The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute

The Russian peasantry’s traditional spiritual life until the early 20th century was determined by Orthodox beliefs and the specifics of the ethnic variant of a unified Christian culture that developed in the Russian North. The article analyzes the main mass forms of the penitential votive tradition of the Northern Russian population in the second half of the 19th — early 20th centuries, examines the features of their formation and execution in the specific historical and geographical conditions of the North of Russia, and also shows the interdependence and interpenetration of collective and individual forms of a unified votive tradition. It has been revealed that wars, natural anomalies, catastrophes and epidemics could be the reasons that motivated many believers to impose additional penitential obligations on themselves that were not provided for by church regulations. For personal repentance, the most Consistent reasons were the desire to get married, family troubles, childlessness, economic problems, and diseases. Joint penitential actions were expressed in the construction of holy ordinary churches and chapels, holding religious processions and prayer services, followed by fixing them in the local church calendar, and arranging the temple space (renovation of the iconostasis, ordering new icons, repairs, etc.). Individual penitential practices were very diverse: thanksgiving candles, donations of handicrafts, assistance in repairing the temple, additional fasting, etc. A common phenomenon in the Russian North was the installation of memorial crosses. When sick children recovered, they were often sent to monastic labor for a certain period of time. An important form of penance was votive pilgrimages on foot to monasteries, to holy wells, springs, and places of residence for ascetics of piety.