Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are
Eastern Orthodox Christians
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
who maintain the
liturgical
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
and
ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...
practices of the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
as they were before the reforms of
Patriarch Nikon of Moscow
Nikon ( ru , Ни́кон, Old Russian: ''Нїконъ''), born Nikita Minin (''Никита Минин''; 7 May 1605 – 17 August 1681) was the seventh Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' of the Russian Orthodox Church, serving officially from ...
between 1652 and 1666. Resisting the accommodation of Russian piety to the contemporary forms of
Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
worship, these Christians were
anathema
Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...
tized, together with their ritual, in a
Synod of 1666–67, producing a division in Eastern Europe between the Old Believers and those who followed the state church in its condemnation of the Old Rite. Russian speakers refer to the schism itself as ''
raskol
The Schism of the Russian Church, also known as Raskol (russian: раскол, , meaning "split" or "schism"), was the splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in the mid-17th century. It ...
'' (), etymologically indicating a "cleaving-apart".
Introduction
In 1652,
Patriarch Nikon
Nikon ( ru , Ни́кон, Old Russian: ''Нїконъ''), born Nikita Minin (''Никита Минин''; 7 May 1605 – 17 August 1681) was the seventh Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' of the Russian Orthodox Church, serving officially from ...
(1605–1681;
patriarch
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...
of the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
from 1652 to 1658) introduced a number of ritual and textual revisions with the aim of achieving uniformity between the practices of the Russian and
Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
churches. Nikon, having noticed discrepancies between Russian and Greek
rite Rite may refer to:
* Ritual, an established ceremonious act
* Rite of passage, a ceremonious act associated with social transition
Religion
* Rite (Christianity), a sacred ritual or liturgical tradition in various Christian denominations
* Cath ...
s and texts, ordered an adjustment of the Russian rites to align with the Greek ones of his time. In doing so, according to the Old Believers, Nikon acted without adequate consultation with the clergy and without gathering a council.
[Zenkovskiy S.A., 1995, 2006.] After the implementation of these revisions, the Church
anathema
Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...
tized and suppressed—with the support of
Muscovite
Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula K Al2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavag ...
state power—the prior
liturgical rite
Christian liturgy is a pattern for worship used (whether recommended or prescribed) by a Christian congregation or denomination on a regular basis. The term liturgy comes from Greek and means "public work".
The majority of Christian denominatio ...
itself, as well as those who were reluctant to pass to the revised rite.
Those who maintained fidelity to the existing rite endured severe persecutions from the end of the 17th century until the beginning of the 20th century as "Schismatics" (russian: раскольники, links=no, ''raskol'niki''). They became known as "Old Ritualists", a name introduced under the empress
Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
who reigned from 1762 to 1796. They continued to call themselves simply "Orthodox Christians".
Prior to Nikon
The installation of a
Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia, but resident in Moscow, by a council of Russian bishops in 1448 without consent from the
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...
initiated the effective independence of the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
in the
Grand Duchy of Moscow
The Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovite Russia, Muscovite Rus' or Grand Principality of Moscow (russian: Великое княжество Московское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Moskovskoye; also known in English simply as Muscovy from the Lati ...
. By then, apart from Muslim and Jewish minorities and
pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
subject peoples, the Russian people were
Christianised
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
, observing church festivals and marking births, marriages, and deaths with Orthodox rituals. However, many popular
religious practices were of pagan origin or marked by superstition, disorder, or drunkenness.
The main objectives of reformers in the 16th century, many from the
secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
clergy, were to outlaw pagan rituals and beliefs and to standardise the
liturgy
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
throughout the Muscovite realm. This resulted in the holding of the
Stoglavy Synod, a Russian church council in 1551, whose decrees formed the basis of Orthodox ritual and liturgy in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
This synod condemned many popular religious practices, such as forbidding the practice of
polyphony
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...
. In addition, while stressing the need for accurate copying of sacred documents, it also approved of traditional Russian liturgical practices that differed from contemporary Greek ones.
Origins of reform
During the reign of
Aleksei Mikhailovich (r. 1645–1676), the young tsar and his confessor, Stefan Vonifatiev, sponsored a group, mainly composed of non-monastic clergy and known as the
Zealots of Piety. These included the
archpriest
The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogous ...
Avvakum
Avvakum Petrov (russian: link=no, Аввакум Петров; 20 November 1620/21 – 14 April 1682) (also spelled Awakum) was an Old Believer and Russian protopope of the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square who led the opposition to Patriarch N ...
as a founder-member, as well as the future
patriarch
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...
Nikon, who joined in 1649. Their original aim was to revitalise the parishes through effective preaching, the orderly celebration of the liturgy, and enforcement of the church's moral teachings. To ensure that the liturgy was celebrated correctly, its original and authentic form had to be established, but the way that Nikon did this caused disputes between he and other reformers.
In 1646, Nikon first met Tsar Aleksei who immediately appointed him
archimandrite
The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...
of the
Novospassky monastery
Novospassky Monastery (''New Monastery of the Savior'', russian: Новоспасский монастырь) is one of the fortified monasteries surrounding Moscow from the south-east. Like all medieval Russian monasteries, it was built by the Ru ...
in Moscow. In 1649, Nikon was consecrated as the
Metropolitan of
Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...
and, in 1652, he became
Patriarch of Moscow
The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' (russian: Патриарх Московский и всея Руси, translit=Patriarkh Moskovskij i vseja Rusi), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the official title of the Bishop of Mo ...
.
During his time in Novgorod, Nikon began to develop his view that the responsibility for the spiritual health of Russia lay with senior church leaders, not the tsar. When he became patriarch, he started to reorganise the church's administration so it was wholly under his own control.
In 1649, a Greek delegation, headed by
Patriarch Paisios of Jerusalem, arrived in Moscow and tried to convince the tsar and Nikon that current Greek liturgical practices were authentically Orthodox and that Russian usages that differed from them were local innovations. This led to a heated debate between the visiting Greeks and many Russian clerics who believed that, by accepting the decrees of the
Council of Florence
The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place in ...
, the Greek patriarchate had compromised its authority and forfeited any right to dictate to Russia on liturgical matters.
Tsar Aleksei, Nikon and some of the Zealots of Piety decided that best way to revitalise the Russian church was to conform with the usages of the Greek church and accept the authority of the
Patriarch of Constantinople
The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...
.
Reforms of Nikon
![Cross of the Russian Orthodox Church 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Cross_of_the_Russian_Orthodox_Church_01.svg)
By the middle of the 17th century, Greek and Russian Church officials, including Patriarch Nikon of Moscow, had noticed discrepancies between contemporary Russian and Greek usages. They reached the conclusion that the Russian Orthodox Church had, as a result of errors of incompetent copyists, developed rites and
liturgical book
A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services.
Christianity Roman Rite
In the Roman Rite of the Catholic ...
s of its own that had significantly deviated from the Greek originals. Thus, the Russian Orthodox Church had become
dissonant
In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive Sound, sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness ...
with the other Orthodox churches.
[Kapterev, N. F., 1913, 1914.]
The unrevised Muscovite service-books derived from a different, and older, Greek
recension Recension is the practice of editing or revising a text based on critical analysis. When referring to manuscripts, this may be a revision by another author. The term is derived from Latin ''recensio'' ("review, analysis").
In textual criticism (as ...
than that which was used in the current Greek books, which had been revised over the centuries, and contained innovations. Nikon wanted to have the same rite in the Russian tsardom as those ethnically Slavic lands, then the territories of Ukraine and Belarus, that were then part of
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
, to attract local Orthodox rebels. Their rite was closer to the Greek than that in the Muscovite realm. Nikon did not accept the existence of two different rites in the same church.
