This article is devoted to a canonization initiative - to bring the local (Vladimir diocese) saint, Maria Shvarnovna (Yasynia) (c. 1158-1206), grandmother of Alexander Nevsky, to the Church-wide veneration. Maria Yasynia is seen to be of Alanian (Ossetian) origin, and hence the great interest to her personality among Orthodox activists in today's North Ossetia-Alania, as well as among some people from local government and Moscow ecclesiastical establishment. Analyzing the debates around this initiative allows for some conclusions about current understanding of the nature of saintliness. The question is: who and on what grounds could be a legitimate expert in the field of applied hagiology? Determining hagiological dignity of a candidate for sainthood cannot be reduced to the confrontation between Orthodox Church "elite" and the "masses," or between diocesan center and periphery. Each group tries to use the potential of the saint's image to achieve its own goals, while possibly avoiding confrontation with others. Overall, the debates over the canonization produce the most important symbols of national and regional identities, which go beyond the internal life of the Church.

Keywords: North Ossetia, North Caucasus, hagiology, canonization of saints, Orthodoxy, politics of memory, local saints.

Shtyrkov S. "Princess of Alansk, Princess of Vladimir": Maria Yasynya, Russian-Ossetian relations and conservative family values // State, religion, and Church in Russia and abroad. 2016. N2. pp. 13-37.

Shtyrkov, Sergey (2016) '"Alanian Princess, Princess of Vladimir': Maria Yasynia, Russian-Ossetian Connections and Conservative Family Values", Gosudarstuo, religiia, tserkov'v Rossii i za rubezhom 34(2): 13-37.

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The majority of the population knows the history very fragmentary. He does not read Orthodox newspapers, which means that he remains in the dark (From a letter to the editorial office of the newspaper "Orthodox Ossetia"1).

If there were no Maria Yasynya, there would be no such heroic defenders as Alexander Nevsky, Dimitri Donskoy, there would be no culturogenic family, to which the sun of Russian poetry belongs - Alexander Pushkin, and many others.2
In this article, we will focus on one canonization initiative - the introduction of a local saint to the general church veneration, which is connected, which is important for our story, by its origin with one North Caucasian republic. This initiative, like some others, can be perceived as purely political, and in this sense, it is suspected that its status as a religiously motivated project is not entirely flawless. And I would like to point out at once that perhaps there is a political dimension to any social action, or it can be found if you set up your research optics to search for it. Moreover, an experienced analyst will be able to load the most seemingly apolitical phenomenon of religious life with political meanings, including in the field of practical hagiology. So if there is a policy in our story, which is understood here as the consistent actions of some people aimed at changing the behavior of others and made in order to gain advantages in the distribution of socially significant resources, then it is no more than in other segments of public life.3
The main line of my argument is determined by the assumption that when we try to understand a particular phenomenon of social life, we still tend to exaggerate the unity of the collective social action produced by institutions that are responsible for it.

1. Tetzoev A.V. Letter to the editorial office of "Orthodox Ossetia" / / Orthodox Ossetia. 2009. N2 (94). p. 5.

2. Damianova T. V. the Basis of the state - most of a good family. Once again on perpetuating the memory of Maria Yasynya, the great enlightener of the Russian Land. N225. 08.12.2014.

3. In my understanding of "the political," I generally follow the definition formulated by Sheldon Wolin. See Wolin, S. S. (2004 [1960]) Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political Thought, expanded ed., p. 11. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

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they pursue, as it seems to us, some interests of their own. We talk about the policy of the state or the church in relation to a particular phenomenon or group, without taking into account the fact that this phenomenon or group often turns out to be the object (in the case when we are talking about representatives of the group - subjects) of several types of action and is differently imagined (depending on the context of imagination) as those who are trying to understand what is happening, as well as different segments of the state that participate directly or indirectly, purposefully or unplanned in the implementation of this policy. On the other hand, different vectors of social action (different both in the motives of initiators and participants, and in the technique of their participation in what is happening) intersect, forming temporarily a bundle of efforts, which are also temporarily filled with relatively similar meanings for the participants themselves. At such moments, a certain illusion of a common cause is created, which is often quickly and conflictingly destroyed when the movement along temporarily converged vectors demonstrates a pre-set mutual divergence. Thus, we are dealing with a temporary unification of value-rational efforts, which can be designated as overlapping consensus4, that is, a (temporary) agreement between groups based on what is common in their interests and discursive behavior by ignoring at the moment of interaction all other, sometimes very significant mutual differences. The problem of mutual correlation of factors of competition between groups and their unity - whether real or demonstrated-in the analysis of one phenomenon was formulated in connection with the study of pilgrimage by Simon Coleman, who proposed to find ways out of the intellectual clinch between those who see the object of worship of pilgrims as a factor of unity, and those who consider it as a source of conflict.. In the face of this challenge, we seem to need to continue looking for some new ways to communicate how this type of social interaction occurs. One of the prospects here may be the consideration of social issues.

4. A term from the field of political philosophy, where it has a slightly different meaning, denoting a stable agreement between different political forces regarding the definition of justice, necessary for the establishment of a legal system. См. Rawls, J. (1987) "The Idea of an Overlapping Consensus", Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 7 (1): 1-25.

5. Coleman, S. (2002) "Do You Believe in Pilgrimage? Communitas, Contestation and Beyond", Anthropological Theory 2(3): 355-368.

