CARPATHO-RUSYN CHURCH HISTORY AND RELIGIOUS LIFE
By Bogdan Horbal ©1996 all rights reserved.
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Studies on Carpatho-Rusyn church history and religious life include most of
the leading publications on this subject. Among general studies there are:
-
Iuliian Pelesh (1843-1896), Geschichte der Union der Ruthenishen Kirche
mit Rom [The History of the Union of the Rusyn Church with Rome],
vol.1-2, Vienna, 1878-81;
- Athanasius Pekar (b.1923), OSBM, The History
of the Church in Carpathian Rus', Fairview, NJ, 1992.
Vasylii Hadzhega (1864-1938) devoted much attention to ecclestical matters
and wrote separate histories of the churches of four of the Rusyn inhabited
comitats of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire:
- "Dodatky k istorii Rusynov
y rus'kykh tserkvei v Maramaroshi: studii ystorychno-arkhivni" [Notes on
the History of Rusyns and Rusyn Churches in Maramaros: A Historical-Archival
Study], Naukovyi Zbornyk Tovarystva Pros'vita, I (Uzhhorod, 1922), p.140-228;
- "Dodatky
k istorii Rusynov y rus'kykh tserkvei v Uzhanskoi zhupi: studii
ystorychno-arkhivni" [Notes on the History of Rusyns and Rusyn Churches in
Ung Comitat: A Historical-Archival Study], ibidem, II, 1923, p.1-64 and vol.III,
1924, p.155-239;
- "Dodatky k istorii Rusynov y rus'kykh tserkvei v zhupi
Ugocha: studii ystorychno-arkhivni" [Notes on the History of Rusyns and
Rusyn Churches in Ugocsa Comitat: A Historical-Archival Study], ibidem, IV,
1925, p.117-176, and V, 1927, p.1-62;
- "Dodatky k istorii Rusynov y rus'kykh
tserkvei v buv. Zhupi Zemplynskoi: studii ystorychno-arkhivni" [Notes on
the History of Rusyns and Rusyn Churches in the Former Zemplen Comitat: A
Historical-Archival Study], ibidem, VII-VIII, 1931, p.1-167, IX, 1932, p.1-67,
X, 1934, p.17-120, XI, 1935, p.17-129, XII, 1937, p.37-83.
About the Orthodox Church in the Carpathians see:
- Evgenii Perfetskii
(1888-1947), "Religioznoe dvyzhenie v Ugorskoi Rusy v XVI-m i nachali XVII
vieka" [Religious Movement in Ugro-Rus' in Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth
Centuries], Izvestia ORISIAN, XX, 1 (St. Petersburg, 1915),
s.24-77;
- Pravoslavna missyia na Slovensku [Orthodox Mission in
Slovakia], Vysshyii Svidnik, 1926;
- Antonius Hodinka (1864-1946), "Documenta
Koriatovicsiana et fundatio monasterii Munkacsiensis" [Koriatovic's
documents and the Foundation of the Mukachevo Monastery], Analecta Ordinis
Sancti Basili Magni [Analecta OSBM], 2nd ser., sect.2, I, 2-3 (Rome, 1950),
p.339-359; 4 (Rome, 1953), p.525-51; II, 1-2 (Rome, 1954), p.165-189;
- Marian
Bendza, Prawoslawna diecezja przemyska w latach 1596-1681: studium
historyczno- kanoniczne [The Orthodox Diocese of Przemysl in Years
1596-1681: Historical and Canonical Study], Warsaw, 1982.
On the introduction of the Church Union with Rome, and the struggle of the
Orthodox Church against it see:
-
Aleksei Petrov (1859-1932), Staraia
viera i uniia v XVII-XVIII vv., [The Old Faith and the Union in the
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries], Materialy dlia Istorii Ugorskoi Rusi,
vol.1-2, St. Petersburg, 1905-09;
- Michael Lacko S.J. (1920-1982), Unio
Uzhorodensis Ruthenorum Carpaticorum cum Ecclesia Catholica [The
Uzhhorod Union of Carpatho-Rusyns with Catholic Church], Rome, 1955;
- Alexander
Baran (b.1926), Eparchia Maramorosiensis eiusque Unio
[Maramarosh Eparchy and its Attitude to the Union], Analecta OSBM, 2nd.
ser., sect.1, XIII (Rome, 1962);
- Borys I. Balyk, Inokentii Ivan
Vynnyts'kyi, iepyskop peremys'kyi, sambirs'kii, sianots'kii (1680-1700)
[Inokentii Ivan Vynnyts'kii, Bishop of Przemysl, Sambir, Sanok
(1680-1700)], Analecta OSBM, 2nd ser., sect.1, XXXVII, (Rome, 1978).
On the history of the Greek-Catholic Church in the region see:
- Athanasius B.
Pekar (b.1923), De erectione canonica eparchiae Mukacoviensis (anno
1771) [The Canonical Erection of the Mukachevo Eparchy in 1771], Analecta
OSBM, 2nd ser., sect.1, VII, (Rome, 1956);
- Carpathian Alliance, The
Tragedy of the Greek Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia, New York, 1971;
-
Basil Boysak (b.1911), The Fate of the Holy Union in Carpatho-Ukraine,
Toronto 1963.