Supported by Tsar Aleksei, Nikon carried out some preliminary liturgical reforms. In 1652, he convened a
synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
and exhorted the clergy on the need to compare Russian ''
Typikon
A typikon (or ''typicon'', ''typica''; gr, , "that of the prescribed form"; Church Slavonic, Slavonic: Тvпико́нъ ''Typikonə'' or Оуставъ, ''ustavə'') is a liturgical book which contains instructions about the order of the By ...
,'' ''
Euchologion
The Euchologion (Greek: ; Slavonic: Трeбникъ, ''Trebnik''; ro, Euhologiu/Molitfelnic) is one of the chief liturgical books of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches, containing the portions of the services which are sai ...
,'' and other liturgical books with their Greek counterparts. Monasteries from all over Russia received requests to send examples to Moscow to have them subjected to a comparative analysis. Such a task would have taken many years of conscientious research and could hardly have given an unambiguous result, given the complex development of the Russian
liturgical text
A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services.
Christianity Roman Rite
In the Roman Rite of the Catholic C ...
s over the previous centuries and the lack of textual
historiographic
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians hav ...
techniques at the time.
Without waiting for the completion of any comparative analysis, Nikon overrode the decrees of the Stoglavy Synod and ordered the printing of new editions of the Russian
psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...
,
missal, and a pamphlet justifying his liturgical changes.
The new psalter and missal altered the most frequently used words and visible gestures in the liturgy, including the pronunciation of Christ's name and making the
sign of the cross
Making the sign of the cross ( la, signum crucis), or blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. This blessing is made by the tracing of an upright cross or + across the body with ...
. In addition, the overbearing manner in which he forced the changes through turned Avvakum and others of the Zealots of Piety against him. Their protests led to their
excommunication
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
and exile and, in some cases, imprisonment or execution.
It was not disputed by the reformers that the Russian texts should be corrected by reference to the most ancient Greek, but also Slavonic, manuscripts, although they also considered that many traditional Russian ceremonial practices were acceptable. In addition, the hastily published new editions of the service books contained internal inconsistencies, and had to be reprinted several times in quick succession. Rather than being revised according to ancient Slavonic and Greek manuscripts, the new liturgical editions had actually been translated from modern Greek editions printed in Catholic Venice.
The
locum tenens
A locum, or locum tenens, is a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another; the term is especially used for physicians or clergy. For example, a ''locum tenens physician'' is a physician who works in the place of the regular physician. ...
for
Patriarch Pitirim of Moscow convened the 1666
Great Moscow Synod
The Great Moscow Synod () was a Pan-Orthodox synod convened by Tsar Alexis of Russia in Moscow in April 1666 in order to depose Patriarch Nikon of Moscow.
The council condemned the famous Stoglav of 1551 as heretical, because it had dogmatized t ...
, which brought Patriarch
Macarius III Ibn al-Za'im
Patriarch Macarius (or Makarios) III Ibn al-Za'im ( ar, مكاريوس الثالث بن الزعيم, Makāriyūs aṯ-Ṯāliṯ bin az-Zaʿīm; born Yousef Za'im, died 1672) was Patriarch of Antioch from 1647 to 1672. He led a period of blossom ...
of Antioch,
Patriarch Paisios of Alexandria, and many bishops to Moscow. Some scholars allege that the visiting patriarchs each received both 20,000 rubles in gold and furs for their participation.
This council officially established the reforms and anathematized not only all those opposing the innovations but the old Russian books and rites themselves as well. As a side-effect of condemning the past of the Russian Orthodox Church and her traditions, the innovations appeared to weaken the messianic theory depicting
Moscow as the Third Rome. Instead of the guardian of Orthodox faith, Moscow seemed an accumulation of serious liturgical mistakes.
It is argued that changing the wording of the eighth article of the
Nicaean Creed was one of the very few alterations that could be seen as a genuine correction, rather than aligning the texts of Russian liturgical books and practices, customs and even vestments with the Greek versions that Nikon considered were universally applicable norms.
Nikon also attacked Russian Church rituals as erroneous, and even in some cases heretical, in comparison with their contemporary Greek equivalents. This went beyond the recommendation of Patriarch Paisios of Jerusalem, who suggested that differences in ritual did not of themselves indicate error, accepting the possibility that differences have developed over time. He urged Nikon to use discretion in attempting to enforce complete uniformity with Greek practice.
Nevertheless, both patriarch and tsar wished to carry out their reforms, although their endeavors may have had as much or more political motivation as religious; several authors on this subject point out that Tsar Aleksei, encouraged by his military success in the
Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) to conquer West Russian provinces and Ukraine, developed ambitions of becoming the liberator of the Orthodox areas which at that time formed part of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. They also mention the role of the Near-East patriarchs, who actively supported the idea of the Russian Tsar becoming the liberator of all Orthodox Christians and who suggested that Patriarch Nikon might become the new Patriarch of Constantinople.
Main alterations
The numerous changes in both texts and rites occupied approximately 400 pages. Old Believers present the following as the most crucial changes:
![Boyaryna Morozova by V](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Boyaryna_Morozova_by_V.Surikov_-_sketch_04_%28Tretyakov_gallery%29.jpg)
Today's readers might perceive these alterations as trivial, but the faithful of that time saw rituals and dogmas as strongly interconnected: church rituals had from the beginning represented and symbolized doctrinal truth. The authorities imposed the reforms in an autocratic fashion, with no consultation of the subject people. Those who reacted against the
Nikonite reforms would have objected as much to the manner of imposition as to the alterations.
Changes were also often made arbitrarily in the texts. For example, wherever the books read 'Христосъ'
'Christ'' Nikon's assistants substituted 'Сынъ'
eaning ''the Son'' and wherever they read 'Сынъ' they substituted 'Христосъ'. Another example is that wherever the books read 'Церковь'
eaning ''Church'' Nikon substituted 'Храмъ'
eaning ''Temple''and vice versa.
According to a source sympathetic to the Old Believers:
Schism
![Spas vsederzhitel sinay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Spas_vsederzhitel_sinay.jpg)
Opponents of the ecclesiastical reforms of Nikon emerged among all strata of the people and in relatively large numbers (see
Raskol
The Schism of the Russian Church, also known as Raskol (russian: раскол, , meaning "split" or "schism"), was the splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in the mid-17th century. It ...
). However, after the deposition of Patriarch Nikon (1658), who presented too strong a challenge to the tsar's authority, a series of church councils officially endorsed Nikon's liturgical reforms. The Old Believers fiercely rejected all innovations, and the most radical among them maintained that the official Church had fallen into the hands of the
Antichrist
In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form) 1 John ; . 2 John . ...
. The Old Believers, under the leadership of Archpriest
Avvakum
Avvakum Petrov (russian: link=no, Аввакум Петров; 20 November 1620/21 – 14 April 1682) (also spelled Awakum) was an Old Believer and Russian protopope of the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square who led the opposition to Patriarch N ...
Petrov (1620 or 1621 to 1682), publicly denounced and rejected all ecclesiastical reforms. The State church anathematized both the old rites and books and those who wished to stay loyal to them at the synod of 1666. From that moment, the Old Believers officially lacked all civil rights.
The State had the most active Old Believers arrested, and executed several of them (including Archpriest Avvakum) some years later in 1682.
After the schism
![Map of Old Believer Settlements of Moscow Governorate in 1871](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Map_of_Old_Believer_Settlements_of_Moscow_Governorate_in_1871.jpg)
After 1685, a period of persecutions began, including both torture and executions. Many Old Believers fled Russia altogether, particularly for the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...
, where the community exists to this day. Old Believers became the dominant denomination in many regions, including the
Pomors
Pomors or Pomory ( rus, помо́ры, p=pɐˈmorɨ, ''seasiders'') are an ethnographic group descended from Russian settlers, primarily from Veliky Novgorod, living on the White Sea coasts and the territory whose southern border lies on a ...
of the
Russian Far North
The Extreme North or Far North (russian: Крайний Север, Дальний Север) is a large part of Russia located mainly north of the Arctic Circle and boasting enormous mineral and natural resources. Its total area is about , ...
