Old Believers: from church schism to recognition. IN

Cathedral 1666-1667

In 1666, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich convened a council to try opponents of the reform. Initially, only Russian saints arrived, but then they were joined by two Eastern patriarchs, Paisius of Alexandria and Macarius of Antioch, who arrived in Moscow. With its decisions, the council almost completely supported the actions of the tsar. Patriarch Nikon was convicted and exiled to a remote monastery. At the same time, all book corrections were approved. The council again confirmed the previous decisions: to say hallelujah three times, to make the sign of the cross with the first three fingers of the right hand, to conduct crusades against the sun.

The church council declared everyone who did not recognize these codes to be schismatics and heretics. All supporters of the old faith were condemned under civil laws. And according to the law in force at that time, the death penalty was imposed for a crime against faith: “Whoever blasphemes the Lord God, or Christ the Savior, or the Mother of God, or the Honest Cross, or the holy saints of God shall be burned,” said the Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich . “Those who would not allow the liturgy to be performed or would start a riot in the church” were also subject to death.

Persecution of Old Believers

Old Believers culture Christianity

Initially, all those convicted by the council were sent into severe exile. But some - Ivan Neronov, Theoklist - repented and were forgiven. The anathematized and defrocked archpriest Avvakum was sent to the Pustozersky prison in the lower reaches of the Pechora River. Deacon Fyodor was also exiled there, who at first repented, but then returned to the Old Belief, for which he had his tongue cut out and also ended up in captivity. Pustozersky fort became the center of Old Believer thought. Despite the difficult living conditions, intense polemics with the official church were carried out from here, and the dogmas of the separated society were developed. The messages of Avvakum served as support for the sufferers for the old faith - the boyar Feodosia Morozova and Princess Evdokia Urusova.

The head of the champions of ancient piety, convinced of his rightness, Avvakum justified his views as follows: “The Church is Orthodox, and the dogmas of the church from Nikon the heretic are distorted by newly published books, which are contrary to the first books in everything, and are not consistent in the entire divine service. And our sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich, is Orthodox, but only with his simple soul did he accept harmful books from Nikon, thinking that they were Orthodox.” And even from the Pustozersky dungeon, where he served 15 years, Avvakum wrote to the king: “The more you torment us, the more we love you.”

But in the Solovetsky Monastery they were already thinking about the question: is it worth praying for such a king? Murmurs began to rise among the people, anti-government rumors began... Neither the tsar nor the church could ignore them. The authorities responded to the dissatisfied with decrees on the search for Old Believers and on the burning of unrepentant ones in log houses, if, after repeating the question three times at the place of execution, they did not renounce their views. An open revolt of Old Believers began on Solovki. The protest movement was led, in the words of S.M. Solovyov, “heroic archpriest” Avvakum. The fact that the conflict between the reformers and their opponents from the very beginning took on such an acute and harsh character is explained, in addition to the general reasons indicated above, by the personal character of the leaders of the two fighting parties: Nikon and Avvakum were both people of strong character, with indomitable energy, with unshakable confidence in own rightness, with reluctance and inability to make concessions and compromises. A very important source for the history of the emergence of the schism and for Russian church history in general is the autobiography of Archpriest Avvakum: “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum, written by himself.” This is not only an important monument of church history, but also a wonderful literary work written in a living and expressive folk language. Habakkuk was subjected to severe persecution, exile, imprisonment, torture and, finally, was stripped of his hair, cursed by a church council and burned at the stake.

Government troops were besieging the monastery, and only a defector opened the way to the impregnable stronghold. The uprising was suppressed.

The more merciless and severe the executions that began, the greater the persistence they caused. They began to look at death for the old faith as a martyrdom. And they even looked for him. Raising their hands high with the double-fingered sign of the cross, the condemned passionately said to the people who surrounded the reprisals: “For this piety I suffer, for the ancient Orthodoxy of the Church I die, and you, pious ones, I pray to you to stand strong in ancient piety.” And they themselves stood strong.... Namely “for the great ones to the royal house blasphemy” Archpriest Avvakum was burned in a wooden frame with his fellow prisoners.

The cruelest 12 articles of the state decree of 1685, which ordered the burning of Old Believers in log houses, the execution of those who rebaptized into the old faith, the whipping and exile of secret supporters of ancient rituals, as well as their concealers, definitively showed the state’s attitude towards the Old Believers. They could not obey, there was only one way out - to leave.

The main refuge of the zealots of ancient piety became the northern regions of Russia, then still completely deserted. Here, in the wilds of the Olonets forests, in the Arkhangelsk icy deserts, the first schismatic monasteries appeared, established by immigrants from Moscow and Solovetsky fugitives who escaped after the capture of the monastery by the tsarist troops. In 1694, a Pomeranian community settled on the Vyg River, where the Denisov brothers Andrei and Semyon, known throughout the Old Believer world, played a prominent role. Later, a women's monastery appeared in these places on the Leksne reek. This is how the famous center of ancient piety came into being - the Vygoleksinsky hostel.

Another place of refuge for the Old Believers was the Novgorod-Seversk land. Back in the 70s of the 17th century. priest Kuzma and his 20 followers fled to these places from Moscow, saving their old faith. Here, near Starodub, they founded a small monastery. But less than two decades had passed before 17 settlements grew out of this monastery. When the waves of state persecutors reached the Starodub fugitives, many of them went beyond the Polish border and settled on the island of Vetka, formed by a branch of the Sozha River. The settlement began to quickly rise and grow: more than 14 populous settlements also appeared around it.

Kerzhenets, named after the river of the same name, was also a famous place of Old Believers at the end of the 17th century. Many hermitages were built in the Chernoramen forests. Here there was a debate on dogmatic issues, to which the entire Old Believer world was attached. The Don and Ural Cossacks also turned out to be consistent supporters of ancient piety.

By the end of the 17th century. The main directions in the Old Believers were outlined. Subsequently, each of them will have its own traditions and rich history.

First, about the Old Believers.
What are they? Prince Vladimir baptized Kievan Rus in 998.
I already wrote about this ().
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and his closest spiritual associate, Patriarch Nikon (Minin), decided to carry out a global church reform.”
(http//ruvera.ru/starovery).
(Author’s note. Well, it was necessary to somehow distinguish Catholics from Orthodox, and not only in relation to the Filioque. For more details, see Humbert’s anathema - http://origin.iknowit.ru/paper1455.html).
From http//ruvera.ru/starovery:
“Starting with minor, at first glance, changes - changes in the folding of fingers during the sign of the cross from two to three fingers and the abolition of prostrations, the reform soon affected all aspects of the Divine Service and the Charter...
Thus, Old Believers began to be called people who refused to accept the church reforms of Patriarch Nikon and adhered to the church institutions of ancient Rus', that is, the old faith.”
The printing of old church books was prohibited, old church books were abolished
titles awarded by the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Under Peter I, Orthodox Christians who preserved old customs were called “schismatics.” Although they were against the split in Christianity into Catholics
and Orthodox, considering the Church to be one.

Now about Peter I.
Many films have been made about him and even more books and articles have been written. Now it's time for INTERNET. Let's analyze what they write about him.

