CC BY
10DOI: 10.23683/2070-1403-2019-75-4-34-39
PHILOSOPHY
(specialty: 09.00.13)
UDC 101
Elena L. Lokonova, Irina V. Zarochintseva, Valeria D. Vlasova
Volgodonsk engineering and technical institute branch of National research nuclear university Volgodonsk, Russian Federation [email protected]
CHURCH SYMBOL: REALIZATION OF THE SACRED MEANINGS OF CHURCH TEXTUALITY
[Е.Л. Локонова, И.В. Зарочинцева, В.Д. Власова Храмовый символ: реализация сакральных смыслов
текстовости Храма]
It is considered the church symbol that introduces a person to the spiritual realm of being through the material, to the realm of a special symbolic existence. The church symbol follows canonical forms, which combines the material and spiritual world, physical and metaphysical reality. Church symbols are ritual symbols in which the symbolic aspect is inherent in any form of activity manifested in the Church. Its involvement in church activities is the most important form of spiritual development, which has a symbolic character. The system of symbolic images and actions in the Church is the basis of the concept of "concil-iarity". The church symbol is reflected in the basic idea of the realization of the sacral significance of the Church textually, that is, in the statement of the internal cathedral association in the Church. The church symbol conveys a particle of the essence, power and secrets of the wisdom that it mediates.
Key words: Church symbolism, church symbol, symbolic image, conciliarity, cathedral association, sacral significance of Church.
The general crisis of the Russian classical culture, indicated in the XX and early XXI centuries through the loss of the sacral significance of the space of human existence through the destruction of symbols, including church symbols, determined the relevance of the topic. After all, the profanation of the symbols interpretation indicates a loss of understanding of the textual symbolism of the Church, which is important for obtaining philosophical, cultural and anthropological knowledge in order to determine a person's worldview [4]. It should be noted that
the sacral significance of the textual symbolism of the Church is realized through the church symbol, which introduces a person to the spiritual realm of being through the material sphere, attaches to the realm of the mystical being revealed through the symbol. Church symbolism is subject to canonical forms, developed on the basis of Holy Scripture, patristic experience and church traditions, where two worlds meet and unite - material and spiritual, two realities - physical ("appearance" of a symbol) and metaphysical (spiritual content).
The symbol as a mediator between man and all that is sacred to him/her, always conveys a particle of essence, power, secrets of that being or wisdom that mediator it is. There is a specific symbolic language for this. Church symbols are ritual symbols in their form, in which certain symbolic aspects are inherent in any form of activity manifested in the Church: linguistic communication, behavioral stereotypes, religious church activities, etc. Professor V.N. Nechipurenko notes that sacral rituals are "... rituals that communicate and reconcile with the divine", the purpose of which is to "... change the order of the human world, gain access to the supernatural" [6]. It should be noted that the spiritual and moral perfection of the man is realized in the liturgical life of the Church as the most important aspect of biblical tradition. Participation in church activities is the most important form of spiritual development, possessing a certain symbolic character. Church actions are the "integral organism" [1, p.105] (P. Florensky's term), whose life-sustaining activity is manifested in artistic creation.
Thus, the church art, the icon meaning, the iconostasis, the fire and smoke symbols completely fulfill their purpose only for the church activities. The icon is a pictorially expressed prayer [7, p.77], the iconostasis is a symbolic barrier in front of the Altar that is divided into two spaces (worlds): heavenly and earthly [7, p. 117]. The fire and smoke symbol in the church is represented by a burning candle and a frankincence veil. A burning candle is a symbol of uncontrollable deep prayer burning to the heavens of each person, and the subtlest "blue veil" of frankincence brings to the contemplation of the church's icons and murals such "softening" (P. Florensky's term) that no museum can dream of and know [9 , p.226].
The symbol of the church action includes a kind of "emerging" (P. Floren-sky's term) choreography that is the rhythmicality of all symbolic movements performed in the church. The idea of churchliness, in the opinion of P. Florensky [1], consists in a rhythm that should proceed from the subordination of the rhyth-
mic symbolism of the Jesus prayer. All feelings, thoughts, bodily sensations in the Church should be subject to this prayer. The symbolism of the Jesus prayer rhythm is the symbolic rhythm of the smallest circle, followed by other symbolic experiences, such as the symbols of the prostration rhythms, signs of the cross, etc. The divisions of worship into a number of symbols, which are rhythmically repeating cycles, are closely connected with natural cycles. The symbolic rhythm of the church action, that is the universal law of life, binds the man as a microcosm and the Universe as a macrocosm. Through symbolic sacraments (Christianizing, confirmation, Eucharist) in the process of divine service the knowledge from the highest hierarchy is transferred to the earth one, the believer is brought into the congregational community and the congregational ascension of believers to God - the Trinity, the cognition of the conciliar ideal. Namely, the sacrament of the Eucharist is the goal of the whole cultural cycle, the prayer-dynamic content of the church action, organized by combining a number of arts, and the liturgical image is the semantic key to understanding the inner essence of liturgical action [5]. As E.N. Trubetskoy noted "... the most important thing in the church is precisely the miraculous transformation of believers into the cathedral body of Christ through the Eucharist" [8, p. 102].