, in the
Kursk
Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...
region, in the
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
, in
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
, and the
Russian Far East
The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...
. The 40,000-strong community of
Lipovans
, flag = Flag of the Lipovans.png
, flag_caption = Flag of the Lipovans
, image = Evstafiev-lipovane-slava-cherkeza.jpg
, caption = Lipovans during a ceremony in front of the Lipovan church in the Romanian village of Slava Cercheză in 200 ...
still lives in
Kiliya Raion (
Vylkove
Vylkove ( uk, Ви́лкове, ; russian: link=no, Вилково; ro, Vâlcov) is a small city located in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta, at utmost southwest of Ukraine, on the border with Romania. Administratively it is part of Izmai ...
) of Ukraine and
Tulcea County
Tulcea County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historical region Dobruja, with the capital city at Tulcea. It includes in its northeast corner the large and thinly-populated estuary of the Danube.
Demographics
In 2011, Tulcea Co ...
of Romania in the
Danube Delta. In the
Imperial Russian census of 1897, 2,204,596 people, about 1.75% of the population of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
self-declared as Old Believers or other denominations split from the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
. By the 1910s, in the last Imperial Russian census just before the
October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
, approximately ten percent of the population of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
said that they belonged to one of the Old Believer branches (census data).
Government oppression could vary from relatively moderate, as under
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
(reigned 1682–1725) (Old Believers had to pay double taxation and a separate
tax for wearing a beard)—to intense, as under
Tsar Nicholas I
, house = Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp
, father = Paul I of Russia
, mother = Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Gatchina Palace, Gatchina, Russian Empire
, death_date = ...
(reigned 1825–1855). The Russian synodal state church and the state authorities often saw Old Believers as dangerous elements and as a threat to the Russian state.
In 1762,
Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
passed an act that allowed Old Believers to practise their faith openly without interference.
Marc Raeff
Marc Raeff (1923–2008) (pronounced RY-eff) was a specialist in Russian history who taught at Columbia University in New York, 1961–88. He held the Bakhmeteff chair in Russian Studies.
Harvard University historian Richard Pipes says, "He was ...
, ''Catherine the Great: A Profile'' (New York: Hill and Wang, 1972), 294. In 1905,
Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...
signed an act of religious freedom that ended the persecution of all religious minorities in Russia. The Old Believers gained the right to build churches, to ring church bells, to hold processions and to organize themselves. It became prohibited (as under Catherine the Great—reigned 1762–1796) to refer to Old Believers as ''raskolniki'' (schismatics), a name they consider insulting. People often refer to the period from 1905 until 1917 as "the Golden Age of the Old Faith". One can regard the Act of 1905 as emancipating the Old Believers, who had until then occupied an almost illegal position in Russian society. Nevertheless, some restrictions for Old Believers continued: for example, they were forbidden from joining the civil service.
Old Believer denominations
Although all Old Believers groups emerged as a result of opposition to the Nikonite reform, they do not constitute a single monolithic body. Despite the emphasis on invariable adherence to the pre-Nikonite traditions, the Old Believers feature a great diversity of groups that profess different interpretations of the church tradition and often are not in communion with each other (some groups even practice
re-baptism Rebaptism in Christianity is the baptism of a person who has previously been baptized, usually in association with a denomination that does not recognize the validity of the previous baptism. When a denomination rebaptizes members of another denomi ...
before admitting a member of another group into their midst).
Since none of the bishops joined the Old Believers (except Bishop Pavel of
Kolomna
Kolomna ( rus, Колóмна, p=kɐˈlomnə) is a historical types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, situated at the confluence of the Moskva River, Moskva and Oka Rivers, (by rail) southeast of Moscow. Populati ...
, who was put to death for this),
apostolically ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
priests of the old rite would have soon become extinct. Two responses appeared to this dilemma: the ''
Popovtsy
The Popovtsy ( rus, поповцы, p=pɐˈpoft͡sɨ, "priested ones") or Popovschina (russian: поповщина) were from the 17th century one of the two main factions of Old Believers, along with the Bezpopovtsy ("priestless ones").
Historica ...
'' (поповцы, "with priests") and the ''
Bezpopovtsy
Bespopovtsy ( rus, беспоповцы, p=bʲɪspɐˈpoft͡sɨ, "priestless ones") are Priestless Old Believers that reject Nikonite priests. They are one of the two major strains of Old Believers.
Priestless Old Believers may have evolved int ...
'' ("priestless").
Priested (Popovtsy)
![Crucession Davidovo-Gora- Elizarovo-Lyahovo Guslitci Moscow reg 8528](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Crucession_Davidovo-Gora-_Elizarovo-Lyahovo_Guslitci_Moscow_reg_8528.jpg)
The Popovtsy represented the more moderate conservative opposition, those who strove to continue religious and church life as it had existed before the reforms of Nikon. They recognized ordained priests from the new-style Russian Orthodox church who joined the Old Believers and who had denounced the Nikonite reforms. In 1846, they convinced
Ambrose of Belaya Krinitsa
Metropolitan Ambrose (born Amoirеas Papageorgopolos, el, Αμοιρέας Παπαγεωργόπουλος, Andrey Popovich, russian: Андрей Попович; 1791–1863) was the first Old Believers' Metropolitan of the Ancient Orthodox ...
(1791–1863), a
Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
bishop whom Turkish pressure had removed from his see at
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...
, to become an Old Believer and to consecrate three Russian Old Believer priests as bishops. In 1859, the number of Old Believer bishops in Russia reached ten and they established their own episcopate, the
Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy {{Unreferenced, date=November 2021
Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy (russian: Белокриницкая иерархия) is the first full and stable church hierarchy created by the Old Believers.
The Orthodox Old-Rite Church (in earlier times called ...
.
Not all popovtsy Old Believers recognized this hierarchy. Dissenters known as ''beglopopovtsy'' obtained their own hierarchy in the 1920s. The priestist Old Believers thus manifest as two churches which share the same beliefs, but which treat each other's hierarchy as illegitimate. Popovtsy have priests, bishops and all
sacrament
A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...
s, including the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
.
*
Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy {{Unreferenced, date=November 2021
Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy (russian: Белокриницкая иерархия) is the first full and stable church hierarchy created by the Old Believers.
The Orthodox Old-Rite Church (in earlier times called ...
—The largest popovtsy denomination. One can refer to the Russian part of this denomination as the
Belokrinitskoe Soglasie
Belokrinitskoe soglasie () is the largest and one of the most 'temperate' and 'optimistic' denominations among the Popovtsy Old Believers. The name derives from the name of the village Belokrinitsa, where the full hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox ...
(the "Belokrinitsky Agreement") or as the
Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church
The Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church (or Russian Orthodox Oldritualist Church, Russian Orthodox Old-Ritualist Church) (russian: Русская Православная Старообрядческая Церковь) is an Eastern Orthodox Chur ...
. The Old Rite community founded at
Rogozhskoye Cemetery
Rogozhskoe cemetery ( rus, Рогожское кладбище, p=rɐˈɡoʂskəjɪ ˈkladbʲɪɕːɪ) in Moscow, Russia, is the spiritual and administrative center of the largest Old Believers denomination, called the Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Chu ...
played a major role in the creation of the denomination and remains as the seat of the ''Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia.''
** Neokruzhniki (extinct)
* Novozybkovskaya hierarchy or
Russian Old-Orthodox Church
The Russian Old Orthodox Church (russian: Русская Древлеправославная Церковь) is an Eastern Orthodox Church of the Old Believers tradition, born of a schism within the Russian Orthodox Church (''raskol'') during t ...
*
Nekrasov Cossacks
Nekrasov Cossacks, Nekrasovite Cossacks, Nekrasovites, Nekrasovtsy (russian: link=no, Некрасовцы, Некрасовские казаки, Казаки-некрасовцы) descend from those Don Cossacks who, after the defeat of the B ...
