Та частина Православної Церкви в СРСР, яка в 1920–1980 роки не пішла на співпрацю
з радянською владою, увійшла в історію під назвою Катакомбна Церква. Інша її назва –
Істинно-Православна Церква (ІПЦ). Опинившись в умовах гонінь, вона перейшла на нелегальне (катакомбне) становище і, позбавлена можливості легально видавати релігійну
літературу, створила корпус рукописних та самвидав-пам’яток. До теперішнього часу
не існує жодного систематичного дослідження цієї спадщини. У цій статті представлена
спроба першої такої систематизації.
A Collection of Literary Artifacts of the True Orthodox Churh of the Catacombs: Questions
about Collecting, Curating and Further Research
The part of the Russian Orthodox Church that did not agee to a compromise and collaboration
with the soviet authorities between 1920–1980 is historically known as the «Catacomb Church”.
Another frequently used title is the «True Orthodox Church”. Persecuted throughout the USSR,
this group lead a clandestine or catacomb existence, and not having any opportunity to publish
legally, produced a large number of manuscripts and samizdat editions. To this day there is no
serious or systematic study of this phenomenon, which sheds so much light on the little-known
history of this clandestine religious movement of the XX century, and there is a risk that it will
be forgotten and lost entirely.
Our entire collection of catacomb texts can be divided into two groups: 1) manuscript copies
of books, which can be subdivided into liturgical, biblical, patristic, poetic and music books, and
2) original works, which are especially of interest to scholars. These includef: a) the autobiography
of Schema-Bishop Peter (Ladygin), b) articles by and the autobiographical notes of archbishop
Andrei (Ukhtomsky), c) Schema-Abbess’ Sophia’s (Grinev) poetry album, d) the sermons and
letters of Protopresbyter Nikita (Lekhan), e) spiritual instructions of Hieromonk Alexander
(Orlov), and f) many other original liturgical and psalmodic texts.
This article seeks to define the problematic aspects of working with these printed and
handwritten texts of the Catacomb Church.
