{"id":25373,"date":"2024-10-12T11:48:51","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T17:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-faith-is-on-the-edge-of-vanishing-in-georgia\/"},"modified":"2024-10-12T17:48:51","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T17:48:51","slug":"a-faith-is-on-the-edge-of-vanishing-in-georgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-faith-is-on-the-edge-of-vanishing-in-georgia\/","title":{"rendered":"A faith is on the edge of vanishing in Georgia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Women
Women in traditional Doukhobor dresses pray at the former Orphanage house where Doukhobors has worshiped for years, on Easter in the remote mountain village of Gorelovka, Georgia, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

GORELOVKA, Georgia \u2013 A 10-year-old boy proudly stands beside his father and listens to the monotone chanting of elderly women clad in embroidered headscarves and long colorful skirts. It is Ilya\u2019s first time attending a night prayer meeting in Gorelovka, a tiny village in the South Caucasus nation of Georgia, and he is determined to follow the centuries-old hymns that have been passed down through the generations.<\/p>\n

There is no priest and no iconography. It\u2019s just men and women praying together, as the Doukhobors have done since the pacifist Christian sect emerged in Russia in the 18th century.<\/p>\n

Thousands of their ancestors were expelled to the fringes of the Russian Empire almost two centuries ago for rejecting the Orthodox church and refusing to serve in Czar Nicholas I\u2019s army \u2013 much like the thousands of men who fled Russia two years ago<\/a> to avoid being drafted to join Moscow\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Today, only about 100 Doukhobors remain in the tight-knit Russian-speaking farming community in two remote mountainous villages.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur people are dying,\u201d 47-year-old Svetlana Svetlishcheva, Ilya\u2019s mother, tells The Associated Press, as she walks with her family to an ancient cemetery.<\/p>\n

Prayer never stops<\/strong><\/div>\n

Some 5,000 Doukhobors who were banished in the middle of the 19th century established 10 villages close to the border with the hostile Ottoman Empire, where they continued to preach nonviolence and worshipped without priests or church rituals.<\/p>\n

The community prospered, growing to around 20,000 members. When some refused to pledge allegiance to the new czar, Nicholas II, and protested by burning weapons, the authorities unleashed a violent crackdown and sent about 4,000 of them to live elsewhere in the vast Russian Empire.<\/p>\n

Nonviolence is the foundation of Doukhobor culture, says Yulia Mokshina, a professor at the Mordovia State University in Russia, who studies the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Doukhobors proved that without using force, you can stand up for the truth,\u201d Mokshina says. \u201cThey fought without arms but with their truth and internal power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their plight caught the attention of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, also a pacifist, who donated the profits from his final novel \u201cResurrection\u201d to help around 7,500 Doukhobors emigrate to Canada to escape persecution.<\/p>\n

And all the while, the prayers never stopped, not even when the Soviet authorities relentlessly cracked down on religious activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere hasn\u2019t been a single Sunday without prayer,\u201d Yuri Strukov, 46, says with pride, in the village of Orlovka, where he has lived for 30 years.<\/p>\n

A shrinking community<\/strong><\/div>\n

Like others in the rural community, Strukov owns cattle and produces cottage cheese, sour cream and a brined cheese called suluguni, which he sells in a nearby town. His way of life is challenging \u2013 he braves freezing temperatures during winter and droughts in the summer, and the remote village is a three-hour drive from the nearest big city \u2013 which does not appeal to many Doukhobors any longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community has changed because it became small,\u201d Strukov says. \u201cThe fact that there are few of us leaves a heavy residue in the soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Soviet times, the Doukhobors maintained among the best collective farms in the region. But the nationalist sentiment that bubbled up in Georgia as the collapse of the Soviet Union loomed prompted many to return to Russia in the late 1980s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t relocate, we came back,\u201d says 39-year-old Dmitry Zubkov, who was among the first convoy of 1,000 Doukhobors who left Gorelovka for what is now western Russia in 1989. Zubkov and his family settled in the village of Arkhangelskoye in Russia\u2019s Tula region.<\/p>\n

Strukov also thinks about moving.<\/p>\n

After several waves of Doukhobors departed, ethnic Georgians and Armenians \u2013 Orlovka is close to the Armenian border \u2013 moved in, and he says relations between them and the ever-shrinking community of Doukhobors are tense. His four family members are the last Doukhobors living in Orlovka.<\/p>\n

