VOTIVE GIFTS IN PRESENT-DAY RUSSIA. RELIGIOUS PRACTICE IN THE DYNAMICS OF ITS DEVELOPMENT

The article discusses votive gifts that are relevant to the contemporary Russian temple environment. The rapid revival and spread of the votive tradition in post–Soviet Russia is one of the most striking phenomena of religious culture in recent decades (along with practices related to the appropriative strategy and the active spread of “Orthodox nomadism”, pilgrimage tourism). The variety of gifts and related practices, discussions around that phenomenon, and different options for its moderation by clerics and church workers indicate that the tradition has turned out to be one of the most lively and in demand; it is relevant among different social groups – parishioners, pilgrims, occasional visitors to churches. The author reviews modern offerings, typologizes votive gifts (characteristic and rare, which have spread since the 1990s and have appeared in recent years), analyzes their connection with the icons being gifted. The focus of attention is also on the attitude of clerics and church workers to offerings; on the practice of distributing gifts in the church space (storage, hanging etc.). The analysis is based on interviews collected in 2018–2022s in the churches in dozens of cities in different regions of Russia