Finnish Orthodox Research Articles

Newcomers Learning Religious Ritual

In this article, we explore the learning of newcomers in a religious community through a micro-sociological approach, making use of Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger’s (1991) notion of “legitimate peripheral participation” to conceptualize initial stages of inclusion and involvement in social practice. Our case study concerns Orthodox Christianity and is based on material gathered through fieldwork in a course targeting potential new members organized by a Finnish Orthodox parish. In the analysis, we inquire into how beginners learn skilful participation in Orthodox liturgical life, and specifically embodied ritual conduct. This learning takes place primarily through participation in real-life divine services. The article highlights challenges faced by beginners in acquiring the embodied repertoire of Orthodox ritual, including adapting to the artistic use of ritual gestures, and negotiating the meanings produced through them. Furthermore, it also illustrates how nuanced dynamics between newcomers and old-timers influence the learning process.

Письма на Валаам эмигранта протоиерея Симеона Солодовникова 1930–1933 гг.

The publication presents letters from Paris of the period 1930-1939 by two emigrant priests - Archpriest Simeon (Solodovnikov) and then hegumen Stefan (Svetozarov). Both pastors have subordinated to Metropolitan Eulogius (Georgievsky), but after his transition to the Constantinople Patriarch subordination, they departed from him. Archpriest Simeon was subordinated to the Synod of Russian Bishops Abroad, and Hegumen Stefan remained loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate. Both wrote to the Valaam Monastery, which remained on the territory of independent Finland after the revolution and, together with the Finnish Orthodox Church, had been subordinated to the Patriarch of Constantinople since 1923. The monastery never broke the connection with the motherland, prayed for the suffering Russian Church, the Abbot corresponded with Metropolitan Sergiy (Stragorodsky) while there was an opportunity. But the monastery also tried to maintain relations with compatriots in exile. The letters confirm this. The authors shared their thoughts on the positions taken by representatives of different jurisdictions into which the Russian Orthodox community abroad split, explained their choice of jurisdiction, and talked about the difficulties of emigrant life. The letters are published for the first time and help to recreate the images of our compatriots who lost their homeland after the revolution, and to trace their further fate. In addition, the publication recreates the atmosphere of jurisdictional disputes in the Russian abroad and clarifies the motives of their participants.

«Пути души, ума и сердца к Богу – никто не в состоянии пресечь…». Письма Коневского игумена-старостильника Амфилохия князю А.В. Оболенскому 1926-1934

The publication covers 21 letters by the father-superior of the Konevsky Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery in Finland, hegumen Amphilochius (Kulakov) to the emigrant of the first wave, Prince Alexei Vasilyevich Obolensky in the period 1926-1934. The letters were kept in the archive of the New-Valamo Monastery in Finland and are published for the first time. The first of the submitted letters was written by hegumen Amphilochius on June 23, 1926, the last - on January 27, 1934. Until 1939, the hegumen still congratulated the Obolenskys on Christmas and Easter. The correspondence began when the hegumen was 51 years old, for eight years he wrote about 2-3 letters annually, and after 1934 he sent brief congratulations on church celebrations. Father Amphilochius took monastic vows in the Valaam Monastery in 1908, and in 1920 was moved to the Konevsky Monastery. He became one of the brightest representatives of the old-style movement. It arose after the Finnish Orthodox Church introduced the Gregorian calendar (1921) and the "new" Paschal in 1925. A Church court condemned him and removed from the abbacy for refusing to accept the reform. Nevertheless, the former father-superior remained to live in the monastery, performed general monastic work and prayed in a cell. His correspondence with Obolensky was mainly of a spiritual upbringing nature, however, some references concerned to the church life of that time. The letters are also interesting because of revealing of the inner world and views of one of the "leaders" of the old-style movement in Finland, they show him as a deeply spiritual person devoted to monastic traditions.

Reinventions of an Old Tradition: Orthodox Processions and Pilgrimage in Contemporary Finland

Abstract This article examines two cases of Finnish Orthodox traditions of procession and pilgrimage that are currently being reframed in response to physical, political, and religious disruption. Annual Orthodox processions are now held in Northern Karelia close to and across the Finnish-Russian border, while the pilgrimage of St. Tryphon of Pechenga, the patron saint of the Skolt Saami in northeastern Finland, crosses the border between Finland and Norway to visit their lost home area, as an act of remembrance and recognition of the history of the Skolt Saami. Here I argue that, contrary to some trends within pilgrimage studies to blur tourism and pilgrimage, these journeys are primarily religious, understood only with an appreciation of Orthodox theology and worldview. Each case demonstrates both continuity and change in Orthodox pilgrimage praxis and its theological underpinnings. It highlights the pragmatism of the priests and congregations involved in adapting traditional forms to complex new contexts involving the loss of tangible and intangible heritage. The analysis shows that both events include the active agency of both the institution and local participants and a significant amount of invention in relation to new contexts of loss.