1. He was a Freemason.
There are no documents confirming this. The Masons did not draw up documents.
There are only oral versions.
According to one, Peter I (England; 1697-1698) was dedicated by Christopher Wren himself, the architect of London.
According to the second version, Peter’s initiation occurred only in 1717 during his second trip abroad. After his arrival, he ordered the opening of a lodge in Kronstadt.

I wonder how the writers found out about acceptance into Freemasonry, because there are no
documents - a secret society. And if there is, then what kind of secret is it?
(http://www.kp.ru/daily/22679/13600/); (http://energodar.net/ha-tha.php?str=black/mason).

2. A. Tolstoy, when writing his novel “Peter the Great,” discovered some
documents (letters) talking about the Georgian roots of Peter I. Showed them to Stalin
and heard:
“Let’s leave them at least one “Russian” that they can be proud of!”
(http://inosmi.ru/social/20160205/235301810.html). Well, what did he expect to hear from
a person whose mother is Georgian and whose father is Dzhugashvili?(\for more details - see.
http://www.kp.ru/daily/24414.5/587389/).
“According to historical documents, Peter I was quite tall, even by today’s standards, since his height reached two meters, but what’s strange is that he wore size 38 shoes, and his clothing size was 48! But, nevertheless, it was precisely these features that he inherited from his Georgian relatives, since this description accurately suited the Bagration family.”

3. Peter I was replaced.
“An Orthodox ruler was leaving Russia for Europe, wearing traditional Russian clothes. Two surviving portraits of the tsar from that time depict Peter in a traditional caftan. The Tsar wore a caftan even during his stay at the shipyards, which confirms his adherence to traditional Russian customs. After the end of his stay in Europe, a man returned to Russia who wore exclusively European-style clothes, and in the future the new Peter I never wore Russian clothes.”

I consider this to be fiction. Although, on one of the sites there is a list of comments confirming this version. Here he is:
3.1 The difference in height between the real king and the false Peter explains the refusal to wear royal clothes;
3.2 A distinct mole is clearly visible in the portrait of Peter I. In later portraits the mole is missing;
3.3 The number of people accompanying the tsar was 20, and the embassy was headed by A. Menshikov. And the returning embassy consisted, with the exception of Menshikov, only of Dutch subjects.
3.4 Returning from Europe, the new king did not meet with either his relatives or his inner circle. His order to imprison his wife (Lopukhina) in a monastery
he sent from London.
3.5 Sagittarius (guard and elite of the tsarist army) - suspected something was wrong and did not
recognized the impostor. (From other sites: Peter I personally took part in the execution
archers, not all of them, of course. Only from the end of September to the end of October there were
1000 people were executed. The consequences of this made themselves felt during the defeat near Narva in 1700. Note author).
3.6 The priests were forced to violate the secret of confession and report all suspicious words of the flock to the authorities.
It seems that this is enough to accuse Peter I of imposture.

But if you consider that Peter I, even in his youth, made fun of the priests
(Peter established an “all-drunken council” headed by the “all-joking patriarch” N.M. Zotov,” then everything, it seems, is not so bad.
Psychologists write: “the consciousness of an individual - his personality - is historically determined and can be fully understood only in the light of all previous history
human development, including experiences acquired in childhood.”
http://psylib.ukrweb.net/books/furst01/txt10.htm
The fact that Peter established an “all-drunken council” is a pattern laid down already
in childhood and Kokuya - a German weakling.
According to Klyuchevsky, “Peter had a “lack of judgment and moral instability,” he “was not a hunter for idle thoughts, in any matter he was better at understanding the means and ends than the consequences.” All this is the influence of drinking, to which
taught Peter in Kokui:
“Changing the mindset. The emergence of mentalism. During alcohol intoxication in its initial stage, the thought process accelerates, as a result of which the subject begins to jump from thought to thought, immediately losing the thread of the conversation,
a person is simply not able to go deep into any topic” - so
psychologists say.

In addition, all of Peter’s German friends were Lutherans - such a religion
dominated in Germany at that time. (This was an offshoot of Catholicism, an enemy
old religion). That is why the Old Believers did not love Peter; but there was this dislike
mutual.
Another option is possible.
Peter's outstanding political reform was the division of the oath into two: to the king personally and to the state. Moreover, he swore allegiance to the state himself.
The idea of ​​the reform is to show the people that the main thing is not external piety, but that true religiosity lies in honest service to the fatherland. But the Old Believers
they did not understand him and burned their hermitages.

Initially, all those convicted by the council were sent into severe exile. But some - Ivan Neronov, Feoktist, Bishop Alexander of Vyatka - nevertheless repented and were forgiven. The anathematized and defrocked archpriest Avvakum was sent to the Pustozersky prison in the lower reaches of the Pechora River. Deacon Theodore was also exiled there, who at first repented, but then returned to the Old Belief, for which he had his tongue cut out and also ended up in prison. Priest Lazar was given several months to think, but he did not repent and joined his like-minded people. Pustozersky fort became the center of Old Believer thought. Despite the difficult living conditions, intense polemics with the official church were carried out from here, and the dogmas of the separated community were developed. The messages of Avvakum served as support for the sufferers for the old faith - the boyar Feodosia Morozova and Princess Evdokia Urusova. Addressing them, the archpriest touchingly called them “the city of Eden and Noah’s glorious ark, which saved the world from drowning,” “animate cherubs.”

The head of the champions of ancient piety, convinced of his rightness, Avvakum justified his views in the following way: “The Church is Orthodox, and the dogmas of the church from Nikon the heretic, the former patriarch, are distorted by newly published books, which are the first books that existed under the five first patriarchs.” Archahs, they are contrary in everything: in Vespers, and in Matins, and in the Liturgy, and in the entire divine service they do not agree. And our sovereign, the Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich, is Orthodox, but only with his simple soul he accepted books from Nikon, the imaginary shepherd, the inner wolf, thinking that they were Orthodox; did not consider the chaff (harmful, destructive. - Note edit.) heretics in books, busy with external wars and affairs, believed so.” And even from the Pustozersky underground, where he served 15 years, Avvakum wrote to the king: “The more you torment us, the more we love you.”

But in the Solovetsky Monastery they were already thinking about the question: is it worth praying for such a king? Murmurs began to rise among the people, anti-government rumors began... Neither the tsar nor the church could ignore them. The authorities responded to the dissatisfied with decrees on the search for the Old Believers and on the burning of the unrepentant in log houses, if, after repeating the question three times at the place of execution, they did not renounce their views. An open revolt of Old Believers began on Solovki. Government troops besieged the monastery for several years, and only a defector opened the way to the impregnable stronghold. The uprising was suppressed.

