Not everyone knows what the Old Believers are. But those who are more deeply interested in the history of the Russian Church will certainly encounter the Old Believers, customs and their traditions. This movement occurred as a result of the schism of the Church in the 17th century, which occurred due to the reforms of Patriarch Nikon. The reform proposed changing many rituals and traditions of the people, with which many categorically disagreed.
History of the movement
Old Believers are also called Old Believers; they are adherents of the Orthodox movement in Russia. The Old Believers movement was created for forced reasons. The fact is that in the second half of the 17th century, Patriarch Nikon issued a decree according to which it was necessary to carry out church reform. The purpose of the reform was bringing all rituals and services into conformity with Byzantine ones.
In the 50s of the 17th century, Patriarch Tikhon had powerful support from Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. He tried to implement the concept: Moscow is the third Rome. The reforms of Patriarch Nikon should have fit perfectly into this concept. However, as a result there was a split in the Russian Orthodox Church.
This became a real tragedy for believers. Some of them did not want to accept the new reform, because it completely changed their way of life and ideas about faith. As a result of this, a movement was born, whose representatives began to be called Old Believers.
Those who disagreed with Nikon fled as far as possible into the wilderness, mountains and forests and, not submitting to the reforms, began to live according to their own canons. Cases of self-immolation often occurred. Sometimes entire villages burned. The theme of the differences between the Old Believers Some scientists have also studied the Orthodox.
Old Believers and their main differences from the Orthodox
Those, who is studying church history and specializes in this, they can count many differences between the Old Believers and the Orthodox. They are found:
- in the interpretation of the Bible and issues of its reading;
- in organizing and conducting church services;
- other rituals;
- in appearance.
It is also worth noting that among the Old Believers there are different movements, due to which the differences become even greater. So, the main differences:
Old Believers in the present
Nowadays, Old Believer communities are widespread not only in Russia. They are available in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Canada, USA, and in some countries Latin America and etc.
One of the largest Old Believer religious organizations of our time in Russia and beyond its borders is the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church (Belokrinitsky hierarchy, founded in 1846). It has about a million parishioners and two centers. One is in Moscow, and the other is in Braila (Romania).
There is also the Ancient Orthodox Pomeranian Church or DOC. On the territory of Russia it is located approximately it is estimated that there are about two hundred communities. However, most of them are not registered. Centralized advisory and coordinating center in modern Russia- this is the Russian Council of the DPTs. Since 2002, the spiritual council has been located in Moscow.
According to a rough estimate, the number of Old Believers in the Russian Federation is more than two million people. The overwhelming majority are Russians. However, there are also other nationalities: Ukrainians, Belarusians, Karelians, Finns, etc.
Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church. Apparently, in connection with this, a wave of interest in the Old Believers arose in some socio-political media. A correspondent for the famous magazine “Ogonyok” conducted a very interesting study, as a result of which she found out how today the Old Believers manage to preserve their faith and customs.
- Theodora, is that you? - an old voice asks incredulously through the door.
- I! - the girl answers, putting on a scarf, and turns around in fear at me.
There is no sign on the door of the house on Kolomenskaya. To find the prayer room, I followed a stranger who was hastily taking a scarf out of her bag. I wonder if this is a prayer, although the answer is obvious.
- Yes. But they won't let you in! — the girl’s eyes widen in horror that a stranger is encroaching on sacred territory.
An elderly charter worker glares from the threshold. Theodora seeps inside. She is right: strangers will not be allowed into the temple. There are two reasons here: firstly, according to the Old Believers, the temple is not a museum and it is inappropriate for strangers to disturb the established prayer order. Secondly, this is a precautionary measure: theft of icons, alas, is not uncommon, and among the Old Believers they are ancient and expensive. Yes, and prayer with non-believers is reprehensible.
The Old Believer's Path
- What keeps us together? - asks the minister of the Ancient Orthodox Pomeranian Church (DOC) Arseny Shamarin and answers: - Awareness of the truth of one’s path. Understanding that it is we who carry the Orthodox faith, which we are trying to preserve and pass on to our children. We are each responsible for the salvation of our souls. It’s not the father who saves. They gave me faith - I accepted it, no one forced me. In fact, the reform of the 17th century was supposed to destroy conscious faith. Make rituals out of sacraments and rites, and turn prayer into the fulfillment of a requirement - light a candle, sing a funeral service, baptize.
From the reforms of the 17th century, which drove some believers into schism, to today’s support by the Old Believers Russian politics in Ukraine - just a stone's throw away. The Old Believers have their own account of Kyiv. They remember that the Russian Church was mutilated under Alexei Mikhailovich and Nikon according to the Kyiv model. From the Little Russians and Belarusians new books and new rituals came to Russia. And in the 18th century, natives of Western Rus', who were in charge of spiritual affairs in the Synod, persecuted schismatics, and they were responsible for thousands of ruined lives. Therefore, there is still a wary attitude towards Ukraine, and among adherents of the “original” faith there are persistent rumors about Old Believer origins. Russian President.
An Old Believer is brought up in strict rules - religious and everyday. Because of this, it may seem that the Old Belief is close to Pharisaism. However, according to the Old Believers, a person needs rules! Especially on initial stage spiritual development. Some people go to prayer because their parents did so. Some people know the rules and try to follow them. Someone has achieved something more. But the most important thing in faith is deep awareness...
“Old Belief is Russian religious nationalism,” one of my interlocutors said in a personal conversation. “Still, the basis of Old Belief is the idea of Moscow - the third Rome and the superiority of Russians (new Israel) over other peoples.”
Not everyone understands how the Old Believers differ from modern Orthodoxy. Sometimes the Old Believers seem extravagant, original, the embodiment of “lost Russia,” which touches a contemporary who has lost touch with the past. The life of an Old Believer revolves around the church and is closed by the community and the temple. This explains the self-sufficiency of the Old Believers, perceived by outsiders as unsociability and arrogance. Mixing with strangers threatens the loss of self-identification as “one of our own.” Like any orthodox people, Old Believers consider themselves bearers of the truth. Oddly enough, it is easier to maintain faith in large cities, despite their temptations. In Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kazan, large communities with churches have existed since ancient times. Besides, in a metropolis it was easier to get lost in Soviet time. Tolerant capitals are neutral towards Old Believers. In villages and hamlets everyone knows each other, so they get along peacefully. But in small towns conflicts occur. DOC parishioner Alexey Bezgodov moved from Moscow to Veliky Novgorod seven years ago and felt a difference in attitude towards him local residents.
— People think: if you are an Old Believer, why don’t you wear bast shoes and live in the taiga? In Novgorod and small towns, people often pick on our people because of our beards (try getting a job with a beard!). Not once strangers they came up to me with the words: “Let me wear my beard!” or “Let’s find it”... ZZ-top, Santa Claus, bin Laden - the most harmless insults. And they attacked with fists.
