Why the Old Believers were richer than other Orthodox. Old Believer Literature. The most serious and catastrophic persecution of religion and the almost complete cessation of the book activity of the Old Believers in the USSR
Bells are not heard in Russia,
Only occasionally flutters a sad moan ...
What a blue sky above me
But why is there a heavy sleep on the souls?
Wake up Russians, wake up!
Look into the eyes of children
Renounce the devilish deeds...
A bloody tear rolled down the sky.
Boil, blood, from Mother's pain!
And, looking around, amazed -
From the devilish, Gulag captivity
Not only temples, souls are burned!
Ada Leaf fall
Chelyabinsk prison. Ancient. The walls are one meter thick - such establishments were reliably built in the old days. The basement chamber is deepened into the ground by one and a half to two meters, the doors are arched, with steps. The floor is concrete, the windows are narrow and blinded. I remember such a gloomy architecture of this institution.
They settled down in the cell, as best they could. Of course, there are no beds, beds, even straw - there were no prisons in the Soviet system. However, we are no strangers to the bestial image, since at least we have something to eat with us.
As soon as they began to eat, the door swung open with a clang and two children's bodies rolled head over heels down the stairs. Boys about ten years old, half-dressed, beaten, all bruised. One got up by itself, and the second remained lying. I immediately ran up to him, picked him up and carried him to my coat, which was spread out on the floor. The boy's body sagged in my arms, as if he was boneless, or all the bones in him were broken. His eyes were closed and swollen with bruises.
I quickly diluted chocolate powder in a mug and wanted to give the boy a drink. But he suddenly came to life, covered his mouth with one hand, and pushed the mug away with the other. I was very surprised and asked the second: "What's the matter?" The second replies: "Yes, his mouth is filthy, he will not drink from your mug."
I had to ask the talkative kid about their prison ordeals, and, it seemed to me, the light faded before my eyes. The jailers put these children with thieves and swindlers, criminals. When they found out that these were the children of "enemies of the people", they began to abuse them, constantly calling them "enemies". They beat them when they wanted to, played cards on them, raped them using the most cynical methods that humiliate the human person. The reader probably understands what is at stake. However, the second boy turned out to be recalcitrant and snobby, they immediately twisted him, unclenched his teeth with a spoon and urinated right into his mouth ... They forced him to suck (Roskomnadzor) ...
There was dead silence in the cell. Many did not hide their tears, apparently remembering their children, grandchildren ... For everything, Lord, Your will! But why do children suffer such torment, for what?
The boy had a fever. I knocked on the door, calling for a doctor. In response, the guard replied: "Nothing, they are tenacious, and if they die, there will be one less enemy bastard." This unheard of cynicism literally squeezed my heart, and from impotence I sobbed for the first time in my life. The sobs choked me. In desperation, I went to the bucket, removed the wooden cover and began to drum on the iron door. The prisoners were petrified. At the noise, probably, half the prison guards ran, The door opened, the jailers with revolvers appeared: "Everyone on the floor! Riot? We will shoot everyone!"
I calmly explained that there was no rebellion. Just need a doctor to help a sick child. The chief looked at the boy lying on the floor and replied: "There will be a doctor, why did you raise a fuss, you fool, do you want to earn an article !?"
After a while the doctor came. He examined the boy: there were no fractures, the bones were intact, he was beaten really badly ... Everything will pass, you just need to feed and give. rest ... The doctor tried to give the child some kind of pill, but he did not take it. The boy must have seen and heard everything. He called me. I sat down next to him. He took my hand and put it on my face. I sat nearby for a long time, without taking my hand away, and the child, clasping my palm with both arms, forgot himself in a heavy prison dream ... It was already midnight, but the cell did not sleep. The second boy was also warmed up, lulled to sleep. The prisoners were talking quietly, remembering their children, pouring out their souls to each other. My child, his name was Petya, woke up, pulled me. I understood him, lay down next to him. He snuggled up to me and fell asleep again. In the morning, his fever subsided, but he did not want to wake up, did not open his eyes, but still clung to me, as if he wanted to hide.
Poor child! After the experience of prison horror, perhaps for the first time in recent days, I felt human warmth and affection. The second boy, Kolya, also woke up. It is difficult to describe what was going on in the cell! Unfortunate people, exhausted, having lost all hope for joy, suddenly seemed to thaw. Their gloomy faces smoothed out, their eyes shone. A revived love for children, these unfortunate victims of the Stalinist terror, lit up in them. People suddenly came to life - who brings bread to the boys, who brings sugar. Everyone wanted to touch the children, caress. Children have become the favorites of our cell; yearning for simple human feelings, people together, as it were, adopted them. It was joyful to look at my spiritually awakened cellmates. Served breakfast out the window. The main thing is hot tea, a whole tank. We had our own tea leaves - tea from the stall, instead of milk - chocolate powder. For all the prison years, this was the first joyful breakfast. There was even laughter. Oh, Lord, how much does a person need for such fleeting happiness.
Kolya ate food on both cheeks, and Petya was shy at first, but then, seeing that no one was averse to them, he also began to drink tea with pleasure. Maybe this was their last feast, what was waiting for the children ahead? ..
The boys told us about their fate. Petya was the only son of an engineer at the Baimaksky copper smelter, his mother was a teacher of Russian language and literature. Both members of the party. The family was friendly.
First, his mother was arrested. Petya did not understand what it was. Two people came, called the neighbors - witnesses and began to look for something, turning everything upside down in the house. Petya only remembered that his mother was crying bitterly and kept repeating: it’s not her fault, it’s because of the portrait of Stalin... It all happened by accident, people will confirm... Father reassured his mother - it’s a mistake, they’ll figure it out and release her. When they trampled on Petya's books and toys, he rushed with his fists at them. Then one of those two grabbed Petya by the collar, and the father rushed at him. They threw the father on the dressing table, breaking the mirror...
A broken mirror is the broken fate of a person, a family, an entire country.
Father went everywhere, fussed for mother, but all to no avail. Day came, or rather night, and they came for him. While there was a search and an inventory of things, he sat embracing his son, and tears silently flowed from his eyes. Peter was crying too. In parting, his father told him: “Well, Petenka, hard days have come for us. You are already big, remember - we are not to blame, we are not enemies of our people. Hold on, do not lose heart, be patient and wait. The main thing is to be a man, fight .. ."
