JURODIVYJ. – Title given in Russia to ascetics who, through their conduct, seek the contempt of men and inner freedom in divine service. There have always been such “fools for Christ,” both in the West and in the East, e.g., Andrea Salos (v.). In Russia, however, they have enjoyed special esteem and have continued to appear down to the present day in all social classes. The best known among them was a certain Basilio (d. 1552), to whose memory the distinctive church on Moscow’s Red Square is dedicated, formerly the cathedral of Maria Ausiliatrice. This form of piety is obviously exposed to the danger of degeneration.
BIBL.: Gamayoun, Études sur la spiritualité populaire russe: I. Les « faux pour le Christ », in Russie et Chrétienté, new series, 1 (1938–39), pp. 57–78. Alberto M. Ammann