For ten years, Valery Butuzov searched for the truth, studying ethnic psychology at St. Petersburg State University. He left the university and came to the truth through the Old Believers. He became a church member 14 years ago. Valery searched for his temple for a long time, and when he heard the Znamenny chant, he realized that he had come to his place.
“Old Believers are a search for truth,” Butuzov reflects. “I don’t shout about my faith, but I don’t hide it either.” I am not one of those who talk about my faith with or without reason. The need to convince others that you are right arises from lack of faith.
On the question of the prospects of Old Belief, representatives of different agreements are unanimous.
“A lot of people come to the Old Believers,” says Old Believer from Moscow Dmitry Urushev. “True, some can’t stand the severity and leave.” However, so many people remain that parishes are created from the new arrivals. But this is in large cities.
“Our world is not as closed as it seems from the outside,” reflects the mentor of the DOC Vladimir Shamarin. “It is replenished both through marriages and due to the arrival of people who are unpleasant with the official church officialdom.” The old faith will not perish as long as those baptized in it feel like Old Believers.
Numbers: gwhere and how many Old Believers live
The largest percentage of Old Believers in Russia is in Nizhny Novgorod region. Large communities exist in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod. But the exact number is impossible to calculate.
According to the Ministry of Justice, 336 Old Believer religious organizations are registered and operating in Russia:
- Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church - 176;
- Russian Ancient Orthodox Church - 99;
- Ancient Orthodox Pomeranian Church - 46;
- Fedoseevskoe consent - 10;
- Other consents - 5.
There are 3 communities of priests in St. Petersburg: Pokrovskaya, Ligovskaya, Gromovskaya, and Bespopovskaya - 1. All directions of the Old Believers have communities in other countries. Most Old Believers live in cities. There are 8 Old Believer churches of different accords in Moscow. In St. Petersburg - 5. Not every community has its own temple. The number of parish communities, churches and registered legal entities, as a rule, does not coincide.
Large communities of priestless Old Believers are located in Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Romania. There are many Old Believers priests in Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Australia and the USA. Old Believers live in Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, and Chile.
Honest Old Believer
Harsh as the climate in Siberia, flint in faith and word - this is approximately how the average person sees an Old Believer industrialist, be it the manufacturer Ryabushinsky or a modern businessman. Years of persecution greatly influenced the worldview of the Old Believers, transmitting self-sufficiency and mistrust to strangers at the genetic level. For Old Believers, professions associated with “bad profits” are sinful: maintaining or selling alcohol, tobacco, a sex shop or a nightclub is also not their choice.
St. Petersburg lawyer Andrei Davydov, an Old Believer of the Belokrinitsky Consent, conducts civil and criminal cases. Before taking on some, consult a priest. He refuses divorce proceedings on principle - he does not want to destroy families.
“Society demands greater responsibility from the Old Believer and condemns them more severely for mistakes,” he says. “The legal profession is a way of life and is not ethically linked to market logic. And it doesn’t matter whether the lawyer is an Old Believer or not...
- Good health! “I agree to a meeting if I understand the motivation,” said Old Believer businessman Alexander Zagorodny over the phone.
I motivate as best I can. The mixture of styles is so confusing that I almost blurted out in the manner of Gaidaev’s Yakin: “Packs, packs... Like cherubs!” Then the dialogue developed in the spirit of the same film, only instead of the phrase: “Swept up by the police, they’re making a case!” I hear:
“There’s a service tonight, the patronal feast day is coming up, and I have to go on a business trip.” But the Sunday school premises have not yet been prepared. Ambush over time...
Alexander Alexandrovich had to be intercepted between business trips. Zagorodny is the chairman of the Ligovskaya community. This is a position elected by the community: a representative of the interests of parishioners, an elder. The Zagorodnie brothers are shareholders of a holding company producing ingredients and materials for the meat processing industry. Vasily manages the business, Alexander heads the homemade sausage technology division. Old Believers, as a rule, have a family business. The Zagorodnikh case is 17 years old. There are many clients all over Russia - sausage shops, cafes, restaurants, private owners. About 300 people work in St. Petersburg, there are branches in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Volgograd. Alexander does not take loans either for himself or for the direction he is involved in - he does not want dependence.
“The desire for acquisitions is sinful,” Zagorodny says edifyingly, “that’s what our business is based on.” It’s a sin to give at interest... Food made with one’s own hands is part of spiritual culture. In Soviet times, no one baked bread or made sausage at home, but today people want to revive what was lost and cook for themselves. In Karelia we raised livestock, so making sausage is a familiar matter.
"Niva" approaches a high-rise building in the Rzhevka area. In general, Old Believers do not invite strangers into their house and do not visit guests without reason. In everyday life, they should not use someone else’s dishes, and some even believe that they should not use someone else’s sink. So consider me lucky.
- Please change seats. “Because the icons are behind you, and we need to pray,” the owner asked me.
Indeed, the entire eastern wall of the kitchen is occupied by icons and ladders. An Old Believer’s apartment, in fact, is no different from the home of an ordinary city dweller, except that there are a lot of icons. They don’t keep dogs, considering them disgusting animals, but they can keep cats; the Zagorodnys have a kitten. Friday - Lenten meal: potatoes, salad. The three of us sit down for dinner. In the next room, son Ivan is teaching homework; his student daughters have not returned yet. Alexander was baptized at the age of 23. His wife Irina was baptized after her husband without hesitation.
“Old Believers entrepreneurs don’t want to be in the public eye,” explains historian Alexey Bezgodov, who has a small publishing business. “Many of us are in medium and small businesses.” There are also business unions. The International Guild of Old Believers-Entrepreneurs is registered in Latvia. There are other informal associations at the personal partnership level. There are no separate industries in which only Old Believers work. Most often, Old Believers are engaged in the timber industry, construction, and beekeeping; among small entrepreneurs there are many artisans and farmers. Intra-Old Believer lending is common among us. It is, as a rule, interest-free and on parole, even between representatives of different consents. Both individuals and communities lend. I use these types of loans and have lent them. There are cases when loans are forgiven after some time. Although the amounts, as a rule, are no more than several hundred thousand rubles. It usually doesn’t happen that people don’t pay off their debts, although I know of a couple of cases. In one case the debt was forgiven, in another the person will no longer be trusted. In our country it is considered unchristian to go to court, especially against an Old Believer.