, ''Nekrasovtsy''
*
Beglopopovtsy Beglopopovtsy ( rus, беглопоповцы, p=bʲɪɡləpɐˈpoft͡sɨ, "followers of runaway priests") was one of the denominations among the Popovtsy, who belonged to the Old Believers.
Since none of the bishops joined the Old Believers movem ...
(extinct, now the Russian Old-Orthodox Church)
* Luzhkane, also known as ''Luzhkovskoe soglasie''; in some places, they had no priests and so belonged to the Bezpopovtsy (extinct)
* There have also been Old Believer members, like Fr.
Potapy Emelianov
Potapy Emelianov (c. 1889, Ufa Governorate, Russian Empire – 14 August 1936, Nadvoitsy, Segezhsky District, Karelian ASSR, USSR) was a monastic priest, or Hieromonk, from the Old Ritualist tradition within Russian Orthodoxy who entered the Rus ...
, of the
Russian Catholic Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow,_Catholic_Church_in_Presnya.jpg
, imagewidth = 200px
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
, abbreviation =
, ty ...
united with the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
, who would also be classed as ''popovtsy''
Priestless (Bezpopovtsy)
The Bezpopovtsy rejected "the World" where they believed the
Antichrist
In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form) 1 John ; . 2 John . ...
reigned; they preached the imminent end of the world,
asceticism
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
, adherence to the old rituals and the old faith. More radical movements which already existed prior to the reforms of Nikon and where eschatological and anti-clerical sentiments were predominant, would join the bezpopovtsy Old Believers. The Bezpopovtsy claimed that any
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
or
ordinary who has ever used the Nikonite Rites have forfeited
apostolic succession
Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bish ...
. Therefore, the true church of Christ had ceased to exist on Earth, and they therefore renounced priests and all sacraments except
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
.
The Bezpopovtsy movement has many sub-groups. Bezpopovtsy have no priests and no
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
. Priestless churches, however, may elect a mentor () or church leader () to lead the community and its services.
*
Pomorian Old-Orthodox Church
The Pomorian Old Orthodox Church ( rus, Древлеправославная поморская церковь, Drevlepravoslavnaya pomorskaya tserkov), also known as the Pomorian Church, Danilovtsy, Danilov's confession, or simply as Pomorians, i ...
or Danilovtsy (not to be confused with
Pomors
Pomors or Pomory ( rus, помо́ры, p=pɐˈmorɨ, ''seasiders'') are an ethnographic group descended from Russian settlers, primarily from Veliky Novgorod, living on the White Sea coasts and the territory whose southern border lies on a ...
) originated in North Russia (
East Karelia,
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast (russian: Арха́нгельская о́бласть, ''Arkhangelskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land ...
). Initially they rejected marriage and prayer for the Tsar.
* Novopomortsy, or "New Pomortsy": accept marriage
* Staropomortsy, or "Old Pomortsy": reject marriage
*
Fedoseevtsy Fedoseevtsy, also Fedoseyans (федосеевцы, феодосиевцы in Russian), sometimes anglicised as Theodosians, comprise a dissident religious movement formed in Imperial Russia. They have become one of the denominations among the Bespo ...
: "Society of Christian Old Believers of the Old Pomortsy Unmarried Confession" (1690s until present); deny marriage and practice cloister-style asceticism.
*
Filippians
Filippians or Philippians () was a ''soglasiye'' (confession, literally, "agreement") of the Bespopovtsy (the "priestless") strain of Old Believers. They detached themselves from Pomortsy under the leadership of a "teacher" Filipp at the beginn ...
: Named after their founder, Filipp. They were repressed by the Russian Government and so, the Fillipovtsy started practicing
self-immolation
The term self-immolation broadly refers to acts of altruistic suicide, otherwise the giving up of one's body in an act of sacrifice. However, it most often refers specifically to autocremation, the act of sacrificing oneself by setting oneself o ...
as a means for the "preservation of the faith".
*
Chasovennye (from ''chasovnya'' i.e. chapel), a Siberian branch. The Chasovennye initially had priests, but later decided to change to a priest-less practice. Also known as
Semeyskie (in the lands east of
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
).
Minor groups
Apart from these major groups, many smaller groups have emerged and became extinct at various times since the end of the 17th century:
* ''
Aristovtsy'' (beginning of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th centuries; extinct): from the name of the merchant Aristov;
* ''Titlovtsy'' (extinct in the twentieth century): emerged from
Fedoseevtsy Fedoseevtsy, also Fedoseyans (федосеевцы, феодосиевцы in Russian), sometimes anglicised as Theodosians, comprise a dissident religious movement formed in Imperial Russia. They have become one of the denominations among the Bespo ...
, supported the use of the inscription "
INRI
In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the King of the Jews, both at the beginning of his life and at the end. In the Koine Greek of the New Testament, e.g., in John 19:3, this is written as '' Basileus ton Ioudaion'' ().
Both uses of t ...
" (''titlo'') upon the
Orthodox cross
The Russian Orthodox Cross (or just the Orthodox Cross by some Russian Orthodox traditions) is a variation of the Christian cross since the 16th century in Russia, although it bears some similarity to a cross with a bottom crossbeam slanted the ...
, which other groups rejected;
* ''Troparion'' confession (troparschiki): a group that commemorated the
tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
in the hymns (
troparia
A troparion (Greek , plural: , ; Georgian: , ; Church Slavonic: , ) in Byzantine music and in the religious music of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a short hymn of one stanza, or organised in more complex forms as series of stanzas.
The wi ...
);
* Daniel's confession of the "partially married" (''danilovtsy polubrachnye'');
* Adamant confession (''adamantovy''): refused to use money and passports (as containing the seal of
Antichrist
In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form) 1 John ; . 2 John . ...
);
* Aaron's confession (''aaronovtsy''): second half of the 18th century, a spin-off of the Fillipovtsy.
* "Grandmother's confession" or the Self-baptized: practiced self-baptism or the baptism by midwives (''babushki''), since a valid priesthood—in their opinion—had ceased to exist;
* "Hole-worshippers" (''dyrniki''): relinquished the use of
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
s and prayed to the East through a hole in the wall;
* Melchisedecs (in Moscow and in
Bashkortostan
The Republic of Bashkortostan or Bashkortostan ( ba, Башҡортостан Республикаһы, Bashqortostan Respublikahy; russian: Республика Башкортостан, Respublika Bashkortostan),; russian: Респу́блик ...
): practised a peculiar lay "quasi-Eucharistic" rite;
* "Runaways" (''beguny'') or "Wanderers" (''stranniki'');
* "Netovtsy" or Saviour's Confession: denied the possibility of celebrating sacraments and praying in churches; the name comes from the Russian ''net'' "no", since they have "no" sacraments, "no" churches, "no" priests, etc.
Edinovertsy
Edinovertsy (, i.e. "people of the same faith"; collective, единоверчество; often referred to as Orthodox Old Ritualists, православные старообрядцы): Agreed to become a part of the official Russian Orthodox Church while saving the old rites. First appearing in 1800, the Edinovertsy come under the
omophorion
In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic liturgical tradition, the ''omophorion'' ( grc-gre, ὠμοφόριον, meaning " omethingborne on the shoulders"; Slavonic: омофоръ, ''omofor'') is the distinguishing vestment of a bishop an ...
of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate –
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, abbreviated as ROCOR – have come into communion under different circumstances and retain being old believers in the traditional context and retain the use of the pre-Nikonite rituals.
Alexander Dugin
Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin ( rus, Александр Гельевич Дугин; born 7 January 1962) is a Russian political philosopher, analyst, and strategist, who has been widely characterized as a fascist.
Born into a military intellig ...
, sociologist and a former strategic adviser to
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, is a proponent of edinoverie, since it combines Apostolic succession of the
ROC, while preserving pre-Nikonite liturgical tradition.
