Костюмы старообрядок

Одежда – важнейший компонент народной культуры. Она служит историческим источником, несет в себе разнообразную информацию, позволяющую говорить об этнической, конфессиональной, возрастной и социальной принадлежности людей.
Общеизвестно, что именно в старообрядческой среде более длительно сохранялся традиционный русский костюм. В церкви на службе и на домашней молитве многие старообрядцы стараются одевать традиционную русскую одежду.

На фото мужская рубаха -косоворотка и женская рубаха с фартуком.

Женский костюм у старообрядки состоял из рубахи, сарафана, фартука, пояса, платка. Придерживались, чтобы все было «достойно», не бросалось в глаза. Одновременно такой комплект выглядит празднично и торжественно. В белых рубахах и белых платках женщины имели более строгий наряд, про них говорили: «Они все белые, как лебедушки» (см.картину Нестерова М. В. "На горах" 1896 г.)

Головной платок до сих пор обязательно застегивается на булавочку, как на знаменитой картине В.Сурикова "Боярыня Морозова".

Обязательны нательные кресты, различные для мужчин и женщин. Существует внешнее различие между "женскими" и "мужскими" крестами. "Женский" нательный крест имеет более сглаженную, округлую форму без острых углов. Вокруг "женского" креста растительным орнаментом изображается "лоза", напоминающая о словах псалмопевца:"Жена твоя, яко лоза плодовита в странах дому твоего" (Пс., 127, 3).

     

Крест "Мужской" и "Женский".

Спор поповца и беспоповца. Гравюра. 1841 г. Фрагмент (ГИМ)

Старообрядец поморского согласия. Гравюра. 1794 г.

Халат большую часть времени носили как накидку , придерживая за специальные петли . Руки в рукава продевали, только когда шли в церковь

Рубаха Староверов

Мужская одежда староверов. 

Рис. 1. Костюмы старообрядок 1910-х гг. (реконструкции):

а) моленный костюм молодой женщины, с.Козловка Болотнинского района Новосибирской области; 

б) моленный костюм пожилой женщины, с.Бергуль Северного района Новосибирской области; 

в) костюм невесты из с.Козловка Болотнинского района Новосибирской области.

Смена “девичего” головного убора на “женский” совершалась в ходе специального обряда, называвшегося “садить на кадку”, или “ставить квашню”. Этот обряд, имевший несомненно продуцирующее значение, происходил в доме жениха на второй день свадьбы (в с. Козловка в первый день перед постельным обрядом). Невесту усаживали на кадушку или квашенку, куда для удобства подкладывали подушку, и расплетали косу под пение “Сидит она, ласточка, на горе, на горе”. В конце этой “жалостливой” песни девушка выражала покорность своему “господину”. Расплетал косу родственник-мужчина со стороны невесты, чаще всего ее брат. Далее ему помогали крёстные: разделив волосы пополам на две пряди, заплетали две косы и укладывали их вокруг головы. Вся эта процедура называлась “закрутить по-бабьи”. Особое значение придавалось перекрещиванию волос на затылке, что сохранялось затем в течение всей жизни и служило, по-видимому, оберегом женщины. Как, рассказывают, раньше, еще на прежних местах жительства, голову покрывали мягким чепцом-“кокошником” и платками. В сибирский период жизни сверху повязывали узлом назад или под подбородком платок, который держал наготове и подавал в нужный момент жених. По этой причине невеста должна была дарить при сговоре в качестве залога именно платок (“обнадежишь, что пойдешь взамуж”). Если свадьба расстраивалась по вине невесты, то платок оставался у жениха. Покрывание волос символизировало будущуюподчиненность жены мужу, о чем недвусмысленно говорится в постановлениях старообрядческих соборов, в свою очередь ссылавшихся на послание ап. Павла: “ ...жена должна есть плат имети на главе, то есть знак подчиненности, иметь покровеную голову, разумея власть мужа”9. Ссылки на столь авторитетный источник, конечно, были важны для старообрядцев, однако покрытие платом невест и традиция его обязательного ношения являлись общерусскими и были известны еще древним славянам9. Поскольку волосы привлекались для выполнения многих магических действий (особенно в области черной магии), то можно предположить, что их укрытие было связано и с “защитой” новой семьиот их, какого-то, неблагоприятного, воздействия. Смена прически и убора сопровождалась причитаниями и плачем невесты, которую “утешал” жених. Демонстрация “честности” невесты на второй день свадьбы не носила столь откровенного характера, как, например, у старожилов-“чалдонов”. Не было принято в среде западных старообрядцев и показывать молодушечью рубаху.

