Veneration of Baptismal Saints in Russia in the 16th–17th Centuries

Abstract

From the first centuries of Christianization, the cult of a holy figure after whom a man receives his name has been a stand-out practice among Russian traditions of saints’ veneration. The tradition of honoring one’s heavenly namesake undergoes a certain evolution: in pre-Mongol times, it gravitates towards the widespread syncretism, the general veneration of all saints of the same name: e.g. in the 9th or 12th century, a man named Andrei could venerate Andrei the Apostle, Andrei the Holy Fool, Andrei of Crete and Andrei Stratilate in almost equal manner, and the one named Fjodor could consider the great martyr Theodore Tyrone, Theodore Stratelate or Theodore the Sanctified as his patron, etc. But already in the late Middle Ages, there is a claim for absolute match and a specific focus on a particular saint patron. The unique and inseparable bond between a Christian and his heavenly namesake was ensured precisely by the incredible accuracy and predestination of this connection. Apparently, for the Russian people in the late Middle Ages, knowing exactly who among the great plenitude of saints the person is paired to, served as the key to the reliable functioning of this connection. On the other hand, this analytical accuracy of the 16th–17th centuries cohabited with a tendency that one person might honor concurrently their original patron and a Russian saint named after him and often newly sanctified. It was assumed that the Russian saint and his earthly ward initially received their calendar names from the same heavenly patron, and, in most instances, it is possible to conjecture some specific reasons of geographical and/or biographical nature that might “relate” the person to this “new” saint. This study focuses on how this tradition of dual veneration of baptismal saints, merging the ancient and the newly introduced features, was functioning and what role it played in the everyday religious practices of this age.

Keywords

• medieval russia
• naming
• baptismal name
• church calendar
• cult of saints
• veneration of personal heavenly patrons
• commemorative practices