Validity of the reformist theory
Vladimir
Vladimir may refer to:
Names
* Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name
* Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name
* Volodymyr for the Ukr ...
officially converted the Eastern Slavs to Christianity in 988, and the people had adopted
Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
liturgical practices. At the end of the 11th century, the efforts of St. Theodosius of the Caves in Kiev (''Феодосий Киево-Печерский'', d. 1074) introduced the so-called ''Studite Typicon'' to Russia. This ''typicon'' (essentially, a guide-book for liturgical and monastic life) reflected the traditions of the urban
Monastery of Stoudios
The Monastery of Stoudios, more fully Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner "at Stoudios" ( grc-gre, Μονή του Αγίου Ιωάννη του Προδρόμου εν τοις Στουδίου, Monē tou Hagiou Iōannē tou Prodromou en to ...
in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
. The ''Studite typicon'' predominated throughout the western part of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and was accepted throughout the Russian lands. At the end of the 14th century, through the work of
Cyprian
Cyprian (; la, Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus; 210 – 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Chri ...
, metropolitan of Moscow and Kiev, the Studite liturgical practices were gradually replaced in Russia with the so-called ''Jerusalem Typicon'' or the ''Typicon of St. Sabbas''—originally, an adaptation of the Studite liturgy to the customs of Palestinian monasteries. The process of gradual change of ''typica'' would continue throughout the 15th century and, because of its slow implementation, met with little resistance—unlike Nikon's reforms, conducted with abruptness and violence. However, in the course of the 15th—17th centuries, Russian scribes continued to insert some Studite material into the general shape of ''Jerusalem Typicon''. This explains the differences between the modern version of the ''Typicon'', used by the Russian Orthodox Church, and the pre-Nikonite Russian recension of ''Jerusalem Typicon'', called ''Oko Tserkovnoe'' (Rus. "eye of the church"). This pre-Nikonite version, based on the Moscow printed editions of 1610, 1633 and 1641, continues to be used by modern Old Believers.
However, in the course of the polemics against Old Believers, the official Russian Orthodox Church often claimed the discrepancies (which emerged in the texts between the Russian and the Greek churches) as Russian innovations, errors, or arbitrary translations. This charge of "Russian innovation" re-appeared repeatedly in the textbooks and anti-''raskol'' treatises and catecheses, including, for example, those by
Dimitry of Rostov
Demetrius of Rostov (russian: Димитрий Ростовский, translit=Dmitri Rostovsky, ua, Димитрій Ростовський, translit=Dymytrii Rostovskyi, secular name Daniil Savvich Tuptalo, russian: Даниил Саввич Т ...
.
The critical evaluation of the sources and of the essence of the church reforms began only in the 1850s, with the groundbreaking work of several church historians,
Byzantinists
Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music, science, economy, coinage and politics of the Eastern Roman Empire. T ...
, and theologians, including
S. A. Belokurov,
A. P. Shchapov, A. K. Borozdin, N. Gibbenet and, later,
E. E. Golubinsky,
A. V. Kartashev, A. A. Dmitriyevsky, and
Nikolai F. Kapterev (the last four were members of the
Imperial Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...
). Research was continued later mainly by
Serge A. Zenkovsky, a specialist on Russian ecclesiastical culture. Golubinsky, Dmitriyevsky, Kartashov and Kapterev, amongst others, demonstrated that the rites, rejected and condemned by the church reforms, were genuine traditions of
Orthodox Christianity
Orthodoxy (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion.
Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Late antiquity, A ...
, altered in Greek usage during the 15th–16th centuries but remaining unchanged in Russia. The pre-Nikonite liturgical practices, including some elements of the Russian typicon ''Oko Tserkovnoe'', were demonstrated to have preserved earlier Byzantine practices, being closer to the earlier Byzantine texts than some later Greek customs.
Remarkably, the scholars who opened the new avenues for re-evaluation of the reform by the Russian Church themselves held membership in the official church (A. V. Kapterev, for instance, was a professor at the
Slavic Greek Latin Academy) but nevertheless took up serious study of the causes and background of the reforms and of the resulting schism. Their research revealed that the official explanation regarding the old Russian books and rites was unsustainable.
Background
As
Serge A. Zenkovsky points out in his standard work ''Russia's Old Believers'', the Old Believer schism did not occur simply as a result of a few individuals with power and influence. The schism had complex causes, revealing historical processes and circumstances in 17th-century Russian society. Those who broke from the hierarchy of the official State Church had quite divergent views on church, faith, society, state power and social issues. Thus the collective term "Old Believers" groups together various movements within Russian society which actually had existed long before 1666–67. They shared a distrust of state power and of the episcopate, insisting upon the right of the people to arrange their own spiritual life, and expressing the ambition to aim for such control.
Both the popovtsy and bespopovtsy, although theologically and psychologically two different teachings, manifested spiritual, eschatological and mystical tendencies throughout Russian religious thought and church life. One can also emphasize the schism's position in the political and cultural background of its time: increasing
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
influence,
secularization
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
, and attempts to subordinate the Church to the state. Nevertheless, the Old Believers sought above all to defend and preserve the purity of the Orthodox faith, embodied in the old rituals, which inspired many to strive against Patriarch Nikon's church reforms even unto death.
In the past the Old Believers' movement was often perceived as an obscure faith in rituals that led to the deaths of tens of thousands of ignorant people. Old Believers were accused of not being able to distinguish the important from the unimportant. To many people of that time, however, rituals expressed the very essence of their faith. Old Believers hold that the preservation of a certain "microclimate" that enables the salvation of one's soul requires not only living by the
commandments of Christ, but also carefully preserving Church tradition, which contains the
spiritual power and knowledge of past centuries, embodied in external forms.
The Old Believers reject the idea of contents ''a priori'' prevailing over form. To illustrate this issue, the renowned Russian historian
Vasily Klyuchevsky
Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky (russian: Василий Осипович Ключевский; in Voskresnskoye Village, Penza Governorate, Russia – , Moscow) was a leading Russian Imperial historian of the late imperial period. Also, he addres ...
(1841–1911) referred to poetry. He argued, that if one converts a poem into prose, the contents of the poem may remain intact, but the poem will lose its charm and emotional impact; moreover, the poem will essentially no longer exist. In the case of religious rituals, form and contents do not just form two separable, autonomous entities, but connect with each other through complex relationships, including theological, psychological, phenomenal, aesthetic and historic dimensions.
These aspects, in their turn, play a role in the perception of these rituals by the faithful and in their spiritual lives. Considering the fact that Church rituals from their very beginning were intertwined with doctrinal truth, changing these rituals may have a tremendous effect on religious conscience and a severe impact on the faithful.
Nevertheless, centuries of persecution and the nature of their origin have made some Old Believers culturally conservative. Some Old Believers consider any pre-Nikonite Orthodox Russian practice or artifact as exclusively theirs, denying that the Russian Orthodox Church has any claims upon a history before Patriarch Nikon.
However, Russian economic history of the late 19th and early 20th centuries reveals the Old-Believer merchant families as more flexible and more open to innovations while creating factories and starting the first Russian industries.
Main differences
![Borisgleb riding](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Borisgleb_riding.jpg)
* Old Believers use two fingers while making the
Sign of the Cross
Making the sign of the cross ( la, signum crucis), or blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. This blessing is made by the tracing of an upright cross or + across the body with ...
