known that Christian Church was preventing thedevelopment of modern science greatly. It is essential to point out the difference betweentrue Christianity and its abuse in order to understand the interaction between Christianity and science, at the time of Copernican Revolution, in its true sense. This great difference is overlooked for ideological reasons. In this way it is emphasized that religion andscience are in an irreconcilable conflict from their very beginning. This simple and biased attitude does not correspond the reality which was much more complex. Nowadays,religion and science are among the most powerful cultural and intellectual forces. Therefore, it is necessary to look into the beginning of their interaction at the time of Copernican Revolution. It is the only way to overcome the conflicting model between them andaccomplish the necessary discourse. On the way to establishing the communication between religion and science, the history of their relation at the time of the creation of modern science can be of great benefit for their mutual understanding and prevention frompossible abuse.

Цар Резос и Орфей в планината Пангей

Author(s): Milen Ivanov / Language(s): English,Bulgarian / Issue: 23/2018

The present paper has been focused on the literary passage of (Pseudo-)Euripides from his tragedy “Rhesus”, which deals with the posthumous being of the Thracian king (Eurip. Rhes. 962-973), and the fragment of Aeschylus from his tragedy “Bassarids”, which tells about the life and death of Orpheus (Aesch. Bassar. Fr. 83). Both texts situate king Rhesus and Orpheus in Mount Pangaion. They describe on one hand Dionysian, chthonian type of cult and ritualism, and on the other hand – Apollonian, solar type of cult and ritualism. The passages have been analysed in comparison with other pieces of evidence from ancient authors, related to Mount Pangaion and other similar cultic topoi. These sacred places described in the ancient literary tradition correspond to the rock topoi of cult and ritualism in South-East Europe and in Asia Minor, which have preserved numerous ancient relicts as a vital heritage up to the present day. One important feature of Thracian religion is to be noticed – both its unity and its variety. we can see clearly juxtaposed the Apollonian and the Dionysian principle – this fundamental opposition which marks the entire European cultural-historical tradition. But this juxtaposition can be logically explained in the light of the literary evidence of the Roman writer Macrobius. In his work “Saturnalia” he provides numerous arguments that Apollo and Dionysus are one and the same god. In conclusion, Mount Pangaion may be considered as an important sacred place of synthesis between Dionysian and Apollonian types of religiousness.

ЦВЕТАН ВАСИЛЕВ, Гръцкият език в църквите със смесени надписи от ХVII век в България – епиграфски репертоар, езикови особености, механизми на писане, Университетско издателство „Св. Климент Охридски”, София 2017, pp. 498.

Author(s): Elissaveta Moussakova / Language(s): English / Issue: 9/2019

Цветан Тодоров (1939–2017) – апостолът на хуманизма, мечтателят за свобода

Author(s): Valentina Sharlanova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 4/2016

Церковно-приходское обучение на территории православного прихода Вознесения Господня в Клейниках

Author(s): Adrian Kuprianowicz / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 20/2018

The Orthodox-parochial education system in the Klejniki parish had a rich history. At those times, the educational system was above all for the benefit of the poor community. The Orthodox-parochial education in Klejniki was not on a particularly high level. In October 1884, 8 grammar schools were established within the parish of Klejniki. Towards the end of the 19th century, the parish had already 11 schools teaching 240 children. In the year 1893/1894, 6 boys from the Klejniki parish finished their education in the Orthodox teacher training college in Trześcianka-Stawek. A significant role in the organisation of the intellectual life and the development of Orthodox education in the countryside was played by the priest Jan Chlebcewicz. He was the founder of the Florenti Pawlenkow library and reading room. The financial burden, problems of accommodation for the teachers, an insufficient number of well qualified teachers, the poverty of the parents of the children attending the schools had a negative impact on the general state of the education in the Klejniki parish. The Orthodox education and school system contributed substantially to the eradication of illiteracy among the rural population. The First World War and the mass exodus into Russia were the immediate causes for the collapse of the library and reading room as well as all the schools in the parish of Klejniki.