Илья Глазунов,

ЖЕНСКАЯ ОДЕЖДА БУХТАРМИНСКИХ СТАРООБРЯДЦЕВ

Женский традиционный костюм бухтарминских старообрядцев представляет собой сарафанный комплекс, состоящий из рубахи, сарафана, пояса, передника, головного убора и различного рода украшений. Женский и девичий комплексы различаются головным убором, полностью покрывающим голову в женском костюме и оставляющим открытой макушку и косу в девичьем. Традиционный костюм «полячек» и «кержачек», имея общую основу, отличается в некоторых важных деталях. Наиболее заметными из них являются способы декорирования костюма. Они делают поляцкий костюм более насыщенным разнообразием и многочисленностью отделки в виде тесьмы, кружева, контрастных полос ткани, лент. Причем, все это с невообразимой выдумкой и безупречностью вкуса. На фото – сарафанные комплексы из коллекции традиционного костюма фольклорно-этнографической специализации Алтайского кравеого колледжа культуры, выполненные по этнографическим образцам.

Праздничный женский костюм семейских староверов состоит из нескольких слоев: рубаха станушка, круглый сарафан, фартук. На голове замужней женщины — кичка, обмотанная платком-атласом, поверх кички — бусины и цветы, на груди — несколько ниток янтарей: чем крупнее, тем лучше

Станушка — рубаха из двух частей. Верхняя шилась, как правило, из китайского шелка: она была видна из под сарафана и фартука. На нижнюю шел хлопок или другой, более грубый, домотканный материал. Польский воротник скреплялся специальной брошкой. По плечам и краям рукавов часто делали фигурный шов. Скорее всего, он заменял вышивку, принятую на европейской территории России, где старообрядцы жили до переселения в Забайкалье

«Круглые» сарафаны — большой кусок ткани собирали под грудью мелкими складками — были рабочими и праздничными. Рабочие шили из плотных темных тканей без рисунка. Праздничные — из покупных тканей ярких расцветок, как правило, в крупные цветы. На сарафан пришивали шелковые ленты разных цветов. Ленты — главный расходный материал: Фартук мог быть однотонным или цветастым и тоже украшался разноцветными лентами

1. Курмушка — женская верхняя одежда. Приталенная, со сборками на спине, она шилась из китайского шелка. Старообрядцы считают, что ее крой сохранился с допетровских времен. А ученые, сравнивая курмушку с верхней одеждой других народов Забайкалья, не находят серьезных отличий и поэтому предполагают, что эту часть наряда семейские позаимствовали у новых соседей уже в Сибири

2. В 1950-е еще не все семейские перешли на городское платье (фото внизу). Из семейного архива Фадеевых.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ukraine.

The first missionaries to enter Ukraine were Elders Ivan Stratov and Brian Bradbury, both were transferred from the Finland Helsinki East Mission. They were accompanied by President Dennis B. Neuenschwander of the Austria Vienna East Mission. They arrived in Kyiv on 7 October 1990 with a list of Ukrainian referrals. They quickly made enough contacts to gather 17 people for a fireside held in the Writers' Union Hall, where the first sacrament meetings were later held.