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initiatives that involve different groups, each with a different goal, achieving the above-mentioned relative consensus. At the same time, the discursive behavior of representatives of these groups, aimed at forming grounds for consensus, indicates profound changes in public consciousness, for example, in our case - in understanding the nature of holiness or the question of who and on what basis is a legitimate expert in the field of hagiology.

I will begin my story about the already mentioned canonization project with some general considerations in order to understand how different players can use it, building their own discursive strategies that overlap with each other, but at the same time retain specificity.

New accents in the representation of Caucasian culture

In modern Russia, serious changes are taking place in the field of public representation of state axiology. They are primarily related to the isolationist trend in the politics of the ruling elite, which is rapidly developing due to the events in Ukraine (or rather, due to the main vector of interpretation of these events in the media space and public opinion). By contrasting the country and its culture with the West and seeking to identify domestic sympathizers with the latter, isolationists simultaneously seek to increase the cohesion of the nation or, in other words, to strengthen the civic component of Russian nationalism. And to a large extent, they manage to do this. What is important for us now is the following effect of this shift in social life: in modern Russia, the level of aggressive attitude towards groups that have long been stigmatized in the philistine consciousness is decreasing. For example, there is a marked drop in hostility to immigrants from the national republics of the North Caucasus (here I leave aside the specificity of the image of each of the ethnic groups that correlate in our minds with this historical and cultural region). The xenophobic slogan "Stop feeding the Caucasus" is disappearing from the public (and information) space, driven by the growing idea of civil unity. 6 By-

6. Kommersant cites the results obtained by the Levada Center in 2015: "In 2013, it was... The slogan "Stop feeding the Caucasus" is popular.-

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This is done not by suppressing the ethnic specifics of the peoples that make up a large Russian society, but by emphasizing the special loyalty of the nation to representatives of those historical and cultural areas whose identity is reliably recorded by the philistine consciousness and can be easily visualized in recognizable forms. In a number of contexts, this implies, among other things, a certain idealization of North Caucasian society, which is understood here more as an image than as a fact of objective social reality that exists independently of our consciousness. In the North Caucasus, some politicians and publicists, and after them, ordinary people, see almost the last hope of Russia in the conditions of rapid globalization, understood in terms of ideological and political aggression of the West7. In this regard, it is characteristic that the heroes, although not too loudly celebrated, but who have gained the stable sympathy of many Russians, are the guys from Chechnya and Ossetia, who in recent years have repeatedly demonstrated their readiness to take up arms to protect the interests of Russia, which makes these fighters in the eyes of many reliable soldiers of the empire.8 On forming the image of Caucasians as IDEs-

It was supported by 71% of respondents, and now 52% agree with it. And if in October 2013 54% of respondents supported restricting the residence of "Caucasian immigrants" in Russia, now 29% of respondents agree with this." Lev Gudkov, Director of the Levada Center, commenting on these materials, linked "a decrease in the level of antipathy towards immigrants from the Caucasus and an increase in negative attitudes towards the West": See Mishina V. Xenophobia in Russia has decreased / / Kommersant. 23.10.2015 [http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2838302, accessed from 12.05.2016]. Azamat Mintsaev, a "blogger, deputy of the Union of Student Communities", discusses the role of the media in changing attitudes towards immigrants from the national republics of the North Caucasus in an article published in the Dagestani version of Moskovsky Komsomolets. Russia for Russians or for Russians? Who invented us? Ob obraze kavkaztsev v soznanii rossiyan i SMI [On the image of Caucasians in the minds of Russians and the media]. Dagestan. 24.04.2014 [http://mkala.mk.ru/article/2014/04/24/1020010-rossiya-dlya-russkih-ili-zhe-dlya-rossiyan.html, доступ от 12.05.2016].

7. These sentiments cause bitter irony among some activists of radical Russian nationalism. On the Rufabula website, you can find the following statement by journalist Vladimir Titov: "The attitude of Russian xenophobes towards Kadyrov, Chechens and other Caucasians has changed curiously. Those who were recently listed as the main barmaleys turned out to be the best friends of Russkiy Mir. From xenophobe to tolerast - one step." See V. Titov. The Great Schism / / Rufabula. 16.07.2014. [https://rufabula.com/articles/2014/07/16/great-schism, accessed from 12.05.2016].

8.The conservative online magazine "However"writes about this factor in the perception of Caucasians. See "Kadyrovtsy" in the trend. Why the philistine stopped being afraid of Caucasians and when will he be afraid again / / However. 03.09.2014 [http://www.odnako.org/blogs/kadirovci-v-trende-pochemu-obivatel-perestal-boyatsya-kavkazcev-i -kogda-ispugaetsya-vnov/, доступ от 12.05.2016].

