“The Right Hand is Lying on the Chest, as if Blessing …” Legends of the Blessing Hand of a Saint in the Context of the Struggle of the Official Russian Church with the Old Believers

Abstract

The article examines the early history of Anna of Kashin and Euthymius of Arkhangelsk’s cults. Their veneration began at the end of the 1640s and acquired new content several decades later, after the Russian Church schism. The author of the article focuses on the origin of the legends, according to which the saints rest in their tombs with fingers of their right hands positioned as if they were making a two-finger sign of the cross. The study is based on hagiographic texts dedicated to these saints, legislative acts, documents of church councils, and icons. The author comes to the conclusion that the legends had oral roots and originated among the opponents of Nikon's reforms in the early post-reform period.