Russian Orthodoxy on the Eve of Revolution

In Russian Orthodoxy on the Eve of Revolution, Vera Shevzov draws on a rich variety of previously untapped archival sources to reconstruct the religious world of the lay people. She traces the means by which men and women shaped their religious lives in an ecclesiastical system that was dominated by bureaucrats and monastic bishops. Focusing on various "centres" of their religious life - the temple, chapels, feasts, icons, and the Virgin Mary - she follows the religious processes and communal dynamics that lent these centres meaning. Russian Orthodoxy on the Eve of Revolution breaks new ground by giving voice to the previously ignored common people during one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of the church - and immediately preceding one of the most important events of the twentieth century.