
Foolishness for Christ (; ) refers to behavior such as giving up all one's worldly possessions upon joining an
ascetic
Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their pra ...
order or religious life, or deliberately flouting society's conventions to serve a religious purpose—particularly of Christianity. Such individuals have historically been known as both "holy fools" and "blessed fools". The term "fool" connotes what is perceived as
feeblemindedness
The term feeble-minded was used from the late 19th century in Europe, the United States, and Australasia for disorders later referred to as illnesses, deficiencies of the mind, and disabilities.
At the time, ''mental deficiency'' encompassed a ...
, and "
blessed" or "holy" refers to innocence in the eyes of God.
[Frith, Uta. (1989) Autism: The Elegant Enigma. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.]
The term ''fools for Christ'' derives from the writings of
Paul the Apostle
Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...
.
Desert Fathers
The Desert Fathers were early Christian hermits and ascetics, who lived primarily in the Wadi El Natrun, then known as ''Skete'', in Roman Egypt, beginning around the Christianity in the ante-Nicene period, third century. The ''Sayings of the Dese ...
and other saints acted the part of Holy Fools, as have the ''yurodivy'' (or iurodstvo) of
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
asceticism
Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...
. Fools for Christ often employ shocking and unconventional behavior to challenge accepted norms, deliver prophecies, or to mask their piety.
[Parry (1999), p. 233]
Old Testament
Certain
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...
s of the
Old Testament
The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...
who exhibited signs of strange behaviour are considered by some scholars
[Gorainoff I. ''Les Fols en Christ...'' pp. 15–16; Saward J. Dieu a la folie. p. 15.] to be predecessors of "Fools for Christ". The prophet
Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...
walked naked and barefoot for about three years, predicting a forthcoming captivity in Egypt (); the prophet
Ezekiel
Ezekiel, also spelled Ezechiel (; ; ), was an Israelite priest. The Book of Ezekiel, relating his visions and acts, is named after him.
The Abrahamic religions acknowledge Ezekiel as a prophet. According to the narrative, Ezekiel prophesied ...
lay before a stone, which symbolized beleaguered
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
, and though God instructed him to eat bread baked on human waste, ultimately he asked to use cow dung instead ();
Hosea
In the Hebrew Bible, Hosea ( or ; ), also known as Osee (), son of Beeri, was an 8th-century BC prophet in Israel and the nominal primary author of the Book of Hosea. He is the first of the Twelve Minor Prophets, whose collective writing ...
married
a harlot to symbolize the infidelity of Israel before God ().
In the opinion of certain scholars,
[J.- C. Larchee. ''Healing of mental illnesses: The experience of first centuries in the Christian East''. Translated from French into Russian. Moscow. Publishing House of Sretensky Monastery, 2007. 224 pages.] these prophets were not considered fools by their contemporaries, because they sought to gain people's attention in order to awaken their
repentance
Repentance is reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past or present wrongdoings, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better.
In modern times, it is generally seen ...
.
New Testament

According to Christian ideas, "foolishness" included consistent rejection of worldly cares and
imitating Christ, who endured mockery and humiliation from the crowd. The spiritual meaning of "foolishness" from the
early ages of Christianity was closely related to that of rejection of common social rules of hypocrisy, brutality and quest for power and gains.
By the words of
Anthony the Great
Anthony the Great (; ; ; ; – 17 January 356) was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is distinguished from other saints named Anthony, such as , by various epithets: , , , , , and . For his importance among t ...
: "Here comes the time, when people will behave like madmen, and if they see anybody who does not behave like that, they will rebel against him and say: 'You are mad', — because he is not like them."
[''Apophtegmy (Alphavitnoye sobranie). About Avva Anthony. 25 (in Russian: Memorable stories.) p. 427.'']
Paul the Apostle
Part of the
Biblical
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
basis for it can be seen in the words of the
Apostle Paul
Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...
in , which famously says:
:"We are ''fools for Christ's sake'', but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised." (
KJV
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...
).
And also:
:"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: 'He catches the wise in their craftiness.'" ()
:"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." ()
:"For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe." ()
Western Christianity

In Western Christianity there have been several saints who lived lives that were rather eccentric and seemingly foolish. Among the earliest of them was St.
Nicholas of Trani
Nicholas the Pilgrim (; ; 1075 – 2 June 1094), sometimes Nicholas of Trani, is a saint of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church.
