The Cathedral of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God in Koz’modem’yansk is probably the most famous cathedral in Mari El. Completed in 1872, it commemorates the miraculous salvation of Tsar Alexander II from a failed 1866 attempt on his life. The design is typical of Russian Orthodox churches and is quite similar to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. However, there are some unique attributes. First one notices that the exterior is painted red and white, the two most sacred colors to the Maris. While this may be a coincidence, when one steps inside, one notices that the tile work on the floor is based on traditional Mari embroidery motifs. Perhaps the parishioners were enamored with Mari culture. Or, as a more likely explanation, this was a way to induce Maris to come to church. By the late 19th century, almost all Maris had been officially baptized into the Orthodox faith, with the exception of the Eastern Maris living in modern-day Bashkortostan. Conversion efforts began in earnest in 1700 when Peter the Great decided that all subjects of the Russian Empire should be Christian. Conversion was often achieved by offering material incentives, such as temporary exemption from taxes and military duties. Other times it was achieved in a more forceful manner – by driving an entire village into a river, giving them tin crosses, and declaring them baptized. Under the rule of Tsar Anna (r. 1730-1740), those who resisted faced corporal punishment, confiscation of property and demotion to serf status. According to imperial law, conversion was permanent and to renounce Christian faith was to commit the crime of apostasy. Given such methods, the Mari understanding of Christian doctrine tended to be superficial and they tended to quickly return to their traditional ways. This was not necessarily a rejection of Christianity. Since the Mari faith lacks a jealous God, they could incorporate Christian ideas without betraying their own faith. Conversion often meant simply calling their supreme God, Kugo Yumo, the name of the Christian God. As Paul Werth writes, “he was the same entity, but now with a son and a new colleague – the Holy Spirit”. Throughout the 18th century, the superficiality of Christian belief among the converts did not concern the state very much – it was enough that they simply go through the outward motions. In the 19th century, however, this all changed. In 1827, during a season of agricultural crisis, about four thousand baptized and unbaptized Maris gathered from distant provinces to offer prayers and sacrifices to their animist spirits. This event came to be known as the Great Apostasy of 1827. Subsequently, the state decided it was necessary to make genuine Christians of the Maris, meaning they would have to abandon their animist beliefs. In order to do so, missionaries would have to rely on persuasion rather than force. An 1828 decree from the Holy Synod contained an order from Emperor Nicolas I (r. 1825-1855) that the Maris “should in no way be persecuted and they should be handled with extreme care”. Missionaries devised many creative strategies to accomplish this goal. Most famously, Nikolai Il’minsky (1822-1891) trained natives to preach in the native language. The use of native themes in church architecture, such as the Cathedral of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God in Koz’modem’yansk, was clearly part of this new strategy.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 03:15:50 +0000
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