The more merciless and severe the executions that began, the greater the persistence they caused. They began to look at death for the old faith as a martyrdom. And they even looked for him. “Nutko,orthodoxy,” Archpriest Avvakum proclaimed in one of his messages, “name the name of Christ, stand in the middle of Moscow, cross yourself with the sign of our savior Christ with two fingers, as we received from the holy fathers, here is the kingdom of heaven for you: born at home.” God bless: suffer for the folding of your fingers, don’t talk too much... It’s up to us: lie there like that forever and ever.” Raising their hands high with the double-fingered sign of the cross, the condemned earnestly said to the people surrounding the place of massacre: “For this piety I suffer, for the ancient Orthodoxy of the Church I die, and you, pious ones, I pray to you to stand firmly in ancient piety.” And they themselves stood strong... It was “for the great blasphemy against the royal house” that Archpriest Avvakum was burned in a wooden frame with his fellow prisoners.

The cruelest 12 articles of the state decree of 1685, which ordered the burning of Old Believers in log houses, the execution of those who rebaptized into the old faith, the whipping and exile of secret supporters of ancient rituals, as well as their concealers, finally showed the attitude of the state towards the Old Believers. They could not obey, there was only one way out - to leave.

The main refuge of the zealots of ancient piety became the northern regions of Russia, then still completely deserted. Here, in the wilds of the Olonets forests, in the Arkhangelsk icy deserts, the first schismatic monasteries appeared, established by immigrants from Moscow and Solovetsky fugitives who escaped after the capture of the monastery by the tsarist troops. In 1694, a Pomeranian community settled on the Vyg River, where the Denisov brothers, Andrei and Semyon, known throughout the Old Believer world, played a prominent role. Later, a convent for women appeared in these places, on the Leksna River. This is how the famous center of ancient piety—the Vygoleksinsky community—was formed.

Another place of refuge for the Old Believers was the Novgorod-Severskaya land. Back in the 70s.XVIIcenturies, priest Kuzma and his 20 followers fled to these places from Moscow, saving their old faith. Here, near Starodub, they founded a small monastery. But less than two decades had passed before 17 settlements grew out of this monastery. When the waves of state persecution reached the Starodub fugitives, many of them went beyond the Polish border and settled on the island of Vet-ka, formed by a branch of the Sozha River. The settlement began to quickly rise and grow: more than 14 populous settlements also appeared around it.

Famous place of the end of the Old BelieversXVIIcentury, there was undoubtedly Kerzhenets, named after the river of the same name. Many hermitages were built in the Chernoramen forests. There was a lively debate on dogmatic issues here, to which the entire Old Believer world listened. From here, escaping from reprisals, the Old Believers went further - to the Urals and Siberia, where new influential centers of the Old Believers arose.

The Don and Ural Cossacks also turned out to be consistent supporters of ancient piety. Since 1692, the influence of the old faith began to manifest itself more and more in the villages of the Ciscaucasia - along the rivers Kuma, Sulak, Kuban. And by 1698, the Old Believers had already penetrated beyond the Terek, into the gorges of Greater Kabarda. Old Believer settlements also appeared in the Lower Volga, especially around Astrakhan.

By the end XVII V. The main directions in the Old Believers have emerged. Subsequently, each of them will have its own traditions and rich history.

• Habakkuk- Habakkuk, 8th of the 12 minor prophets, prophesied 608-597 BC.
• Borozdin Alexander Kornilievich- Borozdin Alexander Kornilievich - literary historian. Genus. in 1863; graduated from the course of the Faculty of Philology of St. Petersburg. university. From 1889 to 1894 he served in the Caucasus, engaged in pedagogical activities...
• Zayaitskoye- Zayaitskoye (in the acts of the 17th century - Zaetskoye and Zayatskoye) - a Moscow tract on the right bank of the Moscow River; place of settlement of the Ural Cossacks and Tatars, starting from the 13th century. The name Z. comes from Z. or Ural ka...
• Neronov- Neronov (John) - Moscow archpriest (1591-1670). From his youth, feeling an inclination towards a wandering life, N. traveled from village to village, finding refuge with the clergy, whom he helped in the church...
• Isaac, Christian martyrs- Isaac, Christian martyrs - 1) St. the martyr, like Queen Alexandra, was converted by the courage of the Great Martyr George and died for the faith along with Apollos and Kodratus; their memory is April 21; 2) St. bishop...
• Xenos- Xenos (in Greek, “wanderer”) - this name was adopted by the Old Believer writer Hilarion Egorovich Kabanov, the author of the “District Message” - a work remarkable not only for its content and the consequences it caused...
• Pigasius- Pigasius - St. martyr; served at the court of the Persian king Sapor. During the persecution launched by Sapor against Christians in 345, P. was subjected to various tortures for his faith and was finally burned. Memory...
• Pustozersk- Pustozersk is a village in the Arkhangelsk province, Pechora district, a former town and center of the Pechora region, which has still retained the name of the town among local residents and Cherdyns (in Zyryansk Sar-dar). P. dis...
• Lascaratos- Laskaratos (Andrey Laskaratos) - modern Greek satirist poet, studied medicine in Italy; known for the heroic-comic poem "" (1845) and the satire "The Cephalonian Mysteries" (1856), which aroused against him...
• Lissa, a city in Prussia- Lissa, a city in Prussia (Lissa, Polish Leszno) is a city in the Prussian province of Poznan. 33,132 inhabitants (1890). Cars, alcohol, cigars, leather, grain trade. In the 16th and 17th centuries. Many Moravians settled here...

New exiles and executions followed immediately after the council of 1667. The famous defenders of ancient Russian piety, Archpriest Avvakum, priest Lazar, deacon of the Annunciation Cathedral in Moscow, Theodore, and monk Epiphanius were exiled to the far north and imprisoned in an earthen prison in Pustozersk (Arkhangelsk province). These confessors, with the exception of Habakkuk, were subjected to a special execution: their tongues were cut out and their right hands were cut off so that they could neither speak nor write in denunciation of their persecutors and their wrong faith. When their tongues miraculously healed and began to speak, they were cut out a second time.

For more than fourteen years, these confessors remained hopelessly in painful captivity - in a damp pit, but none of them wavered in the correctness of their faith. From here they sent letters, messages, exhortations to their brotherhood of the same faith, and this was the whole of the then homespun Rus' - to keep intact and unchanged the ancient Orthodox faith, to stand in it until death. The pious people honored these prisoners as invincible warriors of Christ, as wondrous passion-bearers and martyrs for the holy faith. Pustozersk became a sacred place.

At the insistence of the new Moscow Patriarch Joachim, the Pustozersky sufferers were burned in a log house. The execution followed on Friday - the day of the Passion of Christ, April 14, 1682. They were all taken to the square where the log house was prepared. The clear spring sun played, as if welcoming these people from the grave (from the pit in which they had languished for so long). For more than fourteen years they did not see the light of God, nor the sky, nor other beauties of nature. They entered the log house cheerfully and joyfully. A crowd of people, taking off their hats, silently surrounded the execution site. They set fire to the wood and the log house began to burn. Archpriest Avvakum still managed to address the people with a farewell speech. Raising his hand folded high into two fingers, he bequeathed: “If you pray with this cross, you will never perish.” When the martyrs burned, the people rushed to collect their holy bones as souvenirs, in order to later distribute them throughout the Russian country.

Those who burned with the fire of faith were burned by material fire in order to be lights shining into the distance of centuries.