Biography
Nicholas was born at Steiri in Boeotia, Greece, where his solitary life as a shepherd led him to ...
, a young homeless man who died in 1094 AD. He apparently never stopped repeating the phrase '
Kyrie Eleison
', a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of ('' Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the ( ; ).
In the Bible
The prayer, , "Lord, have mercy" derives from a Biblical phrase. Greek , ...
' and behaved foolishly.
Similarly Blessed
Peter of Foligno lived in voluntary poverty and was deemed crazy.
Other notable lay men who led saintly albeit eccentric lifestyles were
Blessed Peter of Trevi,
Teobaldo Roggeri
Teobaldo Roggeri (1100 - 1150) was an Italian Roman Catholic shoemaker and porter from the Ligurian province noted for his simple manner of living and for his commitment to the needs of the poor of the Diocese of Alba.
Roggeri received his beat ...
,
Benedict Joseph Labre
Benedict Joseph Labre, TOSF (, 25 March 1748 – 16 April 1783) was a French Third Order of Saint Francis, Franciscan tertiary, and Catholic Church, Catholic saint. Labre was from a well-to-do family near Arras, France. After attempting a monasti ...
, St.
Salaun of Brittany,
Ludovico Morbioli
Ludovico Morbioli (1433 - 9 November 1485) was an Italian people, Italian Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic from Bologna who led a dissolute life before adopting a life of repentance. Morbioli was married but separated from his wife after exp ...
and
Casimiro Barello among others. The key characteristics of foolishness for Christ in Western Christianity are sleeping rough (outdoors) and homelessness, a minimalistic lifestyle with very few if any possessions and a strict dedication to prayer and self-renunciation.
Some ascetics are known as
mendicant
A mendicant (from , "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, Mendicant orders, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many i ...
s and are organised into
mendicant orders
Mendicant orders are primarily certain Catholic Church, Catholic religious orders that have vowed for their male members a lifestyle of vow of poverty, poverty, traveling, and living in urban areas for purposes of preacher, preaching, Evangelis ...
. The most famous example in the Western church is
Francis of Assisi
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...
, whose order was known for following the teachings of Christ and walking in his footsteps. Thus, upon joining the order, Franciscans gave away all possessions and focused on preaching in the streets to the common man.
Servant of God, Brother Juniper, an early follower of the
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
order, was known for taking the doctrine of the Franciscans to the extreme. Whenever anyone asked for any of his possessions, he freely gave them away, including his clothes. He once even cut off the bells from his altar-cloth and gave them to a poor woman. His fellow Franciscans had to watch him closely, and strictly forbade him from giving away his clothes. While such behaviors were embarrassing to his brothers, he was also recognized as a pure example of the Franciscan order and thus esteemed.
"The Little Flowers of Saint Francis of Assisi", which documents the oral traditions of the Franciscans, told several stories of "Brother Juniper". The most famous of these is the story of how Brother Juniper, when he heard a sick brother request a pig's foot as a meal, took a kitchen knife and ran into the forest, where he saw a herd of swine feeding. There, he quickly cut the foot off of one of the swine and carried it back to the brother, leaving the swine to die. This angered the herdsman, who complained to Saint Francis. Saint Francis confronted Brother Juniper, who joyfully exclaimed, "It is true, sweet father, that I did cut off the swine's foot. I will tell thee the reason. I went out of charity to visit the brother who is sick." Brother Juniper likewise explained to the angry herdsman who, seeing the "charity, simplicity, and humility" (Hudleston, 1953) in Brother Juniper's heart, forgave him and delivered the rest of the pig to the brothers.
Eastern Christianity
The Holy Fool or ''yuródivyy'' (юродивый) is the
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n version of foolishness for Christ, a peculiar form of
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
asceticism
Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...
. The yurodivy is a Holy Fool, one who acts intentionally foolish in the eyes of men. The term implies behaviour "which is caused neither by mistake nor by feeble-mindedness, but is deliberate, irritating, even provocative."
[ Ivanov, S. A. (2006) "Holy Fools in Byzantium and Beyond." Oxford: Oxford University Press.]