Paavo Kontkanen and his Role in Normalization of Relations between the Russian and Finnish Orthodox Churches

The interrelations of the Russian and Finnish Orthodox Churches in the 20th century are dramatic and poorly studied by Russian historians. This article, on the basis of materials from the State Archives of the Russian Federation and studies into church history translated from Finnish, attempts to evaluate the role of Dr. Paavo Kontkanen, an active member of the Finnish Archdiocese, in the relations between these two Churches. He exemplified a change in the attitude of the National Orthodox Church of Finland towards the Russian Church, historically kyriarchal, in the second half of the previous century. Dr. Paavo Kontkanen, being for a long time a member of the collegiate administrative body of the Finnish Archdiocese, the Church Administrative Council, with permission from Archbishop Herman (Aav) started negotiations with the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church on a private level. Having archieved understanding with the chairman of the Department of External Church Relations, Metropolitan Nicholas (Yarushevich), Kontkanen considered the possibility of reunification of the Finnish Church and the Russian Church only for a short period, before receiving the status of Autocephalous Local Church from Moscow. Kontkanen’s actions enable to regard him as a conductor of Finland’s ecclesiastical interests aimed at rapprochement with the Soviet Union. It can be proved by Kontkanen’s close contacts with the President of Finland, Urho Kaleva Kekkonen, and his ability to defend interests of the “pro-Russian” part of the clergy and the Finnish Orthodox Church in the face of the state and the Church Council.

FINNISH ORTHODOX CHURCH IN 1939–1945

FINNISH ORTHODOX CHURCH IN 1939–1945

Богослужебная жизнь Финляндской Православной Церкви при архиепископе Павле (Олмари)

Богослужебная жизнь Финляндской Православной Церкви при архиепископе Павле (Олмари)

Making minority faith (in)visible through religious education: parents\u2019 experiences of the identification of their children\u2019s Orthodox identity in Finnish public schools

The focus of this article is on parents’ experiences with and perceptions of their children’s religious education (RE). The data consist of letters from 41 parents of Finnish Orthodox children and youth. In the letters, the parents describe their understanding of minority religious upbringing and how it is affected by different factors like RE. RE is a mandatory subject in Finnish schools, and it is taught in groups consisting of children with the same religious backgrounds. The main questions in this article are (1) how do the parents view the arrangements for Orthodox RE to make their children’s minority religious affiliation visible at school, and (2) what is the effect of RE on the formation of their children’s minority identity? The analyses show that parents perceive RE as an important factor in their children’s identity formation. Despite the sometimes inadequate arrangements for Orthodox RE in school, the parents are mostly happy with the subject and with their children’s RE teachers. RE makes the minority religious affiliation of Orthodox children both visible and invisible: their difference from the majority is exposed, but minority RE classes often take place outside of regular school hours and even outside of school premises.

Practical and Pastoral Perspectives on Inter-confessional Marriage in the Finnish Orthodox Context

Abstract In this article, the phenomenon of inter-confessional marriages and families is studied in the context of Finnish Orthodoxy. The focus is on the wedding services, religious upbringings and participation in Church life from the perspective of inter-confessional marriages/families: How does the ecumenical reality influence them? Sociologically, the family has a central role in relation to beliefs, religious practices and activities. The religious upbringing of most Orthodox children takes place in a family of two Christian traditions. In the lived reality of the Finnish Orthodox population, the co-existence of two traditions (Orthodox and non-Orthodox) in inter-confessional marriages is not always non-problematic. In dialogue with the Lutheran Church, the Orthodox Church of Finland has aimed to promote harmony and mutual respect for the two traditions in inter-confessional families, as well as to fortify the Orthodox identity of its members.

Centenary of Finnish orthodox music. Tradition and personalities

Centenary of Finnish orthodox music. Tradition and personalities

The Nationalization of Liturgy in the Orthodox Church of Finland in the 1920s-30s

Abstract The article explores the nationalization of the Orthodox liturgical tradition in Finland in the 1920s-30s. It was a process through which the Finnish Orthodox tried to remove signs of Russian heritage from their church culture in order to prove their loyalty to the newly independent Republic of Finland. The analysis of the national discourse reveals how the contemporary writers justified the nationalizing reforms.

Ecumenism in Liturgy?