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the all - Russian information policy of promoting conservative ideals in private life (what is often called traditional family values) also works directly or indirectly for Caucasian societies-after all, according to popular beliefs, certain and even rigid gender roles in the public and family sphere, adherence to the customs and religion of their ancestors, and, finally, so on.so-called power patriotism, i.e. the desire to see proof of the greatness of the motherland in military victories and the power of its army. Igor Panarin, a political scientist and professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is quite characteristic of the discussion on this topic, which arose during the creation of portraits of representatives of the political elites of the Caucasus (and first of all, the former head of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania). The context for this statement was set by the political crisis in Ukraine:

The Caucasus has proved to be Russia's mainstay, and Ossetia is the guardian of its stability. This, of course, came as a complete surprise to Russia's enemies... We should never forget that external negative informational and ideological influence is aimed at eroding the spiritual and moral backbone of Russian society, including in the Caucasus. Therefore, the matrix of traditional spiritual and moral values is the ethical capital of the Caucasus, which must be preserved... Despite all the disadvantages of the past 20 years, the system of traditional family values is a certain foundation that has always united people in the Caucasian republics. Traditional values are one of the spiritual bonds of Russia that Vladimir Putin spoke about in his message of December 12, 2012. And they are being targeted. From this point of view, it is necessary to show the positive experience of the Caucasus region. In Ossetia, the foundation of this relationship, from my point of view, is the head of the republic, Taimuraz Mamsurov. He can be called the leader of traditionalists, who clearly and systematically pursues the line of preserving spiritual and moral values and protecting them from external encroachment. If you look at the Russian space, the Caucasus is a cementing monolith in this issue ... 9

9. Panarin I. Severnaya Osetiya i kavkazskiye skrepy [North Ossetia and the Caucasus bonds]. 13.05.2015 [http://kavpolit.com/articles/kavkaz_opomyj_kraj_rossii_a_osetija_hranitelnitsa-16619/, доступ от 12.05.2016].

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So we can only state that until recently, people from the Caucasian republics, who were perceived as sources of social chaos, are now understood and represented by a part of the Moscow political elite rather as natural guarantors of social stability in the face of the threat from globalism that is corroding traditional values. In turn, the social demand for traditionalism, which is largely encouraged by the Russian political elite, finds a warm understanding in the North Caucasus, where the love of social and cultural archaism became almost universal in the post-Soviet period.

However, in the social field of traditionalist ideological values and initiatives, North Caucasian societies (as they are represented in the social imagination of Russians) are not alone. Institutions of so-called traditional religions, and first of all the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, perform a similar function in the philistine consciousness. Generally speaking, "traditionalism "is a quality directly correlated with the characteristics implicitly attributed to" real " religion - stability, orderliness, the ability to represent a model of stability for a society undergoing rapid and painful transformations, which needs ideal models of guaranteed static character and rootedness in the national past. Indeed, for most of our contemporaries, religion, in order to legitimately bear this title, must correspond to the ideas of something ancient, unchangeable and conservative, in other words, some traditionalist attitudes.

In this regard, it will be interesting to look at the situation when the two most prominent modern traditionalisms - North Caucasian and Orthodox-come into interaction, sometimes mutually beneficial, sometimes in conflict. And this example is given to us by the religious life in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania.

Ossetian Saint: a view from Vladikavkaz

At the end of 2012, a new diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate was created in North Ossetia as part of the policy of dividing large dioceses. It was named Vladikavkaz and Alanskaya. The leadership of the newly created structure with great energy took up the formation of a new structure.-

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the image of the Ossetian people as the bearer of an ancient Orthodox culture, which was not re - acquired in the post-Soviet period, but was inherited from their ancestors, the Alans, who converted to Christianity in the tenth century.

In this effort, representatives of the diocese occasionally receive support from the leadership of North Ossetia and the main media outlets loyal to it. As a result, a portrait of the Russian Orthodox Church is created as the main and, most importantly, natural custodian of reliable information about the heritage of our ancestors, passing it on to the younger generation.

The aspiration of Orthodox activists to "root" Orthodoxy causes a mixed assessment among the residents of the republic. Some of those who speak out on this issue directly take an anti-Christian position, justifying it with arguments that organically mix Nietzschean and anti-globalist logic. Based on this position, Christianity is represented as a religion of slaves, spiritual and social invalids, deliberately created by those who strive for world ideological dominance.10
But for many others, the resulting problem is more complex. While in North Ossetia, I have often heard statements that the Ossetians ' practice of Christianity in general and Orthodoxy in particular is not only legitimate, but also desirable - historically and existentially - for a part of the people, but cannot be considered as a necessary and inalienable component of their ethnic identity, in contrast to, say,the Russian Orthodox Church. the same Orthodoxy for Russians or Islam for Chechens.

As an example of a frequently disputed statement in which Orthodoxy is an integral part of the basic ethnic identity of Ossetians, I will cite the words of Ksenia Gokoeva, head of the press service of the head of North Ossetia: "Orthodoxy is native, its own... You need to be baptized, you need to get married and receive communion, otherwise it cannot be, because this is your genetic "code", this is the mentality of the people. His living organism breathes and develops in the Orthodox faith from time immemorial. " 11
10. Shtyrkov S. A. Traditionalist movements in the modern North Ossetian society and the logic of religious nationalism / / Kavkazskiy gorod: potentsial etnokul'turnykh svyazi v urbanisticheskoi srede / Edited by Yu. M. Botyakov, St. Petersburg: MAE RAS, 2013, pp. 355-359.

11. Muravlev E., Fomichev D. Novice in the country of St. Nicholas. Volume II. Alansky krest, Moscow: Alansky Bogoyavlensky Convent, 2015, p. 87.

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It is this desire to interpret Orthodoxy as a basic aspect of the national culture and worldview, rather than an individual choice of a person, that causes misunderstanding, rejection and negative assessment among a significant part of the inhabitants of North Ossetia. As one of my Vladikavkaz acquaintances put it: "If you want to be a Christian, be a Christian, that's your business. But don't call me a wrong Ossetian if I'm not your co-religionist." With this understanding of the structure of the Ossetian social identity, the valence of religion is initially free and can be filled with both Orthodoxy and, say, Islam (and now the so-called folk, that is, ethnically specific Ossetian religion). But in any case, in the information space of modern North Ossetia, people are increasingly confronted with the image of Orthodoxy as the "natural religion" of Ossetians and feel the need to respond to it in some way.