The father was taken away in a "black crow", and the son returned to an empty looted apartment, he wanted to cry, but there were no tears. At school, everyone shunned him, called him the son of an enemy of the people. Excluded from the pioneers. For days and even nights, he walked around the building of the NKVD, asking to be allowed to visit his father or mother. And one day a man with a kind smile came out of this house and led the boy along. He was glad to see his parents, but he was pushed into a car, taken to prison and put in a cell with criminals.
At first they took him for one of their own and treated him well, but when they learned that he was the son of an "enemy of the people", they began to scoff ...
The fate of the second child - Kolya - is very similar to the fate of Petya. His parents were workers, both members of the party. After the arrest of his parents, he, just like Petya, went through the exclusion zone at school, on the street, until he was assigned to an orphanage, where the same thing happened again. Kolya defended himself - he fought, was rude when his teachers insulted him. Apparently the director called the NKVD, and Kolya was also taken to prison, put in the same cell with the criminals, where Petya was already ...
We spent eight days in the Chelyabinsk transit prison. The children grew stronger before our eyes, there was enough food, taking into account our reserves. Petya slept next to me, without fail hugging me. It was felt that he was an intelligent and caressed boy. God, I thought, how difficult it will be for him next! The prisoners in the cell collected some clothes, footcloths from their rags. There were even tailors who, from common rags, sewed something like warm coats for them.
In the cell, I retold adventure novels that I had read before - "The Three Musketeers", the story of Robin Hood, "The Count of Monte Cristo", read poems by Pushkin, Yesenin, Lermontov. The cellmates came to life, they were happy, the children - even more so.
Interesting, I thought, here are two boys, completely different in extreme conditions. What influences here - upbringing or genes? It seemed that they were brought up in equal conditions ... And what can be said about their soulless neighbors, friends, colleagues, teachers, children in schools and orphanages! How their souls have been corrupted to disgust during these years of domination by the ideology of the lumpen, what has become of their genes. Is it possible to restore them to their original level of normality? How many decades, or maybe centuries, will it take?
And now, for everyone, a period of new tests has begun. We were taken by motor vehicle under escort to the railway station and loaded into "Stolypin" carriages. Unlike commodity, cattle cars, these are quite decent, clean, bright, inside they are divided into separate compartments with three-tiered hard shelves. They are closed with solid iron bars for the entire length of the car, with separate doors with locks. Along the corridor, along these barred compartments, two escorts with weapons walk.
They took us to Novosibirsk for two days. Both children were with me in the compartment. We ate well from the available supplies, but there was no water. On the second day they asked for a drink. I turned to the guards, but in response there was only a stern silence. They are forbidden by the charter to talk with prisoners. They were conjured by the names of brothers, sons, fathers, mothers, but they were deaf to our prayers.
In Novosibirsk, they landed, ordered to sit around on the snow. "Whoever gets up is considered an escape!" someone from the guard who has the right to communicate with us warned. "The convoy uses weapons without warning!"
We squatted down, many of us half-dressed, in thin shoes, no socks for a long time. We see the children begin to shiver from the cold, become stiff. Freezing! On the street end of February 1940. We decided this: we take the children on our knees and so, passing in a circle to each other, we warm them.
Finally, the onboard vehicles arrived and we were taken to the transit prison. The children were immediately separated, and then their path lay in separate camps for the children of "enemies of the people." Have they endured physically and spiritually those unheard of inhuman bullying and violence? I don't know anything more about them.
Several days in the Novosibirsk prison were unbearably painful. People somehow drooped, went into themselves. Some sat in thought, others walked from corner to corner, not finding a place for themselves. I also saw those who, buried in the edge of the coat, quietly, furtively wept.
In my opinion, our meeting with these boys and the separation that followed it broke many, even worldly-wise ones. The new shock seemed to be beyond our strength. In a word, everyone was in a bad mood. We have not washed for two weeks, did not go to the bath or shower.
Soon one of the prisoners fell ill, followed by two more, they lay hungry and did not want to eat. They called a doctor, this time he came rather quickly, examined the patients and ordered all three to be taken out of the cell, they said that they were going to the medical unit. This, too, had an even more depressing effect on us. In general, we lived as if in anticipation of death. The anxiety in our souls was growing - and the seriousness of the situation could no longer be doubted. Hardly anyone even suspected what tests still await us.
An excerpt from the documentary book of memoirs "Despite the blows of fate"
A new book has been published by one of the leading contemporary authors specializing in the Old Believer theme “Holy Russia. The true history of the Old Believers ”(M .: EKSMO, 2017. - 544 p., Ill. - Circulation 3000 copies). It is curious that the book was published exactly on April 7, on the Great Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - this, of course, is the Providence of God, there is no other way to explain it.
Currently, the book is available for sale in all Old Believer shops in Moscow (listed below), as well as in the main bookstores in the country.
URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT:
We hasten to please all connoisseurs of non-fictional history:
Sunday, April 30 during the holiday Dmitry Urushev will present the new edition. Everyone who wishes will be able to get the autograph of the author.
The introduction to the novelty says:
A new book by the religious historian Dmitry Urushev has been published. The book "Holy Russia". It is dedicated to the history of the Old Believers - from the tragic split of the middle of the 17th century to the present day. The chronicle of this primordially Russian spiritual movement appears in the portraits of its prominent figures (Archpriest Avvakum, noblewoman Morozova and others), in stories about memorable events, traditions and cultural features. The book also includes some articles and interviews published by the author in various magazines and newspapers.
The name of Dmitry Urushev is well known to the Russian reader who is interested in spiritual history. The book “Holy Russia. The true history of the Old Believers ”is distinguished by its content and richness of material, understandable, accessible language. The history of the Old Believers is presented using rich factual material, which does not deprive it of lightness of style and simplicity of presentation.
Dmitry Urushev signs one of his previous creations as a memento in a bookstore at the church of the Tve Old Believer community in Moscow
This book will be of interest to the widest readership, not only to trained specialists, but also to people who have heard about the old faith for the first time. It will be read with pleasure by the Old Believers, and those who are interested in religions in general, and teachers of universities and schools, and students and schoolchildren.