On specific issues see:
- Paul R.Magocsi (b.1945), "Religion and Identity
in the Carpathians", in: Cross Currents, VII (Ann Arbor,
1988), p.87-107;
- Alexander Baran (b.1926), Metropolia Kioviensis et
Eparchia Mukacoviensis [Kievian Metropoly and the Eparchy of
Mukachevo], Rome, 1960, and also his: "Podil Mukachivs'koi Eparkhii v XIX
stolitti" [The Partition of the Mukachevo Diocese in the Nineteenth
Century], Analecta OSBM, 2nd. ser., sect.2, IV, (Rome, 1963), p.534-569;
-
Vasilii Shereghy (1918-1988) and Vasilii Pekar (b.1923), Vospitanie
podkarpato-ruskoho sviashchenstva- The Training of Carpatho-Ruthenian Clergy,
Pittsburgh, 1951;
- Aleksei Petrov (1859-1932), Pamiatniki
tserkovno-religioznoi zhizni Ugrorussov XVI-XVII vv. [Monuments from
the Ecclestical-Religious Life of Ugro-Russians in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries], Materialy dlia Istorii Ugorskoi Rusi, vol.7, Petrograd, 1921, and
his:
Otzvuk reformatsii v russkom Zakarpat'i XVI v. [The
Repercussion of the Reformation in Russian Transcarpathia during the Sixteenth
Century], ibid., vol.8, Prague, 1923; and also his: "Kanonicheskiia
vizitatsiia 1750-1767 gg. v varmediakh Zemplinskoi, Sharishskoi, Shpishskoi
Abauiskoi" [The Canonical Visits in the Comitats of Zemplen, Saros, Szepes
and Abauj, 1750-1767], Naukovyi zbornyk tovarystva Prosvita, III
(Uzhhorod, 1924), p.104-135.
See also several documents regarding the Mukachevo
diocese in Monumenta Ucrainae Historica, (vol.1-13, Rome,
1964-74) especially: vol.4 (1671-1701), vol.5 (1702-1728), vol.11, supplementum
(1633-1659), vol.13 (1771-1853).
Several works are devoted to the architecture and (so often) tragic fate of
Carpatho-Rusyn churches:
- Vsevolod Karmazyn-Kakovs'kyi (b.1898), Mystetstvo
lemkivs'koi tserkvy [The Art of the Lemko Church], Rome, 1975;
- Ryszard
Brykowski, £emkowska drewniana architektura cerkiewna w Polsce, na
Slowacji i Rusi Zakarpackiej [Lemko Wooden Church Architecture in
Poland, Slovakia and Transcarpathian Rus'], Wroclaw, 1986;
- Florian Zapletal
(1884-1969), Wooden Churches In The Carpathians, Vienna, 1982;
-
Oleh Iwanusiw, TSerkva v ruini: zahybel' ukrains'kykh tserkov
Peremys'koi eparkhii, [Church in Ruins: the Destruction of the
Ukrainian Churches in the Eparchy of Przemysl], St. Catherines, Ont., 1987;
-
Albom ukrains'kykh tserkov: Zakarpattia, Lemkivshchyny, Kholmshchyny ta
Pidliashshia [Album of the Ukrainian Churches in the Transcarpatian
Region, Lemko Region, Chelm Region and Podlasie Region], London, 1988.
The Library also possesses a number of albums with reproductions of
Carpatho-Rusyn icons. Among them there are:
- Bernadett Puskás, Kelet
és nyugat kozott: ikon a Karpat-videken a 15-18 szazadban=Between East
and West: Icons in the Carpathian Region in the 15th-18th centuries,
Budapest, 1991;
- Heinz Skrobucha, Icons in Czechoslovakia,
London-New York-Hamlyn, 1971;
- Stefan Tkác,
Ikony zo 16-19 storocia na severovýchodnom Slovensku
[Icons from 16th-19th Centuries in Northern-Eastern Slovakia], Bratislava, 1980;
-
Romuald Biskupski, Ikony w zbiorach Muzeum Historycznego w Sanoku
[Icons in the Collection of the Historical Museum in Sanok], Warsaw,
1991;
- Muzeum Okregowe w Rzeszowie, Ikony w muzeach wojewódz-twa
rzeszowskiego: katalog [Icons in the Museums of Rzeszów
District: A Catalogue], Rzeszów, 1968;
- Janina Klosinska, Icons
from Poland, Warsaw, 1989.
There is also the collection of Monsignor Basil Shereghy (1918-1988), STD,
an erudite priest of the Byzantine Ruthenian Metropolitan Province, which
consists of 18 rare printed church books and a manuscript dating from 17th
through 19th centuries. These books were published outside of Carpathian Rus'
(except for a prayer book: [P]osledovannie [ot] sna vstavshi ...
[Following for Those Who Just Woke up...], which was copied in Uzhhorod (17--)
in Ruthenian recension of Church Slavonic), but were continuously in use in this
region. The 19 items include some striking examples of printing in Church
Slavonic type. Many of the books are in their original bindings, and contain
important marginal notations that often document the migrations of these books
through Eastern Europe and the West. One of them (Semia slova Bozhiia
[Family of the God's Word], Pochaev, 1772) was once: "Ex libris Joanis
Szilavay absoluti 4-i anni Theologi, 1860-o.", that is in the library of a
prominent Carpatho-Rusyn author and patriot, at that time a student of theology,
Rev. Ivan Silvai (1838-1904).
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