The leadership of North Ossetia, represented by the former head of the republic Taimuraz Dzambekovich Mamsurov (who was in office in 2005-2015) and Tamerlan Kimovich Aguzarov (who succeeded him in this post in 2015-2016), often presenting themselves to Orthodox Ossetians as their defender against imaginary and real ideological enemies, actively and pragmatically used the image of Orthodox Ossetia for their own purposes, and above all - to strengthen communication with the federal center. Thus, the Republican authorities are actively involved in the preparations for the celebration of the 1100th anniversary of the Baptism of Alanya (which is planned to be celebrated in 2018), inspired by the idea that the land of ancient Alanya was home to the most ancient Orthodox churches in modern Russia, which means that here we should also look for the starting point for the spread of Christianity throughout Russia.

One of the most striking manifestations of this policy is a project to promote the ecclesiastical veneration of Princess Maria Yasyn (Maria Shvarnovna, Maria Vsevolozha, 1158-1205 / 1206), the wife of Grand Duke Vsevolod Bolshoe Gnezdo and grandmother of Alexander Nevsky (considered an Alanian by origin 12), who is still glorified as a locally venerated saint in the Vladimir Diocese. There,

12. I would like to note that in historical science the ethnic origin of Maria Yasyn is a controversial issue. One of the latest academic opinions on this topic can be found in the following work: Litvina A. F., Uspensky F. B. Who was "Maria Vsevolozha"? Patronymic and origin of three Russian princesses of the XII century / / Litvina A. F., Uspensky F. B. The choice of a name for Russian princes in the X-XVI centuries.:

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in Vladimir, in the Holy Dormition Princess Monastery founded by her, she rests. Memorial days on the civil calendar - April 1 (day of death) and July 6 in the Cathedral of Vladimir Saints. Maria Yasynya is famous for the teaching of her sons recorded in the Trinity Chronicle, which is perhaps the central element of her modern hagiographic portrait.13
The image of Mary, from the point of view of activists of the project of her all-church glorification, should become a symbol of the deep dynastic connection of Ossetians with the family of Moscow princes - creators of the Russian state. As stated on the website of the republic's permanent mission in Moscow: "All the princes of north-eastern Russia, including the Grand Dukes of Moscow and the tsars, were descendants of Maria Yasyn. The famous prince-commander Alexander Nevsky was her grandson. "14 Alexey Machnev, Chairman of the Parliament of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, expressed this idea:" The main thing is that they [the 12 children of Maria and Vsevolod] became the ancestors of 115 famous Russian families, who did a lot to save, collect Russian lands, and achieve greatness Russia"15. And, so to speak, the ruling line of grand dukes are thus "Ossetian sons-in-law". The anonymous author of the article in the newspaper "Orthodox Ossetia" wrote about this triumphantly: "The Russian and the Ossetian are brothers forever, and not in the metaphorical, but in the most direct, blood-based sense of the word!" 16.

Dynastic History through the prism of anthroponymy, Moscow: Indrik, 2006, pp. 334-347.

13. The most complete professional analysis of sources about the life of Maria Yasyn, indicating, among other things, the role of the Grand Duchess of Moscow Evdokia Dmitrievna (1353-1407) in the formation of the chronicle image of her predecessor, can be found in the works of L. E. Morozova. See Morozova L. E. Velikiye i neizvestnye zhenshchiny Drevnoi Rus ' [Great and Unknown Women of Ancient Russia], Moscow: ACT: Astrol, 2009, pp. 407-452. About Evdokia Dmitrievna. Ibid., p. 446.

14. Children's drawings will tell about Maria Yasyn - "Russian Elena" / / Official website of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania to the President of the Russian Federation [http://www.noar.ru/farn/detail/farn/FarnOn-Detskie-risunki-rasskazhut-o-Marii-YAsyne-Rossijskoj /, accessed 29.06.16].

15. Machnev A. On the good deeds of Maria Yasyni we must educate the youth / / Orthodox Ossetia. 2014. N1 (143). P. 5.

16. Dukhovnoe zaveschanie iasskoi knyazhny [The Spiritual testament of the Iasi Princess]. 2014. N1 (143). P. 5. This material was taken from a publication in the Gorets magazine. See Slavina O. Maria Iasskaya - Princess of Russia // Educational magazine "Gorets". 2012. N4 [http://gorets-media.ru/page/marija-jasskaja-knjaginja-russkaja, accessed 13.05.2016].

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It should be noted that this project originated simultaneously in Vladikavkaz17 and Yaroslavl, where the head of the local Ossetian National Cultural society (autonomy) Tamara Dadianova published an article about the Ossetian origin of Maria Yasskaya back in 2002. Dadianova, being a specialist in the field of philosophical aesthetics, feels very strongly the need to identify the historical presence of Alans in northwestern Russia, which has become a second homeland and a place of tireless work for both herself and her heroine. Therefore, she did a lot to attract public attention to the figure of the Vladimir Princess, which she herself described in detail in the newspaper "North Ossetia". And it is significant that her main project for many years was the unrealized installation of a monument to Maria Shvarnovna in the city of Yaroslavl, where the saint herself, unlike the author of this idea, did not live.18
In recent years, the idea of church-wide glorification has been actively supported by the structures of the Vladikavkaz Diocese and the "Alan Heritage Charitable Foundation for Promoting the Revival of Ethno-cultural and Spiritual Values of the Ossetian People "(the latter represented by the chairman of the Board Zalina Kussayeva). Representatives of these institutes, with the support of the Grand Duchess Evdokia of Moscow Foundation, discussed the project's prospects at the diocesan scientific and practical conference in Vladikavkaz in May 2014.

