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Dronova T. Memorial Rites of the Calendar Cycle among Russian Old Believers-Priestless People of Ust-Tsilma (Based on Materials from the 20th — early 21st century)

T. Dronova
Institute of Language, Literature and History, Federal Research Center of Komi Scientific Center of Ural Branch of the RAS
Syktyvkar, Russia
ORCID: 0000-0002-6982-9699
E-mail: t_i_dronova@mail.ru

 

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ABSTRACT. The article examines the traditional memorial rites of Russian Old Believerspriestless people living in the Ust-Tsilma district of the Komi Republic. The article is based on the author’s field materials collected in the period 1990–2015. The study analyzes folk ideas about the commemoration of the dead, calendar memorial rites (parental weeks, Trinity rites, Ivanov day) of the 20th — early 21st century. The structure of the rite is analyzed, memorial calendar days, traditional elements and innovations of recent years are listed, and the specifics of the rites are revealed. A peculiarity of the memorial tradition of the Ust-Tsilemsky Old Believers is the order of ritual actions, among which the method of commemorating deceased sinners “for parents” — ancestors from the category of “worthy” developed by the Ust-Tsilemsky Old Believers is noted. It has been established that it represents a local version of the commemoration of the folk-Christian non-canonical tradition, which, in their opinion, contributes to the atonement of the sins of the deceased. The article expands the understanding of local features of commemoration: the establishment of a memorial day on the day of the Nativity of John the Baptist, which became a “cherished” memorial day. As field materials have shown, the traditional memorial rite has not lost its relevance. As before, the Ust-Tsilemsky Old Believers attach great importance to the fulfillment of the church rule, aimed both at separating the dead from the living, and establishing and maintaining contact with the world of ancestors. Along with canonical prayers, non-canonical memorial texts were also widely used, read for the deceased without baptism and commemoration. The obligatory ritual actions of the springautumn period still include censing of graves, which also has its own local specifics. The article expands the understanding of the culture of the Old Believers-Pomors of Ust-Tsilma and allows us to talk about the uniqueness of the memorial rites of the studied ethno-confessional group.

 

KEYWORDS: Old Belief, Ust-Tsilma, commemoration, tradition, the deceased, censing, requiem

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2026-2(32)-70-93
UDC 393:271.2(470.13)

 

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