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The Orthodox Don of Cossacks

The exhibition “A Cossack without Faith is not a Cossack” was opened on February, 8, in the Excursion and Exhibition Centre of the People’s House of the National M.A.Sholokhov Museum-Reserve. It is presented by the Starocherkassk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve, which was founded in 1970 thanks to the initiative and perseverance of M.A.Sholokhov.

The museum workers of the Starocherkassk Museum brought to Vyoshenskaya a unique collection of religious items of historic and cultural value.

At the opening ceremony of the exhibition the Deputy Director of the National M.A.Sholokhov Museum-Reserve, L.P.Razogreyeva, spoke about the spiritual closeness of the two old Cossack stanitsas and referred to the text of that Sholokhov’s letter, where he proposed to the state government to organize in the year of the 400^th anniversary of the Voysko Donskoye (the Don Cossack Army) a historical and architectural museum in Stanitsa Starocherkasskaya “in order to preserve for history and posterity at least what is left in spite of our neglect of our home country memorials”.

The acting director of the Starocherkassk museum I.A.Cheboturova expressed her gratitude for a hearty welcome and a pleasant surprise that the residents of Vyoshenskaya are well aware of their local history, and wished the two essentially close museums had exchanged their temporary exhibitions so far.

The speakers were joined by the archpriest of the Vyoshensky deanery, Father Vladimir, and the ataman of the Vyoshensky Cossack yurt I.V.Sviryakin.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition was visited by the head of the Sholokhov District O.N.Delnov.

The exposition was attractive, informative and rich in historic rarities.

One of the exhibits is the Theodore icon of Virgin Mary. Its history is interesting and unusual. It was a family, most worshipped icon in the royal house of the Romanovs.  The mother of the future tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich was said to bless her son to reign. Since the XVIII century, German princesses when marrying Russian princes and taking Orthodoxy were given a middle name of Fyodorovna in honour of the Theodore icon. Among them are: Mariya Fyodorovna (the wife of Nicholas I), Mariya Fyodorovna (the wife of Alexander III), Alexandra Fyodorovna (the wife of Nicholas II). In the bottom right hand corner of the icon there is a picture of a miniature universe.

The icon “Five Canonized Images of Virgin Mary” was painted by Grigory Chulimov from Starocherkassk. The author signed and dated his works, what is interesting, as in Russian icon painting the author’s signing and dating was quite unusual.

The visitors are shown rare books: “Scythian Repentance”, “Training Psalter”(the main textbook in antiquity), “Cantor’s Akathist”, and many others. Books in Russia have been much respected since old times having both spiritual and material value. Pious books were always put near the icons and were handed down from father to son.

The exhibition displays vestments of the priests, banners of the XIX century from Resurrection Cathedral, religious items from Starocherkassk churches.

The exhibition widens the outlook of the viewers about the history of religion in Russia and in the Don region, about the attitude of the Don Cossacks to Orthodoxy.

The exhibition will run till April, 14, 2013.

Nina Noskina