(the pointer finger straight, middle finger slightly bent) while new-style Orthodoxy uses two fingers and the thumb for the sign of cross (the thumb and two fingers are held together at point, two fingers folded). Old Ritualists generally say the
Jesus Prayer
The Jesus Prayer,; syr, ܨܠܘܬܐ ܕܝܫܘܥ, translit=slotho d-yeshu'; syr, label= Amharic, Geez and Tigrinya, እግዚኦ መሐረነ ክርስቶስ, translit=igizi'o meḥarene kirisitosi. "Note: We are still searching the Fathers for ...
with the Sign of the Cross, while New Ritualists use the Sign of the Cross as a Trinitarian symbol. This makes for a significant difference between the two branches of Russian Orthodoxy, and one of the most noticeable (see the picture of Boyarynya
Feodosia Morozova
Feodosia Prokopiyevna Morozova (russian: link=no, Феодосия Прокопьевна Морозова; 21 May 1632 – 1 December 1675) was one of the best-known partisans of the Old Believer movement. She was perceived as a martyr after s ...
above). A
prayer rug
A prayer rug or prayer mat is a piece of fabric, sometimes a pile carpet, used by Muslims, some Christians and some Baha'i during prayer.
In Islam, a prayer mat is placed between the ground and the worshipper for cleanliness during the various ...
known as the
Podruchnik The Podruchnik (Russian: "подручник", literally "something under an arm") is a small prayer rug, once used in prayer by all Russian Orthodox Christians in the Tsardom of Russia before the schism of 1653 but currently in use only by the Old ...
is used to keep one's face and hands clean during
prostrations
Prostration is the gesture of placing one's body in a reverentially or submissively prone position. Typically prostration is distinguished from the lesser acts of bowing or kneeling by involving a part of the body above the knee, especially ...
, as these parts of the body are used to make the
sign of the cross
Making the sign of the cross ( la, signum crucis), or blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. This blessing is made by the tracing of an upright cross or + across the body with ...
on oneself.
* Old Believers reject any changes and emendations of liturgical texts and rituals introduced by the reforms of
Patriarch Nikon
Nikon ( ru , Ни́кон, Old Russian: ''Нїконъ''), born Nikita Minin (''Никита Минин''; 7 May 1605 – 17 August 1681) was the seventh Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' of the Russian Orthodox Church, serving officially from ...
. Thus they continue to use the previous
Church Slavonic translation of the Greek texts, including the
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...
, striving to preserve intact the "pre-Nikonite" practices of the Russian Church.
* Old Believers only recognize performing
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
through three full immersions, in agreement with the Greek practice, but reject the validity of any
baptismal
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
rite performed otherwise (for example through pouring or sprinkling, as the Russian Orthodox Church has occasionally accepted since the 18th century). (See
Oblivantsy)
* Old Believers perform the
Liturgy
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
with seven
prosphora
A prosphoron ( el, πρόσφορον, ''offering'') is a small loaf of leavened bread used in Orthodox Christian and Greek Catholic (Byzantine) liturgies. The plural form is ''prosphora'' (). The term originally meant any offering made to a ...
, instead of five as in new-rite Russian Orthodoxy or a single large prosphoron, as sometimes done by the Greeks and Arabs.
* Old Believers chant the
alleluia
Alleluia (derived from the Hebrew ''Hallelujah'', meaning "Praise Yahweh") is a Latin phrase in Christianity used to give praise to God. In Christian worship, Alleluia is used as a liturgical chant in which that word is combined with verses of ...
verse after the psalmody twice rather than the three times mandated by the Nikonite reforms.
* Old Believers do not use
polyphonic singing as the new-style Russian practice, but only the monodic, unison singing of
Znamenny chant
Znamenny Chant (russian: знаменное пение, знаменный распев) is a singing tradition used by some in the Russian Eastern Orthodox Church. Znamenny Chant is a unison, melismatic liturgical singing that has its own spec ...
. In this respect it represents a tradition that parallels the use of
Byzantine chant and
neumatic notation.
Present situation
![Oldbelieverchurch in Oregon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Oldbelieverchurch_in_Oregon.jpg)
In 1971, the
Moscow Patriarchate revoked the anathemas imposed on the Old Believers in the 17th century. In 1974, the
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia issued an ''
ukase
In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz (russian: указ ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader ( patriarch) that had the force of law. " Edict" and "decree" are adequate translations using the terminology and concep ...
'' revoking the anathemas, asking forgiveness from the Old Believers. Under their auspices, the first efforts to make the prayer and service books of the Old Believers available in English were made. Nevertheless, most Old Believer communities have not returned to
full communion with the majority of Orthodox Christianity worldwide.
![Old Believer Church Gervais Oregon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Old_Believer_Church_Gervais_Oregon.JPG)
some living in extremely isolated communities in places to which they fled centuries ago to avoid persecution. One Old Believer parish in the United States, in
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
, has entered into communion with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, after a split in the congregation. The remainder have continued as Old Believers.
Old Believer churches in Russia have started restoration of their property, although Old Believers face many difficulties in claiming their
restitution
The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court o ...
rights for their churches. Moscow has churches for all the most important Old Believer branches:
Rogozhskaya Zastava (
Popovtsy
The Popovtsy ( rus, поповцы, p=pɐˈpoft͡sɨ, "priested ones") or Popovschina (russian: поповщина) were from the 17th century one of the two main factions of Old Believers, along with the Bezpopovtsy ("priestless ones").
Historica ...
of the
Belokrinitskaya hierarchy {{Unreferenced, date=November 2021
Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy (russian: Белокриницкая иерархия) is the first full and stable church hierarchy created by the Old Believers.
The Orthodox Old-Rite Church (in earlier times called ...
official center), a cathedral for the
Novozybkovskaya hierarchy
Novozybkovsky District (russian: Новозы́бковский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #13-Z and municipalLaw #3-Z district (raion), one of the twenty-seven in Bryansk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the west of the oblast and bord ...
in
Zamoskvorech'ye and
Preobrazhenskaya Zastava
Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery (russian: Преображенское кладбище, lit. Transfiguration Cemetery) is a cemetery in the eastern part of Moscow long associated with Old Believers. It was inaugurated by a Fedoseevtsy merchant in 177 ...
where
Pomortsy
The Pomorian Old Orthodox Church ( rus, Древлеправославная поморская церковь, Drevlepravoslavnaya pomorskaya tserkov), also known as the Pomorian Church, Danilovtsy, Danilov's confession, or simply as Pomorians, i ...
and
Fedoseevtsy Fedoseevtsy, also Fedoseyans (федосеевцы, феодосиевцы in Russian), sometimes anglicised as Theodosians, comprise a dissident religious movement formed in Imperial Russia. They have become one of the denominations among the Bespo ...
coexist.
![Russian Old Believers in Nikolaevsk AK USA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Russian_Old_Believers_in_Nikolaevsk_AK_USA.jpg)
Within the Old Believer world, only Pomortsy and Fedoseevtsy treat each other relatively well; none of the other denominations acknowledge each other. Ordinary Old Believers display some tendencies of inter-branch
ecumenism
Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
, but these trends find sparse support among the official leaders of the congregations.
Modern-day Old Believers live all over the world, having fled Russia under tsarist persecution and after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Some Old Believers are still transient throughout various parts of the world today. Significant established Old Believer communities exist in the United States and Canada in
Plamondon, Alberta
Plamondon is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada within Lac La Biche County. It is located on Highway 858, approximately north of Highway 55, and has an elevation of .
The hamlet is located in Census Division No. 12 and in the federal ridi ...
;
Hines Creek, Alberta
Hines Creek is a village in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located 67 km west of Grimshaw and 28 km north of Fairview, along Highway 64.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Village ...
;
Woodburn, Oregon
Woodburn is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. Incorporated in 1889, the community had been platted in 1871 after the arrival of the railroad. The city is located in the northern end of the Willamette Valley between Portland and ...
;
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
;
Erskine, Minnesota
Erskine is a city in Polk County, Minnesota. The population was 403 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Grand Forks region.
History
Erskine was laid out in 1889, and named for John Quincy Erskine, a Minnesota banker. A ...
and in various parts of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
including near
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
in the
Fox River area villages of
Voznesenka
Voznesenka (Russian: ''Вознесенка'', ) is a small unincorporated community in the Kenai Peninsula Borough 23 miles northeast of Homer, Alaska, United States.
