Повсякденне життя православного парафіяльного духовенства Київської єпархії в кінці ХVІІІ – на початку ХХ ст.

Abstract

Дисертація присвячена комплексному дослідженню повсякденного життя православного парафіяльного духовенства Київської єпархії в кінці ХVІІІ – на початку ХХ ст. У роботі з’ясовано правовий статус та головні обов’язки парафіяльного духовенства, розкрито стосунки священно- і церковнослужителів з поміщиками, інтелігенцією, селянством. Схарактеризовано головні джерела матеріального забезпечення православного духовенства: прибутки від землі, плата парафіян за здійснення треб та утримання від казни. Відображено рівень житлового забезпечення, способи утримання бідного духівництва, особливості шлюбносімейних відносин православного духовенства. Звернено увагу на заходи церковної адміністрації, спрямовані на підвищення морального рівня священно- і церковнослужителів. Досліджено еволюцію освітнього рівня парафіяльного духовенства Київської єпархії. З’ясовано місце благочинницьких та церковних бібліотек у самоосвіті кліру. The thesis is devoted to the complex research of everyday life of the Orthodox parish clergy in Kyiv Eparchy in late 18th – early 20th centuries. The previous investigation of the problem has been given; a wide range of archival and published materials has been analyzed. This made it possible to reconstruct the complex of events in the parish Orthodox clergy’s everyday life. These events described clergymen as a separate social stratum having definite social status, level of material well-being, their own peculiarities of family relations and welfare, educational qualifications and morality. The presented research clarifies the legal status and the main duties of the parish clergymen. The government’s complex of measures aimed at improving their social position has been revealed. The abolition of corporal punishments, exemption from all personal taxation, military services etc. were among the main ones. The clergy became a privileged class of that society. It has been established that the state authorities gave priests some duties of a secular nature together with religious ones. The relationships between clergymen, sacristans and landowners, intellectuals, peasants have been examined. The dividing line in relations between the peasants and the clergy was "Statute ..." of 1842 which proclaimed the improvement of the clergy’s prosperity and this led to the estrangement between priests and their congregation. The main sources of material support of the Orthodox clergy are income from land, donations of parishioners for religious rites, deduction from treasury. The level of house provision and ways of poor clergymen’s support have been displayed. It is stated that realization of some measures in 1842 contributed to improvement of clergy’s material status. Even the priests of not very rich parishes could receive a decent income. All this resulted in better welfare of the village clergy and helped to improve everyday conditions of their living but ultimately subordinated priests to state power. The thesis elucidates the specific features of the Orthodox parish clergy’s marital and family relations, as marriage rules distinguished them among other social strata. The church administration saw it mandatory for a clergyman to be married, encouraged marriages between the members of the clerical families, prohibited the second marriage for priests and the third one for sacristans, had strongly negative attitudes to divorces etc. The attention is also paid to priest families’ way of life: attitude to religious activities, relationships between spouses and education of children. It was compulsory to follow fasts and prayer ceremonies in the clergy’s family. The wives of priests and sacristans had their own roles in the society. A priest’s wife had to support her husband, give advice to other women in the parish, become an example for others in constant visiting the church, following fasts, celebrating religious holidays etc. The measures taken by church administration to increase the moral level of clergymen and sacristans have been discussed. A priest had to be respected, be an example and moral authority for the believers. Consequently, abidance of the Church statute, suppression of vagrancy, the regulations of leisure time spending, control over clergy’s appearance and behaviour in public places can be distinguished among the main actions to improve the morality of the Orthodox parish clergy. The evolution of the educational level of the Orthodox parish clergy in Kyiv Eparchy has been traced. It is said that the clergy remained one of the most educated strata of that society. The role of decent and church libraries for self-education of the clergymen has been clarified. The thesis indicates that one of the measures to control the self-education of the clergymen was a strict list of books for libraries and constant recommendations for new books acquisitions. The peculiarities of the clergy’s leisure time activities have been described. It is emphasized that the church authorities strictly regulated not only the professional activities of clergymen, but also spending of their spare time.