Migrants in their homeland
“I’ve been going to all elections since I was young,” says Vladimir Shamarin, mentor of the Pomeranian community. “Although there are those who don’t trust elections.” I think there are such people among people of any religion. The political views of the Old Believers, as well as the level of patriotism, are heterogeneous. It may be that the currently popular monarchical ideas are almost not supported by the Old Believers, since in our country the family of Nicholas II has not been canonized. But it does not come to quarrels based on political preferences. Foreign Old Believers all consider Russia their spiritual homeland. Among them, support for the Russian president's foreign policy actions is almost complete.
“The DOC officially emphasizes non-participation in politics, that is, adherence to the principle of separation of church and state,” explains Alexei Bezgodov from Novgorod. “Whether or not to participate in elections is a personal matter for everyone.” There is no pre-election work being carried out in our communities; we are trying to unite people on Christian positions, and not divide them according to political leanings. For me, the Motherland is Russia, but I also like those countries where the Old Belief is respected. For us, relations between Old Believers come first, and the politics of our countries is secondary. Today in Russia, Old Believers do not feel very comfortable. But in the Baltic countries they have a special status and their rights are protected by law.
Indeed, in Lithuania and Latvia, the old faith is among the traditional religions and enjoys state support: funds are allocated for the repair of church buildings, for cultural and educational purposes, public organizations Old Believers. You can even get a grant from the European Union. In Poland, where there are just over 1,000 Old Believers, their children have the opportunity to study the Law of God according to their curriculum in classrooms equipped at the expense of the state, which, by the way, also pays teachers.
A representative of the Old Believers has the opportunity to sit in the country's parliament and government when the laws of religion and traditional culture. In Lithuania, there is a state treaty that stipulates bilateral relations between the state and the Old Believers.
In Russia, Old Believers became forced migrants for more than 300 years due to state repression. Perhaps that is why they are so tolerant of current migrants.
Muscovite Dmitry Urushev recalls the story:
— In the XVIII and 19th centuries The Old Believers tried to maintain relations with the royal authorities. In the twentieth century they sought to find mutual language with Soviet power. Nowadays - with the current one. Today, Old Believer clergy are sometimes invited to ROC events. Sometimes representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church come to Old Believer spiritual concerts. But in general the relationship is quite tense. Especially considering that the Russian Orthodox Church does not give up property that once belonged to the Old Believers—temples, icons and bells. Among the most famous Old Believer churches, which now belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, are in Balakovo (Saratov region) and two churches in Ivanovo. In Moscow, the conflict over the former Old Believer Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God remained unresolved.
"I was looking for a life friend..."
“My children immediately saw whether we approved of their choice or not,” says Vladimir Shamarin. “In a good family, words are unnecessary.” In her early youth, my daughter had an Old Believer boyfriend, but my wife and I saw him as unsuitable for a number of reasons. Despite the strong love, this union did not take place...
In the Old Believers, marriage rules are still observed very strictly: not only relatives up to the 8th generation, but also godfathers and matchmakers cannot create a family. The life of the Old Believers circulates within the community, whose members know each other. Marriages with people of other faiths are not welcome: the newcomer must be baptized by the chosen Old Believer. Divorces are not accepted. Chastity before marriage is the default. Often future spouses meet in church. Communities organize field trips and festivals. Most families do not plan pregnancy.
We met with Father Igor Karvanen after the service in the church in Transport Lane. In 2005, the Holy Trinity Church was given to the Old Believers-Priests. The monastery is modest, the altar is not distinguished by splendor. Father is 46 years old. Father Igor speaks quietly, even shyly:
— My mother is an Old Believers, my father was a Finnish Lutheran. Parents lived without a wedding. It bothered my mother that she lived breaking the law. It is not easy to live with a person when there is no understanding in faith.
Having been demobilized, Igor began to look for a wife from his circle, not wanting to step on his parents’ rake. I was not looking for a “Barbie”, but for the mother of my future children. A year passed in search until life threw him into the village of Staraya Nekrasovka. There, Igor met the 16-year-old daughter of the ustav (as the Old Believers call the person who monitors compliance with the rules of worship) Anyuta... After graduating from school, Anya flew to St. Petersburg. We got married. Now the Karvanen couple have two adult daughters and a schoolboy son. The young man of the eldest, Seraphim, is also an Old Believer.
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“My husband and I met in the temple,” recalls florist Alla Panysh, a parishioner of Father Igor’s temple. “At our wedding, the tables were in the courtyard of the temple. After all, we don’t celebrate weddings in restaurants. But the current fashion of throwing a bouquet has taken root among the Old Believers. More and more because of the bridesmaids who are hoping to catch him.
Children from Old Believer families are brought up in strictness. If a young man begins to court a girl, it means that he is eyeing her as a future wife. Before proposing, the future husband courted Alla for 3 months. We walked around the city, went to the theater. Today Alla Panysh, mother of four children, has every hour scheduled. On weekends, the family goes to services from the suburbs to St. Petersburg; from the age of 3, children attend Sunday school. There is no TV at home, the children are not on the Internet - only for business purposes, they do not play computer games. Alla receives flowers from her husband not on March 8, but on the day of the angel, wedding anniversary, Peter and Fevronia Day and the feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women...
Thriller for the Penitent
Rybatskoye is the southern outskirts of St. Petersburg with rows of high-rise buildings of the same type. But this sleepy kingdom also has its own attraction - a yellow three-story building that looks like a castle. This is a temple of Old Believers who call themselves Christians of the Old Orthodox Pomeranian Church. The building stands a little out of the way, as if to say that the road there is not open to everyone. Arseny and Tatyana Shamarin were waiting for me at the monastery. Tatyana is married to Arseny's brother. They are not blood relatives, however, they are similar in the age of their faces. Both have clear, articulate voices, which is not surprising. Tanya sings in the choir, Arseny is the leader (regent). He made his choice in favor of ministry while studying at the university. I thought about graduate school, but realized that it would take me away from the temple. He has no secular job.
Chubby, ruddy, wearing a blouse that matches the color of his eyes, 28-year-old Arseny resembles epic hero. A shirt with a belt is his usual form of clothing, and it suits him. Townspeople react differently to the colorful man: some think he is from an ethnographic circle, others are annoyed by his beard. Tatyana is wearing a long skirt, a gray jacket, and not an ounce of makeup on her face. In the church it is not customary to stand out: the parishioners sing in one voice and dress the same.
Tanya doesn’t need beauty salons and fitness clubs. On weekends, she goes to the park with her husband, goes to attractions with her child, and meets with relatives. As a matter of principle, Arseny and his daughter-in-law never go to theaters. When I ask why, Tanya thinks about it.
“You shouldn’t ask a woman about the reasons, let the men talk about it,” Arseny reasonably notes. “There is nothing spiritual in the theater.” And people, instead of going to the temple, spend time on the spectacle. Everything that deviates from the salvation of the soul is sin: TV, films... But to watch it or not, everyone decides for themselves.
— Do you have any favorite films? - I’m interested.
