In Russia, over the past thirty years, both the socio-political situation and the religious situation have changed dramatically. Legislation not only declares religious freedoms, but also guarantees them. When religious associations comply with civil laws, the government provides them with the opportunity to act in accordance with their internal statutes. There are several tens of thousands of centralized and local religious associations in the country — previously existing and newly emerged. One of them is the Orthodox Church of the Mother of God Sovereign (hereinafter — Church) with a temple complex located in Tver.
The Church underwent state re-registration and its religion was recognized as «Orthodox of the Mother of God branch» after the approval of the Law of the Russian Federation «On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations» (1997) and as a result of another review of religious doctrine and practice by experts of the Council for Conducting State Religious Studies Expertise under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, under the leadership of Doctor of Philosophy Professor M. Mchedlov.[1]
What are the origins of the Theotokos Orthodoxy, the characteristics and conditions of the spiritual formation of the Mother of God Church and its influence on the flock?
To answer these questions, the internal documents of the Church were studied, field research was conducted (visits to church services, conversations with clergy and lay respondents), and literature about the church published in recent years was analyzed, in particular the works of its founder, Archbishop John.
Thus, the special veneration of the Mother of God by individual Christians and in Christian churches arose in the 1st century, when she spiritually led the early Christian communities for 16 years after the crucifixion of Christ, as noted in the works of the Orthodox Holy Fathers.[2]
Theologians of the Church about the mission of the Virgin Mary in the early Christian period and her role in the enlightenment of the Slavs insist that “Jesus Christ, before the testimony of the Cross on Golgotha, instructed his disciples in doctrine and faith for three years. And he spent thirty years with his Mother Mary. During these years, She wrote down his teachings, hidden from the world, in Her Heart (Luke 2:19). The Apostles received the gift of living faith, the absence of which Christ had repeatedly reproached them for (Matthew 17:20, etc.). Only after Mary’s instruction in the Upper Room on Zion, enlightened by the Mother of God herself, were they able to receive the fiery tongues of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.[3] Consequently, traditionally in Christianity, from the first centuries, the Virgin Mary has been glorified as the Teacher of the Apostles, teachers of the Church, ascetics, the Guide and Guardian of the Church, the First Abbess of monasteries… Almost all teachers of the Church note the protection (in theological terminology, the aegis) of the Mother of God on the path to Christ.
In Western Christianity, special veneration of Mary was expressed in secular and monastic congregations, orders, and similar associations. In the 20th century it became widely known as the worldwide “Marian movement”, which spread especially under St. Pope John Paul II (pontificate 1978–2005), who participated in it and actively supported it.
In the Eastern Church there were initially numerous monasteries, brotherhoods, churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary, events from her life, her parents Joachim and Anna were venerated, more than 500 miraculous icons of different iconography are venerated. In both churches, numerous liturgical texts, hymns, akathists and theological treatises have survived to this day, revealing the mission of the Virgin Mary in earthly life and in the hypostasis of the Heavenly Queen, Mother of Wisdom. The hymns of the Virgin Mary by St. John of Damascus (c. 675-753) — a hymnographer, theologian, religious philosopher — are still performed in churches. In such ancient Eastern Orthodox churches as the Coptic and Ethiopian, the calendar marks more than 30 holidays dedicated to the Mother of God.
This is emphasized by many researchers of Russian Orthodoxy. The historian and theologian Hieromonk John (Kologrivov) notes: ‘All Russian spirituality… is of a Theotokos character; the cult of the Mother of God is so central to it that, looking from the outside, Russian Christianity can be taken for the religion not of Christ, but of Mary.