Церковно-релігійне життя вірменської діаспори України в I пол. XX ст

Author(s): Iryna Hayuk / Language(s): Ukrainian / Issue: 1/2019

The purpose of the article. The aim of the work is the holistic coverage and analysis of the specifics of the church-religious life of the Armenian communities of different regions of Ukraine in the 1-st half of the 20th century. The research methodology includes the methods of comparative analysis and synthesis, as well as historicity and contextuality. The scientific novelty of the research consists in reproducing the overall picture of the church-religious life of the Armenian communities of Ukraine, taking into account the specifics of the historical development of various regions of the country as a result of being under the authority of various states. Conclusions. The church-religious life of the Armenian communities in the Ukrainian lands, unlike other forms of public life, continued to preserve the specific features inherent in the culture of the Armenian people. All other forms of diaspora organizations (national representations, cultural centers, etc.) were always associated with Armenian church centers, and where such forms were absent, it was the church that continued to perform the function of a spiritual and cultural ethnic-consolidating factor in the life of Armenian communities.

Церковно-славянские памятники в библиотеках василианских монастырей

Author(s): Irena Wodzianowska / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 5-6/2015

The study closely traces the fate of Church Slavonic monuments in the collections of the Basilian monasteries since the establishment of the Order of the Basilians in 1617 to the period of socialism. A full quantitative and thematic characterization of the manuscripts and books preserved until today is presented against the background of historical events. The author argues that the collections of the Basilian libraries are unique in character and represent a kind of synthesis between western and eastern traditions.

Церковь и государство на Подкарпатской Руси: от ограничений греко-католического духовенства к компромиссу с чехословацкой властью (1918–1924)

Author(s): Viktor Kičera / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 22/2019

We can ascertain quite a disturbing period in the history of the Mukachevo Greek-Catholic diocese of the early 20's of the twentieth century, when secular authorities tried to interfere in the internal affairs of an entirely independent structure. Moreover, officials who stood on modernist positions, according to the documents of that time, directly discussed the possibility of interference in the Church (support of the Orthodox, preiudication towards Bishop Antony Pap, financial restrictions of the clergy, etc.), despite the fact that the Church is self-sufficient and guided by Rome only in administrative matters, and any outside interference is a gross attempt not to resolve affairs in dialogue, but the fight of secular government for the sake of its influence on the Church in Subcarpathian Rus to which belonged most of the believers. As a result, the state failed in its attempts to take control of the Church, but both sides came to a compromise on the issue of Mukachevo Bishop, and afterwards the relations improved, and in 1928 a agreement was concluded. After agreement new rules of relations between the Apostolic capital and Czechoslovak officials were established.

Циборијум – порекло, историја и типологија облика

Author(s): Dimitrije Marinković / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 1-3/2010

In ancient civilizations, it was considered that the deities reside on the thrones under the ciborium. The flourish of art activities, inspired with the recognition of Christianity by emperor Constantine in the 4th century, was not devoid of antique heritage and influence. In the light of this, the place of Christian ciborium can be found. In this paper, author briefly discusses the origin, the history and the place of ciborium in church architecture.