In his book ''Holy Fools in Byzantium and Beyond'',
Ivanov
Ivanov, Ivanoff or Ivanow (masculine, , Sometimes the stress is on Ива́нов in Bulgarian if it is a middle name, or in Russian as a rare variant of pronunciation), or Ivanova (feminine, , ) is one of the most common surnames in Russia and Bu ...
described "holy fool" as a term for a person who "feigns insanity, pretends to be foolish, or who provokes shock or outrage by his deliberate unruliness."
He explained that such conduct qualifies as holy foolery only if the audience believes that the individual is sane, moral, and pious. The Eastern Orthodox Church holds that holy fools voluntarily take up the guise of insanity in order to conceal their perfection from the world, and thus avoid praise.
Some characteristics that were commonly seen in holy fools were going around half-naked, being
homeless
Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...
, speaking in
riddles
A riddle is a :wikt:statement, statement, question, or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or Allegory, alleg ...
, being believed to be
clairvoyant
Clairvoyance (; ) is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to ...
and a
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...
, and occasionally being disruptive and challenging to the point of seeming
immoral
Immorality is the violation of moral laws, norms or standards. It refers to an agent doing or thinking something they know or believe to be wrong. Immorality is normally applied to people or actions, or in a broader sense, it can be applied to gr ...
(though always to make a point).
Ivanov argued that, unlike in the past, modern yurodivy are generally aware that they look pathetic in others’ eyes. They strive to preempt this contempt through exaggerated self-humiliation, and following such displays they let it be known both that their behaviors were staged and that their purpose was to disguise their superiority over their audience.
Fools for Christ are often given the title of
Blessed (
блаженный), which does not necessarily mean that the individual is less than a saint, but rather points to the blessings from God that they are believed to have acquired.
The
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...
records
Isidora Barankis of Egypt (d. 369) among the first Holy Fools. However, the term was not popularized until the coming of
Symeon of Emesa, who is considered to be a
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of holy fools.
[''Holy Foolishness, by the Rev. Frank Logue, King of Peace Episcopal Church, Kingsland, Georgia, February 2002''] In Greek, the term for Holy Fool is ''salos''.
The practice was recognised in the
hagiography
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...
of fifth-century Byzantium, and it was extensively adopted in
Muscovite Russia
The Grand Principality of Moscow, or Muscovy, known as the Principality of Moscow until 1389, was a late medieval Russian monarchy. Its capital was the city of Moscow. Originally established as a minor principality in the 13th century, the gra ...
, probably in the 14th century. The
madness of the Holy Fool was ambiguous, and could be real or simulated. They were believed to have been divinely inspired, and were therefore able to say truths which others could not, normally in the form of indirect allusions or
parable
A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whe ...
s. They had a particular status in regard to the
Tsar
Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...
s, as a figure not subject to earthly control or judgement.
The first reported fool-for-Christ in Russia was
St. Procopius (Prokopiy), who came from the lands of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
to
Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...
, then moved to
Ustyug
Veliky Ustyug () is a town in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located in the northeast of the oblast at the confluence of the Sukhona and Yug Rivers. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 31,665.
Veliky Ustyug has a great historical significa ...
, pretending to be a fool and leading an ascetic way of life (slept naked on church-porches, prayed throughout the whole night, received food only from poor people). He was abused and beaten, but finally won respect and became venerated after his death.
The
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
numbers 36 ''yurodivye'' among its
saint
In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...
s, starting from
Procopius of Ustyug
Procopius of Ustyug () or Procopius of Lübeck (; ; died ) was a Foolishness for Christ, fool for Christ (''yurodivy'') and Thaumaturgy, miracle worker, formerly a merchant from Lübeck. He was canonized as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church. ...
, and most prominently
Basil Fool for Christ
Vasily the Blessed (known also as Basil, and as the fool for Christ; the Wonderworker of Moscow; or Blessed Vasily of Moscow; , Vasily Blazhenny) is a Russian Orthodox saint of the type known as ''yurodivy'' or "holy fool".
Life
Vasily was born ...
, who gives his name to
Saint Basil's Cathedral
The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed (), known in English as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is an Orthodox church in Red Square of Moscow, and is one of the most popular cultural symbols of Russia. The building, now a museum, is officially known as ...
in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. One of the best-known modern examples in the Russian Church is perhaps
St Xenia of Saint Petersburg.