Brief overlook
Located on the Kenai Peninsula, about east of Homer, Voznesenka ...
,
Razdolna
Razdolna (Russian: Раздольна, ) is a small unincorporated community in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. Located on the Kenai Peninsula, it lies roughly 30 miles east of Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēro ...
, and
Kachemak Selo
Kachemak Selo (Russian: Качемак Село) is a small unincorporated community in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. Located on the Kenai Peninsula, it lies roughly 30 miles east of Homer. The community is one of several settlem ...
,
Nikolaevsk,
Beryozovka,
Delta Junction
Delta Junction ( uk, Делта-Джанкшен, Delta Dzhankshen) is a city in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 958, up from 840 in 2000. The 2018 estimate was down to 931. T ...
, and
Kodiak, Alaska
Kodiak ( Alutiiq: , russian: Кадьяк), formerly Paul's Harbor, is the main city and one of seven communities on Kodiak Island in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska. All commercial transportation between the island's communities and the outside ...
(
Larsen Bay
Larsen Bay (Alutiiq: ) is a city in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 87, down from 115 in 2000.
Geography
Larsen Bay is located at (57.536651, -153.991440).
According to the United States Cen ...
area, and on
Raspberry Island). Two communities also exist in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia and in the
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
of New Zealand. A large community existed in
Yarwun
Yarwun is a rural coastal town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Yarwun had a population of 119 people.
Geography
The North Coast railway line, Queensland, N ...
, Australia, for many years until many families left the area in the early 2000s. Communities also have been established in many parts of South America, including Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia and Argentina,
where they moved after having found refuge in China between the 1920s and the 1950s.
Old Believer communities are also found in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
and
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
.
Small hidden communities have been found in the Russian Far North (specifically remote areas of
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast (russian: Арха́нгельская о́бласть, ''Arkhangelskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land ...
and the
Komi Republic
The Komi Republic (russian: Республика Коми; kv, Коми Республика), sometimes simply referred to as Komi, is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. Its capital is the city of Syktyvkar. The population of th ...
) and various regions of Siberia, especially concentrated in the areas between the
Altai Mountains
The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The m ...
and
Tuva Republic
Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...
. Perhaps the highest concentration of older established Old Believer communities, with foundations dating back hundreds of years, can be found concentrated in Eastern Siberia, specifically the
Transbaikal
Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykalye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal in Far Eastern Russia.
The steppe and ...
region in desolate areas of
Buryatia and
Zabaykalsky Krai
Zabaykalsky Krai ( rus, Забайкальский край, r=Zabaikal'skii krai, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲskʲɪj kraj, lit. "Transbaikal krai"; bua, Yбэр Байгалай хизаар, Uber Baigalai Xizaar) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai) t ...
. Others, like the
Lykov family
The Lykov family (russian: Лыков, translit=Lykov) is a Russian family of Old Believers. The family of six spent 42 years in partial isolation from human society in an otherwise uninhabited upland of Abakan Range, in Tashtypsky District of ...
, fled later into the wild to avoid Communist persecution.
The
Lipovans
, flag = Flag of the Lipovans.png
, flag_caption = Flag of the Lipovans
, image = Evstafiev-lipovane-slava-cherkeza.jpg
, caption = Lipovans during a ceremony in front of the Lipovan church in the Romanian village of Slava Cercheză in 200 ...
, who live in Romania's
Danube Delta, are descendants of the Old Believers who left Russia in around 1740 to avoid religious persecutions.
A conservative estimate for the Old Believer population in Bolivia stands at some 3,000, while that in Alaska is estimated at 2,500. Old Believers arrived in Alaska, US, in the second half of the 20th century, helping to revive a shrinking Orthodox population.
Old Believers from Russia fled to
Swedish Estonia and
Livonia
Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...
in the end of the 17th century. Currently, there are 2,605 Old Believers in Estonia according to the 2011 Census. They live mostly in villages from
Mustvee
Mustvee is a town in Mustvee Parish, Estonia. It lies on the shore of Lake Peipus in Jõgeva County. Its population of 1,600 is approximately half Estonian and half Russian. The name of Mustvee was first recorded in 1343 at the time of reign ...
to
Omedu
Omedu is a village in Mustvee Parish, Jõgeva County in eastern Estonia. (retrieved 28 July 2021)
References
Villages in Jõgeva County
{{Jõgeva-geo-stub ...
and from
Nina to
Varnja
Varnja is a small borough ( et, alevik) in Peipsiääre Parish, Tartu County, in northeastern Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gu ...
on the western coast of
Lake Peipus
Lake Peipus ( et, Peipsi-Pihkva järv; russian: Чудско-Псковское озеро, Псковско-Чудское озеро, Chudsko-Pskovskoye ozero, Pskovsko-Chudskoye ozero); is the largest trans-boundary lake in Europe, lying on ...
, and on
Piirissaar
Piirissaar (earlier ''Borka'', russian: Межа, translit=Mezha or Желачек, romanized: Zhelachek) is an Estonian island located in Lake Peipus. It belongs to Tartu County as the Tartu Parish.
Piirissaar is the largest island in Lake ...
Island. Their proximity to Lake Peipus gives them their name ''peipsivenelased'' ("Peipus Russians") in
Estonian.
Two Old Believer missions have been established in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
.
Old Believer churches
*
Lipovan Orthodox Old-Rite Church
The Lipovan Orthodox Old-Rite Church (or Orthodox Old-ritualist Church, Orthodox Old-Rite Church, ro, Biserica Ortodoxă de Rit Vechi din România) is the Romanian Old Believer jurisdiction of the Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy.
The head of the Churc ...
(
Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy {{Unreferenced, date=November 2021
Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy (russian: Белокриницкая иерархия) is the first full and stable church hierarchy created by the Old Believers.
The Orthodox Old-Rite Church (in earlier times called ...
,
Lipovans
, flag = Flag of the Lipovans.png
, flag_caption = Flag of the Lipovans
, image = Evstafiev-lipovane-slava-cherkeza.jpg
, caption = Lipovans during a ceremony in front of the Lipovan church in the Romanian village of Slava Cercheză in 200 ...
)
* (
Fedoseevtsy Fedoseevtsy, also Fedoseyans (федосеевцы, феодосиевцы in Russian), sometimes anglicised as Theodosians, comprise a dissident religious movement formed in Imperial Russia. They have become one of the denominations among the Bespo ...
)
*
Pomorian Old-Orthodox Church
The Pomorian Old Orthodox Church ( rus, Древлеправославная поморская церковь, Drevlepravoslavnaya pomorskaya tserkov), also known as the Pomorian Church, Danilovtsy, Danilov's confession, or simply as Pomorians, i ...
(
Pomortsy
The Pomorian Old Orthodox Church ( rus, Древлеправославная поморская церковь, Drevlepravoslavnaya pomorskaya tserkov), also known as the Pomorian Church, Danilovtsy, Danilov's confession, or simply as Pomorians, i ...
)
** Pomorian Old-Orthodox Church of Lithuania
** Union of Old Believer Parishes in Estonia
*
Russian Old-Orthodox Church
The Russian Old Orthodox Church (russian: Русская Древлеправославная Церковь) is an Eastern Orthodox Church of the Old Believers tradition, born of a schism within the Russian Orthodox Church (''raskol'') during t ...
(
Novozybkovskaya Hierarchy
Novozybkovsky District (russian: Новозы́бковский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #13-Z and municipalLaw #3-Z district (raion), one of the twenty-seven in Bryansk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the west of the oblast and bord ...
)
*
Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church
The Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church (or Russian Orthodox Oldritualist Church, Russian Orthodox Old-Ritualist Church) (russian: Русская Православная Старообрядческая Церковь) is an Eastern Orthodox Chur ...