Torment and executions of Old Orthodox Christians also occurred in other cities and villages of the Russian state. In Moscow itself, log houses and bonfires burned, other scaffolds were erected, and diabolical tortures and incredible cruelties raged in the dungeons. Six years before the burning of the Pustozersk prisoners, hundreds of reverend fathers and confessors of the glorious Solovetsky monastery were put to a cruel death. This monastery, together with other monasteries and monasteries of the Russian Church, refused to accept Nikon’s new books, as tempting and sinful. The Solovetsky monks decided to continue the service of God according to the old books, according to which the Solovetsky wonderworkers served and pleased God. Over the course of several years, they wrote five petitions to the sovereign, in which they begged the sovereign sovereign for only one thing: to allow them to remain in their former faith. “We are all crying with tears,” the monks wrote to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, “have mercy on us beggars and orphans, command, sir, that we should be in the same old faith in which your father, sovereign, and all the faithful kings and great princes and fathers died , and the venerable fathers of the Solovetsky monastery: Zosima, Savvaty, Herman and Philip Metropolitan and all the saints pleased God." The Solovetsky monks were firmly convinced that betrayal of the old faith meant betrayal of the Church of Christ and God Himself. Therefore, they agreed to accept torture rather than deviate from the holy faith of their God-pleasing ancestors. They boldly declared to the king: “It is better for us to die a temporary death than to perish forever. And if we are given over to fire and torment or cut into pieces, even then we will not betray the apostolic tradition forever.” In anticipation of torment, many elders took schema (great tonsure). In response to all the requests and entreaties of the humble monks, the tsar sent a military team to the Solovetsky Monastery to force the poor elders to accept the new faith and new books. The monastery did not allow this team in and locked itself behind its stone walls, like in a fortress. Tsarist troops besieged the Solovetsky Monastery for seven years (from 1668 to 1675). Finally, on the night of January 22, 1676, the archers, led by Voivode Meshcherinov, burst into the monastery and a terrible execution-slaughter of the inhabitants of the monastery began. Up to 400 monks and Beltsy were tortured: some were hanged, others were chopped on chopping blocks, and others were drowned in ice holes. The entire monastery was drenched in the blood of the holy sufferers. They died calmly and firmly: they asked for neither mercy nor mercy. By some miracle, only 14 elders survived this bloody feast. The bodies of the killed and chopped martyrs lay uncleaned and undecomposed for six months, until the royal order came to give them to the earth. The destroyed and plundered monastery was inhabited by monks sent from Moscow, who accepted a new faith - government and new books - Nikonian.

Shortly before the execution of the Solovetsky sufferers, two sisters from the glorious boyar family of the Sokovnins were tortured in Borovsk (Kaluga province), in an earthen prison - noblewoman Feodosia Prokopyevna Morozova and princess Evdokia Prokopyevna Urusova. They were very rich, especially rich was the noblewoman Morozova, a young widow. Since childhood, both were surrounded by honor and glory, stood close to the royal court and visited there often. But for the sake of true faith and in the name of Christ, they despised wealth, honor, and the glory of this world. Firmly convinced of the correctness of the old, pre-Nikon faith, they fearlessly and boldly acted as confessors of this holy faith. Sent exhortations - to leave the pious faith; They began to threaten in case of disobedience with deprivation of all property, arrest, imprisonment, execution. The well-born sisters were not afraid of these threats and did not agree to accept the innovations. They were arrested and subjected to terrible torture: they were pulled up on their hind legs (with their arms turned backwards and hung from the crossbar), their bones cracked from this cruel torture. Then they placed a frozen block on their chest and then brought them bound to the fire, threatening them with burning. The marvelous confessors endured everything and did not renounce the right faith. By decree of the tsar, they were sent to the city of Borovsk and thrown here into a gloomy and damp dungeon, in which all sorts of insects lived. The sister confessors were tormented by hunger and cold. Their strength weakened, their life slowly faded away: on September 11, 1675, Princess Evdokia Urusova died, and 51 days later (on November 2) the noblewoman Theodosia Morozova, who had managed to accept monasticism with the name Theodora even before her exile, also passed away. Together with them, the third noble sufferer, Maria Danilova, the wife of the Streltsy head Akinfa Danilova, was also tortured. To intimidate them, the fourth confessor, nun Justinya, was also previously tortured: she was burned near the Borovsk dungeon in front of the famous sufferers, the holy great martyrs Theodora, Eudokia and Maria. The fiery holy martyr Habakkuk himself was amazed at their courageous patience and varied sufferings. “The many-readed cherubim,” he praised them, “the six-winged seraphim, the fiery commanders, the army of heavenly powers, the three-numbered unit of the Tripartite Deity, the servants of Faith: Theodora in Eudokea, Eudokea in Theodora and Mary in Theodora and Eudokea. Oh, great luminaries!”

“It is difficult to find in Russian history a greater and stronger spirit than Morozova,” writes one Russian writer, Chudinov. We will add, adds Bishop Michael of Canada: there has never been in Russian history a woman with such intense religious feeling, such love for the Sweetest Jesus, as she and her blessed sister. “Crowded with martyrdom, surrounded by honor during life and saintly worship after death, they live and will live in the memory of the Russian people forever, as an incomparable example of steadfastness, as a rule of faith, as a bright torch showing the way to the honest performance of civic duty. The tormentors of Theodosius themselves (Theodora), struck by the greatness of the spirit in a weak female body, had to recognize the boyar Morozova as a holy martyr." Tsar Alexei called her “the second Catherine the Great Martyr.” Evdokia, weaker in body, but therefore even more amazing in her imitation of her sister, also deserves this name. And next to these two are Melania the “Great Mother” (another martyr), Justina and others. The Old Believer Church canonized both Avvakum himself and his fellow sufferers who were burned in Pustozersk, as well as the Borovsk martyrs among the holy saints of God.

Quite a few other ascetics and confessors were tortured at that time: some of them were flogged and whipped, others were starved to death in dungeons, and others were burned by fire. All of them deservedly entered into the great host of the saints of God, shining before the throne of the Lord of Glory.

Despite such cruel persecution and torment, the defenders of the Orthodox faith still did not lose hope that the old faith would triumph, since the new faith was maintained exclusively by government power, while the people and the clergy did not sympathize with it and did not want to accept it.

The new tsar, Feodor Alekseevich, did not reign for long: on April 27, 1682, he died. In his place, the young princes John and Peter Alekseevich were proclaimed kings, and their sister, Sofia Alekseevna, became co-ruler. The patriarchal throne at that time was occupied by Patriarch Joachim, a tough and tough man who greatly hated the old faith and its followers. Judging by his book "Uvet", written in denunciation of ancient Orthodoxy, he was firmly convinced that the ancient church rites and customs, as well as the old books, were truly heretical: the two-fingered sign of the cross, the extreme alleluia, the semi-prosphorion, the symbol declaring the Holy Spirit "True" " - all these are wicked heresies, all this is cursed and rejected. But to substantiate his statements, Joachim did not hesitate to resort to obvious forgeries, forgeries and deceptions. However, he approved his “Uvet”, full of curses and all sorts of lies, and made it the canonical book of the new church. He persecuted not only living confessors of the ancient holy faith, but also saints who had long since died, even those glorified by the Church. Thus, Joachim deleted Princess Anna Kashinskaya, who died three hundred years before the church schism, from the list of saints, forbade her service and hid her very relics under a bushel only because they had the hands of a saint with two fingers. He threw out the service to St. Euphrosynus of Pskov only because in it, as in the life of this ancient saint, the antiquity and correctness of the special hallelujah is verified. It was difficult to expect that such a reckless persecutor of the Holy Church would return to her.