Abstract The Finnish Orthodox Church forms a small minority in a predominantly Lutheran country. Since the 1950s, some changes in liturgical texts have occurred because of this Lutheran presence. This paper discusses three of them: the addition “and all Christians” in the Great Entrance, the addition “through your intercessions” in the prayer formula “Most-holy Theotokos, save us”, and the commemoration of “our Bishop Irja” during the visits of the Lutheran bishop of Helsinki, Irja Askola, in the Uspensky Cathedral of Helsinki in 2015. The author proposes that the two first cases took place in order to reconcile the Orthodox population with their Lutheran surroundings by the commemoration of their non-Orthodox friends and relatives in the liturgy, on one hand, and to explain dogmatic thought that is foreign to Lutheran mentality, on the other. The additions, however, pose theological problems and should not be used as such.

Glocal Religion and Feeling at Home: Ethnography of Artistry in Finnish Orthodox Liturgy

This paper adapts a glocalization framework in a transnational, anthropological exploration of liturgy in the Orthodox Church of Finland (OCF). It draws on long-term ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with participants of liturgy from Finnish, Russian, and Greek cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The main argument of the paper is that generic processes of nationalization and transnationalization are not mutually exclusive in practitioners’ experiences of liturgy in OCF, but rather generate a glocal space that incorporates Finnish, Russian, Karelian, and Byzantine elements. Individuals artistically engage with glocal liturgy on sensorial, cognitive, social, and semantic levels. What is important for the participants is a therapeutic sense that comes from a feeling of ‘being at home’, metaphorically, spiritually, and literally. People’s ongoing, creative work constitutes Orthodoxy as their national and transnational home.

Finnish Orthodox Women and the Virgin Mary

Finnish Orthodox Women and the Virgin Mary

Lifelong minority religion: routines and reflexivity: A Bourdieuan perspective on the habitus of elderly Finnish Orthodox Christian women

Applications of the concept of habitus to research on religion have increased in recent decades. At present, Pierre Bourdieu's interpretation of the concept is perhaps the most well known. Nevertheless, it has also met with criticism. This article utilizes Bourdieuan theorizations to discuss the habitus of elderly Finnish Orthodox Christian women. The author examines the women's dispositions in relation to their changing minority position within Finnish society, and identifies the dynamic between reflexivity and routine practice as being central to their religion. The analysis demonstrates the value of Bourdieu's understanding of habitus when studying the long-term effects of social power on subjectivity – as reflected, for instance, in lifelong minority religion. The author argues, moreover, that contrary to the claims of many critics, Bourdieu's approach is suitable for inquiries into the conscious dimensions of practicing, in so far as these are conceived of as grounded in individuals’ past and present conditions of religious practice.

К проблеме разрыва канонического общения между Русской и Финляндской Православными Церквами

К проблеме разрыва канонического общения между Русской и Финляндской Православными Церквами

An Intriguing Ecumenical Dialogue: Lutheran-Orthodox Encounters in Finland

Abstract Finland is seen as a model country for ecumenism. For many years the country was almost monolithic Lutheran, but today Lutheranism is no longer a state religion. Yet, certain state-church structures still exist in this modern welfare state. Religiously Finland is characterized by strong secularization as well as by privatized faith. Since the 1960s minority churches came more to the forefront, in particular the Finnish Orthodox Church whose impact exceeds its small quantity. The Lutheran majority Church strongly facilitated the ecumenical dialogue with Eastern Orthodoxy, initially in international and later on in national perspective. In the article the development of this attractive discourse is highlighted. It became an appealing process of mutual learning between Eastern and Western Christianity.

Healer, Welfare and ‘Limited Good’ in Orthodox Finnish Border Karelia in the Late 19th Century and Early 20th Century

The article introduces to readers the activities of healers among the Finnish Orthodox people of Border Karelia (located on the northern shores of Lake Ladoga). The period discussed here focuses on the two decades between the First and the Second World War. The activities of healers consisted of finding and explaining a problem (usually the cause of an illness), and finding a solution. In Border Karelia, the most common explanations for an illness were that it had come from water, a forest or a graveyard. It was believed that all three were controlled by spirits, which the ill person had somehow offended, or, occasionally, which had been set on the ill person by somebody malicious. In both cases, the ill person’s share of limited good had diminished, and had to be enhanced. In the first case, the spirit(s) had to be conciliated. In the latter case, a counter-charm was needed. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.15181/ab.v15i1.27

Mission and Development: Finnish Pentecostal, Lutheran and Orthodox Mission Agencies in Development Work in Kenya 1948-1989

Mission and Development: Finnish Pentecostal, Lutheran and Orthodox Mission Agencies in Development Work in Kenya 1948-1989

Mission and Development: Finnish Pentecostal, Lutheran and Orthodox Mission Agencies in Development Work in Kenya, 1948–1989

Mission and Development: Finnish Pentecostal, Lutheran and Orthodox Mission Agencies in Development Work in Kenya, 1948–1989