“Thrillers,” Arseny admits embarrassedly, after a pause. “But this is a personal choice, not connected with faith.” The film will not lead me away from faith, so my conscience allows it. In confession I’ll say: “Sorry, Father, I’m watching a movie.” I will receive penance, perhaps 10 lestovkas (1000 bows). I will not watch films about the life of Christ or those that are blasphemous. When I was courting my future wife, we went to the movies and went to the theater a couple of times. At school I listened to Russian rock. Worldly music is sinful because it is needed for pleasure. It is clear that Rachmaninov is higher than pop or rock, and Tolstoy cannot be compared with Marinina. However, to the salvation of the soul, neither classical music, nor literature will be provided. Prayer, Scripture, patristic books help to reach the spiritual level. I read Tolstoy and Bulgakov, and my children will read them. The question is not whether it is possible or not, but whether it is necessary or not. These books are not needed by a Christian.
But Old Believer Kirill Kozhurin writes books himself. He is a candidate of philosophical sciences, teaches at the Russian State Pedagogical University named after. A.I. Herzen, writes poetry, studies the history of the Old Believers. A tall dandy with a fiery beard gets very upset when Old Believers are treated like “ folklore element" That doesn’t stop him from loving outfits and collecting shirts. This weakness is forgivable: the most conservative are the families of priests and teachers, while ordinary parishioners are more democratic. At his previous job, Kirill Kozhurin ignored corporate parties during Lent. In the new team, the old one celebrates with his colleagues New Year after the post. He consciously came to faith in adulthood, although his ancestors on both lines are Old Believers. The grandfather was a mentor, the father worked as the director of the Museum of the History of Religion, naturally, he did not advertise his faith, his son was secretly baptized in adolescence. Over the years, Kirill began to think about the history of the Old Believers and came up with the idea of returning to the roots and the need to combine faith and way of life.
“Before the service, I always bow—“I’ve begun to repent,” my counterpart smiles shyly, stirring his espresso in the cafe. “I travel a lot, visit restaurants, love opera—classical productions.” By the way, many artists were Old Believers: Stanislavsky, Zimin... I watch historical films. As a historian and philosopher, everything interests me. By the way, I liked the series “Split”. Yulia Melnikova, who played the noblewoman Morozova, delighted me. Secularism is not typical for a strict Old Believer, but for me the Old Faith is an ideal, and I am an earthly person.
The faith of hereditary Old Believers is not just a choice, but the essence of a person, inseparable from him, like nationality. They keep it carefully and call their children full names(to distort the name is to disparage the guardian angel), they wear blouses and sundresses to church. They are next to us and on their own. For more than 300 years...
Photographer and traveler Oleg Smoliy searches for and photographs everything good and beautiful that our country is rich in. He combined these shots into the “Unforgotten Russia” project, part of which were the photographs of Old Believer Siberian villages published below. And they are accompanied by the author’s heartfelt story about the people living there.
Having passed remote villages on the banks of the Small Yenisei - Erzhey, Upper Shivey, Choduraalyg and Ok-Chara - I met five large families of Old Believers. Always persecuted, the owners of the taiga do not immediately make contact with strangers, especially with a photographer. However, two weeks of living next to them, helping them with their daily hard work - harvesting hay, fishing, picking berries and mushrooms, preparing firewood and brushwood, collecting moss and building a house - step by step helped to overcome the veil of mistrust. And strong and independent, good-natured and hardworking people emerged, whose happiness lies in the love of God, their children and nature.
The liturgical reform undertaken by Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in the 17th century led to a large-scale schism in the Russian Church. The brutal persecution of the tsarist and religious authorities, who wanted to bring the people to unanimity and submission, forced millions of Russian people to leave their homes. The Old Believers who kept their faith fled to White Sea, in the Olonets region and Nizhny Novgorod forests. Time passed, the hands of power reached the Old Believers in new places, and the seekers of independence went even further, into the remote taiga of Siberia. In the 19th century, Russian people came to the inaccessible region of the Small Yenisei, the Kaa-Khemsky kozhuun of Tuva. New settlements were founded on lands suitable for farming in the river valley, higher and higher upstream. Here, in the upper reaches of the Small Yenisei, the life and traditions of Russian Old Believers have been preserved in their original form.
We gathered on the road with a small team of photographing travelers, five of us. Quite far from Moscow. By plane to Abakan, then ten hours by car through Kyzyl, the capital of the Republic of Tyva, to Saryg-Sep, the regional center, there we change to a UAZ “loaf” and for another couple of hours we travel along forest roads to a point on the bank of the Small Yenisei. We cross to the other side of the river, to the Erzhey camp site, by boat. The owner of the base, Nikolai Siorpas, brought us in his UAZ. He will be lucky further, into the depths of the taiga, but you need to wait a day or two until the road at the pass, washed out by long rains, dries out.
Erzhey, next to which the base is located, is a large village with a population of up to one and a half thousand inhabitants, with electricity and a boarding school, where Old Believers from villages higher up the Kaa-Khem, as the Small Yenisei is called in Tuvan, bring their children. In the old faith, not everyone here is a villager. Some of the locals are close to her, but they are not part of the community; there is not enough strictness. There are also representatives of the new Orthodox faith. There are even complete non-believers.
It was not far to go see the village and buy food, less than a kilometer from the base. Siorpas, seeing him off, joked: “You can tell the Old Believers: men with beards, around the yard there are a dozen or so little kids, women in scarves and skirts down to their toes, in a year or two with a belly.”
Here is the first acquaintance: Maria, a young woman with a stroller. They said hello and asked where to buy bread and cottage cheese. At first she was wary of strangers, but did not refuse help, and even surprised them with her responsiveness. She took her all over Erzhey, showing who had the best milk and where the salted milk mushrooms were good.
Here, in villages remote from civilization, the harsh taiga nature has imposed its own characteristics on the way of farming. Summer in these places is short, and winter comes with severe frosts. Arable land is conquered with great difficulty from the forest, in the valleys along the banks of the river. Locals grow bread and plant vegetable gardens. Due to frost, perennial crops do not take root, but annuals, even small watermelons, grow. Taiga is feeding. Only ungulates are killed; the meat is eaten wild. They collect pine nuts, mushrooms, and berries for jam. The river gives fish. There are a lot of grayling here, and taimen are often released - they have become scarce in recent years.
Old Believers do not get drunk, they do not drink “kazenka” at all, and on holidays they drink a glass or two of weak alcohol homemade wine on taiga berries, blueberries or stone fruits.
After resting at the Siorpas base for a couple of days, we waited for dry weather and moved to the first settlement of the Old Believers - Upper Shivei, forty kilometers from Erzhey, with a difficult pass over the hills.