But the new reign rested on the strength of the archers, many of whom, however, stood for the old faith. They were led by a convinced supporter of ancient Orthodoxy, Prince Khovansky. The zealots and defenders of the old faith took advantage of this favorable circumstance, led in Moscow by the priest Nikita Dobrynin, a very well-read and gifted shepherd and an outstanding writer. On behalf of all the Streltsy regiments and Chernoslobodtsy, a petition was drawn up in the name of Tsars John and Peter Alekseevich about the “resumption of ancient piety.” Special commissioners were elected who were supposed to present a petition to the kings and enter into a debate with the patriarch himself on issues of faith.

The petitioners first introduced themselves to Patriarch Joachim. They asked him to give them an explanation: why were the old books rejected and what heresies were found in them? The Patriarch replied:

It’s not your place to talk about this. The bishops decide and judge everything, but you must only obey them and not contradict them, for they bear the image of Christ.

“Christ says,” the authorized representatives objected to the patriarch, “learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; You threaten and kill with logs, fire and sword.

“We are torturing and burning you,” the patriarch answered shamelessly, “because you call us heretics and do not obey the church.”

Petitioners began to prove that the new books actually had errors and that the books’ references were undoubted heretics, like Arseny the Greek, who even renounced Christianity. Then they pointed out that they were persecuting true Christians in Rus' just because they performed the service of God according to the holy books, were baptized according to apostolic tradition - with a two-fingered cross, and said the Jesus Prayer, like the ancient St. The Church established: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.” In conclusion, the petitioners tearfully begged the patriarch:

Satisfy the church rebellion, resolve the doubts of Christian souls, correct the Church of God, cast out new temptations from it, unite the scattered flock of Christ, so that Christian blood may cease to be shed in vain.

The petitioners asked to appoint a council at which all the errors of the new books could be examined in detail. Joachim kept postponing the convening of such a council. But it still took place on July 5, 1682. On this day, the entire Kremlin Square was filled with people. They expected that the patriarch and bishops would come to the square and there would be a debate about faith. However, the elected representatives of the petitioners were demanded to conduct the conversation in the Faceted Chamber, where the entire royal synclite, headed by Princess Sophia, the patriarch, bishop and other clergy gathered. Very few of the people entered the chamber. The Nikonian clergy behaved noisily and defiantly. Before the priest Nikita Dobrynin had time to enter the room, one of the Nikonian priests grabbed him by the hair. This start to the debate did not bode well.

As soon as the elected officials entered the chamber and bowed to the ground to Queen Natalya Kirillovna and the princesses, Patriarch Joachim asked them:

What do you require from us? - Priest Nikita answered:

They came to ask for the correction of the Orthodox Christian faith, so that the Church of God would be in peace and unity, and not in discord and rebellion.

The elected representatives submitted a petition, which outlined the errors of the new books. The reading of the petition began. But Princess Sophia, already infected with Western charm, like-minded by Joachim, often interrupted the reading and entered into disputes with elected officials. The patriarch and bishops were silent, and the boyars only laughed at their irresponsibility and spiritual impotence.

The “debate” ended with Princess Sophia dissolving the council, announcing that it would meet on Friday (July 7).

The jubilant people went home with triumph and singing. He naively believed that the time had come for the complete restoration of true piety. But I was bitterly deceived in this. There was no secondary meeting to consider doubts about faith. Sophia, proud, domineering, self-loving, resolutely stood up for the defense of the new faith: to give triumph to the old faith - it seemed to her a humiliation and an insult to the royal majesty. Joachim inspired her that the authorities should order and command, and the people should only listen and obey. A return to the old faith would be a triumph of the people's will, a victory of the people's faith and people's desires. The cunning and helpful princess managed to win over a significant part of the archers to her side, giving them vodka and money. On her orders, the priest Dobrynin was captured and executed on Red Square in Moscow by cutting off his head, which happened on July 11, 1682. Thus ended the confessional life of one of the best fighters for ancient piety, the most well-read pastor of that time and a remarkable writer. He left behind his “denunciations” of Nikonianism, which have not yet been refuted by Nikonians. A sad fate befell other elected officials and petitioners: they were sent to various monasteries for imprisonment. Soon Prince Khovansky was also sentenced to death. Thus, first in Moscow, and then throughout the state, a new faith triumphed, terrible in its cruelty, the bloody torment of the ancient Orthodox Christians, traitorous in its spirit and direction, becoming a completely official religion, requiring only unquestioning and obedient submission to itself in everything.

The situation in Russia of the Christian Church in the 17th century was in many ways similar to the situation of Christians in the Roman Empire in the first centuries of Christianity. Just as then, Christians, suffering from severe persecution by the pagan authorities, were forced to hide in catacombs (in specially constructed dungeons), in caves and in country retreats, so the Russian people - Orthodox Christians of the 17th century - had to flee to the deserts and forests, mountains and dens, hiding from persecution by state and spiritual authorities.

At the insistence of the Moscow Patriarch Joachim, Princess Sophia published 12 formidable articles in 1685 against people of ancient piety, which were rightly called “draconian” in history. In them, the followers of the Old Russian Church, that is, the Old Believers, are called “schismatics”, “thieves”, opponents of the church and are punished with the most terrible executions. Those who spread the old faith are ordered to be tortured and burned in a log house, and the ashes are scattered; whoever secretly supports the ancient faith will be mercilessly whipped and exiled to distant places. It is ordered to beat with whips and batogs even those of the believers who show at least some kindness to the persecuted Christians: they will either give them something to eat, or even just drink water. It is established: to whip and exile those people with whom the persecuted Christians have only taken shelter. All property of the Old Believers: courtyards, estates, estates, shops and all kinds of industries and factories - was ordered to be taken away and assigned to the “great sovereigns.” Only complete renunciation of the old faith and slavish submission to all the reckless orders of the authorities could save the Old Orthodox Christians from these terrible persecutions, devastation and death. All Russian people were required, under the threat of being burned in a log house, to believe not as the ancient Church established, but as the new authorities ordered. There was one such article in Sophia’s laws, from which even renunciation of one’s faith and slavish obedience to all orders of the authorities could not save. This article read: whoever rebaptized them, the Old Believers (it was said: “schismatics”), baptized in the new church (government, ruling), that (if he repents of this, brings submission to the new church, will have a spiritual father and sincerely wishes to receive communion ), having confessed and received communion, still “execute by death without any mercy.”

