Dostoevsky's Father Zosima

[E Wayles Browne]

Dear Daniel,
The idea is commonplace in Catholic and Orthodox Christianity. To see just
how widespread it is, search in Google for

"odor of sanctity"

and

"odour of sanctity"

or to cut down on the very large number of hits, search for

"odor of sanctity" Orthodoxy

and see what you find.

Yours,
Wayles Browne

-- 
Wayles Browne, Assoc. Prof. of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics
Morrill Hall 220, Cornell University
Ithaca, New York 14853, U.S.A.

tel. 607-255-0712 (o), 607-273-3009 (h)
fax 607-255-2044 (write FOR W. BROWNE)
e-mail ewb2 at cornell.edu

> 5 Aug 06
>
> Dear Colleagues,
> As you probably recall, the body of the recently deceased Father Zosima
> in _Brothers Karamazov_ unexpectedly produces an "odor of corruption."
> This is cause for scandal, and upsets Alyosha Karamazov, the good monk's
> protege.
>
> My question is this: what are the sources for the idea that the body of
> a very holy monk will not decay?  Is this a folk belief in Russian or
> other Slavic cultures?  Does the belief come in from Byzantium, or from
> other non-Slavic cultures?
>
> Regards to the list,
>
> Daniel Rancour-Laferriere
> Emeritus Professor of Russian
> University of California, Davis
>

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