The book can be purchased on the website of the bookstore "April 7":
On the back of the publication there is a review of the book by Sergei Vladimirovich Markus, a culturologist, poet, member of the Union of Journalists of Russia, in 1991-2005. creator and head of religious programs of the state Radio of Russia:
They say that the “shadows of the dead ancestors” have gone into the past. But no, under the pen of Dmitry Urushev, we again plunge into the bright and sonorous harmony of multi-colored churches and crumbly bell ringing. It is a culture of joy and light, thanksgiving to God and brotherhood. Well, how can we talk about some kind of “old rite” and “old faith”. These are external and formal terms. And at Urushev everyone is alive and everything is alive!
Old Belief, or Old Believers, is a unique phenomenon. Both spiritually and culturally. Economists note that Old Believer communities abroad are often more successful than the local population.
1. The Old Believers themselves admit that it is their faith that is Orthodox, and the Russian Orthodox Church is called New Believers or Nikonians.
2. Until the first half of the 19th century, the term "Old Believer" was not used in spiritual literature.
3. There are three main "wings" of the Old Believers: priests, bespopovtsy and co-religionists.
4. In the Old Believers, there are several dozen interpretations and even more agreements. There is even a saying "Whatever a man is good, whatever a woman is consent."
5. On the pectoral cross, the Old Believers do not have an image of Christ, since this cross symbolizes a person’s own cross, the ability of a person to a feat for faith. The cross with the image of Christ is considered an icon, it is not supposed to be worn.
6. The largest place in Latin America where Russian Old Believers-chapels live compactly is Colonia-Russa or Massa-Pe. About 60 families, or about 400-450 people, live here, there are three cathedrals with three separate prayer rooms.
7. The Old Believers retain monodic, hook singing (znamenny and demestvennaya). It got its name from the way the melody is recorded with special signs - “banners” or “hooks”.
8. From the point of view of the Old Believers, Patriarch Nikon and his supporters left the church, and not vice versa.
9. Among the Old Believers, the procession takes place according to the sun. The sun in this case symbolizes Christ (giving life and light). During the reform, the decree to make a procession against the Sun was perceived as heretical.
10. At first, after the schism, there was a habit of recording as “Old Believers” all the sects that arose at that time (mainly of the “spiritual-Christian” direction, like “eunuchs”) and heretical movements, which subsequently created a certain confusion.
eleven . For a long time among the Old Believers, hack work was considered a sin. It must be admitted that this affected the financial situation of the Old Believers in the most favorable way.
12. Old Believers - "beglopopovtsy" recognize the priesthood of the new church as "active". The priest from the new church, who had gone over to the Old Believers-fugitives, retained his rank. Some of them restored their own priesthood, forming "priestly" agreements.
13. Old Believers-bespriests consider the priesthood completely lost. The priest who went over to the Old Believers-bespriests from the new church becomes a simple layman
14. According to the old tradition, there is only a part of the sacraments that only priests or bishops can perform - everything else is available to ordinary laity
15. A sacrament accessible only to priests is marriage. Despite this, marriage is still practiced in the Pomeranian agreement. Also, in some Pomor communities, another inaccessible sacrament is sometimes performed - the sacrament, although its effectiveness is being questioned.
16. Unlike the Pomortsy, in the Fedoseevsky agreement, marriage is considered lost, along with the priesthood. Nevertheless, families start, but they believe that they live in fornication all their lives.
17. The Old Believers are supposed to pronounce either a triple "Hallelujah" in honor of the Holy Trinity, or two "Hallelujahs" in honor of the Father and the Holy Spirit, and "Glory to you God!" in honor of Christ. When in the reformed church they began to say three "Hallelujahs" and "Glory to you God!" the Old Believers considered that the extra "Hallelujah" is pronounced in honor of the devil.
18. Among the Old Believers, icons on paper are not welcome (as well as any other material that can easily be damaged). On the contrary, cast metal icons became widespread.
nineteen . The Old Believers make the sign of the cross with two fingers. Two fingers - a symbol of the two Hypostases of the Savior (true God and true man).
20. Old Believers write the name of the Lord as "Jesus". The tradition of writing the name was changed during the Nikon reform. The double sound “and” began to convey the duration, the “stretching” sound of the first sound, which in Greek is indicated by a special sign, which has no analogy in the Slavic language. However, the Old Believer version is closer to the Greek source.
21. The Old Believers are not supposed to pray on their knees (bows to the ground are not considered as such), and it is also allowed to stand during prayer with arms folded on the chest (right over left).
22. The Old Believers, bespopovtsy dyrniks, deny icons, pray strictly to the east, for which they cut holes in the wall of the house to pray in winter.
23. On the tablet of the crucifixion, the Old Believers usually write not I.N.Ts.I., but “King of Glory”.
24. In the Old Believers of almost all consents, a ladder is actively used - a rosary in the form of a ribbon with 109 "beans" ("steps"), divided into unequal groups. Lestovka symbolically means a ladder from earth to heaven. Lestovka.
25. Old Believers accept baptism only by full triple immersion, while in Orthodox churches baptism by pouring and partial immersion is allowed.
26. In tsarist Russia, there were periods when only marriage (with all the ensuing consequences, including inheritance rights, etc.) entered into by the official church was considered legal. Under these conditions, many Old Believers often resorted to a trick, formally accepting the new faith at the time of the wedding. However, not only the Old Believers resorted to such tricks at that time.
27. The largest Old Believer association in modern Russia - the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church - belongs to the priests.
28. The Old Believers had a very ambiguous attitude towards the kings: while some strove to write down the next persecutor king as Antichrist, others, on the contrary, shielded the kings in every possible way. Nikon, according to the ideas of the Old Believers, bewitched Alexei Mikhailovich, and in the Old Believer versions of the legends about the substitution of Tsar Peter, the true Tsar Peter returned to the old faith and died a martyr's death at the hands of the supporters of the impostor.
29. According to economist Danil Raskov, Old Believers abroad are somewhat more successful than natives, because they are more hardworking, capable of performing monotonous and complex work, more oriented towards projects that take time, are not afraid to invest, and have stronger families. One example is the village of Pokrovka in Moldova, which, contrary to general trends, has even grown somewhat, as young people stay in the village.