All the way to Shivey, Nikolai Siorpas, under the strained hum of the engine, convinced us to be super respectful and behave more than modestly, not to push people with our huge photo guns. He himself is not an Old Believer, but Nikolai developed good relations with the taiga residents, for which he reasonably feared. It seems that during these two days at the base he was not only waiting for the weather, but also taking a closer look at us and thinking whether it was possible to take us further.
We met the hard-working people of Upper Shivei long before the village, in a mowing meadow. They asked to help, throw cut hay into the tall haystacks.
We rolled up our sleeves, tried our best and still fell behind. The science of lifting large armfuls with long three-pronged wooden forks was not easy. Behind working together got to know each other and struck up conversations.
Mown and dried grass is collected into buds - this is what the whole of Siberia calls haystacks. Laying them is a responsible matter: the hay must lie evenly and tightly so that it does not get scattered by the wind or become soured by the rain. Upper Shivei
Peter and Ekaterina Sasin arrived at the Upper Shivey estate, then empty, about fifteen years ago. The farm was raised from scratch, and at first they lived and wintered in a shed. Year after year they built, strengthened, and raised three daughters. Then other relatives came to settle, and now several families live here. The daughters grew up, moved to the city, and now their restless grandchildren - two girls and two boys - come to Peter and Ekaterina for the summer.
The Sasins’ grandchildren are completely worldly; they come for the whole summer. For them, Pyotr Grigorievich keeps solar panels with a battery and a converter, from which he turns on a small TV and a disc player - to watch cartoons. Upper Shivei
The children who brought fresh milk and sour cream woke up our tent city with a cheerful noise. The second day, throwing hay on the crops is more difficult - all the muscles of the townspeople ache because they are not used to it. But the hosts’ faces are also warmer, with smiles, laughter and approval. “Tomorrow is the Transfiguration, come! Try homemade wine,” the villagers call.
The house is simple, no frills, but clean and well built. The spacious vestibule dividing the house in half, the rooms with whitewashed walls, large stoves in the middle, and iron spring beds reminded me of a Carpathian village, which has also largely preserved its way of life. “One at a time!” - says Pyotr Grigorievich, and we try the delicious drink. Blueberry juice is infused for a year without sugar and yeast, and the result is a wine with a barely noticeable degree. It's easy to drink and doesn't get you drunk, but it lifts your mood and enhances talkativeness. Joke after joke, story after story, song after song - we had a good time. “Would you like to see my horses?” - Peter calls.
The stable is located on the outskirts, there are two dozen horses, there are even pacers. And everyone's favorite. Petr Grigorievich can talk about each foal for hours.
We parted with the Sasins like old friends. And again we hit the road, by boat up the Small Yenisei.
It’s a half-hour motorboat ride up the river to the next stop. We found Choduraalyg on a fairly high bank with a spacious, cornice-like valley, the outermost houses standing directly above the river. The opposite shore is an almost vertical mountain covered with taiga.
The place here is convenient for farming, growing bread, and raising livestock. There are fields for arable land. River, nurse and transport artery. In winter, you can get to Kyzyl on ice. And the taiga - here it is, begins with hills on the edge of the village.
We sailed, threw our backpacks ashore and went to look for a convenient place to pitch our tents so as not to disturb anyone and at the same time have a good view of everything around. We met Grandfather Eliferiy, who treated him to freshly baked delicious bread and advised him to go to Baba Marfa: “Marfutka will accept and help.”
Marfa Sergeevna, thin, small and agile, about seventy years old, gave us a place for tents next to her small house with beautiful view both to the river and to the village. Allowed me to use the stove and kitchen utensils. The Old Believers have this difficult question- there is sin from dishes that worldly people took. Marfa Sergeevna took care of us all the time. We also helped her - picking berries, carrying brushwood, chopping wood.
Her youngest son, Dmitry, was in the taiga on business. Eldest daughter, Ekaterina, got married and lives in Germany, sometimes her mother comes to visit.
I had a satellite phone, and I suggested that Marfa Sergeevna call her daughter. “This is all demonic,” Grandma Martha refused. A couple of days later Dmitry returned, and we dialed his sister’s number, turning up the volume. Hearing her daughter’s voice, forgetting about the demons and throwing away her bow, Marfa Sergeevna ran across the clearing to Dima and me. It’s a pity, she didn’t allow herself to be photographed then, otherwise it would have turned out to be an interesting photo: a cute little village grandmother in ancient clothes, he stands against the backdrop of the taiga, beaming with a smile, and talks to his daughter in distant Germany on a satellite phone.
Lives next door to Marfa Sergeevna, further from the shore big family Panfila Peteneva. The eldest of twelve offspring, Grigory, 23 years old, called us to the place of children's games - a clearing in the forest outside the village. On Sundays, children from all nearby villages, dressed up, come running and coming on horses, bicycles and motorcycles to socialize and play together. The guys weren’t shy for long, and ten minutes later we were playing ball with them, answering a sea of curious questions and listening to stories about life in the villages, pampering bears these days, and a strict grandfather who drives all the children away for being naughty. They made us laugh with stories, were interested in technology, and even tried to take pictures with our cameras, posing tensely for each other. And we ourselves listened with pleasure to Russian speech as clear as a stream and enjoyed taking pictures of the bright Slavic faces.
For children of Old Believers, a horse is not a problem. By helping with housework, they early learn to communicate with pets.
It turns out that Choduraalyg, where we stayed, is called Big, and not far away, the road runs right past the playing field, there is also Small Choduraalyg. The children volunteered to show this second one, out of several courtyards deep in the forest. They drove us joyfully, on two motorcycles, along paths and paths, through puddles and bridges. The escort was dashingly accompanied by teenage girls on fine horses.
For a teenager in an Old Believers village, a motorcycle is a source of pride, passion and necessity. As befits boys, with the dexterity of circus performers, they demonstrated to the visiting photographer all the skill of controlling a two-wheeled motor miracle. Choduraalyg
In order to get to know each other better, start communicating and achieve the necessary level of trust that would allow us to photograph people, we boldly became involved in the daily work of Old Believer families. They have no time to chat idly on a weekday, but in business, talking makes work more fun. Therefore, we simply came to the Petenevs in the morning and offered Panfil help. Son Grigory decided to get married, he is building a house, so he found a job - caulk the ceiling. Nothing complicated, but painstaking. First, go to the other side of the river, along the mountains between the thickets, collect moss, put it in bags and throw it down the steep slope. Then we take them by boat to the construction site. Now go upstairs, and here you also need to bring the clay in buckets and drive the moss into the cracks between the logs, covering it with clay on top. We work briskly, the team is large: five eldest children of the Petenevs and three of us travelers. And younger kids are around, watching and trying to help and participate. We communicate at work, we recognize them, they recognize us. Children are curious, they are interested in everything: how they grow potatoes in big cities, where we get milk at home, whether all the children study in boarding schools, how far away we live. Question after question, some are difficult to answer, and this is understandable: our worlds are so different. After all, for children Saryg-Sep, the regional center, is another planet. And for us, city dwellers, the taiga is an unknown land with its subtleties of nature hidden from the unknowing eye.