17. See publications in the newspaper "Orthodox Ossetia": Andreeva T. The Third Saint of the Russian Land-Maria Yasynya // Orthodox Ossetia. 2001. N1. P. 5; Kondratiev D. Maria-Yasynya // Orthodox Ossetia. 2003. N8 (26) P. 3. Outside the context of the supposed all-church glorification, the topic of Maria Yasyn's dynastic contribution to the Rurik genealogy began to be discussed in North Ossetia much earlier. See for example: Urtaty A. Pushkin and ancient Alania (Searches, hypotheses, finds) / / Socialist Ossetia. N178. 05.08.1990; Manuel, priest (M. Burnantsev). Russian saints on the Alanian land // Echo of the Caucasus. 1994. N2(5). By the way, apparently, under the pen of the author. Manuel (Burnatsev) gave birth to a vivid idea, which contradicts the established ideas about the history of canonization in Russia, that Maria Yasynya "became the third" Russian saint (after Princess Olga of Kiev and Vladimir I, who baptized Russia) "(Cf. History of the canonization of saints in the Russian Church. 2nd edition, corrected and supplemented. Moscow: Universitetskaya tipografiya, 1903, pp. 40-63).

18. Damianova T. V. the Basis of the state - most of a good family. Once again about perpetuating the memory of Maria Yasynya , the great enlightener of the Russian land. Tamara Dadianova's ascetic activity in popularizing the veneration of Maria Yasynya is for some reason rarely mentioned in North Ossetian publications. Rare exception: Redkina A. Maria Yasynya, Princess of Vladimir // North Ossetia. N199. 27.10.2010.

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In November of the same year in Moscow, the discussion on this topic was continued in the format of the section " Fatherland, exalted by the works of our ancestors. Maria Yasynya: from the Alanian Princess to the Holy Russian Princess" in the framework of the XVIII World Russian People's Council. One of the results of this meeting, which was attended by a representative delegation of the Vladikavkaz diocese, was an appeal to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia with a request, according to the Russkaya Narodnaya Liniya information portal, "to bless the church-wide veneration of St. Mary Yasynya" 19.

It is obvious that the representatives of the young diocese see the popularization of the veneration of the Holy Princess of Vladimir as a movement towards finding new Orthodox ascetics-patrons of Ossetia.20 However, in this case it would be more correct to speak not about finding new ones, but about remembering undeservedly forgotten old saints. Thus, the secretary of the diocese, Priest Savva Gagloev, speaking at the Moscow session, said: "The Vladikavkaz diocese has long been raising the topic of the glorification of Mary Yasyn. Unfortunately, little is known about it in Russia as a whole, and in our country in Ossetia. She is canonized as an ascetic of the Vladimir land. But its feat, its significance, is such that it is worthy of all-Russian, all-church glorification. " 21 The theme of oblivion and remembrance is even more clearly heard in the arguments of Abbess Nona (Bagayeva), abbess of the Epiphany Alan Convent, from the documentary "Yasynya" (directed by Sultan Tsoriev, Nart-Art Studio, 2010). She complains of historical unconsciousness: "We don't know our own history very well. And I'm actually a historian by first training. And even I didn't know much. Just now I'm diving into this one... such, you know, a bottomless well." And a little later he goes on to summarize the interim results of this immersion in missile defense-

19. V ramkakh VRSN prokhodi obshchestvenno-nauchnye chteniya pamyati sveti Maria Yasyni [Social and scientific readings in memory of St. Mary Yasyn]. 14.11.2014 [http://ruskline.ru/news_rl/2014/11/14/v_ramkah_vrns_proshli_obwestvennonauchnye_chteniya_pa myati_svyatoj_marii_yasyni/, доступ от 13.06.2016].

20. I have been told several times in various contexts about the urgent need for new" own " saints, but so far there are no ascetics of the faith in the diocese, glorified in the face of the new martyrs and confessors of Russia.

21. V ramkakh VRSN prokhodi obshchestvenno-nauchnye chteniya pamyati sveti Maria Yasyni [Social and scientific readings in memory of St. Mary Yasyn].

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Shloye: "Today's historians have done a tremendous job. And they show that the Ossetians actually have more than one hundred and fifty saints. (...) Famous saints like Mary Yasynya."

I would like to emphasize that for many Orthodox North Ossetian clergy and laity, the church-wide glorification of Princess Mary is important in the context of establishing the antiquity of the confession of Orthodoxy in the Alanian (and, consequently, Ossetian) land. Moreover, we can argue that North Ossetia as a separate diocese (as well as as a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, and as the ethnic homeland of Ossetians) is conceived as a locality that has a stable identity, which should have its own easily recognizable symbols. And this right to administrative independence and, in our case, ethnic specifics in church life should be publicly declared and justified through the traditional Orthodox practice of honoring their saints, who could be recognized in this capacity by the entire church and society as a whole. The old maxim "there is no village without a righteous man, and a city without a saint" in this context takes on an unusual, but unexpectedly relevant meaning: a separate ecclesiastical administrative-territorial unit, or rather, people who are aware of their belonging to it and at the same time their responsibility to it, need their saints as legitimate agents of local self-consciousness and patriotism.

