Sacralization of natural and cultural objects in Belarus (by the example of the well near the Pаručniki village, Biešankovičy district)

Abstract

This publication, based on archival documents, examines the process of sacralization of the well near the Pаručniki village, Biešankovičy district. This case is an illustrative example of the process of emergence and functioning of sacred sites on the territory of Belarus. Archival documents give us a unique opportunity to learn many aspects that remain unknown or little-known: how sacralization took place, how the tradition of veneration was formed and developed, how the shrines functioned, who took care of them, what was the fate of the donations, what was the attitude of society, the church and the authorities. Using the case of a well near the Pаručniki village with additional materials, the author proposed a model of the emergence and existence of folk shrines: sacred precedent; verification of sacred precedent; sacralization of the object; cultural formalization of the object; legitimization of the shrine; the formation of a tradition of veneration; transformation of the shrine; the decline of the shrine and its subsequent disappearance/restoration. The appearance of the image of the cross in the frozen well on the Feast of the Epiphany in 1894 was a sacred precedent. People began to consider the water healing after repeated occurrences of images of the cross. Partially confirmed rumors of healing were the reason for a mass pilgrimage to the well. The largest number of pilgrims was recorded on Easter. Archival documents have preserved the exact list of donations that were left at the well. Mostly pilgrims brought money and linen and wool textiles. The donations were managed by the inhabitants of the village of Paručniki. The donations were later transferred to the parish church in Biešankovičy. Local residents asked the church to officially recognize the shrine, but a special commission created by the governor didn’t confirm the healing properties of the water. Official recognition of the folk shrine by the church and state authorities was an important condition for the preservation and development of the tradition of veneration of natural and cultural objects in Belarus in the second half of the 19th century. The local authorities took measures to stop the veneration of the well in Paručniki: a ban on visiting, propaganda of the idea that the water was harmful. The well was never officially recognized, and its mass veneration soon ceased. The holy well has not survived to this day, but the author localized its location. The memory of the holy spring (well) was preserved only in one family in the Pаručniki village among the descendants of one of the direct participants in the events of 1894–1895.