We met Pavel Bzhitskikh, who invited us to visit, in Maly Choduraalyg, where we went with the children on Sunday. The path to it on Ok-Chary is not short - nine kilometers along the rocky, forested bank of the Small Yenisei. The estate of two courtyards impresses with its strength and thriftiness. The high rise from the river did not create any difficulties with water - here and there many springs gush out right in the courtyards, and clear water is supplied to the vegetable gardens through wooden gutters. It's cold and delicious.
The inside of the house surprised me: two rooms, a prayer room and a kitchenette retained the appearance and decoration of the monastic community that was once here. Whitewashed walls, wicker rugs, linen curtains, homemade furniture, pottery - all the nuns' household was natural, they did not communicate with the world and did not take anything from outside. Pavel collected and saved household items from the community and now shows them to guests. Extreme tourists raft along Kaa-Khem, sometimes they stop by here, Pavel even built a separate house and bathhouse so that people could stay with him and relax along the route.
He told us about the life and rules of the Old Believers monks. About prohibitions and sins. About envy and anger. The latter is an insidious sin, anger multiplies and accumulates in the sinner’s soul, and it is difficult to fight it, because even slight annoyance is also anger. Envy is not a simple sin; envy breeds pride, anger, and deception. Paul talked about the importance of praying and repenting. And take on fasting, whether calendar or secret, so that nothing prevents the soul from praying and realizing its sin more deeply.
Not only severity reigns in the souls of Old Believers. Paul also spoke about forgiveness, about peacefulness towards other religions, about freedom of choice for his children and grandchildren: “When they grow up, they will go to study, whoever wants to. They will go out into the world. God willing, our ancient Orthodox faith will not be forgotten. Someone will come back, with age they think more often about the soul.”
From ordinary community members, not monks, the outside world is not prohibited; they take the Old Believers and the achievements of civilization, which help in work. They use motors and guns. I saw they had a tractor, even solar panels. To buy, they earn money by selling the products of their labor to the laity.
Paul read to us selected chapters John Chrysostom, translated from Old Church Slavonic. He chose them so well that you listen with bated breath. I remembered the seal of the Antichrist. Pavel explained in his own way that, for example, all official documents registering a person are his seal. This is how the Antichrist wants to take control of us all: “In America, they are already going to sew some kind of electrical chips under the skin of every person so that he cannot hide from the Antichrist anywhere.”
From the “museum” he took us to the summer kitchen, treated us to honey mushrooms, smoked taimen, fresh bread and special homemade wine made with birch sap instead of water. When we left, we bought a young turkey from Pavel and plucked it until late at night, laughing at our ineptitude.
We met the Popov children from Maly Choduraalyg on the day of their arrival at the playground. Curiosity led them to the tents every morning. They chirped happily and asked questions non-stop. Communication with these smiling children gave a charge of warmth and joy for the whole day. And one morning the children came running and invited us to visit on behalf of their parents.
On the way to the Popovs there is fun - the younger three have found the blackest puddle with liquid mud, they are enthusiastically jumping in it and looking for something. Laughing mother Anna greets us: “Have you seen such grimy ones? It’s okay, I’ve heated up the water, we’ll wash it off!”
The Popovs not only love their children, now seven, they understand them. The house is bright with smiles, and Afanasy began to build a new one - more space for the children. They teach the children themselves, they don’t want to send them to a distant boarding school where there will be no parental warmth.
Over the course of the meal, we quickly began talking, as if some invisible wave began to play in harmony and gave birth to lightness and trust between us.
The Popovs work a lot, the older children help. The economy is strong. They themselves carry food to sell in the region. We used the money we earned to buy a tractor and a Japanese outboard motor. A good engine is important here: on the Small Yenisei there are dangerous rapids, and if an unreliable old one were to stall, you could die. And the river feeds and waters, it is also a means of communication with other villages. In the summer they go by boat, and in the winter they drive tractors and UAZs on the ice.
Here, in a distant village, people are not alone - they communicate and correspond with Old Believers from all over Russia, a newspaper of the old faith from Nizhny Novgorod receive.
But they try to minimize communication with the state; they refused pensions, benefits and benefits. But contact with the authorities cannot be completely avoided - you need a license for a boat and a tractor, all sorts of technical inspections, permits for guns. At least once a year, you have to go get the papers.
The Popovs treat everything responsibly. Afanasy had an incident in his youth. He served in the army in the early 1980s in Afghanistan as an armored personnel carrier driver. Suddenly, disaster struck: the brakes of a heavy vehicle failed, and an officer died. At first the situation was determined to be an accident, but then high officials exaggerated it and the guy was given three years in prison general regime. The commanders, regimental and battalion, trusted Afanasy and sent him to Tashkent without an escort. Imagine: a young guy comes to the prison gate, knocks and asks to be allowed to serve his sentence. Later, the same commanders achieved his transfer to a colony in Tuva, closer to home.
We talked with Anna and Afanasy. About life here and in the world. About the connection between Old Believer communities in Russia. About relations with the world and the state. About the future of children. Left late, with good light in the shower.
The next morning we headed home - short term the trip was ending. We warmly said goodbye to Marfa Sergeevna: “Come, next time I’ll settle in the house, I’ll make room, because we’ve become like family.”
For many hours on the way home, in boats, cars, and planes, I thought, trying to comprehend what I saw and heard: what did not coincide with initial expectations? Sometime in the 1980s I read in “ Komsomolskaya Pravda» fascinating essays by Vasily Peskov from the series “Taiga Dead End” about an amazing family of Old Believers who left people deep in the Siberian taiga. The articles were good, as were other stories by Vasily Mikhailovich. But the impression of the taiga hermits remained as of poorly educated and wild people who shunned modern man and afraid of any manifestations of civilization.
The novel “Hop” by Alexei Cherkasov, read recently, increased fears that it would be difficult to meet people and communicate, and that taking photographs would be completely impossible. But hope lived in me, and I decided to go on a trip.
That’s why it was so unexpected to see simple people with inner dignity. Carefully preserving their traditions and history, living in harmony with themselves and nature. Hardworking and rational. Peace-loving and independent. They gave me warmth and joy of communication.
I accepted something from them, learned something, thought about something.
"), to be honest, I got thoughtful. America is America, and in our huge Krasnoyarsk region there are also entire settlements of Old Believers. Their way of life, customs and way of life arouse not only interest, but also respect. This is a completely different world, about which, Unfortunately, we know very, very little.