But the prayer house and his ancestors\u2019 graves keep him from leaving.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole land is soaked with the prayers, sweat and blood of our ancestors,\u201d he says. \u201cWe always try to find the solution in different situations so we can stay here and preserve our culture, our traditions and our rites.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keeping the traditions alive<\/strong><\/div>\n

Doukhobor rites have traditionally passed from one generation to the next by word-of-mouth, and Strukov\u2019s 21-year-old daughter Daria Strukova feels the urgency to learn as much as she can from senior community members.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always worried that such a deep and interesting culture will just get lost if we don\u2019t take it over in time,\u201d Strukova says.<\/p>\n

She says she considered converting to the Georgian Orthodox Church as a student in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, where that faith wields great influence. But her doubts were dispelled as she listened to a Doukhobor choir during a prayer meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized that this is what I missed, this is what I couldn\u2019t find anywhere,\u201d she says. \u201cI know now that the Doukhobor faith will always be with me till the end of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zubkov says Strukova\u2019s wavering faith is not unusual among Doukhobors in Russia. Once they assimilate into Russian society, experience big cities, speak the same language and share traditions with the locals, of course they will be tempted by the predominant religion.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople didn\u2019t want to stand out,\u201d he says. \u201cUnfortunately, we have been assimilating very fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around 750 Doukhobors settled in Arkhangelskoye more than 30 years ago. Now, only a few elderly women attend Sunday prayers, and only a couple of Doukhobors sing traditional anthems at funerals.<\/p>\n

Zubkov predicts that within a decade the culture will disappear from Arkhangelskoye altogether.<\/p>\n

Enduring faith<\/strong><\/div>\n

The Doukhobors whose families started anew in Canada more than a century ago don\u2019t feel a strong connection to the villages that are sacred for the Strukov family. They say what is important is their faith and the pacifist principles that underscore it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not hold any specific place and historical places \u2026 in some kind of spiritual significance,\u201d said John J. Verigin Jr., who leads the largest Doukhobor organization in Canada. \u201cWhat we try to sustain in our organization is our dedication to those fundamental principles of our life concept.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Ilya, in Gorelovka, is comforted by the knowledge that his community, culture and faith are rooted in a place established by his ancestors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see myself a tall grown-up going to the prayers every day in Doukhobor clothes,\u201d Ilya said. \u201cI will love coming here, I love it now too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nina
Nina Strukova, Daria Strukova, Ilya Strukov and their mother Svetlana Svetlishcheva walk to a cemetery outside the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Saturday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yuri
Yuri Strukov, 46, milks a cow at his farm in the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yuri
Yuri Strukov, 46, his son Ilya, 10, and his daughter Daria, 21, pray at the Doukhobor cemetery outside of the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yuri
Yuri Strukov's house in the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yuri
Yuri Strukov, 46, milks a cow at his farm in the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Svetlana
Svetlana Svetlishcheva feeds the cattle alongside her husband Yuri Strukov at their farm in the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A cat looks out of a window of a cowshed at Yuri Strukov's farm in the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Svetlana
Svetlana Svetlishcheva, left, and her daughter Nina Strukova, right, talk as they cook dinner in their house in the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ilya
Ilya Strukov, 10, looks on in the kitchen as his family cooks dinner in their house in the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Daria
Daria Strukova takes Easter cakes off a stove in her family home in the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Daria
Daria Strukova lays out traditional Doukhobor dresses in her family home in the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Daria
Daria Strukova, right, helps her sister Nina Strukova, left, put on a traditional Doukhobor dress in the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yuri
Yuri Strukov, second left, and his son Ilya, left, pray at the former Orphanage house where Doukhobors has worshiped for years, on Easter in the remote mountain village of Gorelovka, Georgia, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yuri
Yuri Strukov, second left, his son Ilya, left, and his daughters Daria and Nina in traditional Doukhobor dresses embrace each other after Easter prayer at the former Orphanage house where Doukhobors has worshiped for years, in the remote mountain village of Gorelovka, Georgia, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yuri
Yuri Strukov, left, his son Ilya, daughters Nina and Daria, and his wife Svetlana Svetlishcheva, right, pray before a meal in their house in the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Saturday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ilya
Ilya Strukov, 10, kisses a tombstone on a grave of his Doukhobor ancestors at a cemetery outside of the remote mountain village of Orlovka, Georgia, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Kostya Manenkov)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Doukhobor crackdown intensified under czar Nicholas II<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[407],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-25373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-religion-and-belief"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25373"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=25373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}