However, back to our main story. What is important for us now is that quite soon this call for widespread veneration of the Princess ceased to be a purely ecclesiastical initiative, and the secular authorities of the republic quite actively joined in this process, putting their own meanings into the idea of the all-church glorification of Mary Yasyn.

The promotion of this project not only in the republic, but also in Moscow was intended, in my opinion, to reformulate the terms of the "union treaty" between the "state-forming" Russian people and the Ossetians, in which the latter will act not just as loyal subjects of the Russian state, but also its creators. Ruslan Bzarov, a well-known historian in North Ossetia, saw in the figure of Mary, in which Russia and Alania were united, a deep meaning and a sign of the times:

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[E]e image is becoming extremely important in the current conditions of the revival of Russian and Alanian cultural traditions and those ancient historical, natural connections that some time ago were not very relevant. In her image, for all of us, an authentic, real, and deeply meaningful story is concentrated, which allows us to better understand and see what is happening today, as well as better predict the future.22
With this view of the problem, representatives of the Ossetian people have a special right to speak out at the national (and, in my opinion, quite nationalistic in general ideological mood) discussion platform - the World Russian People's Council (VRNS). There, at the plenary session of the already mentioned XVIII Council, Taimuraz Mamsurov, the only head of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation who took part in this high - level meeting, made a short but very informative speech. The starting point in this speech was the figure of Maria Yasynya, whose memories led the speaker to very general and unusual conclusions about the nature of Russian statehood:

There are common truths that deserve constant reminder. One of them is that Russia exists as a Caucasian state. Or even more precisely, the Caucasian territories are an integral part of Russia. Despite all the conflicts, sometimes tragic, the Russian people, the builder of Russian civilization, did not suit the" melting pot " of peoples. Every nation that makes up Russia still has a past, a common present, and a common future.23
Ossetian Saint: Moscow text

But let's return to the beginning of our discussion about the transformation of axiological guidelines in modern Russian society. Interestingly, the prospect of an all-church glorification of the princess-

22. The clergy of the Vladikavkaz diocese took part in public and scientific readings in memory of St. Mary Yasyn in Moscow / / Official website of the Vladikavkaz and Alansk diocese "Orthodox Ossetia". 11.11.2014 [http://blagos.ru/item/2663-sobor, accessed from 13.05.2016].

23. Mamsurov T. Serving Russia faithfully, in word and deed is a great happiness! // Orthodox Ossetia. 2014. N1(143). P. 4.

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Mary's work was enthusiastically received by some of the patriarchal establishment, such as Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin. Let me remind you that for six years, until the very end of 2015, he served as chairman of the Department for Church-Society Relations and, while performing these functions, many times positioned himself as a consistent and tough conservative. Here is a very characteristic argument for him: "Domostroy is a very worthy monument of our Christian thought. They tried to defame him in various anti-religious and political texts during the Soviet era. Sometimes they try to discredit the post-Soviet era as well. But it's an amazing textbook of life. " 24 Father Vsevolod took part in the above-mentioned November breakout session of the Supreme Council of the Russian Orthodox Church and devoted an issue of his radio program "Time of Trust" to this topic (11.11.14 Komsomolskaya Pravda Radio, issue "Ossetian Princess Maria Yasynya: the Caucasian People and the History of Russia"). The dominant themes in the "Moscow" narrative about Maria Yasyn were recognition of the significant contribution of a small but glorious people to the history of the great Fatherland - and this was a recognition of the validity of the canonization initiative of the young Vladikavkaz diocese - and, of course, the unity of Russia in the diversity of cultures of the peoples inhabiting it. So, speaking at the meeting of the section "Fatherland, exalted by the works of our ancestors...", Father Vsevolod said:

Maria Yasynya is a stunning example of how a representative of a strong, proud people known for their historical achievements influenced the historical fate of Russia. Many times attempts have been made to divide our people, our history and our country in order to weaken us and make our wealth the point of application of dividing forces. Wealth is the greatest diversity of our peoples, the ability to survive difficult periods of history, the ability to get along with such a difference of peoples. All this is one of our history, one of our Russia 25.

24. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin considers Domostroy an example for family planning in Russia. 14.12.2015 [http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=61306, accessed from 13.05.2016].

25.Public and scientific readings in memory of St. Mary Yasyn were held as part of the VRSN.

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However, on the program, which was attended by representatives of the aforementioned Foundation "Alan Heritage" Zalina Kusaeva and Elmira Karazhaeva, quite clearly sounded another topic - the theme of conservatism of Ossetian norms in family relations, which can serve as a natural guide for modern people. Father Vsevolod described the supermodern ideas of individualism, which were alien to him, and to which he was going to oppose something else:

Now they are trying to declare something else fashionable: "There is only one person, right? He doesn't owe anything to his elders or juniors. He should be fine alone. Taking care of the family is a relic, a savagery, a primitive pattern of behavior. Come on, all those family ties. It's better without them. You'll get more money if you're alone. (...) Live for yourself!" Profitable, useful to live for yourself or not? 26

One of the interviewees willingly provided the Ossetian alternative to fashionable individualism required by the presenters:

We have the concept of a hearth, a family hearth. We have very sacred family traditions. And this is very important for the preservation of Ossetian culture. And, respectively... that's what makes it unique in general... even the Ossetian prayer? The fact that Ossetians never ask the Lord for prosperity only for themselves. Long ago, our ancestors always understood unity... as if... This philosophy, the concept of a single universe, has been inherent in culture for a long time. And when an Ossetian woman prays and asks for grace for her children, yes, she means the children of the whole world, the whole universe. She understands that people all over the world are connected, right? And if it's good to be alone, yes, it should be... Or if it's bad for someone, then it just can't be good for everyone. And this tradition of unity and coexistence with neighbors, relatives, and representatives of an ancient family is an integral part of modern life.