Introduced in 1991, the Church grew steadily in Ukraine, reaching a milestone on May 30, 2004, when Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles organized the first stake of seven wards in Kyiv. Elder Nelson blessed members to love their neighbors as Christ that many more stakes might be organized. He also encouraged them in their family history work in preparation for the temple.

The Kiev (Ukraine) Temple was the first temple built in the former Soviet Union. Two pictures of this Temple are below.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 

The Mormon Church in Kyiv is the 134th temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the world by its order of construction and it is the third church by its dimensions. Kyiv Ukrainian church is the first religious building of the Mormons in Eastern Europe. Construction began on June 23, 2007. The temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) was to be dedicated on August 29, 2010. There is golden figure mounted on the cone top of the building (height 42 meters). This is the figure of the angel Moroni, who preaches the message of the Gospel throughout the world. There are 11 thousand Ukrainian parishioners of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church). 

This is model made by Chigirinsky.

On 1 July 1993 was created the Ukraine Donetsk Mission under President Leo Merrill.

The building of Saltovka Chapel in Donetsk.

In 1843, just 13 years after the Church's organization, Church President Joseph Smith called two men to preach in Russia.

In 1843, just 13 years after the Church's organization, Church President Joseph Smith called two men to preach in Russia. This assignment was canceled after the martyrdom of Joseph Smith in 1844. In 1895, a native of Sweden was sent to St. Petersburg, where he baptized the Johan M. Lindelof family. The family was occasionally visited by Church leaders in the early 1900s. In 1959, Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, simultaneously serving as United States Secretary of Agriculture, visited the Central Baptist Church in Moscow and preached to an attentive congregation.

In September 1989, Church leaders authorized a United States Embassy worker, Alan Evenson, in Moscow to begin holding group meetings in his apartment in Moscow.

The picture of US Embassy building in Moscow is above.

Four months later, in January 1990, missionaries arrived in Leningrad.

The first convert they baptized also became the first full-time missionary from Russia, who served in the Utah Ogden Mission. In February 1990, a congregation was organized in Vyborg. By mid-summer 1990, the Leningrad congregation, created in December 1989, had 100 members, and the Vyborg congregation had 25 members. In September, the St. Petersburg congregation was recognized by the government and in October a religious freedom law was passed. With membership in Russia at 750 in February 1992, two other Russian missions were organized.

Missionaries began serving in Moscow in October 1990. In May 1991 the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Russian Religious Association was registered, providing legal recognition for the Church throughout Russia.

When the Finland Helsinki East Mission became the Russia St. Petersburg and Russia Moscow Missions in February 1992, membership totaled 433, with 27 missionaries in St. Petersburg and Vyborg. In Moscow and neighboring Zelenograd, 24 missionaries served with 186 members.

This is a photo of banner above the entrance to the Moscow mission.

Soon additional Russian missions were created: Russia Samara in July 1993, Russia Rostov-on-the-Don and Russia Novosibirsk in July 1994, Russia Yekaterinburg in July 1995, and Russia Moscow South in July 1997, making a total of seven missions. In the year 2000 the Church in Russia embraced more than 11,092 members and more than 650 missionaries.

Now Russia has 8 missions and almost 30,000 members. As Elder Schwitzer of the Europe East Area Presidency said at our Novosibirsk Zone Conference ..."we will soon see major events here that will bring about the prophesies concerning this land regarding the gathering of the Ten Tribes and the bringing of tens and hundreds of thousands into the Church".

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the Mormon Church This church has its headquarter in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the Mormon Church is a Christian church that considers itself to be a restoration of the church founded by Jesus Christ.

The church has its headquarter in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. 

Mormon church has established congregations (called wards or branches) and built temples worldwide. With over 55,000 missionaries worldwide, the Mormon church currently has a membership of over 14.4 million. 

It is the largest church appeared after the establishment of the U.S. 

It is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith during the period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. 

Mormons, view faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement as the central tenet of their religion. Mormons theology includes the Christian doctrine of salvation only through Jesus Christ.