30. Old Believers, or Old Believers, despite the name, are very modern. They are usually successful in their work and united. Old Believer books can be read and downloaded on the Internet, and large movements, for example, the Old Orthodox Church, have their own websites.
16. History of the Old Believer Church
Brief essay
(Printed in abbreviation)
In the middle of the 17th century, precisely at the time when the Russian church reached its greatest grandeur and flourishing, a split occurred in it that divided the Russian people. This sad event happened in the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich and in the patriarchate of Nikon in the second half of the 17th century.
REFORMS OF PATRIARCH NIKON AND THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHIT
Patriarch Nikon began to introduce new rites, new liturgical books and other innovations into the Russian Church without the approval of the cathedral, without the approval of the council. This was the cause of the church schism. Those who followed Nikon, the people began to call those "Nikonians", or New Believers. The followers of Nikon themselves, using state power and force, proclaimed their church Orthodox, or dominant, and began to call their opponents the insulting and fundamentally incorrect nickname "schismatics." They also blamed all the blame for the church schism on them. In fact, the opponents of Nikon's innovations did not make any split: they remained faithful to the ancient church traditions and rituals, without changing their native Orthodox Church in any way. Therefore, they rightly call themselves Orthodox Old Believers, Old Believers or Old Orthodox Christians. Who was the true initiator and leader of the split?
Patriarch Nikon ascended the Moscow patriarchal throne in 1652. Even before being elevated to the patriarchate, he became close to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Together they decided to remake the Russian church in a new way: to introduce new rites, rituals, books into it, so that it would resemble the Greek church in everything, which had long ceased to be completely pious.
Proud and proud, Patriarch Nikon did not have much education. On the other hand, he surrounded himself with learned Ukrainians and Greeks, of whom Arseniy the Greek, a man of very dubious faith, began to play the greatest role. He received his upbringing and education from the Jesuits; upon arrival in the East, he converted to Mohammedanism, then again joined Orthodoxy, and then deviated into Catholicism. When he appeared in Moscow, he was sent to the Solovetsky Monastery as a dangerous heretic. From here, Nikon took him to him and immediately made him the main assistant in church affairs. This caused great temptation and grumbling among the believing Russian people. But it was impossible to object to Nikon. The king granted him unlimited rights in the affairs of the church. Nikon, encouraged by the king, did what he wanted, without consulting anyone. Relying on friendship and royal power, he set about the church reform decisively and boldly.
Nikon had a cruel and stubborn character, kept himself proud and inaccessible, calling himself, following the example of the Pope, "extreme saint", was titled "great sovereign" and was one of the richest people in Russia. He treated the bishops arrogantly, did not want to call them his brothers, terribly humiliated and persecuted the rest of the clergy. Everyone was afraid and trembled before Nikon. The historian Klyuchevsky calls Nikon a church dictator.
In the old days there were no printing houses, books were copied. In Russia, liturgical books were written in monasteries and under bishops by special masters. This skill, like icon painting, was considered sacred and was performed diligently and with reverence. The Russian people loved the book and knew how to take care of it, like a shrine. The slightest description in a book, an oversight, a mistake were considered a big mistake. That is why the numerous manuscripts of the old time that have survived to us are distinguished by the purity and beauty of writing, the correctness and accuracy of the text. In ancient manuscripts, it is difficult to find blots and strikethroughs. There were fewer typos in them than in modern books of typos. Significant errors noted in previous books were eliminated even before Nikon, when a printing house began to operate in Moscow. The correction of the books was carried out with great care and discretion.
Correction took place quite differently under Patriarch Nikon. At the council in 1054, it was decided to correct the liturgical books in ancient Greek and ancient Slavic, but in fact the correction was made according to new Greek books printed in the Jesuit printing houses of Venice and Paris. Even the Greeks themselves spoke of these books as distorted and erroneous.
Thus, the activities of Nikon and his like-minded people were reduced not to the correction of ancient books, but to their change, or, more precisely, to damage. Other ecclesiastical innovations followed the change in the books.
The most important changes and innovations were the following:
1. Instead of the sign of the cross with two fingers, which was adopted in Russia from the Greek Orthodox Church along with Christianity and which is part of the Holy Apostolic Tradition, three fingers were introduced.
2. In old books, in accordance with the spirit of the Slavic language, the name of the Savior "Jesus" was always written and pronounced, in new books this name was changed to the Greek "Jesus".
3. In old books, during baptism, weddings and consecration of the temple, it is established to walk around the sun as a sign that we are following the Sun-Christ. In the new books, circumvention against the sun is introduced.
4. In the old books, in the Symbol of Faith (VIII part), it reads: “And in the Holy Spirit of the Lord, true and life-giving,” but after the corrections, the word “true” was excluded.
5. Instead of the "augmented", i.e., double hallelujah, which the Russian Church has been doing since ancient times, the "triple" (triple) hallelujah was introduced.
6. The Divine Liturgy in Ancient Russia was performed on seven prosphora, the new "spravschiki" introduced five prosphora, i.e., two prosphora were excluded.
These changes in church laws, traditions and rituals could not but cause a sharp rebuff from the Russian people, who sacredly kept the ancient holy books and traditions.
In addition to the very fact of changing ancient books and church customs, sharp resistance among the people was caused by the measures by which Patriarch Nikon and the tsar who supported him planted these innovations. Russian people were subjected to cruel persecutions and executions, whose conscience could not agree with church innovations and distortions. Many preferred to die than to betray the faith of their fathers and grandfathers.