Any symbolic action that takes place in the churches is an experience. As P. Florensky wrote, "... what has become clear today, then it often becomes cloudy tomorrow! What is resolved in the experience of the moment irrevocably and with absolute clarity is becomes again the eternal question in the hours and minutes of a different day when the heart fades. Experiences of prayer are too volatile and too fluttering"[9, p. 122]. Therefore, according to P. A. Florensky, it is necessary to "form experiences" through the "restraining backbone" of concepts and schemes [9, p.123-124]. It is a system of symbolic images and actions with various experiences that is the basis of the "conciliarity" concept.
As Vyach. Ivanov noted "conciliarity is ... such a connection, where the connecting personalities attain perfect disclosure and definition by their one and only and unique entity, their entire creative freedom, which makes each one spoken, new and the right word for all" [2, p. 100]. The symbolism that is used in the church, as a whole as a synergy of the absolute and the created is the energy that allows a person to discover the "substance" of conciliarity in the external environment and it is an ascending "Jacob's ladder" to the conciliar confessional essence.
Thus, conciliarity in relation to the church, as E.N. Trubetskoy noted is "... the essence of the life truth that is opposed to the animal-like ancient Russian religious art, and finds an exhaustive expression not in one or another iconographic image, but in the ancient Russian Church as a whole" [8, p. 8]. E.N. Trubetskoy wrote that it is the church that is understood "... as the beginning that should dominate the world." He noted that "... all mankind, angels and all lower creatures" should enter the Church [8, p. 8]. It is precisely in the idea of a world-wide Church that, according to E.N. Trubetskoy, "... religious hope for the coming pacification of the whole creature that is opposed to the fact of universal war and general bloody unrest" [8, p. 8]. The process of the symbol formation, with the help of which the church art conveyed conciliar truth and beauty, was begun by apologists.
Thus, the idea of the Church as a new creation in symbolic form is developed in one of the most revered monuments of the early Christian culture "Shepherd" Herman (2nd century). "Shepherd" contains vivid visions, parables and their interpretation. The central place in the "Shepherd" occupies the picture of the tower construction meaning the Church in its earthly formation and in the coming century. Here the body (tower) was constructed according to aesthetic laws. The tower is the work of wise builders that the author of the "Shepherd" regards as beautiful. It is composed of perfect, unit-fitted parts; it shines, sparkles with its whiteness; it gladdens everyone who sees it; builders exuberate, praising it by singing. The tower is erected by excellent builders; the stones used for construction are beautiful in color and shape. Having combined many beautiful elements, the Tower-Church is beautiful in its unity. From the contemplation of the Church, the symbol of spirituality, people experience immense joy, aesthetic pleasure. It should be noted that Herman in the "Shepherd" clearly linked the concept of beauty-church-conciliarity, giving the conciliarity an aesthetic aspect [5].
In his paper "Insight in Colors" E.N. Trubetskoy, generalizing the concept of conciliarity in relation to the Church, noted that there is a complete correspondence between the outer and inner forms, i.e. the outer reflects the inner in the Church. So, for example, through the domes, which have the candle shape, "the sky descends on the earth" (the term of E. N. Trubetskoy) is held inside the Church, becomes its fulfillment, "where all earthly things are covered with the hand of the Most High, blessing from the dark blue vault [8, p. 10].
Thus, we can draw the following conclusions that the main idea of the realization of the sacral meanings of the Church textuality through the church symbol is the assertion of the inner congregation in the Church, where chaos and enmity of the world and humanity are conquered. It is by the conciliar act of creation that man overcomes the matter inertia and transforms the world [8, p. 12]. According to Vy-ach. Ivanov [3], the creation act is the conciliar creativity. Based on the general idea of the cathedral symbolism of the Church, it can be said that the Church stands, as E.N. Trubetskoy stated, not only as a symbol of the house of prayer, denoting the world "... sinful, chaotic and broken into pieces .." but, "... gathered together by grace, mysteriously transformed into the conciliar body of Christ" [8, p. 101].
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_June 14, 2019