The Old Believers are mostly mentioned in literature in connection with their fanatical devotion to the faith, and much less is written about their difficult life away from the “world”, and how their foundations change under the influence of civilization. Even less is known about the Siberian Old Believers.
Not a single researcher can name the exact date of the formation of Old Believers’ settlements on the territory of the Turukhansky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, but most agree that Old Believers began to be exiled there back in the 19th century. They lived alone, in communities or as separate families.
By the 1960s, small permanent settlements had formed from the communities. Officially registered as settlements are Indygino, Sandakches (Vorogovsky village council), Alinskoye and Chulkovo, which are part of the Verkhne-Imbatsky village council. Completely Old Believer "unauthorized" settlements - Andryushkino, Kolokolny Yar, Kamenny Syroy Dubches, United, Iskup. Individual families Old Believers live in the settlements of Podkamennaya Tunguska, Bor and Vorogovo.
Old Believers have a special view of the world, their place in it and purpose. And first of all, the peculiarity of their worldview lies in their division of the world into “theirs” and “theirs”. Therefore, power, in the understanding of the Old Believers, is also divided into “internal” and “external”. The external one is imposed by the state in whose territory they live, and since the time of Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Peter it has been associated with the Antichrist.
Internal power is the power of a mentor who lives strictly according to their religious canons and demands the same from others. The mentor is elected at a general meeting, but at the same time he is not an official, but rather a spiritual father. He personifies authority, respect, and trust of the villagers; people turn to him for any reason. controversial issues, or even just for advice.
And the basic law of the Old Believers is not the Russian Constitution at all, but the ancient Russian Kormchaya, or in Greek - Nomocanon. The rules of life and everyday life that are written in the old tome are still in effect. The main ancient laws are still alive - the condemnation of theft, fornication, and murder. And, since the Old Believers have a stronger fear of God’s judgment than of the state court, compliance with internal laws is preferable for them. However, if the internal law comes into conflict with the external one, the Old Believers still obey the latter.
The Old Believers consider their faith, inherited from their ancestors, to be the only correct one and strive with all their might to preserve it unchanged. Moreover, unlike Russian Old Believers in other countries, our Siberian Old Believers isolate themselves from the wider society. Also, maintaining a single and traditional way of life and the existence of a special system of amulets are aimed at preserving the faith.
The Old Believers' amulets are divided into verbal, material and food-related. They protect health and also ensure salvation on the Day of Judgment.
Amulets associated with nutrition are fasting as a means of subordinating the body to the soul. Verbal amulets include prayers, a personal name and a calendar, material amulets include a cross, books, dishes, ladders.
“Lestovka is something like a rosary. In the language of the Old Believers, lestovka or staircase means “ladder.” It is a decorated ribbon, the four triangular “paws” on which are the Gospels. The knots on the lestovka are called “bobochki”. prayers and bows."
“The traditions of the Old Believers developed before the schism and are based on the foundations of Orthodoxy and patriarchy. Their everyday principles are regulated by books that define the rules of community life. In families they read “The Flower Garden”, “The Passion of Christ”, “Chrysostom”. Some rules are passed down from elders to younger ones orally .
Old Believers do not say “thank you,” but “Save, Christ.” At the table, one reads aloud: “Bless you to soak.” The elder replies: “God bless.” To drink, you need to say "Bless the drink." Each piece of bread or change of food must be commemorated. If you eat, you need to say: “Save, Christ.” To do something, you need to ask the blessing of an elder, even, for example, to pour water into the washbasin."
The Old Believers honor Domostroy, and therefore preserve many traditions. In such families, the authority of the man is undeniable. “When newlyweds are married, the wife must bow at her husband’s feet, and he must bow to her only at the waist. If a wife leaves her husband, then she will not have a second marriage, so it is written in the books. Women know “their place” both in the house and in church: the man earns money, the woman must give birth and look after the children."
Men do not smoke and do not use foul language, do not cut their beards or shave. Elderly men wear black kaftans that fall below the knees. Guys wear shirts. Women should not dye their hair, lips, or eyelashes. For this they may not be allowed into the cathedral. In everyday life, they wear sundresses and cover their heads with a scarf (previously they wore a warrior under it - an Old Believer cap, under which married women hid their forehead and hair). Boys also wear blouses, and girls wear sundresses, like their mothers, with ribbon decorations on their heads.
There are many children in families, but they are neither seen nor heard in the house. They are brought up in the faith, honor their parents and do not interfere in the conversations of their elders, but with early age are accustomed to work.
“A child under seven years of age is considered a baby. As soon as he crosses this threshold, certain requirements are placed on him. Now, together with adults, he is obliged to fast and learn to observe the prayer regime. Children are taught both Russian literacy and reading in Old Church Slavonic in order to be able to read old books.
While a child is gaining his first experience in spiritual life, he is not strictly asked to follow the rules; there are relaxations. As the child grows, demands increase, and a sense of responsibility is formed, an integral part of which is punishment. For example, when disobedience is shown, they are asked to pray; if the child is lazy, he must bow to the ground 40 times. If the prayer regime is not followed, food is deprived."
Old Believers do not want to change their way of life and take something new from the world of the “Antichrist”. But they cannot completely renounce this world.
If before perestroika men hunted, selling furs to the state, and their settlements were branches of state farms or state industrial enterprises, then with the loss of this income they had to establish new connections with outside world. So the objects of the “Antichrist” life appeared in their everyday life - snowmobiles and motor boats, motorcycles, modern furniture, various decorations. Young Old Believers took up commerce and use mobile phones, “on the side” they are gradually mastering the computer and the Internet, and in some places televisions and communications equipment have appeared.
Many customs have also changed. For example, weddings are played in a new way and brides are chosen. Of course, most often they are looked after from believers in neighboring villages or from the Angara. But sometimes they also come from America. It is now even permissible to take brides from non-believers if they are baptized. Officially registered marriages also appeared.
As a result of contacts with residents of surrounding villages and trips to cities, the unity of the community is gradually being destroyed. The Old Believers were divided into “strong” and “weak”. The “strong” fully observe all the rules of their faith, avoid contact with the “worldly”, and do not have fun. The “weak” often allow deviations from the canons.
“Strong” Old Believers are mostly elderly people, and their number is decreasing. This means that the connection between generations, based on traditions and canons of faith, is being destroyed. And it’s hard to imagine what awaits the new generation if this connection is ever broken...
As can be seen, as a result of forced contacts with modern civilization and the violation of the isolation of the Old Believer community, its unity is gradually destroyed and its originality is lost. Therefore, to save it you need to find new way development, combined with the faith and foundations of our ancestors.