Other than the Bible, the majority of the Mormon canon constitutes revelation dictated by Joseph Smith and includes commentary and exegesis about the Bible, texts described as lost parts of the Bible, and other works believed to be written by ancient prophets.

Rogozhskoe cemetery in Moscow, Russia is the spiritual and administrative center of the largest Old Believers(starovery, staroobryadtsy) denomination now.

In 1762, the first year of her reign, Catherine II of Russia opened Russia to settlers of all confessions, excluding Jews, in particular inviting the Old Believer (starovery, staroobryadtsy) fugitives, whose spiritual center at that time was based outside Moscow. A group of fugitives who returned to Moscow became the nucleus of future Rogozhskoe community.

Rogozhskoe cemetery in Moscow, Russia, is the spiritual and administrative center of the largest Old Believers denomination now.

Historically, the name cemetery was applied to the whole Old Believer community, with living quarters, cathedral, almshouses, libraries, archives and the Old-Rite Institute (established in 1907).

The cemetery is now a non-denominational municipal burial site; the Old Believers operate a closed spiritual community in the southern part of the historical Rogozhsky township, while Russia Orthodox Church operates church of Saint Nicholas, located between the cemetery and Old Believer territory.

Cathedral of Protection of Our Lady.

The altar of the Cathedral of Protection of Our Lady.

On this memorial plate is written that Cathedral of Protection of Our Lady was built in 1792 by Russian outstanding architect Mikhail Kazakov.

The Church of Nativity of Christ.

The bell tower is the tallest and most visible building of the Cemetery. 

It was built in 1908-1909.

There were many denominations of Old Believer (starovery staroobryadtsy) in Russian Empire.

There were many denominations of Old Believer (starovery  staroobryadtsy)  in Russian Empire.

The Uspensky cathedral in Belaya Krinitsa (beginning 20th century), the oldest centre of the priestly Old Believers

Although all Old Believers groups emerged as a result of opposition to the Nikonian reform, they do not constitute a single monolithic body. Despite the emphasis on invariable adherence to the pre-Nikonian 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 practise re-baptism before admitting a member of another group into their midst).

Since none of the bishops joined the Old Believers (except Bishop Pavel of Kolomna, who was put to death for this), apostolically ordained priests of the old rite would have soon become extinct. Two responses appeared to this dilemma: the Popovtsy (поповцы, "with priests") and the Bespopovtsy ("priestless").

                                                                 Popovtsy

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 Nikonian reforms. In 1846 they convinced Amvrosii Popovich (1791–1863), a Greek Orthodox bishop whom Turkish pressure had had removed from his see at Sarajevo, 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 so-called Belokrinitskaya hierarchy. Not all priestist 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 sacraments, including the eucharist.

Belokrinitskaya hierarchy—The largest Popovtsy denomination. One can refer to the Russian part of this denomination as the Belokrinitskoe Soglasie (the "Belokrinitsky Agreement") or as the Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church.

Neokruzhniki (extinct)

Novozybkovskaya hierarchy or Russian Old-Orthodox Church

Beglopopovtsy (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 Bespopovtsy (extinct)

Bespopovts

The Bespopovtsy (the "priestless") rejected "the World" where they believed the Antichrist reigned; they preached the imminent end of the world, asceticism, 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 priestless Old believers. The Bespopovtsy claimed that any priest or Hierarch who has ever used the Nikonian Rites have forfeited Apostolic Succession. Therefore, the true church of Christ had ceased to exist on Earth, and they therefore renounced priests and all sacraments except baptism. The Bespopovtsy movement has many sub-groups. Bespopovtsy have no priests and no eucharist.

Pomortsy or Danilovtsy (not to be confused with Pomors) originated in North Russia (Russian Karelia, Arkhangelsk region). Initially they rejected marriage and prayer for the Tsar.

