The Struggle of Believers against the Disclosure of Holy Relics in the European North of Russia in 1918–1920

Abstract

Based on a systematic and problem-chronological approach, and drawing on materials from federal and regional archives of the Russian Federation and works of Russian and foreign scholars, this article identifies the theological foundations of veneration for holy relics and their roles and value for believers. This sets up a study of the causes and consequences of the campaign for the disclosure of holy relics in the European North of Russia, believers’ actions to protect the relics of revered saints, and results of this struggle. Questions about the origin of the cult of relics, their early Christian or ancient origins, and the evolution of ceremonies connected with them are the focus of modern studies. The understanding of the term “relics” and the idea of their sacred status have undergone significant evolution in the history of the Russian Church. Understood differently in Orthodox theology and among ordinary clergy and parishioners, the cult of relics became one of the most important directions for atheistic and anti-clerical policy of the Soviet government in its first years. An inspection of the contents of shrines was supposed to reveal the corruption of the saints, and thus to expose “the centuries-old deception of the working people by the clergy” and thus to nullify the influence of the Church. Data on how the majority of believers responded to this policy are analyzed. The article concludes that the fight against relics as an important element of anticlerical measures led to apparent success, but failed to achieve the main goal — to eliminate the cult of saints and martyrs as such.