26. In another speech, Father Vsevolod expressed the same understanding of the figure of Princess Maria in a slightly different form. According to him, Maria Yasynya "became the wife of Grand Duke Vsevolod Bolshoe Gnezdo, bringing Caucasian family wisdom to the relations between many generations of her descendants and this had a very beneficial effect on the Russian public and political life of that time" (Issue of the program "Comment of the Week" from 15.11.2014, Soyuz TV channel).

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Thus, the Princess of Vladimir, who brought the traditions of her ancestors from her native Alan land to teach them to generations of builders of the Russian state, again, several centuries after her death, stands up for family values, thereby calming the alarmed conservative Moscow priest and (at the same time) closely linking the national and ethnic patriotism of his interlocutors. But if for the former the Ossetian origin of Yasynya is mainly a reason for appealing to the values of the patriarchal family way of life and in this row does not differ much from other manifestations of the Caucasian way of life (Father Vsevolod also looked at Muslim polygamy as an archaic form of family with sympathy), then for the latter it is important to emphasize the Ossetian origin of the heroine for various reasons. One of them consistently brings together the values of Ossetian and Russian (or rather, Old Russian) culture, in order to remind once again that the grafting of the Alan branch to the Rurik dynasty determined the political culture and, accordingly, the trajectory of the development of the state, which was yet to become great:

the value categories that were listed in her [Maria Yasynya's] spiritual testament, they were certainly characteristic of Russian culture. But it is quite obvious that they are based on the Ossetian cultural tradition-honoring elders, helping those in need, reconciliation, and humility. All this, of course, as I say, has always been characteristic of the Russian tradition. But here the Ossetian culture can also be clearly traced.

However, in modern religious and social discourse, family values easily and naturally enter the conversation about politics and even geopolitics, since dynastic subjects easily encode one into the other. And the authors of the aforementioned documentary "Yasynya" expressed this trend well, catching the request for patriarchy and putting the following statement in the mouth of the princess herself:: "I was a faithful support and helper to my husband in his deeds, a guardian of the hearth at home, a caring mother-

27. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin blamed opponents of the traditional family for the attack on Chechnya // Interfax-religion. 19.05.2015 [www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=58833, accessed from 13.05.2016].

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a mother-in-law and mentor to her children. I was taught this conjugal service in my father's house in faraway Alanya."

The canonization process and Russian society

Having considered this local subject, I would like to use it as an example to draw the reader's attention to some general trends that characterize the modern discourse on holiness and the social practices that it defines.

It is obvious that in the very lively and diverse field of modern Russian Orthodoxy, one of the most striking types of religious activism remains canonization initiatives. Sometimes such projects originate from patriarchal structures, taking the form of hagiological and hagiographic directives that are perceived "on the ground" with varying degrees of understanding and enthusiasm, as is the case, for example, with the veneration of the New Martyrs of the Soviet period28. Sometimes the figures offered for veneration become symbols of anti-modern protest coming from the politically active ultraconservative segment of Russian Orthodoxy.29 And in these cases, the officials of the highest ecclesiastical echelons are already obliged to formulate their position, often speaking on behalf of the entire institution and risking the protests of simpletons, imaginary or true, who are not able to understand the subtleties of the theological and historiographical argumentation of the "authorities". And those, in turn, create initiative groups and try to promote new saints, flooding the Synodal Commission for Canonization with petitions accompanied by collected signatures "demanding that the clergy canonize the person they venerate" 30. Not only persuasion methods, but also selection principles

28. Semenenko-Basin I. V. Svyatost ' v russkoy pravoslavnoi kul'tury XX veka: istoriya personifikatsii [Sanctity in the Russian Orthodox Culture of the XX century: the history of personification]. Moscow: RSUH Publishing Center, 2010, pp. 185-186. Makarkin A.V. Chudesa i politika: praktika pravoslavnoi kanonizatsii v Rossii // Inviolable Reserve. 2012. N6. P. 98; Christensen, K. (2015) The Making of the New Martyrs of Russia. Soviet Repression in Orthodox Memory. PhD thesis manuscript, pp. 282-283. University of Copenhagen.

29. Rock, S. (2006) "Rasputin the New: Mythologies of Sanctity in Post-Soviet Russia", in J. Herman Brinks, S. Rock and E. Timms (eds) Nationalist Myths and the Modern Media: Contested Identities in the Age of Globalisation, pp. 257-270. London and New York, IBTauris, 2006; Knorre B. K. Dvizhenie za kanonizatsiyu Ivan Grozny i pravoslavno-monarchicheskii tsezarizm [The Movement for the Canonization of Ivan the Terrible and Orthodox-monarchical Caesarism].