Novopomortsy, or "New Pomortsy": accept marriage

Staropomortsy, or "Old Pomortsy": reject marriage

Fedoseevtsy: “Society of Christian Old Believers of the Old Pomortsy Unmarried Confession” (1690s until present); deny marriage and practice cloister-style asceticism.

Fillipovtsy.

Chasovennye (from chasovnya i.e. chapel), a Siberian branch. The Chasovennye initially had priests, but later decided to change to a priestless practice. Also known as Semeyskie (in the lands east of Baykal Lake).

Bespopovtsy: minor groups

Apart from these major groups, many smaller groups have emerged and became extinct at various times since the end of seventeenth century:

Aristovtsy (beginning of nineteenth to the beginning of twentieth centuries; extinct): from the name of the merchant Aristov;

Titlovtsy (extinct in the twentieth cent.): emerged from Fedoseevtsy, supported the use of Pilate's inscription upon the cross (titlo), which other groups rejected;

Troparion confession (troparschiki): a group that commemorated the tsar in the hymns (troparia);

Daniel’s confession of the “partially married” (danilovtsy polubrachnye);

Adamant confession (adamantovy): refused to use money and passports (as containing the seal of Antichrist);

Aaron's confession (aaronovtsy): second half of the eighteenth century, a spin-off of the Fillipovtsy.

“Grandmother’s confession” or the Self-baptized: practised 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 icons and prayed to the east through a hole in the wall;

Melchisedecs (in Moscow and in Bashkortostan): 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 (Russian: единоверцы, i.e. "people of the same faith"; collective, единоверчество): 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 omophor of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate or of the Russian Church Abroad. Edinoversty retain the use of the pre-Nikonian rituals. They can be regarded as "Old Ritualists", but they do not count as "Old Believers" in the standard sense.

Boris and Gleb, the first Russian saints (early 14th century icon of the Moscow School). The Old Believers only recognize saints which were canonized before the Schism, although they do have their own saints, such as Archpriest Avvakum and Boyarynya Morozova.

Main differences between the Old Believers and post-Nikonian Russian Orthodoxy

Old Believers use two fingers while making the Sign of the Cross (the pointer finger straight, middle finger slightly bent, two fingers joined with thumb, held at point, three folded) while new-style Orthodoxy uses three fingers for the sign of cross (three fingers (including the thumb) held together at point, two fingers folded). Old Ritualists generally say the Jesus Prayer 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 above).

Old Believers reject any changes and emendations of liturgical texts and rituals introduced by the reforms of Patriarch Nikon. Thus they continue to use the previous Church Slavonic translation of the Greek texts, including the Psalter, striving to preserve intact the "pre-Nikonian" practices of the Russian Church.

Old Believers only recognize performing baptism through three full immersions, in agreement with the Greek practice, but reject the validity of any baptismal rite performed otherwise (for example through pouring or sprinkling, as the Russian Orthodox Church has occasionally accepted since the eighteenth century).

Old Believers perform the Liturgy with seven prosphora, instead of five as in new-rite Russian Orthodoxy or a single large prosphora, as sometimes done by the Greeks and Arabs.

Old Believers chant the alleluia verse after the psalmody two times rather than the three used in the Nikonian reforms.

Old Believers do not use polyphonic singing as the new-style Russian practice, but only monodic, unison singing. They also have their own musical notation: not with linear notation, but with special signs—kriuki or znamena ("hooks" or "banners"; see Znamenny Chant). Old Believers practise several different types of Znamenny Chant: Stolpov Chant, Great Znamenny Chant, Lesser Znamenny Chant, Putevoi Chant, Pomorsky Chant(or Khomov Chant), Demestvenny Chant, etc. In this respect it represents a tradition that parallels the use of Byzantine chant and neumatic notation.