Patriarch Nikon began his reforms with the abolition of the two-fingered addition. The entire Russian Church then made the sign of the cross with two fingers: three fingers (the big and the last two) were folded by Orthodox Christians in the name of the Holy Trinity, and two (index and great middle) in the name of two natures in Christ: divine and human. This is how the ancient Greek Church taught to fold fingers to express the main truths of the Orthodox faith. Double-fingered comes from apostolic times. The Holy Fathers testify that Christ Himself blessed His disciples with just such a signet. Nikon canceled it. He did it arbitrarily, without a conciliar decision, without the consent of the church, and even without the advice of any bishop. At the same time, he ordered to be marked with three fingers: to fold the first three fingers in the name of St. Trinity, and the last two "to have idle", i.e. they don't represent anything. Christians said: the new patriarch abolished Christ. Three-fingered was a clear innovation. Shortly before Nikon, it appeared among the Greeks, they also brought it to Russia. Not a single holy father and not a single ancient cathedral testifies to tripartite. Therefore, the Russian people did not want to accept it. In addition to the fact that it does not depict the two natures of Christ, it is also wrong to depict a cross on oneself with three fingers in the name of St. Trinity, without confessing in them the human nature of Christ. It appears that St. The Trinity was crucified on the cross, not Christ in his humanity. But Nikon did not think to reckon with any arguments. Taking advantage of the arrival in Moscow of Patriarch Macarius of Antioch and other hierarchs from the East, Nikon invited them to speak out in favor of a new signification. They wrote the following: “Tradition has been received from the beginning of the faith from the holy apostles and holy fathers, and the holy seven councils to create the sign of the honest cross with the first three fingers of the right hand. And whoever from Orthodox Christians does not create such a cross, according to the tradition of the Eastern Church, holding a hedgehog from the beginning of faith even to this day, is a heretic and imitator of the Armenians. And for this reason, his imam was excommunicated from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and cursed.
Such a condemnation was first proclaimed in the presence of many people, then set out in writing and printed in the book “Table” published by Nikon. How thunder struck the Russian people with these reckless curses and excommunications.
The Russian pious people, the entire Russian Church, could not agree with such an extremely unfair condemnation proclaimed by Nikon and his associates - the Greek bishops, especially since they spoke an obvious lie, as if both the apostles and St. fathers established tripartite. But Nikon didn't stop there. In the book "Table" he added new condemnations to those just quoted. He went so far as to blaspheme double-fingeredness as supposedly containing the terrible "heresies and wickedness" of ancient heretics condemned by ecumenical councils. (Aryan and Nestorpan) .
In the Tablet, Orthodox Christians are cursed and anathema for confessing the Holy Spirit as true in the creed. In essence, Nikon and his assistants cursed the Russian Church not for heresies and errors, but for a completely Orthodox confession of faith and for ancient church traditions. These actions of Nikon and his like-minded people made them heretics and apostates from the holy church in the eyes of the Russian pious people.
NIKON'S OPPOSITORS
Nikon's reforming activities met with strong opposition from prominent spiritual figures of that time: Bishop Pavel Kolomensky, archpriests - Avvakum, John Neronov, Daniel from Kostroma, Loggin from Murom and others. These persons enjoyed great respect among the people for their pastoral work. Archpriests John Nero and Avvakum had a great gift for words. They knew how to speak simply and clearly, passionately and with inspiration. They did not hesitate to tell the truth in the eyes of the powerful of this world, denounced the vices and crimes of the authorities, were straightforward and honest, did not care at all about their personal benefits, served the Church and God with all devotion, sincere and ardent love, were always ready to suffer and torment for the cause of Christ, for the truth of God. In oral sermons, in letters, they boldly denounced all the perpetrators of church innovations, stopping neither before the patriarch nor before the tsar. But the latter did not heed the voice of the zealous and pious ascetics of the holy faith.
Faithful and steadfast champions of church antiquity were soon subjected to cruel tortures and executions on the orders of Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The first martyrs for the right faith were the archpriests John Neronov, Loggin, Daniel, Avvakum and Bishop Pavel Kolomensky. They were expelled from Moscow in the first year of Nikon's reform activities. (1653-1654) .
At the council of 1654, convened on the issue of book correction, Bishop Pavel Kolomensky courageously declared to Nikon: "We will not accept the new faith," for which he was deprived of the chair without a conciliar court. Right at the cathedral, Patriarch Nikon personally beat Bishop Paul, tore off his mantle and ordered him to be immediately sent into exile in a monastery. In the monastery, Bishop Pavel was subjected to severe tortures and, finally, burned in a log house.
The people said that the patriarch-torturer and murderer sat on the primatial throne. Nikon began his reforms not with the blessing of God, but with curses and anathemas, not with church prayers, but with bloodshed and murder. Everyone trembled before him, and none of the bishops dared to come forward with a courageous word of reproof. Timidly and silently they agreed with his demands and orders. Nikon did not stay long on the patriarchal throne, only seven years. With his lust for power and pride, he managed to push everyone away from him. He also broke with the king. Nikon interfered in the affairs of the state, even dreamed of becoming higher than the king and completely subordinating him to his will. Alexei Mikhailovich began to be weary of Nikon, lost interest in him and deprived him of his former attention and friendship. Then Nikon decided to influence the king with a threat, which he had previously succeeded in doing. He decided to publicly renounce the patriarchate, counting on the fact that the tsar would be touched by his abdication and would beg him not to leave the primatial throne. Nikon wanted to take advantage of this and demand from the king that he obey him in everything, setting the king on the condition that only in this case he would remain on the patriarchal throne. Immediately on the pulpit, Nikon took off his bishop's vestments, put on a black mantle and a monastic hood, took a simple crutch and left the cathedral. The king, having learned about the departure of the patriarch from the throne, did not stop him.
Nikon's flight from the patriarchal throne introduced a new disorder into church life. On this occasion, the tsar convened a council in Moscow in 1660. The council decided to elect a new patriarch. But Nikon burst into abuse at this cathedral, calling it "a demonic host." In his monastery, he behaved imperiously and outrageously: he performed ordinations, condemned and cursed the bishops, cursed the king and his entire family. The tsar and the bishops did not know what to do with Nikon.
At this time, the Greek Metropolitan Paisios Ligarides arrived in Moscow from the East.
Ligarides was a secret Jesuit who had been brought up in Rome. Eastern patriarchs cursed him for his Jesuitism and defrocked him. Paisius Ligarid arrived in Moscow with forged letters and managed to deceive the guy and gain his trust. This clever and resourceful person was entrusted with the work of Nikon. Paisius immediately became the head of all church affairs in Russia. He declared that Nikon "should be damned as a heretic" and that for this it was necessary to convene a large council in Moscow with the participation of the Eastern patriarchs. Nikon knew who Ligarid was, and helplessly scolded him, calling him a "thief", "non-Christ", "dog", "self-proclaimer", "muzhik". Reliable reports were received from the East that Paisius Ligarides was indeed a Catholic, was in the service of the Pope, and that the Eastern patriarchs had deposed and cursed him. But since the king had no one to rely on in the fight against Nikon, Paisius Ligarid still remained the steward of the church.
