Thirst for Miracle: Rural Intelligentsia in the Years of Ordeals

The article is devoted to the historical reconstruction of the spiritual experience of the priest Feodor Alexandrovich Yegorov. The materials of archival-investigative case № 21183, stored in the fund 643/2 of Perm State Archive of Social and Political History have been the resource of the article. The complexity of the subject and the scattered nature of the documentary evidence suggest the use of the phenomenological instruments and K. Ginzburg's evidence paradigm. The formation of A.F. Yegorov's personality began against the background of the "era of wars and revolutions", and ended approximately in the "year of the great turning point", which determines the chronological framework of the study. Prior to the revolution of 1917 being the son of a simple craftsman he was able to make a career and became a teacher in a parochial school. F.A. Yegorov became a typical representative of the rural intelligentsia. During the Civil War he found himself in Irkutsk "retreating with the Whites." There he managed to enter the university. Surviving testimonies of that time characterize F.A. Yegorov as a man indifferent to religion or even an atheist. In 1926 he survived his conversion to the Orthodox faith and became a sacristan in one of the churches in Kungur area. From that moment a distinctly mystical component was fixed in his spiritual experience. His new-found faith allowed him to see miracles everywhere,and his contemplation of the miracle strengthened his faith. After becoming a priest, F.A. Yegorov (together with his confessor, N. I. Krylov) took an irreconcilable stand against the church policy of Metropolitan Sergius Stragorodsky. His ecclesiastical dissidence and inner experience of contemplating miracles eventually led him to division of the clergy into "graceful" and "unblessed”. In the article it is drawn a parallel between the fate of Priest F. Yegorov and Archpriest I. Kotelnikov, who was written about by the author earlier.

From Teacher to Tutor

In the late 1980s, the Adrian Dominican Sisters faced an issue common to religious communities: the aging of its membership and a lesser need overall for sisters to teach in the parochial-school system. Wanting to find a way for its highly trained educators to remain active, and to address a significant societal need at the same time, the Adrian Dominicans began a literacy center in Detroit for adult learners. More centers followed in Michigan, Florida, and Illinois. Other Dominican communities have established literacy centers as well. The centers each serve a wide range of adult learners, including immigrant populations, in helping these learners to build better lives for themselves and their families. This essay looks at each of the Adrian Dominican-sponsored literacy centers as well as those of other communities, with input from directors, tutors, and learners.

