Kourbania
Encyclopedia
Kourbania is a practice of Christianized animal sacrifice
in some parts of Greece
. It usually involves the slaughter of lambs
to certain saints. Writing in 1978, Georgoudi stated that the custom survived in "some villages of modern Greece" and was "slowly deteriorating and dying out".
A similar custom is known from Bulgaria
, celebrated on St. George's day, known as kurban.
The practice involves the blood sacrifice (thusia) of a domestic animal to either a saint, taken as the tutelary
of the village in question, or dedicated to the Holy Trinity or the Virgin
. The animal is slaughtered outside the village church, during or after mass, or on the eve of the feast day. The animal is sometimes led into the church before the icon of the saint, or even locked in the church during the night preceding the sacrifice. Most of the kourbania are spread between April and October. In the village of Mistegna on Lesbos, the kourbania is to the Akindinoi saints on one of the Sundays following Easter. Also on Lesbos, the bull sacrifice to Saint
Charalampus
is set on a Sunday in May, on Mount Taurus outside the village of Saint Paraskevi. In the village of Mega Monastiri in northeastern Thrace
, the community used to buy the most robust calves and raise them specifically for the kourbania. These animals designated for sacrifice were never used for farm labour. In some instances, the animal was bathed and decorated with flowers or ribbons, its horns decorated with strips of gold foil and led to sacrifice through all the streets in a joyous procession. The village priest then performed a number of rites to complete the consecration of the victim before the killing, but unlike the practice in antiquity, the act of killing the animal is no special office and can be performed by anyone. The sacrifice is followed by a festival. The food for the festival is prepared under the supervision of the churchwarden, and is blessed by the priest before the meal begins. In Mega Monastiri, these meals were the scene of gatherings of lineages or clans, each with its own stone table in the churchyard, the place of honour on the eastern end of the table reserved for the clan eldest.
The prayers said by the priest over the victim have a long tradition of attestation, dating from at least the 8th century, establishing the animal sacrifice as long-standing within Christian tradition, over at least a millennium.
In the late 18th century, a monk Nicodemus denounced the kourbania as a "barbaric custom" and "vestige of ancient pagan error", without success, as he was himself accused of heresy by the village priests. Also in the 18th century, bishop Theophiles of Campania attacked the custom as an imitation of the "vain Hellenes". Greek ethnographers in the 19th century did not hesitate to identify the kourbani as a survival of pre-Christian Greek antiquity. Georgoudi (1979) prefers comparison with the Hebrew sacrifices of the Old Testament, citing early medieval canons and conciliaries which denounce customs such as cooking meat in the sanctuary as Jewish and Armenian Christian, not Greek, practice.
Animal sacrifice
Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing of an animal as part of a religion. It is practised by many religions as a means of appeasing a god or gods or changing the course of nature...
in some parts of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. It usually involves the slaughter of lambs
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
to certain saints. Writing in 1978, Georgoudi stated that the custom survived in "some villages of modern Greece" and was "slowly deteriorating and dying out".
A similar custom is known from Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, celebrated on St. George's day, known as kurban.
The practice involves the blood sacrifice (thusia) of a domestic animal to either a saint, taken as the tutelary
Tutelary
A tutelary is a deity or spirit who is a guardian, patron or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture or occupation. Both tutelary and tutelar can be used as either a noun or an adjective...
of the village in question, or dedicated to the Holy Trinity or the Virgin
Theotokos
Theotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...
. The animal is slaughtered outside the village church, during or after mass, or on the eve of the feast day. The animal is sometimes led into the church before the icon of the saint, or even locked in the church during the night preceding the sacrifice. Most of the kourbania are spread between April and October. In the village of Mistegna on Lesbos, the kourbania is to the Akindinoi saints on one of the Sundays following Easter. Also on Lesbos, the bull sacrifice to Saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
Charalampus
Charalampus
Saint Charalampus was an early Christian bishop in Magnesia, a region of Thessaly, in the diocese of the same name. His name Χαράλαμπος means joyful light in Greek...
is set on a Sunday in May, on Mount Taurus outside the village of Saint Paraskevi. In the village of Mega Monastiri in northeastern Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
, the community used to buy the most robust calves and raise them specifically for the kourbania. These animals designated for sacrifice were never used for farm labour. In some instances, the animal was bathed and decorated with flowers or ribbons, its horns decorated with strips of gold foil and led to sacrifice through all the streets in a joyous procession. The village priest then performed a number of rites to complete the consecration of the victim before the killing, but unlike the practice in antiquity, the act of killing the animal is no special office and can be performed by anyone. The sacrifice is followed by a festival. The food for the festival is prepared under the supervision of the churchwarden, and is blessed by the priest before the meal begins. In Mega Monastiri, these meals were the scene of gatherings of lineages or clans, each with its own stone table in the churchyard, the place of honour on the eastern end of the table reserved for the clan eldest.
The prayers said by the priest over the victim have a long tradition of attestation, dating from at least the 8th century, establishing the animal sacrifice as long-standing within Christian tradition, over at least a millennium.
In the late 18th century, a monk Nicodemus denounced the kourbania as a "barbaric custom" and "vestige of ancient pagan error", without success, as he was himself accused of heresy by the village priests. Also in the 18th century, bishop Theophiles of Campania attacked the custom as an imitation of the "vain Hellenes". Greek ethnographers in the 19th century did not hesitate to identify the kourbani as a survival of pre-Christian Greek antiquity. Georgoudi (1979) prefers comparison with the Hebrew sacrifices of the Old Testament, citing early medieval canons and conciliaries which denounce customs such as cooking meat in the sanctuary as Jewish and Armenian Christian, not Greek, practice.