The Council of 1666 found Nikon guilty of unauthorized flight from the pulpit and other crimes. The patriarchs called him a "liar", "deceiver", "tormentor", "murderer", compared him with Satan, said that he was "even worse than Satan", recognized him as a heretic because he ordered not to confess thieves and robbers before his death . Nikoi did not remain in debt and called the patriarchs “imposters”, “Turkish slaves”, “tramps”, “corrupt people”, etc. In the end, the cathedral deprived Nikon of his holy dignity and made him a simple monk.
Changed Nikon and his innovations. While still on the patriarchal throne, he sometimes said that "the old servants are kind" and "it is possible to serve the service of God" by them. Having left the throne, he completely forgot about his reforms. Furthermore. He began to publish books in the monastery according to the old printed books. With this return to the old text, Nikon, as it were, pronounced judgment on his own book reform. Thus, he actually recognized it as unnecessary and useless.
Nikon's reform, which encroached on the old faith and split the unity of the Russian people, was essentially not only unnecessary, but also harmful.
Nikon died in 1681, not reconciled either with the tsar, or with the bishops, or with the church.
JUDGMENT OVER THE RUSSIAN CHURCH
Having deposed Nikon, the cathedral elected a new patriarch in his place - Joasaph, archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Then the council set about resolving issues caused by church reform. All affairs at the cathedral were directed by Paisius Ligarides. He could not be expected to defend the old faith. It was impossible to expect this from the Eastern patriarchs either, since Nikon's reform was carried out in accordance with the new Greek books. With the accession of Ukraine to Moscow, southwestern influence began to affect. Many monks, teachers, politicians and various businessmen came to Moscow. All of them were heavily infected with Catholicism, which did not prevent them from gaining great influence in the royal court. Paisius Ligarides was at that time negotiating with the Catholic West on the union of the Russian Church with the Roman one. He tried to persuade the eastern patriarchs to this as well. The Russian bishops were obedient to the tsar in everything. At such and such a time, a council was held on the matter of the Nikon reform. The Council approved the books of the new press, approved the new rites and rites, and imposed terrible curses and anathemas on the old books and rites. The cathedral declared the double-fingered heretical, and approved the triple-fingered for all time as a great dogma. He cursed those who in the creed confess the Holy Spirit to be true. He also cursed those who would serve according to old books. In conclusion, the council said: “If someone does not listen to us or starts to contradict and oppose us, then we are such an adversary, if he is a clergyman, we cast out and deprive him of all priesthood and grace and curse; if it is a layman, then we excommunicate him from St. Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and we curse and anathema as a heretic and rebellious and cut off like a rotten oud. If anyone remains disobedient until death, then even after death let him be excommunicated, and his soul will be with Judas the traitor, with the heretic Arius and with other accursed heretics. Rather, iron, stones, wood will be destroyed, and that one will not be allowed forever and ever. Amen".
These terrible curses outraged even Nikon himself, who was accustomed to cursing Orthodox Christians. He declared that they were laid on the entire Orthodox people and recognized them as reckless.
In order to force the Russian pious people to accept the new faith, new books, the cathedral blessed subjecting those who disobeyed the council to the most severe executions: imprison them, exile them, beat them with beef sinews, cut off their ears, noses, cut out their tongues, cut off their hands.
All these acts and decisions of the council brought even greater confusion into the minds of the Russian people and aggravated the church schism.
HOPES FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE OLD ORTHODOX FAITH
The schism of the Russian Church did not take place immediately. The definitions of the cathedral were so stunning, there was so much madness in them, that the Russian people considered them to be a devilish obsession. Many thought that the tsar would be deceived by visiting Greeks and Westerners, and believed that sooner or later he would recognize this deception and return to the old days, and drive the deceivers away from himself. As for the bishops who participated in the council, a conviction was formed about them that they were not firm in their faith and, fearing the royal power, were ready to believe as the king ordered. One of the most uncompromising adherents of the new faith, Archimandrite Joachim of Chudov (later Patriarch of Moscow), frankly declared: “I don’t know either the old faith or the new one, but whatever the bosses say, I’m ready to do and listen to them in everything.”
For 15 years after the council there were squabbles between the supporters of the old faith and the new, between representatives of the ancient folk church and representatives of the new, royal one. The defenders of antiquity hoped that it was still possible to settle the dispute that had arisen, that the state power would come to its senses and return to holy antiquity. Archpriest Avvakum sent Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich one message after another and called him to repentance. This archpriest-bogatyr passionately and with inspiration convinced the tsar that there was nothing heretical in ancient Orthodoxy, which was so mercilessly cursed by the cathedral. “We hold the true and right faith, we die and shed our blood for the Church of Christ.”
The king was asked to appoint a nationwide competition with the spiritual authorities: let everyone see and hear which faith is true - old or new.
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich did not heed these requests and entreaties. After his death, his son Fyodor Alekseevich took the royal throne. Defenders and confessors of ancient church traditions turned to the new king with a fervent plea - to return to the faith of pious and holy ancestors. But this prayer was not successful either. The government responded to all the petitions of church pastors who yearned for peace and church unity with exile and executions.
PERSECUTION OF ANCIENT ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS
Links and executions followed immediately after the council. Famous defenders of ancient Orthodox piety: Archpriest Avvakum, Priest Lazarus, Deacon Theodore, Monk Epiphanius - were exiled to the far North and imprisoned in an earthen prison in Pustozersk (Arkhangelsk region). They were subjected (with the exception of Habakkuk) to another special execution: they cut out their tongues and cut off their right hands so that they could neither speak nor write in denunciation of their persecutors. For more than 14 years they spent in painful imprisonment - in a damp pit. But none of them wavered in the correctness of their faith. The pious people honored these confessors as invincible warriors of Christ, as wondrous passion-bearers and martyrs for the holy faith. Pustozersk has become a holy place. At the urging of the new Patriarch Joachim, the Pustozero sufferers were burned to death at the stake. The execution followed on Friday, the day of the Passion of Christ, April 14, 1682. All of them were taken to the square, where a log cabin was built for burning. Cheerfully and joyfully they ascended the fire. A crowd of people, having taken off their hats, silently surrounded the place of execution. The wood was lit, and the fire blazed. Hieromartyr Avvakum addressed the people with a farewell speech. Raising his two-fingered hand high, he proclaimed, “You will pray with this cross, you will never perish.” When the martyrs burned down, the people rushed to the fire to collect the holy bones in order to scatter them in an iota throughout the Russian land.