These truly draconian, merciless articles and their sadistic execution brought horror to the entire Russian country. The government mercilessly persecuted people of the old faith: log cabins and bonfires were burning everywhere, hundreds and thousands of innocent victims were burned - tortured Christians, they cut out the tongues of people of the old faith for preaching and simply for confessing this faith, they chopped off their heads, broke their ribs with pincers, buried them alive in the ground necks, wheeled, quartered, sinews drawn out... Prisons, exiled monasteries, dungeons and other convict places were overflowing with unfortunate sufferers for the holy faith of the ancient Orthodox. The clergy and civil government with devilish cruelty exterminated their own brothers - the Russian people - for their loyalty to the covenants and traditions of Holy Rus' and the Church of Christ. There was no mercy for anyone: not only men, but also women and even children were killed.

The great and long-suffering sufferers - Russian Orthodox Christians - showed the world extraordinary strength of spirit in this terrible time of persecution. Many of them retreated from the true faith, of course, insincerely, unable to withstand cruel torture and inhuman torment. But many went to their death boldly, fearlessly and even joyfully. There were cases when even children walked into the fiery flame fearlessly and calmly. One day they brought 14 men and women to a tarred log house for execution. Among them was a nine-year-old girl who was in prison with her elders. Everyone felt sorry for her, and the bishop's bailiffs, who ordered the execution, ordered the child to be detained. The log house was already on fire. The girl was eager to join her family, not paying attention to the caresses or persuasion of those around her. “We’ll take you instead of our daughter,” the audience consoled her. But she still rushed to her people who were burning in the log house. Then, wanting to scare her, those holding and persuading her let her go, saying: “Oh, you don’t listen, well, step into the fire, just be careful, don’t close your eyes.” The girl, having crossed herself three times, threw herself into the fire and burned.

The vast majority of persecuted Christians fled to deserts, forests, mountains, dens, impassable swamps, to the “end of the world.” The apocalyptic prediction has come true: “The Church will flee into the desert.” Here Christians set up some refuges and shelters for themselves. But even there the authorities were looking for them, their homes were destroyed and burned, and they themselves were brought to the cities to the spiritual authorities for admonitions and, if they did not betray their faith, they were given over to torture and death. Four years after the legalization of Sophia’s articles, Patriarch Joachim issued a new decree: “Make sure that the schismatics (as he called the Old Believers) do not live in the volosts and forests, and where they appear, exile themselves, destroy their shelters, sell their property, and send money to Moscow".

True Christians were persecuted everywhere, they were not allowed to live either in deserts, or in forests, or behind impassable swamps - nowhere in their native country. What was to be done? Where to go? The ancient pious Christians were not afraid of death; many of them went to death very willingly and joyfully. But they mourned that many Christians, unable to withstand the monstrous torture, renounced the holy faith and thus perished in soul. They were brought to the point of renouncing their faith by such tortures: they were either slowly burned on fire, or the veins were pulled out of them, or first they cut off one arm, then the other, then one leg and, finally, the other leg (this means they were quartered), hung by the ribs to the ceiling or a special crossbar and left to hang like that for a long time - until renunciation or death, they were hung on their arms turned backwards, they were wheeled around, they were buried in the ground up to their necks alive; tortured and tormented and by all sorts of other murderous means. Who could withstand these draconian tortures? To escape from them and to preserve their faith, the Russian people were forced to burn themselves. “There is no place anywhere,” they said, “only to go into the fire and into the water.” In many places where persecutors, detectives and tormentors were expected, log houses for self-immolation were prepared in advance, or separate huts, chapels, churches, tarred and lined with straw, were adapted for this. As soon as news was received that detectives and torturers were coming, the people locked themselves in the building prepared for burning and, when the persecutors appeared, told them: “Leave us or we will burn.” There were cases when the persecutors left, and then the people were freed from self-immolation. But in most cases, the persecuted self-immolated. People burned in hundreds and thousands at a time. Russian pious people then experienced such an unusually terrible time. Many of them expected the end of the world, some, putting on shrouds, lay down in advance in the coffin, awaiting the Archangel's trumpet from heaven about the second coming of Christ.

Ruthless persecution, cruel torture and torment brought pious Christians to such a tense state.

For more than two and a half centuries, the Old Believers were persecuted. The persecution at times weakened and then intensified again, but never ceased. Tsar Peter I proclaimed religious tolerance in the state; it was widely used in Russia by different religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Mohammedan, Jewish and pagan. And only the Old Believers did not have freedom in their native fatherland, which they themselves created. During the reign of Peter they were not burned en masse, but individual cases of burning and other executions were not uncommon. Tsar Peter allowed the Old Believers to live openly in cities and villages, but imposed a double salary on them: if, for example, a follower of the new faith (the dominant church) paid 5 rubles to the treasury for himself, then 10 rubles were collected from the Old Believers. In addition, they charged each man 50 rubles a year for wearing a beard. A fee was also collected from the Old Believers in favor of the clergy of the New Believers Church. They also took fines from them because their priests performed spiritual services. In a word, the Old Believers were a source of income for both the government and the clergy. They bore the terrible hardships of the entire state. However, for this they did not enjoy any rights in this state: they were prohibited from holding any state or public position; they were not even allowed to be witnesses in court against the Orthodox, i.e. followers of the new church, even if the latter were brought to trial for theft, murder or other serious crimes. The Old Believers were ordered to wear special clothes: men - a single-row with a lying necklace and a homespun zipun with a standing glued trump card of red cloth, and women - hats with horns and also a homespun zipun with a red trump card. It was a mockery and ridicule of Russian pious people.

Old Believers who signed up for double salary were considered registered. But the vast majority of Old Believers were not registered: they lived secretly, hiding from the authorities. This condition was, however, even more ruinous, because it was extremely dangerous. They were constantly wanted and sent to hard labor. Moreover, the registered Old Believers themselves were obliged to look for them. The government forced them to be traitors to their own fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters. In order to have more reasons to persecute the Old Believers, Peter even ordered to invent false cases against them, and the clergy more and more fiercely, more and more insistently demanded that the Old Believers be exterminated as enemies of the church and state, although they were the most faithful children of the holy, truly Orthodox Church and the most devoted sons of their native fatherland .

For a more successful fight against the Old Believers, the highest clergy of the ruling church drew up a false act of an unprecedented council against the unprecedented heretic Martin the Armenian. This act tells that five hundred years before Nikon the Patriarch, the heretic Martin allegedly appeared in Kiev, who taught everyone those rites, rites and customs that the Old Believers adhere to: double-fingered, especially hallelujah, salt-walking, etc. The Kiev Cathedral allegedly cursed this unprecedented heretic for his teaching, especially for his double-fingeredness. The Council of Constantinople also cursed him: the compilers of the document framed against him struck poor Martin with dozens of the most terrible anathemas. Finally, they even burned it. Emperor Peter, who himself participated in the plan of this forgery, as well as the Holy Governing Synod created by him, who many times blessed the publication of this forgery, strictly ordered the entire Russian people to believe this fiction as an immutable truth, even after it was scientifically stated by Old Believer writers exposed and refuted. It was ordered that this false act be read even in churches during divine services instead of the Prologue. The reasonable Russian people, of course, could not believe this outlandish and terrible fable, elevated to a dogma of faith. But it was scary not to believe, since the royal decree was issued to burn those who did not believe this forgery.