Common phrases or epithets
Crazy for God
"Crazy for God" is an expression sometimes used in the United States and other English-speaking countries to convey a similar idea to "Foolishness for Christ." It has been especially connected to the
Unification Church of the United States
The Unification Church of the United States is the branch of the Unification Church in the United States. It began in the late 1950s and early 1960s when missionaries from South Korea were sent to America by the international Unification Church' ...
. In ''The Way of God's Will'', a collection of sayings popular among church members,
Unification Church
The Unification Church () is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists or sometimes informally Moonies. It was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea, as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unificatio ...
founder
Sun Myung Moon
Sun Myung Moon (; born Moon Yong-myeong; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the ...
is quoted as saying: "We leaders should leave the tradition that we have become crazy for God."
In 1979 Unification Church critic
Christopher Edwards titled a memoir about his experiences in the six months he spent as a church member: ''Crazy for God: The nightmare of cult life.''
In 2007, author
Frank Schaeffer titled his autobiography ''Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back''. It tells of his upbringing as the son of a well-known
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
minister and his later conversion to the
Greek Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...
.
In the same year
Stephen Prothero
Stephen Richard Prothero (; born November 13, 1960) is an American scholar of religion. He is the C. Allyn and Elizabeth V. Russell Professor Emeritus of Religion in America at Boston University and the author or editor of eleven books on religio ...
, author and chairman of
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
's Department of Religion, wrote in the ''Harvard Divinity Bulletin'': "I am crazy for people who are crazy for God: people nearly as inscrutable to me as divinity, who leave wives and children to become forest-dwelling
monks
A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
in
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
, who wander naked across the belly of
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
in search of self-realization, who
speak in tongues
Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is an activity or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid voc ...
and
take up serpents in
Appalachia
Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...
because the Bible says they can."
Modern theology
One of the more recent works in theology is ''Fools for Christ'' by
Jaroslav Pelikan
Jaroslav Jan Pelikan Jr. (; December 17, 1923 – May 13, 2006) was an American scholar of the history of Christianity, Christian theology, and medieval intellectual history at Yale University.
Early years
Jaroslav Jan Pelikan Jr. was born on D ...
. Through six essays dealing with various "fools," Pelikan explores the motif of fool-for-Christ in relationship to the problem of understanding the numinous:
The Holy is too great and too terrible when encountered directly for men of normal sanity to be able to contemplate it comfortably. Only those who cannot care for the consequences run the risk of the direct confrontation of the Holy.
The ''yurodivy'' in art and literature
There are a number of references to the ''yurodivy'' holy fools in 19th century Russian literature. The holy fool Nikolka is a character in
Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is conside ...
's play ''
Boris Godunov
Boris Feodorovich Godunov (; ; ) was the ''de facto'' regent of Russia from 1585 to 1598 and then tsar from 1598 to 1605 following the death of Feodor I, the last of the Rurik dynasty. After the end of Feodor's reign, Russia descended into t ...
'' and
Mussorgsky's opera based on the play. In Pushkin's narrative poem ''
The Bronze Horseman
The ''Bronze Horseman'' (, literally "copper horseman") is an equestrian statue of Peter the Great in the Senate Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was opened to the public on 7 (18) August 1782. Commissioned by Catherine the Great, it was ...
'', the character of Evgenii is based in the tradition of the holy fools in his confrontation with the animated statue of
Peter the Great
Peter I (, ;
– ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
.
The yurodivy appears several times in the novels of
Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...
. ''
The Idiot
''The Idiot'' (Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform ) is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in the journal ''The Russian Messenger'' in 1868–1869.
The titl ...
'' explores the ramifications of placing a holy fool (the compassionate and insightful epileptic
Prince Myshkin
Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform ) is the titular main protagonist of Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1869 novel ''The Idiot''. Dostoevsky wanted to create a character that was "entirely positive... with an absolutely beautif ...
) in a secular world dominated by vanity and desire. According to
Joseph Frank "though the gentlemanly and well-educated prince bears no external resemblance to these eccentric figures, he does possess their traditional gift of spiritual insight, which operates instinctively, below any level of conscious awareness or doctrinal commitment." In ''
Demons
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in media including
fiction, comics, film, t ...