Torment and executions were also committed in other places of the Muscovite state. Six years before the burning of the Pustozero prisoners, hundreds of reverend fathers and confessors of the glorious Solovetsky monastery were put to a painful death. This monastery, along with other monasteries and sketes of the Russian Church, refused to accept the new Nikon books. The Solovetsky monks decided to continue the service of God according to the old books. Over the course of several years, they wrote to the sovereign five petitions (petitions), in which they begged the king for only one thing: to allow them to remain in their former faith.
In response to all the requests and prayers of the humble monks, the tsar sent a military team to the Solovetsky Monastery in order to force the wretched elders to accept new books. The monks did not let the archers in and shut themselves up in the monastery behind thick stone steppes, as if in a fortress. The tsarist troops besieged the Solovetsky Monastery for eight years (from 1668 to 1676). Finally, on the night of January 22, 1676, the archers broke into the monastery, and a terrible massacre began with the inhabitants of the monastery. Up to 400 people were tortured: some were hanged, others were chopped to pieces, others were drowned in an ice hole. The whole monastery was covered with the blood of the holy sufferers. They died calmly and: firmly, they did not ask for mercy or mercy. Only 14 people accidentally survived. The bodies of the murdered and hacked martyrs lay uncleaned for half a year, until the royal decree came - to bury them. The destroyed and plundered monastery was inhabited by monks sent from Moscow, who accepted the new government faith and new Nikon books.
Many confessors of the old faith were tortured at that time: some were flogged with whips, others were starved to death in prisons, and still others were burnt.
THE FLIGHT OF THE CHURCH TO THE DESERT AND FORESTS
The position of Christians in Russia in the 17th century was in many ways similar to the position of Christians in the Roman Empire. Just as then, Christians, due to severe persecution by the pagan authorities, were forced to hide in the catacombs, in suburban shelters, so the Russian people, Orthodox Christians of the 17th century, had to flee to deserts and forests, hiding from persecution by state and church authorities.
At the insistence of the Moscow Patriarch Joachim, Princess Sophia in 1685 issued 12 formidable articles against the Old Believers. In them, the Old Believers are called "thieves", "schismatics", "opponents of the church" and are punished with terrible executions. If someone secretly keeps the old faith, he will be beaten with a whip and exiled to distant places. It is ordered to beat with a whip and batogs even those who show at least some mercy to the Old Believers: they will give them either food or only drink water. It was established to exile and beat with a whip even such people with whom the Old Believers had only taken shelter. All the property of the Old Believers was ordered to be taken away and unsubscribed to the great sovereigns. From these heavy punishments, devastation and death, the persecuted Christians could be saved only by complete renunciation of the old faith and slavish obedience to all the orders of the authorities. All Russian people were required to believe as ordered by the new authorities. In the same legalization of Sophia there was an article that said: if any of the Old Believers rebaptized the baptized in the new church and, even if he repents, confesses to that spiritual father and sincerely wishes to take communion, then, having confessed and communed, nevertheless “execute death without mercy.
The government severely persecuted people of the old faith: bonfires burned everywhere, hundreds and thousands of people were burned, tongues were cut, heads were cut, ribs were broken with tongs, quartered; prisons, monasteries and dungeons were filled with sufferers for the holy faith. The clergy and civil government mercilessly exterminated their own brothers - the Russian people. There was no mercy for anyone: not only men were killed, but also women, and even children. The great sufferers - Russian Orthodox Christians - showed extraordinary fortitude in this terrible time. Although some of them eventually apostatized from the true faith, unable to endure torture and persecution, many went to their deaths boldly and decisively.
The vast majority of persecuted Christians fled to the deserts, forests, and mountains, where they made shelter for themselves. But even there they were found, their dwellings were destroyed, and they themselves were brought to the spiritual authorities for exhortations and, if they did not change their faith, they were betrayed to torment and death. Four years after the legalization of Sophia’s articles, Patriarch Joachim issued a decree: “Look firmly so that the schismatics do not live in the volosts and in the forests, and where they appear, exile them themselves, ruin their shelters, sell their property, and send money to Moscow.”
To save themselves from persecution and torture, the Russian people began to burn themselves. “There is no place anywhere,” they say, “only to go into fire and into water.” In many places where persecutors and tormentors were expected, log cabins for self-immolation were prepared in advance and individual huts, chapels, churches, tarred and lined with straw, were adapted to this. As soon as the news came that detectives and persecutors were coming, the people locked themselves in the building prepared for burning, and when the persecutors appeared, they said to them: "Leave us, or we will burn." There were cases when the persecutors left, and then self-immolation did not occur. But in most cases, the persecuted perished: ruthless persecution, cruel torture and torment brought the believing Christians to such despair.
For more than two hundred years, the Old Believers were persecuted. They sometimes weakened, then intensified again, but never stopped. Tsar Peter I proclaimed the principle of religious tolerance in the state. It was widely used in Russia by various religions; Roman Catholic, Protestant, Mohammedan, Jewish. And only the Old Believers did not have freedom in their native land. In the reign of Peter they were no longer burned in masses, but individual cases of burning and other executions were not rare. Tsar Peter allowed the Old Believers to live openly in cities and villages, but imposed a double tax on them. They took a tax from every man for wearing a beard, they took a fine from them and for the fact that the priests performed their spiritual duties. In a word, the Old Believers were a source of income for both the government and the clergy. However, they did not enjoy any civil rights in the state. The Old Believers were divided into the so-called "recorded" and "non-recorded". Noteworthy were those who were on a special account and paid a double tax; the unrecorded lived in secret, they were beaten and sent to hard labor as enemies of the church and state, despite the fact that they were the most faithful sons of their fatherland.