During the reign of Peter I, the authorities, mainly spiritual, destroyed Old Believer hermitages, monasteries and other spiritual refuges, took away their property and persecuted people of the old faith in every possible way. Life was very difficult for Russian ancient Orthodox Christians under this tsar.

They were in the same position under Peter's successors. Only during the reign of Empress Catherine II (1762-1796) did the Old Believers breathe a little more freely. There were, however, isolated cases of persecution during this reign. Under Alexander I (1801-1825), in the first half of his reign, the government was tolerant of the Old Believers, but towards the end of the reign it began to issue decrees that constrained the spiritual life of the Old Believers.

Under Emperor Nicholas I, the Old Believers were brutally persecuted (1825-1855). And only under Emperor Nicholas II (from the end of 1905) did the Old Believers get the opportunity to openly organize their church life in their native fatherland: build churches, monasteries, perform religious processions, ring bells, organize communities, open schools, etc. But even under this tsar, the Old Believers did not receive complete religious freedom: their priesthood was not recognized, the articles of the criminal law punishing the joining of the New Believers to the Old Believers were not repealed, they were not allowed to preach their faith, and Old Believer teachers were not given the right to be teachers in general public schools and so on. There were other constraints as well. Already during the World War (with Germany), Old Believers were not allowed to take the exam even for ensigns in the reserve and had to initiate special petitions on this occasion, while for persons of other religions and completely non-Russian nations (French, German, Polish, Armenian, Georgian, Lithuanian etc.) there was free access to all military and civilian ranks, including general and ministerial posts.

Since the time of the schism, the Old Orthodox (Old Believer) Church, due to the most severe persecution against it, has been deprived of the opportunity to create quite normally its internal spiritual life and sacred hierarchical government. Even ordinary worship often had to be performed not in churches or in houses, but simply in forests and slums. In addition, the Church was deprived of its most important leaders - bishops. Under the bishops, if they had remained faithful to her, it would have been easier for the Church to endure all kinds of disasters and hardships. Around the bishops, the flock could unite stronger and more confidently, receiving consolation and guidance from them. But God was pleased to send His St. The Church faces the most difficult trials to demonstrate her strength and strength. The Church, having lost its senior leaders - bishops, was nevertheless able, with the help of God, to save itself from falling and deviating.

The Russian Church never had a large number of bishops, at most there were 15 saints, but under Nikon their number was less. Of these, only one bishop, Pavel Kolomensky, boldly and boldly denounced Nikon, for which he was martyred. The rest of the hierarchs, fearing Paul's fate, were forced to remain silent. And they were not capable of defending the Church. “He doesn’t know the scriptures, he’s a fool, not even in the slightest,” says Archpriest Avvakum about one of them, the most prominent, Pavel, Metropolitan of Krutitsky. And about others he adds: “What can be done - on them, like on donkeys, those heretics ride on those rulers.” It is known about only three bishops that they did not agree with Nikon’s innovations and served according to old books: this is Macarius, Metropolitan of Novgorod; Markell, Archbishop of Vologda and Alexander, Bishop of Vyatka. But the first two died even before the council of 1667, at which the entire ancient Russian pious Church was cursed, and the latter submitted “out of fear” to this council. Afterwards, leaving the pulpit, he retired into the desert and followed the old ways, but did not live to see the final retreat of the hierarchy and secular power from the Old Russian Church. He died in 1679. Thus, St. The Church was left without like-minded bishops, with only priests and deacons. There were quite a lot of these same spiritual ranks: there were thousands of priests throughout Russia. They continued to serve according to the old missals and were at one with their flock. Terrible persecutions forced many of them to accept new books, for the clergy were sent to hard labor, beaten mercilessly with batogs, simply because they performed the service of God according to the old books, or even for the mere fact that they performed the Divine Liturgy on the seven prosphyras that they had on them. a seal with an eight-pointed cross and with the inscription: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the whole world.” Priests were sent to hard labor simply for sheltering Old Believers. In one Nizhny Novgorod diocese, hundreds of such priests were killed. The same happened in other dioceses.

While the top of the new church moved further and further away from Old Russian Orthodoxy, becoming infected with Latinism and poisoned by all kinds of Western influences, its lower parts were filled with people of the old piety and the Russian national spirit. They, in fact, remained in their places, in the parishes, did not leave anywhere and did not retreat from anything, continued to be Old Believers, they were only registered in the new church and were under the authority of the Nikonian bishops. Entire dioceses of such “Nikonians” even remained two-fingered, mainly in the central provinces: Moscow, Kaluga, Vladimir, Smolensk. But many such parishes were forced, under the threat of persecution, to accept both tripartite and new books, while remaining at the same time with the spirit of the Old Believers. Their midst was also filled with those Old Believers who, unable to withstand torture, various kinds of torment and all kinds of hardships, converted to Nikonianism. Of course, they could not become Nikonians in spirit or conscience; in their souls they remained truly Old Believers, formally only listed as “Orthodox.” It is clear that the priests in the lower parishes were predominantly of the Old Believer type, especially at a time when candidates for holy degrees were elected by the parishes themselves.

According to church canons, priests must be subordinate to their bishops. But the same canons require priests to leave their bishops if they have deviated into any error, preach heresies or committed a church schism. Priests who did not submit to Nikon and other bishops who betrayed St. Churches acted completely legally and quite canonically. They had the right to perform God’s services, church sacraments, and all spiritual needs without them and even against their will. Moreover, their actions were legal because on their side and together with them one saint, Bishop Pavel of Kolomna, suffered for ancient piety. His martyrdom alone, without any other acts, testified that he blessed and sanctified their sacred rites for all subsequent centuries. But he was unable to appoint a successor, and priests do not have the right to perform any ordination. This is the bishop's right. The priests of the old, pre-Nikon ordination, could not live endlessly; they gradually died out. What was to be done? Where could we get new priests? This question was raised by life itself soon after the schism took place and was then resolved on the basis of church canons (rules).

Even in previous centuries of the Christian Church, similar questions arose. There have been cases when local churches lost all their bishops as a result of the latter's deviation into heresy (delusion). And there, in a heretical society, they continued to perform sacred functions, ordain bishops, priests and other clergy. The Ecumenical and local councils of the Orthodox Church decided: to accept these newly ordained clergymen in heresy, if they renounce their errors, in their clergy, i.e. if they are ordained to the episcopal rank, then they remain bishops, if to the priestly rank, then they remain priests, etc. The Holy Councils established the sending of special commissioners to convince and ask heretical clergy to leave the heretical society and join the true Church of Christ. Guided by these ancient conciliar rules, the Old Believer Church decided to accept clergy ordained in the New Believer Church in their true dignity. They joined the Old Believers willingly and quite sincerely, mainly priests of the old spirit - from the lower classes. An extremely large number of them suffered, for they were cruelly persecuted. The government declared them “fugitives”: they were indeed constantly on the run, hiding from persecution and persecution.