(
Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy {{Unreferenced, date=November 2021
Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy (russian: Белокриницкая иерархия) is the first full and stable church hierarchy created by the Old Believers.
The Orthodox Old-Rite Church (in earlier times called ...
)
See also
*
Ancient Church of the East
The Ancient Church of the East is an Eastern Christian denomination. It branched from the Assyrian Church of the East in 1964, under the leadership of Mar Thoma Darmo (d. 1969). It is one of three Assyrian Churches that claim continuity with t ...
— an
East Syriac
The East Syriac Rite or East Syrian Rite, also called the Edessan Rite, Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, Nestorian Rite, Babylonian Rite or Syro-Oriental Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy ...
Church, founded in 1968 over similar reasons to split off from
Assyrian Church of the East
The Assyrian Church of the East,, ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية sometimes called Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East,; ar, كنيسة المشرق الآشورية الرسول ...
*
Confessing Movement
The Confessing Movement is a largely laity, lay-led Conservative Christianity, theologically conservative Christian movement that opposes the influence of liberal christianity, theological liberalism and progressive christianity, theological pr ...
*
Continuing Anglican movement
The Continuing Anglican Movement, also known as the Anglican Continuum, encompasses a number of Christian churches, principally based in North America, that have an Anglican identity and tradition but are not part of the Anglican Communion.
Thes ...
*
Independent Catholic
Independent Catholicism is an independent sacramental movement of clergy and laity who self-identify as Catholic (most often as Old Catholic or as Independent Catholic) and form "micro-churches claiming apostolic succession and valid sacramen ...
* ''
Khovanshchina
''Khovanshchina'' ( rus, Хованщина, , xɐˈvanʲɕːɪnə, Ru-Khovanshchina_version.ogg, sometimes rendered ''The Khovansky Affair'') is an opera (subtitled a 'national music drama') in five acts by Modest Mussorgsky. The work was writt ...
''
*
Lykov family
The Lykov family (russian: Лыков, translit=Lykov) is a Russian family of Old Believers. The family of six spent 42 years in partial isolation from human society in an otherwise uninhabited upland of Abakan Range, in Tashtypsky District of ...
*
Old Believers (Latvia)
The Christian Union of Latvian Orthodox, generally known as the Old Believers ( lv, Vecticībnieki), was a political party in Latvia in the inter-war period. It was led by M Kalistratov.Vincent E McHale (1983) ''Political parties of Europe'', Gre ...
*
Sedevacantism
Sedevacantism ( la, Sedevacantismus) is a doctrinal position within traditionalist Catholicism, which holds that the present occupier of the Holy See is not a valid pope due to the pope's espousal of one or more heresies and that therefore, f ...
*
Traditionalist Catholic
Traditionalist Catholicism is the set of beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions, and presentations of Catholic teaching that existed in the Catholic Church before the liberal reforms of the Second Vatican Council ( ...
*
True Orthodoxy
True Orthodox church, True Orthodox Christians, True Orthodoxy or Genuine Orthodoxy, often pejoratively "Zealotry", designates groups of traditionalist Eastern Orthodox churches which have severed communion since the 1920s with the mainstream East ...
— a denominational movement within
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
over differences such as
ecumenism
Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
and
Calendar reforms since the early 20th century
References
Sources
In English
* Cherniavsky, M.: "The Reception of the Council of Florence in Moscow", ''Church History'' XXIV (1955), 147–57.
* Shevchenko I., "Ideological Repercussions of the Council of Florence", ''Church History'' XXIV (1955), 291–323.
* Crummey, Robert O.: ''The Old Believers & The World Of Antichrist; The Vyg Community & The Russian State'', Wisconsin U.P., 1970
* Crummey, Robert O.: ''Eastern Orthodoxy in Russia and Ukraine in the age of the Counter-Reformation in The Cambridge History of Christianity Vol.5, Eastern Christianity'', Cambridge University Press, 2008
* De Simone, Peter T.: ''The Old Believers in Imperial Russia: Oppression, Opportunism and Religious Identity in Tsarist Moscow'', I. B. Tauris, 2018 ISBN 978-1784538927
* Gill, T.: ''The Council of Florence'', Cambridge, 1959
*
MacCulloch, Diarmaid, ''A History of Christianity'', 2009, Penguin 2010 , chapter 15
* .
*Pokrovsii. N.N. “Western Siberian Scriptoria and Binderies: Ancient Traditions Among the Old Believers.” ''The Book Collector'' 20 (Spring 1971): 19-32.
* Rock, S., ''Russian piety and Orthodox culture 1380–1589 in The Cambridge History of Christianity Vol.5, Eastern Christianity'', Cambridge University University Press, 2008
*Smith, Abby, and Vladimir Budaragin. ''Living Traditions of Russian Faith: Books & Manuscripts of the Old Believers : an Exhibition at the Library of Congress, May 31-June 29, 1990.'' Washington: Library of Congress, 1990.
* Zenkovsky, Serge A.: "The ideology of the Denisov brothers", ''Harvard Slavic Studies'', 1957. III, 49–66
* .
* .
* .
* Stefanie Scherr, 2013 : "'As soon as we got here we lost everything': the migration memories and religious lives of the old believers in Australia
'As soon as we got here we lost everything': the migration memories and religious lives of the old believers in Australia
Further reading
* ''Old Orthodox Prayer Book''. Trans. and ed. by Pimen Simon, Theodore Jurewics,
ndGerman Ciuba. Erie, Penn.: Russian Orthodox Church of the Nativity of Christ (Old Rite), 1986. ''N.B''.: Consists of the liturgy of the Old Believers (a.k.a. Old Ritualists), as also now authorized for use in parishes of the canonical Russian Orthodox Church; texts in Russian and English on facing pages. Without ISBN
In Russian
* Голубинский ЕЕ: ''История русской церкви'', Москва, 1900 / Golubinskij EE: "History of the Russian Church", Moscow, 1900
* / "Contribution to our polemic with the Old believers", ČOIDR, 1905
* / Dmitrievskij A.A.: The correction of books under Patriarch Nikon and Patriarchs after him. Moscow, "Jazyki slavjanskoj kul'tury", 2004
* Зеньковский С.А.: ''Русское старообрядчество'', том I и II, Москва 2006 / Zenkovsky S.A.: "Russia's Old Believers", volumes I and II, Moscow 2006
* Каптерев Н.Ф.: ''Патриарх Никон и его противники в деле исправления церковныx обрядов'', Москва, 1913 / Kapterv N.F.: "Patriarch Nikon and his opponents in the correction of church rituals", Moscow, 1913
* / Kapterev N.F.: "Character of the relationships between Russia and the orthodox East in the 16th and 17th centuries", Moscow, 1914
* Карташов А.В.: ''Очерки по истории русской церкви'', Париж, 1959 / Kartašov A.V.: "Outlines of the history of the Russian church", Paris, 1959
* Ключевский И.П.: ''Сочинения'', I–VIII, Москва, 1956–1959 / Ključevskij I.P.: "Works", I–VIII, Moscow, 1956–1959
* Мельников Ф.И.: ''Краткая история древлеправославной (старообрядческой) церкви''. Барнаул, 1999 / Melnikov F.I.: "Short history of the Old orthodox (Old ritualist) Church", Barnaul, 1999
* Урушев Д.А. ''Возьми крест свой: история старообрядчества в событиях и лицах''. Барнаул, 2009. / Urushev D.A. ''Take up your Cross: most influential persons and events in the history of Old Belief'', Barnaul, 2009
N.B.: All these works come from scholars and scientists, none of them Old Believers, except for Melnikov (an Old-Believer apologist) and Urushev (a religious historian).
External links
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Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church(in Russian)
Pomorian Old-Orthodox Church of Lithuania(in Russian)
{{Authority control
17th-century establishments in Russia
Christian denominations established in the 17th century
History of the Russian Orthodox Church
17th-century Eastern Orthodoxy