Црквена политика Византије οд краја иконоборства до смрти цара Василија I

Author(s): Predrag Komatina / Language(s): Serbian

The Iconoclast era of Byzantine history ended with the death of Emperor Theophilus on January 20th, 842. His wife Theodora, who took power in the name of their young son Michael III, devoted to Orthodoxy even during Theophilus’ life- -time, immediately began preparing the ground for the restoration of the veneration of icons. With this aim, she first held counsel with her associates in the state leadership – the Logothete Theoctistus, Sergius Nicetiates and her brothers Bardas and Petronas. At that meeting of the state leadership, the decision was made to renew the cult of icons, and the Empress released from imprisonment and persecution all monks, priests, bishops and lay people who had been persecuted for their veneration of icons. Next she convened the Council in Constantinople where the icon veneration would again be declared the official dogma of the church. The Council was held in early March 843. Participants included representatives of state authorities, priest and monks from the Constantinopolitan and provincial monasteries. The monks of the Capital were led by Hilarion of the Dalmatou, and a major figure among provincial monks was Simeon Stylite the Younger. The spiritual patron of them all was the famous ascetic Joannicius. Only the Studites represented a particular fraction. At the Council a valid Definition of faith was read and proclaimed, that is, the Horos of the Seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicaea 787, which had restored the veneration of icons after the first iconoclast period. The Council of 843 merely recalled the decisions of the Iconoclast Council of 815, and restored the decisions of the Council of 787. At the same Council the iconoclast Patriarch of Constantinople John VII the Grammarian was ousted, and the monk Methodius, a candidate of the provincial monks who also was in the Empress’s favor was chosen for the patriarchal throne. After his election, the people gathered spontaneously in front of St. Sophia and, led by the monks, conducted a procession that carried the icon of the Virgin and the Christ Child to the Bronze gates. This was a symbolic act, since the absence of Icon of Christ from the Gate had symbolized the supremacy of iconoclasm. This spontaneous procession was the forerunner of the later Procession of Orthodoxy. That day, which was the Sunday of the first week of Lent and which fell that year on March 11th, became known as the Sunday of Orthodoxy.

ЦРКОВНИТЕ ПРЕТСТАВНИЦИ ВО ВИЗАНТИСКАТА ДИПЛОМАТИЈА НА БАЛКАНОТ ВО ТЕКОТ НА X ВЕК

Author(s): Dragan Ǵalevski / Language(s): Macedonian / Issue: 1-2/2013

Christianity played a very important role in shaping the Byzantine Empire and its civilization. It was deeply incorporated in all areas of Byzantine society and had a great impact not only on the imperial ideology and economy but also on diplomatic relations with neighbouring peoples. Because of this, the church became an instrument by which the state maintained or renewed its imperial hegemony, thus turning the priests into agents for the state, serving the basileus in Constantinople. Although they were often involved in the foreign affairs of the imperial government through religious missions, this was not the only duty assigned to them by the state. Sources indicate that church officials were involved in broader political and diplomatic activity in the Balkans in the 10th century, including serving as ambassadors of the Byzantine ruler. This is also proof that Byzantine diplomacy did not always act spontaneously by enacting ad–hoc decisions but probably carried out its activities at least occasionally following prior consultation within an informal advisory body. It further implies that the people who were actively involved in the foreign affairs of the Byzantine Empire, at least during the 10th century, had a certain level of knowledge and skills and a capacity for strategic thinking, which of course was rudimentary seen from today’s point of view. The involvement of priests in solely diplomatic missions with clear political objectives, where their education and oratorical skills would be used to the utmost, and their complete exclusion from missions of a military character, is yet another example of how Byzantine diplomacy was implemented in the field, as well as a clear indication that some basic principles and methods did exist and were upheld by the imperial government during this process.

ЦРКОВНИТЕ ПРИЛИКИ ВО ПРОВИНЦИЈАТА МАКЕДОНИЈА НИЗ ПРИЗМАТА НА ПЕТТИОТ ВСЕЛЕНСКИ СОБОР

Author(s): Dragan Zajkovski / Language(s): Macedonian / Issue: 1-2/2015

The sixth century, seen through the prism of Ecclesiastical history, was a period filled with debates of both theological and dogmatic nature. These debates later on developed into new religious divisions, which resulted in the convening of the Fifth Ecumenical Council in 553. The convening of this Council was meant to put an end to these debate and to pave the way for establishment of Church unity. The background of these theological disputes were the political and religious conflicts between Rome and Constantinople. Church situation and ecclesiastical states in the province of Macedonia in sixth century, as well as the participation of the bishops of the Macedonian Provinces is the main subject of interest in this research.

