The Female Spiritual Elder and Death: Some Thoughts About Contemporary Lives of Russian Orthodox Saints

Abstract

In the contemporary Orthodox hagiography the special type of saint has formed - blazhennyie staritsy («blessed female spiritual elders»). In some respect this type of sainthood succeeds to traditional «folly for the sake of Christ». Yet the staritsy have their distinguishing features, and the main such feature is incurable disease such as blindness or motor function disorder. The meaning of such disorder can be interpreted as a sign of permanent liminality and the person's divine election. It indicates that while being alive she also belongs to the world of the dead (or the next world). The creation of these iconic narratives can be seen as attempts to democratize hagiographical canon by including some folk religious motives and images. Such folklorisation' of the genre of church hagiography expresses the idea that Orthodox faith has deep roots in the popular religiosity and therefore can be accessible to common people.