Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book represents a further opportunity to study not only the literature and iconography of the new martyrs but also the construction of the canonization criteria and the development and the character of the veneration of Russia's new martyrs. It investigates the making of the new martyrs by addressing questions related to representations of martyrdom. This book defines 'veneration' as both an emotion and a ritual. It organizes in three parts, based on each of these processes: canonization, iconization and veneration. The chapter explores the concept of canonization as power, theoretically and historically. Iconization, investigates the manufacture of liturgical art and literature about the new martyrs in the post-Soviet Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). Veneration, explores the development of the veneration of post-Soviet Russia's new martyrs.