30. Maxim Maksimov, prot. Preparation of materials for the canonization of saints / / Glorification and veneration of Saints: conference materials / XVIII International

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potential saints cause the synodal structures surprise or even annoyance, forcing them to look for arguments-excuses to justify why, for example, the commander Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov cannot be canonized, 31 if the names of Dimitri Donskoy and Feodor Ushakov already adorn the pages of monthly archives. This is how Konstantin Kudinov, head of the Krasnodar Regional Public Movement in Support of the Glorification of A. V. Suvorov and his Beatification as a Saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, formulated his arguments: "God glorifies, and the church only testifies to the glorification. And if Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Admiral Fyodor Ushakov are canonized as saints, then is Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov in God's eyes less important for the Russian land and the Russian people?! Many, many people are wondering: why hasn't this happened yet?"32 Such perplexity seems to me deliberately naive, but still justified. After all, representatives of the church so often talk about the Motherland, patriotism and the glorious deeds of their glorious ancestors that it is not surprising to think that the degree of sanctity is logically measured by the level of significance of a particular figure for the Russian land and the Russian people. I will add that in this speech you can also hear one more note that characterizes the argumentation of modern mass hagiology : just as awards are found for heroes who deserve them, but due to a misunderstanding they did not receive them, so canonization should restore historical justice to historical figures who have done much for the fatherland. As my Vladikavkaz interlocutor, a person of the church and an activist of several canonization initiatives, told me about Suvorov: "How is he worse than others? He fought for Russia all the time. And I won all the battles." As for the practice of collecting signatures, it seems likely to me that popular veneration as a prerequisite for the glorification of the righteous in the face

Christmas educational Readings, Moscow: Russian Rarity, 2009, p. 58. Collecting signatures became commonplace and was widely practiced during the campaign for the canonization of Nicholas II in the first half of the 1990s. Slovo i delo natsionalnoy Rossii [Word and Deed of National Russia], Moscow: Institute of Russian Civilization, 2007, p. 465.

31. Mitrov, Oleg, prot. Saints of the Heavenly Fatherland and heroes of the earthly Fatherland / / Website "Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints". Materials of the Christmas Readings 2013 [http://kanonkom.ru/docs/protoierey-oleg-mitrov-svyatye-otechestva-nebesnogo-i-geroi-otechestva - zemnogo.html, accessed from 13.05.2016].

32. Kudinov K. Narodnaya lyubov - vse veka [People's love-through the ages]. 31.10.2015 [http://www.ki-gazeta.ru/news/society/narodnaya_lyubov_cherez_veka/, доступ от 13.05.2016].

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saints in this capacity are well known to most of the participants in this process, and some of them do not see anything reprehensible in demonstrating the mass character of the cult through the provision of petitions signed by thousands of people.

But the question of who and on what grounds will determine the hagiological merits of a particular candidate for sainthood is not limited to the moment of confrontation between the church elite and the Orthodox "popular mass" or the Moscow Patriarchate center and the infinitely multicolored and diverse diocesan periphery. The picture turns out to be so complex that it requires (yet again) a review of simple and familiar oppositions, but not through a complete rejection of them, but through taking into account two additional circumstances.

The first is that in the case of Maria Yasynska that we have considered, as in many others, the venerated saint is not an object that different social classes or ecclesiastical parties dispute the right to create and use it. Each group tries, without entering into a confrontation with the other, to use the potential of hagiological meanings, represented by the image of the ascetic proposed for canonization, to achieve its goals, especially since often its hagiographic portrait, due to its conventionality, makes it possible to distinguish different meanings in the hagiographic narrative. Thus, we can talk about the prospect of achieving overlapping consensus and mutually beneficial cooperation on its basis between different groups of" promoters " of cult 34. Of course, there is no need to idealize the situation, because in the course of interaction between different parties of interest, there is inevitably a need to isolate especially active and independent figures who can destroy the consensus or, in the opinion of some, discredit the entire project. This is how it seems to have happened in our case with Tamara Dadianova and a small group of people who support her. But, nevertheless, we do not have to talk about a simple division between the oppressed and resisting people and the power-hungry and calculating elite. Perhaps because the holy Princess, despite the fact that the chronicle reports on her generous charity, is not suitable for the role of patron saint.-

33. Or "iconization", i.e. the creation of its recognizable interpretation; the term in this sense was proposed by Karin Christensen. See Christensen, K. The Making of the New Martyrs of Russia. Soviet Repression in Orthodox.

34. Paolo Parigi drew on this perspective in his recent book on canonization practices. См. Parigi, P. (2012) The Rationalization of Miracles, pp. 14-17. New York: Cambridge University Press.

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The fate of its veneration is primarily of concern to representatives of the elite.

The second circumstance is related to the non-ecclesiastical context of many large canonization projects. Now people who are far removed from church life all the rest of the time are involved in the glorification and popularization of the veneration of certain saints, but they understand that canonization decisions will concern the most important symbols of national and regional identity, that is, not only the social space limited by the church fence.

And the recent history of St. Mary Yasynya is a good illustration of this. As we can see, its image is important for representatives of various groups, including completely religiously indifferent politicians. And this importance is largely determined by the political agenda. In the end, the Vladimir Princess - the founder of the Moscow ruling dynasty - is gradually replacing in the minds of many Ossetians another royal person who connects Ossetians with a great political history - the Georgian Tsarina Tamara, the daughter of an Ossetian woman and the wife of Ossetian David-Soslan, the great Tamara, whose narrative has been included in the presentation discourse of Ossetian ethnopolitical genealogy for many decades.

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