Why are these verses called spiritual "poems" when they are
intended to be sung? And why "spiritual" when they are intended to be 
sung
outside of the church?
The different kinds of traditional popular songs are distinguished according to musical criteria: melody, rhythm, harmony and the vocal line. Two songs with practically identical texts will be given different names according to how they sound. However, in the case of spiritual verses the text is the most important. Often, when a traditional popular singer is asked to sing spiritual verses he will dig out of a cupboard worn exercise-books containing texts copied by hand. As for the melodies, they are reproduced from memory or thought up on the spot.
Traditional theology always drew on the fruits of bygone cultures, such as the "foreign languages" of the Egyptian civilization or of ancient philosophy. In the same way; spiritual verses make use of formerly elaborated means: tones from the tradition of znamenny chant in monastic spiritual verses, the melodies of epic odes or of seasonal, lyric or dance songs in the traditional popular context. A good singer may know three or four variants of the same text and may, if necessary, be able to adapt the poetic text. This adaptation usually occurs when a text needs to be fitted to a given theme that has been devel oped in a particular area or community.
But in this case, why are these verses not just read, rather than sung? Simply because singing is the most direct expression of intense human emotion. A well-known Russian expression says "the soul sings." The soul sings of that which fills it, from the "overflowing of the heart." Spiritual verses are the creative echo of the human soul corresponding to church prayers and liturgical chant, a soaring of the soul in response to spiritual illumination, a spiritualization and a national assimilation of figures from the Gospel. Their origin is lost in the distant past and they form part of Christian culture, having assimilated the spirit of the people and even popular conceptions of the world, of mankind and of God. Certain specialists have seen a link between spiritual verses and the ancient world views of the Slavic peoples, proposing the conclusion that the spiritual verses had integrated Slavic mythology into the system of the Christian world view.
The
subjects of the spiritual verses are vary greatly. There are verses on events
and personalities from the Old Testament, others on events from the Gospels,
on the early Christian martyrs, on Russian saints, and on the righteous and
sinners. A vast and popular category deals with the Last Things, the end of
the world and the Last Judgement.
Spiritual verses were handed down from generation to generation. They were sung by paupers and pilgrims in search of shelter and bread as they went from house to house and from village to village, and from one monastery to another. They were often sung at the doors of churches. There have always been many wandering pilgrims in Russia, and for many reasons. Some took to the road to fulfil a vow made before an icon during a grave sickness or in great danger ("If I live, I shall go to Jerusalem to thank the Lord"). Others took to wandering for reasons of poverty (their house had burnt down, or the family breadwinner died). A third group consisted of professional wandering singers or lirniki. They recounted parables and the lives of saints, and they sang verses about death, repentance and salvation. These verses reminded their listeners that we are wandering pilgrims on earth. As late as the nineteen-fifties in Russia, wandering pilgrims could still be met on the roads and paths, blind lirniki singing spiritual verses.
It was considered to be an act of charity pleasing to God to receive a wandering pilgrim in one's house, even if he were no more than a tramp. Hospitality offered to a lirnik was seen as even more virtuous. People received wandering pilgrims as Christ himself, calling to mind his words to the Apostles - the first wandering pilgrims: "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him that sent me" (Mt. 10:40)
Valentina Georgievskaya