In any case, examining the lives of Russian saints and looking for their highest moments in them, those that speak of their mystical experience of union with God, we will come to the establishment of very amazing circumstances: first of all, the lives contain very few indications of such experiences, and when they are present, it is usually not Christ but His Mother who is at the center of the mystical experience. This “Theotokos mysticism” is especially clearly manifested in the lives of the great Russian national saints: St. Sergius of Radonezh and St. Seraphim of Sarov’.[4] ‘Rus is the garden or house of the Ever-Virgin’.[5]
Of great interest for the study of the veneration of the Mother of God are the ancient Russian folk views on the Mother of God, reflected in prayers and legends. According to the ideas expressed in the works of Professor Archpriest Georgy Fedotov, who studied the peculiarities of the worldview and faith of the Russian people, «divine motherhood» is «the heart of popular religiosity.» For her, «the Mother of God is not only the Mother of God, but also the Mother in general, our common mother («mother of gods and people»). This is the sense in which Mary is simply called Mother, Mother Mary. And this motherhood of hers is not only by love, by her adoption of the world, but also by direct birth.
Sometimes we see that she is truly thought of as the parent and creator of the world: «If the Most Holy Mother of God / does not give her help, / nothing on earth can be born alive, / Neither cattle, nor birds, / nor become a man. …Who created for us / And heaven, and earth, and the sun, and the moon, / And the frequent stars.”
The Mother of God is not separated from God, being in the very heart of the divine world. Prayer to Her and prayer to God are one and the same. “O Lord, Heavenly King, / O light of the most holy Mother of God.” “My Mother is Mother Mary, / Most Pure Virgin, Most Holy, / Light of Mother Mary, / Most Holy Mother of God, / Red Sun, / Most Pure Dove, / Mother of God, Mother of God, / Quick Helper, / Warm Intercessor, / Intercede, save and have mercy…”.[6]
In the Bible text (in the book of Genesis) in the original language, the Holy Spirit and Wisdom «understood as the Divine emanation, the source of all good, which penetrates everything, moves everything, being the constant inspirer of prophets and sages» — are feminine.[7]
Religious studies show that Mary is also highly revered in Islam. In the Koran, her name is mentioned 33 times (even more than the name of her Son) and a separate surah is dedicated to her.
In Hinduism and Buddhism, female images of the heavenly patroness, wisdom, prosperity, happiness are highly revered. Sacred texts note three aspects of the Mother Goddess: generosity, wisdom and strength. Museums around the world contain numerous sculptural images of Mother Goddesses from the Neolithic and other periods of human development.
Thus, we can conclude that there is not a single religion in the world that does not honor the merciful patronage of the Heavenly Father, personified by the feminine and Mother of God principle.
But let us now turn to the documents indicating the origin of the Church, its current state and the content of its sermons.
The document “Fundamentals of the doctrine and corresponding practice, the history of the emergence of the religious association of the Orthodox Church of the Mother of God Sovereign”, submitted for consideration to the state Expert Council under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, reveals its traditions: “In its teaching and life, the Church follows the tradition of living faith and holiness, inherited through the ascetics-non-possessors of Holy Rus’ (St. Nil Sorsky, Sergius of Radonezh, Seraphim of Sarov, John of Kronstadt, Patriarch Tikhon and others), who affirmed Rus’ with the spirit of peace, holy love and the Gospel truth.
Following St. According to the tradition of the Greek Catholic Orthodox Church, a living, elder tradition of piety, the Church enriches its teaching with pearls of the Holy Fathers from the treasury of the liturgical teaching of the Orthodox Church, professed since the Baptism of Rus’ and partially lost by official theology in the 17th century.» According to the ministers of the church, for example, it has returned «the patristic and liturgical teaching about the immaculate beginning of a new, holy, pious life in Christ, which the Most Holy Virgin brings to humanity, the Intercessor for the salvation of Adam’s race, standing at the right hand of the Holy Trinity and praying for the salvation of the world.» 20 In the same document «Fundamentals of the Doctrine…» and in church practice, the followers of the Church preach «about the bright transformation and salvation of Russia through ardent penitential, heartfelt and psalter prayer and zeal for the forgiveness of sins; through turning to God and renewing the lost covenant with God (according to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, ‘repentance is the renewal of baptism’); through the prayer of the Council of New Martyrs; through intercession for salvation and the guidance of the Most Pure Virgin, the eternal Mother of Holy Rus’, who saved her many times in the past and has not abandoned her now.”
The deep veneration of the Virgin Mary in Christianity was a continuation of the universal archetypal worship of the Mother of all living, the patroness of the family, people, state, personifying caring care for her children.