'', the madwoman Marya Lebyadkina displays many of the attributes of the holy fool, as do the characters of Sofya Marmeladova in ''
Crime and Punishment
''Crime and Punishment'' is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published in the literary journal '' The Russian Messenger'' in twelve monthly installments during 1866. '' and Lizaveta in ''
The Brothers Karamazov
''The Brothers Karamazov'' ( rus, Братья Карамазовы, Brat'ya Karamazovy, ˈbratʲjə kərɐˈmazəvɨ), also translated as ''The Karamazov Brothers'', is the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly ...
''.
Another fool-for-Christ is Grisha in
Tolstoy's ''Childhood. Boyhood. Youth''.
Callis and Dewey described Grisha as follows:
:He was an awesome figure: emaciated, barefoot and in rags, with eyes that "looked right through you" and long, shaggy hair. He always wore chains around his neck...Neighborhood children would sometimes run after him, laughing and calling out his name. Older persons, as a rule, viewed Grisha with respect and a little fear, especially when he suffered one of his periodic seizures and began to shout and rant. At such times adult bystanders would crowd around and listen, for they believed that the Holy Spirit was working through him.
[Birukoff, Paul & Tolstoy, Leo. (1911) ''Leo Tolstoy: His Life and Work.'' New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.]
Grisha's abnormal social conduct, seizures, and rants were common behaviors amongst holy fools. The esteem expressed by adults was also common. In his autobiography, Tolstoy expressed such esteem in reaction to overhearing Grisha praying:
:“Oh Great Christian Grisha! Your faith was so strong that you felt the nearness of God; your love was so great that words flowed of their own will from your lips, and you did not verify them by reason. And what high praise you gave to the majesty of God, when, not finding any words, you prostrated yourself on the ground.”
A further example is Kasyan in the ninth sketch from
Turgenev's Sketches from a Hunter's Album
''A Sportsman's Sketches'' (; also known as ''A Sportman's Notebook'', ''The Hunting Sketches'' and ''Sketches from a Hunter's Album'') is an 1852 cycle of short stories by Ivan Turgenev. It was the first major writing that gained him recogniti ...
. The protagonist's coachman describes him as "one of those holy men," who lives by himself in the forest, strictly differentiates between eating bread which he calls "God's gift to man" and "tame creatures" on the one hand, and birds "of the free air" and creatures "of the forest and of the field" on the other hand, the latter of which he sees as being sinful.
Notable people described as fools for Christ
*
Andrew the Fool
Andrew of Constantinople (Andrew the Fool-for-Christ or Andrew, the Fool; ; died 936) is considered a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church, and is revered as a fool for Christ.
Biography
Andrew, a Scythian by birth, was a slave of Theognostus, ...
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Basil Fool for Christ
Vasily the Blessed (known also as Basil, and as the fool for Christ; the Wonderworker of Moscow; or Blessed Vasily of Moscow; , Vasily Blazhenny) is a Russian Orthodox saint of the type known as ''yurodivy'' or "holy fool".
Life
Vasily was born ...
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Benedict Joseph Labre
Benedict Joseph Labre, TOSF (, 25 March 1748 – 16 April 1783) was a French Third Order of Saint Francis, Franciscan tertiary, and Catholic Church, Catholic saint. Labre was from a well-to-do family near Arras, France. After attempting a monasti ...
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David the Dendrite
David the Dendrite (, c. 450–540), also known as David the tree-dweller and David of Thessalonika, is a saint of Thessaloniki. David became a monk at the Monastery of Saints Merkourios and Theodore outside Thessaloniki. Famed for his sound advic ...
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Francis of Assisi
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...
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Saint Isidora
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John of Moscow
John of Moscow also known as Blessed John the Fool for Christ was a 16th-century Russian saint. He was born on the outskirts of Vologda in Russia. He was considered a wonderworker in Moscow and spent his youth as a labourer in a local saltworks a ...
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John the Hairy
John the Hairy (, also known as John the Merciful of Rostov) was a holy fool (Yurodivy), of the Russian Orthodox Church in the second half of the 16th century. He endured a great many trials in his lifetime. "He did not have a permanent shelter ...
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Simeon the Holy Fool
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Justo Gallego Martínez
Justo Gallego Martínez (20 September 1925 – 28 November 2021); also known by his honorific byname ''Don Justo'', was a Spaniard who was known for constructing a church building in the dimensions of a cathedral on his own in the town of Mejora ...
