Nadezhda Kizenko,
Professor of History, State University of New York at Albany, Olbany, USA, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Russian Bishops’ Sermons on Penance from the 18th and 19th Centuries in Their Social and Political Context
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2022-2-10
Russian Orthodox bishops’ sermons on confession in the 18th and 19th centuries reflect the intersection and balancing of different simultaneous goals: teaching eternal verities, engaging the contemporary flock’s actual moral state, and incorporating the aims of Russian rulers, such as those expressed in the Spiritual Regulation of Peter I. The homilies of Metropolitan Dimitriy (Tuptalo) of Rostov linked the sacrament of penance to liturgy; Platon (Levshin) and Tikhon of Zadonsk emphasized repentance as a life-long activity rather than an annual rite. Mid‑19th century censorship limited more daring theological explorations of confession, such as those of Ignatiy (Brianchaninov). As the focus shifted to a broader audience after the emancipation of the serfs, more overtly disciplinary confession-related sermons by Archbishops Innokentiy (Borisov), Filaret (Gumilevskiy), and Feofan (Govorov, aka the Recluse) brought listeners and readers back to making a good annual fasting throughout Lent. Bishops consistently chose to focus on the eternal verities of penance and salvation rather than engaging with contemporary issues, which they did only rarely. This may have been a way of subtly resisting rulers’ encroachments, maintaining the high ground and their unique calling far from politics. Their conservatism also meant, however, that the practice of annual (rather than more frequent) confession and communion would remain entrenched.
Publishing: 28/04/2022
The article has been received by the editor on 11.12.2021
How to cite: Kizenko N. Russian Bishops’ Sermons on Penance from the 18th and 19th Centuries in Their Social and Political Context // Historical Courier, 2022, No. 2 (22), pp. 158–176. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2022/ISTKURIER-2022-2-10.pdf]
Links: Issue 2 2022
Keywords: Russian Orthodox Church, bishops, theology, sermon, sacrament of repentance, confession, sacrament of communion, flock