Religiousness and confessional practices of the Kalderash Gypsies in Russia and the worship of Saint Mary

Abstract (English)

Among numerous ethnic groups of Gypsy communities of Russia the Kalderash Gypsies are standing out. They are the Orthodox Christians within the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. The degree of their religiousness, the number of visits to the temple and the inclusion of religious rituals depend largely on a certain community. In this context we can observe a variety of different variants of attachment to the church and following the necessary rituals. For example, in some communities it is customary to visit services in temples at Christmas and Easter, less often they do it for other holidays and some communities do not practice it at all. One of the holidays of the Kalderash traditional calendar is Saint Mary – the holiday of the Dormition of the Mother of God, celebrated on August, 28th. The worship of Saint Mary is related to children and wishing them health and well-being. In families where the holiday is celebrated they lay the table and invite relatives and acquaintances. The guests wish happiness and health. The central place in this tradition is occupied by the ritual of christening of the newborn in which the Orthodox rituals are interwoven with folk traditions. The christening of the newborn is timed to the significant church holidays of Christmas and Easter and is held on the second day of the celebration. It is worth noticing that the religiousness in the Kalderash communities has a collective character, i.e. those rituals are held that are adopted in this community. We almost haven’t observed the examples of individual strategies of religiousness. Though the Kalderash Gypsies visit the temples and turn to the clergy, to a greater extent the religious sphere is regulated by oral tradition and habits than by the official Orthodox canon.