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Nicholas the Pilgrim
Nicholas the Pilgrim (; ; 1075 – 2 June 1094), sometimes Nicholas of Trani, is a saint of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church.
Biography
Nicholas was born at Steiri in Boeotia, Greece, where his solitary life as a shepherd led him to ...
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Nicholas Salos of Pskov
Nicholas Salos of Pskov () was a Russian self-styled prophet ("Fool-for-Christ") in opposition of Tsar Ivan IV's oprichnina. In 1570, Ivan IV retaliated by raiding Pskov. However, during the raid Nicholas reprimanded the tsar, causing him to retre ...
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Procopius of Ustyug
Procopius of Ustyug () or Procopius of Lübeck (; ; died ) was a Foolishness for Christ, fool for Christ (''yurodivy'') and Thaumaturgy, miracle worker, formerly a merchant from Lübeck. He was canonized as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church. ...
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Xenia of Saint Petersburg
Xenia of St. Petersburg (Russian language, Russian: Святая блаженная Ксения Петербургская, born as ''Xenia Grigoryevna Petrova'' (Russian language, Russian: Ксения Григорьевна Петрова), ...
See also
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Divine madness
Divine madness, also known as ''theia mania'' and crazy wisdom, is unconventional, outrageous, unexpected, or unpredictable behavior linked to religious or spiritual pursuits. Examples of divine madness can be found in Buddhism, Christianity, He ...
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Mast (Meher Baba)
A mast (from Persian ), in Meher Baba's teaching, is a person who is overwhelmed with love for God, accompanied with external disorientation resembling intoxication. The word was coined by Meher Baba and originates from the Sufi term mast-Allah ...
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Psychology of religion
Psychology of religion consists of the application of psychological methods and interpretive frameworks to the diverse contents of religious traditions as well as to both religious and irreligious individuals. The various methods and frameworks ...
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Sign of contradiction
In Catholic theology, a sign of contradiction is someone who, upon manifesting holiness, is subject to extreme opposition. The term is adopted from the New Testament phrase "a sign that is spoken against", found in Luke 2:34 and in Acts 28:22, w ...
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Jerusalem syndrome
Jerusalem syndrome is a group of mental phenomena involving the presence of religiously themed ideas or experiences that are triggered by a visit to the city of Jerusalem. It is not endemic to one single religion or denomination but has affected J ...
Notes
References
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*''Russia and the Russians'',
Geoffrey Hosking
Geoffrey Alan Hosking (born 28 April 1942) is a British historian of Russia and the Soviet Union and formerly Leverhulme Research Professor of Russian History at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) at University College, Lon ...
;
Yurodstvo, by S.Kobets* S.A. Ivanov
(in French)
*
Georg Feuerstein
Georg Feuerstein (27 May 1947 – 25 August 2012) was a Germans, German Indology, Indologist specializing in the philosophy and practice of Yoga. Feuerstein authored over 30 books on mysticism, Yoga, Tantra, and Hinduism. He translated, among othe ...
. ''Holy Madness: The Shock Tactics and Radical Teachings of Crazy-Wise Adepts, Holy Fools and Rascal Gurus'' (Spirituality, Crazy-Wise Teachers, and Enlightenment). Hohm Press, 2006.
*
Marius Kociejowski Marius Kociejowski (born 1949) is a Canadian-born poet, essayist and travel writer.
Kociejowski was born in 1949 in Bishop's Mills, Ontario, to a Polish father and an English mother. In 1973, he left Canada and later settled in London. His first ...
''The Street Philosopher and the Holy Fool: A Syrian Journey'' Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2004, contains much on holy folly in both the Christian and Islamic traditions
Svitlana Kobets, "From the Tabennisi nunnery to Pussy Riot: female holy fools in Byzantium and Russia,"Canadian Slavonic Papers 60, no. 1–2 (2018)
Further reading
* Petzold, H.G. (1968): Gottes heilige Narren. Hochland 2, 1968, 97–109.
* Petzold, H.G. (1977): "Zur Frömmigkeit der heiligen Narren". In: Die Einheit der Kirche. Festschrift für Peter Meinhold, hrsg. v. Lorenz Hein. Franz Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden, 140–53.
*Ewa M. Thompson, Understanding Russia : the holy fool in Russian culture, Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1987
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foolishness For Christ
Christian asceticism
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Types of saints
Christian terminology
Biblical phrases