It was very difficult for Russian Orthodox people to live under this tsar. They were in the same position under the successors of Peter. Only during the reign of Catherine II (1762-1796) did the Old Believers breathe a little more freely. But by the end of the reign of Alexander I, decrees began to appear again, restricting the spiritual life of the Old Believers. Under Tsar Nicholas I (1825-1855), the Old Believers were severely persecuted. Only the events connected with the revolution of 1905 gave the Old Believers the opportunity to openly organize religious processions in their native land, have bell ringing, and organize communities. But until 1917, the Old Believers did not receive complete religious freedom. Their priesthood was not recognized, the articles of the criminal law punishing for joining the New Believers to the Old Believers were not repealed, they were not allowed to openly preach their faith, hold responsible administrative positions, and the Old Believers teachers were not given the right to teach in public schools.
SPIRITUAL CENTERS
The spiritual centers of the Old Believers were such settlements where the spiritual forces of the church were concentrated, and where it was possible to carry out spiritual activities. These were mainly monasteries and sketes.
From Moscow and other large cities, Christians were forced to flee to the distant outskirts of Russia, often completely uninhabited places. Where they settled, now monasteries and sketes were created in that area, which became a source of spiritual life. From here came the leadership of the church, from the monasteries the priests were sent to the parishes. It was from here that St. peace, all kinds of messages to Christians were compiled here, essays were written in defense of the Old Believers, and the very defenders and preachers of the ancient Orthodox faith were brought up. In some places, many sketes and monasteries arose - several dozen, with many hundreds of monastic ascetics. They united under the leadership of the largest and most authoritative monastery. There were several such spiritual centers in the Old Believers. The following centers became most famous for their church activities: Kerzhenets, Starodubye, Vetka, Irgiz and the Rogozhskoe cemetery in Moscow.
DIVISIONS IN THE OLD RELIEVE
The reform of Patriarch Nikon and the subsequent terrible persecution gave rise to anxiety and ferment in the minds of the then believing people. Many Christians began to think that the end times had come and that the end of the world would soon come. This mood was reinforced by other circumstances. In 1754, a pestilence raged in Russia: many cities were deserted, the surviving people dispersed to different places, there was no one to bury the dead from the plague, the corpses decomposed, infecting the air with a stench and spreading the infection even more. Some villages died out without exception; the fields remained unsown; famine reigned in the country, prices rose unusually, besides, severe frosts struck early, terrible storms swept through, hail blew the fields ... All this had an effect on believers to such an extent that many of them recognized in these formidable phenomena the beginning of the Last Judgment of God . The people prayed at night, women and children wept, some lay down alive in the grave, waiting for the imminent coming of Christ. But since, according to Holy Scripture, before the end of the world, the Antichrist must appear, some Christians of that time began to point to Nikon as the Antichrist, looking for signs of the latter in him.
But since the persecution of Old Believer Christians did not stop even after Nikon, many continued to believe that the last times had indeed come. Among the persecuted Christians, a new idea about Antichrist has appeared: he must be understood spiritually, there will be no Antichrist as a special person, and the kingdom of Antichrist has already come. This new doctrine of the Antichrist caused a division in the Old Believer Church, which, perhaps, would not have followed if the Old Believers had the opportunity to freely gather to discuss church issues and come to unanimity in their decision. But they had to hide in forests and deserts, live in the midst of hardships, disasters and misfortunes. Therefore, they could not prevent the division of their native church.
Along with the new concept of Antichrist, a new doctrine of the priesthood arose. Some of the Old Believers began to teach that the priesthood finally ceased and irretrievably perished: there were no true priests, they all became servants of the Antichrist. Thus, in the Old Believer environment, a trend began to take shape, which was called "priestless".
UNITY
Between the Old Believers and the New Believers, there was a special transitional church, the so-called common faith. She was subordinate to the bishops of the New Believer Church, but performed services according to old books and had all the rituals, church ranks and customs of the Old Believers. Christians belonging to this church were called co-religionists.
At present, the Edinoverie Church has practically ceased its independent existence, having merged with the New Believers.
BELOKRINITSKY HIERARCHY
The persecution of the Old Believers had been going on for about 200 years, then weakening, then again intensifying, acquiring a particularly cruel character under Nicholas I. Therefore, the Old Believers did not consider it possible to arrange a bishop's chair in Russia, where the watchful eye of the authorities vigilantly watched the appearance of even permitted priests.
The Old Believers, who accepted priests from the New Believer Church, constantly strived to restore their three-fold hierarchy. Finally, these hopes came true. On October 28, 1846, Metropolitan Ambrose of Bosno-Sarajevo joined the Old Believers. This most important event in the annals of the Old Believers took place in Belaya Krinitsa, in Austria. This event ended the difficult journey of the Old Believers searching for their bishop, who led the widowed Old Believer church, giving it the fullness of the three-tiered hierarchy.
The accession of Metropolitan Ambrose to the Old Believers was a great triumph of the Church of Christ. The Russian government took all measures to destroy the Belokrinitsky hierarchy. It was not limited to persecutions alone, various kinds of ridiculous rumors, fictions and slander against the Old Believer hierarchy and against Metropolitan Ambrose himself were launched. The defenders of the Old Believer Church at that time did not have the opportunity to refute these base slanders in a timely manner and everywhere, since then it was strictly forbidden to publish anything in defense of the Old Believers. It was also forbidden for the Old Believers to gather to discuss their urgent church and social issues, to clarify their doubts and misunderstandings. Therefore, no matter how absurd these rumors and fictions were, they were successful in some places: gullible people believed them. As a result, some Old Believer parishes did not accept the Belokrinitskaya hierarchy.
Metropolitan Ambrose appointed his successors: Metropolitan Kiril and other bishops in Austria, and Metropolitan Kiril appointed Archbishop Anthony (Shutov) to Moscow.
This is how the Moscow Old Believer Archdiocese was founded in 1853. Because of the cruel persecution under the tsarist government, and then because of the theomachism and forced collectivization of the 1920s and 1930s, many Old Believers fled abroad. Their descendants now live in Australia, Canada, USA, Argentina, Brazil and other countries. There are especially many Old Believers in Romania, where there is an independent Old Believer metropolis. Currently, it is headed by Metropolitan Timon.
Library of the magazine "Church"
Edition of the Old Believer Metropolis of Moscow and All Russia, 1991