The mystic, spiritual leader of the Church, Archbishop John, with the emotionality and imagery inherent in his style, notes that he “opened to Russian culture its sacred layer — Christianity from the 1st to the 10th centuries, incomparably more sincere and reliable, authentic. Returned the image of the living Mother of God to Russian culture… The Queen of Heaven… showed the Apostle Andrew the First-Called the way to Scythia (the expanses of the future Rus’ — A.L. note) with the words: «Child, this country has been dedicated and anointed in Our mysteries since time immemorial. Go and teach the people of God about the wisdom of My Divine Son.» Further, according to Archbishop John, based on various sources and revelations given to him, he: «Having entered the treasury of the archetype — returned Russia to its original solar identification, and therefore outlined the path of spiritual rebirth and flourishing».[8]
Based on the author’s many years of attending church services, conversations with clergy and lay respondents in his testimony in the world, the Church in relation to marriage and family, education, the human personality and its health, service in the army, etc., follows traditional Orthodox teaching and practice, affirming the principles of holy peace, righteousness, full disclosure of spiritual and spiritual gifts of the individual, a healthy and highly moral way of life, a pious family.
The Church strives to support motherhood and fatherhood, actively opposes abortion and promiscuity, drug addiction and pornography. It also follows the selfless, peacemaking service of representatives of ancient Christianity and the Russian tradition of the Old Believers. It does not collect money from parishioners in any form for performing rituals, for weddings, baptisms, funeral services for the deceased, for prayer and other forms of service.
The Church preachers strive to free themselves from the legacy of religious fundamentalism, institutional opposition to dissent, heterodoxy, and the dominance of some over others, which was established in Christianity as early as the 4th century. In the publications of the Church[9], the figures of the “acquisitive” “Josephite” trend in Orthodoxy, the Christian Inquisition, the deviation from the Gospel and patristic commandments, and the ignoring of the apparitions and revelations of the Virgin Mary throughout the world in the 19th-21st centuries were critically assessed.
The peacekeeping and spiritual-educational activities of the Church have received international recognition: in May 1992, it was accepted as a full member of the International Council of Community Churches, which is a collective member of the World Council of Churches. In November 1994, the church participated in the international conference of Marian (who especially venerate the Most Pure Virgin Mary) Orthodox and Catholic bishops, which was held in Japan.
In May 1995, the church held its 12th All-Russian Council in Moscow, as well as the World Congress of Marian Bishops, which was attended by spiritual leaders, bishops and priests from Russia, the USA, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, France and the CIS countries.
We can make some generalizations based on the material presented and studied.
With the beginning of democratic reforms in Russia and the abolition of the strict tsarist synodal, and then Soviet party-state control over the activities of religious associations, in the conditions of religious freedom, the church had the opportunity to organizationally formalize the centuries-old deep national veneration of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, which led to the emergence of a centralized religious organization, the Orthodox Church of the Mother of God Sovereign.
The origins of the Christian Mother of God branch go back centuries. The new things, speaking about the Mother of God Church, include, first of all, the very organization of the branch, some features of the doctrine, innovations in religious practice, mainly borrowed from other religious traditions. It seems that in the Mother of God Church much that outwardly seems new is, in essence, forgotten, but revived old. This state distinguishes it from other churches of the Universal Orthodoxy. For parishioners of the Mother of God Church, the following are preferable: purity of evangelical principles, non-covetousness, peacefulness, peacemaking, emphasis on the acquisition of the Holy Spirit and philokalia.
I will finish with what I started. Namely, how to relate to the religious diversity that has appeared in Russia in connection with the general large increase in the number of religious associations. And also, to the Orthodox movements and organizations in them. They were, are and will be. This is a certain pattern based on the diversity of people’s opinions, pluralism of opinions, and their new attitudes toward traditional churches.
The hierarchy of the Universal Orthodoxy is especially concerned about church divisions, and especially about the emerging associations of alternative Orthodoxy. The confrontation is quite noticeable. In a secular state, only through dialogue can the intensity of confrontation be overcome. Representatives of civil authority must realize that the time of dividing religions and confessions into ranks has passed in Russia. All religious associations are equal before civil law and all have equal rights.
24.03.19