The Podruchnik (Russian: "подручник", literally "something under an arm") is a small
prayer rug, once used in prayer by all
Russian Orthodox
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 ...
Christians in the
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721.
...
before
the schism of 1653 but currently in use only by the
Old Believers.
Description and use
Measuring roughly 40 cm by 40 cm, the Podruchnik takes the form of a small cushion, often with patchwork decoration which varies from region to region. Its sole function is to keep the worshipper's hands and face clean during the frequent
prostrations that occur in church services, as it is felt that the fingers used to make the
Sign of the Cross
Making the sign of the cross (), also known as blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is both a prayer and a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. It is a very significant prayer because Christians are acknowledging ...
must remain clean during prayers.
During
church services, when prostrations are made, as the worshipper lowers his torso, he flips the Podruchnik onto the ground in such a way that when he is kneeling and prostrate on the ground, the Podruchnik protects his hands and forehead from the dirt and grime of the floor.
When not in use, they are stored at the side of the church, stacked up in such a manner that the dirty sides touch each other and the clean sides only touch other clean sides.
Some
Spiritual Christians (''Dukh-i-zhizniki'', ''Pryguny'' and ''
Molokane'') bring their own handkerchief for similar prostration rituals, usually performed on clean floors while holding the kerchief. When a floor may be dirty, prostrations can be done as low kneeling without touching the floor with hands or head.
See also
*
Prayer rug
*
Russian Orthodox Oldritualist Church
*
Old Believers
*
Zemnoy poklon
References
External links
An example of a Podruchnik from the Russian Museum of Ethnography
Old Believer movement
Christian prayer
Pillows
Russian Orthodox Church in Russia
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