The Construction of Russian Orthodox Churches in Erebuni

Актуальность выбранной тематики определяется современным состоянием связей между Русской православной и Армянской апостольской церквами. Систематический характер данные связи приобрели после вхождения Восточной Армении в состав России. В настоящее время деятельность православных храмов на территории Армении и армянских епархий в России является одним из факторов, способствующих укреплению не только церковных, но и политических отношений между двумя государствами. Цель статьи — анализ феномена возникновения русских православных храмов в административном центре Восточной Армении — Эривани (совр. Ереван, Республика Армения), во второй половине XIX — начале XX века. Кратко приводится степень изученности указанной тематики. Предмет исследования составляет комплекс обстоятельств, связанных с процессом появления русских православных храмов в Эривани. На основании неопубликованных ранее архивных источников из фондов Национального архива Республики Армения воссозданы детали строительства церковноприходской школы и Николаевского православного кафедрального собора, показаны технические недостатки здания собора, обнаружившиеся в ходе его использования для богослужебных целей, приведены имена и фамилии первых священнослужителей собора. Проанализированный материал позволяет сформулировать вывод об укреплении к рубежу XIX–XX веков позиций Русской православной церкви в Восточной Армении в целом и в Эривани как губернском центре в частности, что было вызвано в наибольшей степени политическими мотивами: активизацией русификаторского курса в Закавказье, стремлением Российского правительства воздействовать на русских сектантов. Историческое значение процесса возникновения православных храмов в Эривани заключается, во-первых, в появлении традиций русского православия в будущей столице Армении, во-вторых, в создании обстоятельств для учреждения Эриванского (Ереванского) викариатства Русской православной церкви в 1912 году и, в-третьих, в поддержании межконфессиональных связей между Русской православной и Армянской апостольской церквами в современных условиях. The present state of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church accounts for the relevance of the issues discussed in the article. When Eastern Armenia became part of Russia, the relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church acquired a systemic character. In our time, Russian Orthodox churches functioning in the territory of Armenia and Armenian eparchies promote religious and political connections between the two countries. The aim of the article is to analyze the construction of Russian Orthodox churches in Erebuni, the administrative center of Eastern Armenia (now known as Yerevan, the capital of the Republic of Armenia) in the late 19th— early 20th centuries. The article explores the circumstances associated with the appearance of Russian Orthodox churches in Erebuni. The article investigates previously unpublished archival documents stored in the National Archival Fund of the Republic of Armenia. The article reconstructs the details of the construction of St. Nicolas Orthodox Cathedral and Erebuni parochial school. The article shows some architectural drawbacks of the cathedral which became obvious when the cathedral was opened and started functioning. The article provides names and surnames of the first priests who served in the cathedral. The analyzed data enables the author to conclude that at the turn of the 19th — 20th centuries, the Russian Orthodox church strengthened its position in Erebuni and in Eastern Armenia, in general. The situation was politically motivated by the pro-Russian sentiments Transcaucasia and by the desire of the Russian government to exert pressure on Russian sectaries. The appearance of Russian Orthodox churches in Erebuni is historically significant, for it encouraged the spread of Russian Orthodox traditions in the capital of Armenia, promoted the establishment of the Armenian Apostolic Vicariate in Russia in 1912, and encouraged the inter-confessional relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church in modern conditions.

Signing, Sectarian Schools, and the Law

This chapter examines and analyzes the five-year journey of Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District (1993) from the federal district court in Tucson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to the U.S. Supreme Court. William Bentley Ball, the Zobrests’ attorney, and John Richardson, the school district’s attorney, clashed over whether the Establishment Clause permitted any government aid to a Catholic school. Many religious and civil libertarian groups—but just one national deaf association—filed arguments to sway the court. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who wrote the majority decision favoring the Zobrests, misunderstood the complicated function of a sign language interpreter to permit what he regarded as incidental parochial school aid. Rehnquist maintained the aid was permissible because the plaintiffs and their deaf son were its main beneficiaries.

Northern Settlement Houses and Southern Welfare Centers: The Sisters of Our Lady of Christian Doctrine, 1910–1971

This chapter focuses on “the sisters,” members of women's religious communities (“nuns,” strictly speaking, were members of cloistered communities; most U.S. sisters pursued active vocations outside monastic settings). These “women religious” were surely the most conspicuous signs of Catholic presence in the Unites States from the Civil War era through the 1960s. Members of women's religious communities taught millions of parochial school students; others provided social services to immigrants and the poor. The Sisters of Our Lady of Christian Doctrine—among dozens of communities responding to the needs of immigrants—adapted the settlement house tradition founded by secular reformers with whom they shared many concerns with one fundamental difference: a sacramental worldview inspiriting apostolic work for personal rebirth and social renewal.

Laying the Cornerstone, 1825–1846

Benedict Fenwick, the second Roman Catholic bishop of Boston, had a rocky relationship both with the continued influx of Irish peasants and the Boston establishment. His priority was to lay the groundwork for Catholic higher education in Boston rather than establishing a parochial school system. Given that the Boston public schools presented a clear challenge to the faith of the Roman Catholic newcomers, one might expect that there would be a concerted counter-effort to provide a Catholic school alternative. However, the overall parochial school effort in Boston was much less than would have been expected. The major reasons for this “failure” were (1) the nature of the Catholic newcomers, who were overwhelmingly destitute Irish immigrants with no tradition of schooling in their homeland; (2) Bishop Fenwick’s background and personal characteristics; and (3) the policies adopted by the Boston establishment that controlled the public schools.