Църква "Св. Никола" в с. Гинци

Author(s): Zdravka Kosturkova / Language(s): English,Bulgarian / Publication Year: 0

The village of Gintsi is located in Western Bulgaria, at the foothills of the Western Balkan Range and at about 50 km of Sofia. Once a road connecting Moesia and the river Danube with Sardica and Macedonia used to pass through the village. There were also fortifications around it, as evidenced by the toponym "Kaleto", relevant to two elevations at both sides of the route to Petrohan pass. According to a record dated from 1490, the village had an entirely Christian population, as did the entire area in the vicinity of Sofia. A Turkish register shows that the church in the village, that can be dated from the Middle Ages, continued to exist. According to its plan, the St. Nicholas of Myra belongs to the most widespread type of churches in Bulgarian lands in the Middle Ages and the National Revival, the single-naved basilica. The church has a semi-circular central apse inside and out, a naos and a narthex (added later). The entrance is one from the west, through the narthex into the naos. It has a barrel vault and has a gable roof with wooden casing and tiles, completely in the style of West Bulgarian single-naved churches in the period from the end of the 12-th to the 19-th century. The building technique is traditional for West Bulgarian lands. The material used was hewn and river stone, joint with white mortar. The church was decorated with murals. There were three distinctive period of decoration, with almost nothing remaining from the first murals. The murals are in three artistic layers.

Църквата „Св. Антоний“ в Мелник – чудотворни обекти и ритуални практики

Author(s): Yana Gergova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 4/2020

Anthony is a highly honoured saint, considered to be a patron and a defender of various diseases. The church “St. Anthony” in the smallest town in Bulgaria – Melnik – is known exactly for its healing aspect and can be identified as one of the most sacred cult sites in the surroundings, connected with numerous stories of miracles, healings, interesting and rare ritual practices. The modern state and functioning of the church is a complex of different components that build the role and importance of the cult site as a very attractive place for pilgrimage and healing. Besides of the cult of the patron itself, these components include also various miraculous objects, iconographic features, the location of the church, and characteristic stories of miracles, media, and personal representations and interpretations. In this article, I will examine the cult of St. Anthony in the city and church dedicated to him through the prism of two basic elements – miraculous objects or other ones in the church area and beliefs and ritual practices related to them. It is precisely the connection between the different components of the cult site, combining diverse objects of pilgrimage, honoring, and usage, that creates a truly unique context in which this church, the only one in the country until recently dedicated to the St. Anthony, exists. The analysis is based on observations from conducted fieldwork studies in Melnik and bibliographic and online surveys in the period 2016–2018.

Църковният събор от 1360 г. в Търново и българо-еврейският религиозен конфликт от 50-те години на XIV век

Author(s): Hristo Saldzhiev / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2021

The article focuses on problems relating to the Jewish community’s origin in medieval Tarnovo, the reasons that provoked the Bulgarian-Jewish conflict from the 1350ies and its aftermaths. The hypothesis that Tarnovo Jews originated from Byzantine and appeared in medieval Bulgarian capital at the end of the 12th century as manufacturers of silk is proposed. The religious clash from the 1350ies is ascribed to the influence exerted by some Talmudic anti-Christian texts on the local Jewish community, to the broken inner status-quo between Christians and Jews after the second marriage of the Bulgarian tsar Ivan Alexander and to the reactions of part of the Christian population against the breach of this status-quo.

Църковно и просветно дело в град Разград през 40-те - 70-те години на XIX век

Author(s): Todorka Simeonova / Language(s): Bulgarian / Publication Year: 0

The town Razgrad from today was established in the XV century on a early Thracian, Roman and Bulgarian settlement. During the Renaissance and the period from the middle of the XIX century Bulgarians in Razgrad created their own municipality and joined the struggle for church independence and establishing a new school. In 1860 was built the current church "St.Nikolai" and the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarchate was rejected. For the educational and spiritual development of the city worked many of the citizens from whom more notable were S. Petrov, D. Hranov, A. Tsanov, N. Georgieva and others.