What do you think this path might be?
Tatiana Kaskevich , especially for etoya.ru
Used photographs and historical materials: memorial.krsk.ru, watermike.narod.ru, archive.photographer.ru
Many people ask the question: “Who are the Old Believers, and how do they differ from Orthodox believers?” People interpret Old Belief differently, equating it either to a religion or to a type of sect.
Let's try to understand this extremely interesting topic.
Old Believers - who are they?
Old Believers arose in the 17th century as a protest against changes in old church customs and traditions. A schism began after the reforms of Patriarch Nikon, who introduced innovations in church books and church structure. All who did not accept the changes and advocated for the preservation of old traditions were anathematized and persecuted.
The large community of Old Believers soon split into separate branches that did not recognize the sacraments and traditions of the Orthodox Church and often had different views on the faith.
Avoiding persecution, the Old Believers fled to uninhabited places, settling in the North of Russia, the Volga region, Siberia, settling in Turkey, Romania, Poland, China, reaching Bolivia and even Australia.
Customs and traditions of the Old Believers
The current way of life of the Old Believers is practically no different from the one that their grandfathers and great-grandfathers used several centuries ago. In such families, history and traditions are respected, passed down from generation to generation. Children are taught to respect their parents, brought up in strictness and obedience, so that in the future they become a reliable support.
From a very early age, sons and daughters are taught to work, which is held in high esteem by the Old Believers. They have to work a lot: Old Believers try not to buy food in the store, so they grow vegetables and fruits in their gardens, keep livestock in perfect cleanliness, and do a lot of things for the house with their own hands.
They don't like to talk about their lives to strangers, and even have separate dishes for those who come to the community “from the outside.”
To clean the house, use only clean water from a blessed well or spring. The bathhouse is considered an unclean place, so the cross must be removed before the procedure, and when they enter the house after the steam room, they must wash themselves with clean water.
Very great attention Old Believers pay attention to the sacrament of baptism. They try to baptize the baby within a few days after his birth. The name is chosen strictly according to the calendar, and for a boy - within eight days after birth, and for a girl - within eight days before and after birth.
All attributes used in baptism are kept in running water for some time so that they become clean. Parents are not allowed to attend christenings. If mom or dad witnesses the ceremony, then this is a bad sign that threatens divorce.
Concerning wedding traditions, then relatives up to the eighth generation and relatives “on the cross” do not have the right to walk down the aisle. There are no weddings on Tuesday and Thursday. After marriage, a woman constantly wears a shashmura headdress; appearing in public without it is considered a great sin.
Old Believers do not wear mourning. According to customs, the body of the deceased is washed not by relatives, but by people chosen by the community: a man is washed by a man, a woman by a woman. The body is placed in a wooden coffin with shavings at the bottom. Instead of a lid there is a sheet. At funerals, the deceased is not remembered with alcohol, and his belongings are distributed to those in need as alms.
Are there Old Believers in Russia today?
In Russia today there are hundreds of settlements in which Russian Old Believers live.
Despite the different trends and branches, they all continue the life and way of life of their ancestors, carefully preserve traditions, and raise children in the spirit of morality and ambition.
What kind of cross do the Old Believers have?
In church rituals and services, Old Believers use an eight-pointed cross, on which there is no image of the Crucifixion. In addition to the horizontal crossbar, there are two more on the symbol.
The top one depicts a tablet on the cross where Jesus Christ was crucified, the bottom one implies a kind of “scale” that measures human sins.
How Old Believers are baptized
In Orthodoxy, it is customary to make the sign of the cross with three fingers - three fingers, symbolizing the unity of the Holy Trinity.
Old Believers cross themselves with two fingers, as was customary in Rus', saying “Alleluia” twice and adding “Glory to Thee, God.”
For worship they dress in special clothes: men put on a shirt or blouse, women wear a sundress and a scarf. During the service, Old Believers cross their arms over their chests as a sign of humility before the Almighty and bow to the ground.
Where are the settlements of the Old Believers?
In addition to those who remained in Russia after Nikon’s reforms, Old Believers who have lived for a long time in exile outside its borders continue to return to the country. They, as before, honor their traditions, raise livestock, cultivate the land, and raise children.
Many people took advantage of the resettlement program for Far East, where there is a lot of fertile land and there is an opportunity to build a strong economy. Several years ago, thanks to the same voluntary resettlement program, Old Believers from South America returned to Primorye.
In Siberia and the Urals there are villages where Old Believer communities are firmly established. There are many places on the map of Russia where the Old Believers flourish.
Why were the Old Believers called Bespopovtsy?
The split of the Old Believers formed two separate branches - priesthood and non-priesthood. Unlike the Old Believers-Priests, who after the schism recognized the church hierarchy and all the sacraments, the Old Believers-Priestless began to deny the priesthood in all its manifestations and recognized only two sacraments - Baptism and Confession.
There are Old Believer movements that also do not deny the sacrament of Marriage. According to the Bespopovites, the Antichrist has reigned in the world, and all modern clergy is a heresy that is of no use.
What kind of Bible do the Old Believers have?
Old Believers believe that the Bible and the Old Testament in their modern interpretation are distorted and do not carry the original information that should carry the truth.
In their prayers they use the Bible, which was used before Nikon's reform. Prayer books from those times have survived to this day. They are carefully studied and used in worship.
How do Old Believers differ from Orthodox Christians?
The main difference is this:
- Orthodox believers recognize the church rites and sacraments of the Orthodox Church and believe in its teachings. Old Believers consider the old pre-reform texts of the Holy Books to be true, without recognizing the changes made.
- Old Believers wear eight-pointed crosses with the inscription “King of Glory”, there is no image of the Crucifixion on them, they cross themselves with two fingers, and bow to the ground. In Orthodoxy, three-fingered crosses are accepted, crosses have four and six ends, and people generally bow at the waist.
- The Orthodox rosary consists of 33 beads; the Old Believers use the so-called lestovki, consisting of 109 knots.
- Old Believers baptize people three times, completely immersing them in water. In Orthodoxy, a person is doused with water and partially immersed.
- In Orthodoxy, the name “Jesus” is written with a double vowel “and”; Old Believers are faithful to tradition and write it as “Isus”.
- There are more than ten different readings in the Creed of the Orthodox and Old Believers.
- Old Believers prefer copper and tin icons to wooden ones.
Conclusion
A tree can be judged by its fruits. The purpose of the Church is to lead its spiritual children to salvation, and its fruits, the result of its labors, can be assessed by the gifts that its children have acquired.
And the fruits of the Orthodox Church are a host of holy martyrs, saints, priests, prayer books and other wondrous Pleasers of God. The names of our Saints are known not only to the Orthodox, but also to the Old Believers, and even to non-church people.