ABSTRACT

Practising Orthodox Christians in the central Serbian town of Kraljevo ‘work on’ their salvation by striving to live a ‘liturgical life’ structured around attending the Divine Liturgy, taking Divine Communion regularly, and fasting. However, in these committed churchgoing circles there is little explicit eschatological discussion about the Second Coming. The paper argues that the intensity of fasting practices in the liturgical everyday not only produce more proximate expectations, but also provide potential glimpses of the Divine now, thus removing the emphasis on a far-sighted eschatological vision. With a concerted focus on working on oneself in the present, the liturgical day-to-day does not need an abstract, sequential future to imbue it with meaning. But, just as such a lifestyle is a path to salvation, so too it produces social differentiation: churchgoing Orthodox find themselves out of kilter with contemporary Serbian society.

摘要

塞尔维亚中部城镇克拉列沃的东正教徒通过努力过上“礼仪生活”来“致力于”他们的救赎，这种生活围绕着参加神圣礼仪、定期领受圣餐和禁食。然而，在这些虔诚的去教堂的圈子里，很少有关于基督复临的明确的末世论讨论。该论文认为，日常礼仪中禁食的强度不仅会产生更近的期望，而且还提供了对神圣现在的潜在一瞥，从而消除了对远见的末世愿景的强调。由于一致关注当下的自我工作，日常礼仪不需要一个抽象的、连续的未来来赋予它意义。但是，正如这样的生活方式是一条救赎之路，