On the History of Venerable Onuphrius Honouring on the Lands of Ruthenia-Ukraine at the Late 18th – Throughout the 19th Century

Abstract

The article highlights the general circumstances of the existence and transformation of the cult of the venerable hermit-ascetic Onufrii the Great in the national territory during the end of the 18th – 19th centuries. This historical period is characterized by the curtailment and certain changes in the forms of veneration of the named saint, and later, almost a century later, by the revitalization of the cult. The process of collapse was conditioned and triggered by both internal and external factors. Among the first, the main role was played by the administrative and organizational measures of the leadership of the national Churches (Orthodox and Union) in the first – third quarters of the 18th century, aimed at streamlining monastic service, as well as at consolidating monasteries in order to support their financial situation. As a result of these measures, a considerable number of small and medium-sized monastic settlements ceased to exist. Among the others are general church reforms introduced by the rulers of the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires, which included Ukrainian lands; reforms that caused, in particular, the mass closure of such monastic settlements. One of the specific consequences of the reduction of the monastic form of asceticism and veneration of Onufrii the Great (monasticism was the first and for a long time the only, at least the main, medium of veneration of the holy hermit) was the «exit» of the investigated cult outside the monastery walls and its spread among a much larger number of local believers, including the common people. The latter process led, on the one hand, to its stabilization, and on the other, to a certain popularisation (folklorization). The noticeable rise of the cult fell on the last two decades of the 19th century and concerned mainly the western lands of Ukraine. These processes were initiated by the reform of the Order of Saint Basil the Great, initiated by Pope Leo XIII and supported (mainly for political reasons) by the Austrian government of that time.