The Old Believer Church always had a sufficient number of priests, excluding the reign of Nikolai Pavlovich, when this emperor decided to destroy the Old Believer priesthood at any cost. He failed to do this, but there were much fewer priests at that time than there had been at all previous times.

The priests of the Old Believer Church performed all the sacraments and requirements inherent in their authority: baptized, anointed, confessed, gave communion, crowned, anointed, buried the dead, etc. They did not have the power to consecrate the chrism - this power belongs to the bishop. But this difficulty was also resolved according to the ancient institutions of the Church. The priests had a lot of peace, still consecrated by the former patriarchs; Even Patriarch Filaret’s myrrh has been preserved. But over time it decreased, so they began to dilute it with consecrated oil, which, of necessity, is permitted by church rules. In the first centuries of Christianity, instead of confirmation, the laying on of hands was performed on the person being baptized or joined to the Church.

Priests do not have the right to consecrate churches (temples) if there is no antimins. But in the Old Believer Church, ancient antimensions, consecrated by pious bishops, were preserved. On them, Old Believer priests consecrated churches and performed the Divine Liturgy.

Difficult and complex issues that arose in the Old Believers were resolved at the council, with the common voice of the entire Church. The cathedrals were attended by abbots of monasteries, holy monks, priests of parish churches, honorary elders (monks) and lay people authorized by parishes, mainly well-read men who knew the Holy Scriptures and church canons. Reverent nuns sometimes took part in cathedral meetings. The councils united all church administration, established order and deanery in churches, determined seniority among clergy, checked their activities, resolved all doubts and misunderstandings, etc. Such is the life of the Church, truly conciliar, national, universal.

The measures taken did not lead to the complete extermination of the Old Believers. Someone went over to the Synodal Church, someone was executed or died in prison, a significant part scattered around the outskirts of Russia and left its borders. In 1702, Peter I, upon returning from Arkhangelsk, decided to visit Vyg (a large Old Believer settlement on the outskirts of the empire).

The Old Believers prepared to flee and die by fire, but the tsar did not touch them, but promised the Vygovites confessional autonomy. Academician Panchenko expresses the opinion that these ideas were caused by the fact that Peter visited Western Europe, and in his circle there were many Protestants, on whose ideas he relied and who suffered similar persecution from the Catholic Inquisition in Europe.

Peter I decided to allow the Old Believers to exist in the state, but impose additional taxes on them and begin the fight against the Old Believers with the help of falsifications. To this end, on February 8 (19), 1716, Peter issued a “decree, personal, announced from the Senate - on going to confession every day, on a fine for failure to comply with this rule, and on the provision of double salary [tax] for schismatics.”

In addition, the Old Believers, due to their religious beliefs, were forced to pay a beard tax, which was levied on January 16 (27), 1705. On February 18 (29), 1716, the tsar issued a new decree, according to which the usual tax began to be taken from the Old Believers: widows and unmarried women (girls).

According to Peter's decree of April 6 (17), 1722, Old Believers had to pay 50 rubles a year for a beard, and they had no right to wear any other clothing except: zipun with a standing glued trump card (collar), ferezi and one-row with a lying one necklace. The collar must be red - made of red cloth, and the dress itself cannot be worn in red.

Ban on everything Russian. From that time on, only those who believed not in God, but in the Holy Church were considered Russian.

If one of the Old Believers appeared in different clothes, then he was fined 50 rubles. In 1724, on November 13, Peter issued a decree, at the request of Archbishop Pitirim of Nizhny Novgorod, to issue copper badges to the Old Believers, which the Old Believers were obliged to sew on their clothes and wear them (as Jews in Nazi Germany wore a yellow star). Women Old Believers, according to this decree, were required to wear opashni dresses and hats with horns.

It should be noted that all other residents of the cities, according to the decrees of December 17 (28), 1713 and December 29, 1714 (January 9, 1715), were prohibited from wearing beards, wearing Russian clothes and trading in national Russian clothing and boots (trading It was possible only with German-style clothing). Those who disobeyed were whipped and sent to hard labor.

At the beginning of the 18th century, to combat the old rite, forged “ancient” manuscripts were created in the Holy Synod: the Conciliar Act on Martin the Armenian and the so-called Theognost Trebnik, which would be actively used by synodal missionaries for more than 200 years, from the 18th century until 1917.

Forced baptism, the prohibition of two fingers and deprivation of civil rights

The persecution against the Old Believers did not stop even after the abolition. Tsar Peter conducted several population censuses to collect taxes. Those Old Believers who were willing to pay double salary (tax) and passed the census began to be called “recorded Old Believers” (officially: “recorded schismatics”). Those who evaded the census began to be called “non-registered Old Believers” (officially: “non-registered schismatics”) and found themselves in an illegal position.

On May 15 (26), 1722, the Law “On orders for the conversion of schismatics to the Orthodox Church” was issued on behalf of the Synod. According to this law, when converting to the New Believers, Old Believers who were baptized by Old Believers must be baptized again. To tonsure the monks again. Children of registered schismatics (Old Believers) must be forcibly baptized in New Believers churches. Those Old Believers who obey the church in everything, but cross themselves with two fingers, are considered outside the church - schismatics.

Those “who, although they obey the holy church and accept all the church sacraments, and depict the cross on themselves with two fingers, and not with a three-fingered addition, which with the opposite wisdom, and who do it out of ignorance but out of stubbornness, write both of them into schism, regardless of for what".

The testimony of schismatics (Old Believers) is equated with the testimony of heretics and is not accepted in courts, both ecclesiastical and civil. Parents of Old Believers are forbidden to teach their children double-fingering under pain of severe punishment (to which teachers of schismatics were subjected).

The latter meant that if Old Believers parents taught their own children to be baptized with two fingers, then they were equated with schismatic teachers and were sent under guard (guard) to be tried by the Holy Synod in accordance with paragraph 10 of the law in question.

All this lawlessness, the extermination of everything Russian, was happening in our country. This historical information is available in open sources, but it is not customary to talk about it. The Russian Orthodox Church, represented by Patriarch Kirill, tells us loudly that before baptism, Russian people were barbarians and practically wild people.

We must comprehend all this, accept and draw conclusions on how we should live further. It must be said openly that the Patriarch is lying! There was widespread Orthodoxy in Rus'.

Literature:

L.N. Gumilyov “From Rus' to Russia” http://www.bibliotekar.ru/gumilev-lev/65.htm
S. A. Zenkovsky “Russian Old Believers. The Church and Moscow during the Interregnum"
http://www.sedmitza.ru/lib/text/439568/
F. E. Melnikov. “A Brief History of the Old Orthodox (Old Believer) Church” http://www.krotov.info/history/17/staroobr/melnikov.html
A.I. Solzhenitsyn (from the message to the Third Council of the Russian Church Abroad) http://rus-vera.ru/arts/arts25.html

Based on the article https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C2%AB%D0%94%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%86%D0% B0%D1%82%D1%8C_%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B9%C2%BB_%D1%86%D0%B0%D1%80% D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BD%D1%8B_%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%84%D1%8C%D0%B8