Present situation

Inside Old believers church in McKee near Gervais and Woodburn in Oregon, USA

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 revoking the anathemas and asked forgiveness from the Old Believers for the wrongs done them. 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 Communion with the majority of Orthodox Christianity worldwide.
Inside Old believers church in McKee near Gervais and Woodburn in Oregon, USA
Estimates place the total number of Old Believers remaining today at from 1 to 2 million, 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 has entered into communion with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, after a split in the congregation.The remainder have remained Old Believers.

Old Believer church outside of Gervais, Oregon, USA.

Old-Believer churches in Russia currently have started restoration of their property, although Old Believers (unlike the nearly-official mainstream Orthodoxy) face many difficulties in claiming their restitution rights for their churches. Moscow has churches for all the most important Old Believer branches: Rogozhskaya Zastava (Popovtsy of the Belokrinitskaya hierarchy official center), a cathedral for the Novozybkovskaya hierarchy in Zamoskvorech'ye and Preobrazhenskaya Zastava where Pomortsy and Fedoseevtsy coexist.

Russian Old Believers in Woodburn, Oregon. Old Believers consider the shaving of one's beard a severe sin. This is due to the so-called iconographic thinking of Orthodoxy: Christ had a beard and men ought to have the same appearance (photo by Mikhail Evstafiev).

Russian Old Believers in Woodburn, Oregon. Old Believers consider the shaving of one's beard a severe sin. This is due to the so-called iconographic thinking of Orthodoxy: Christ had a beard and men ought to have the same appearance (photo by Mikhail Evstafiev).
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 intra-branch ecumenism, 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; Woodburn, Oregon; Erie, Pennsylvania; Erskine, Minnesota and in various parts of Alaska including near Homer in the Fox River area villages of Voznesenka, Razdolna, and Kachemak Selo, Nikolaevsk,[8] Beryozovka, Delta Junction, and Kodiak, Alaska (the Anton Larson Bay Area, and on Raspberry Island).[9] Two flourishing communities also exist in Sydney, Australia, along with rural areas of New Zealand. Communities also have been established in many parts of South America, including Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia and Argentina. Small hidden communities have been found in the Russian Far North (specifically remote areas of Arkhangelsk Oblast and the Komi Republic) and various regions of Siberia, especially concentrated in the areas between the Altai Mountains and Tuva Republic. 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 region in desolate areas of Buryatia and Zabaykalsky Krai.
Conservative Old believer population stands at some 3,000 in Bolivia, while that in Alaska is estimated at 2,500.

Old Believer Churches

Lipovan Orthodox Old-Rite Church (Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy)

Lipovans

Pomorian Old-Orthodox Church (Pomortsy)

Russian Old-Orthodox Church (Novozybkovskaya Hierarchy)

Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church (Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy)

The Old Believers (Russian: starovery or staroobryadtsy) separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66. Old Believers continue liturgical practices which the Russian Orthodox Church maintained before the implementation of these reforms.

In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers (Russian: starovery or staroobryadtsy) separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66. Old Believers continue liturgical practices which the Russian Orthodox Church maintained before the implementation of these reforms.

Boyarina Morozova by Vasily Ivanovich Surikov.

Boyarynya Morozova, depicting the defiant boyarynja Morozova during her arrest. Her holding up two fingers (instead of three) refers to the dispute about the proper way to make the Sign of the Cross on oneselfers (instead of three) refers to the dispute about the proper way to make the Sign of the Cross on oneself.

В нашем сознании эти два термина: старообрядцы староверы всегда считались синонимами и обозначали последователей православной веры до Никоновской реформы. Наиболее известными их представителями считаются протопоп Аввакум и боярыня Морозова. Остальные существует в некоторой обезличенной массы, которая подвергала себя самосожжению и уходила в глухие и необжитые уголки необъятной России. Однако после просмотра телевизионной передачи, в которой принимал участие Патер Дий Александр Коловрат вдруг обозначилось и существование дохристианских староверов – носителей Старой Веры.

О том, что крещение на Руси происходило не просто, умалчивалось всегда. Целые народы уходили от христианства и монастырского закабаления в другие земли, в непролазные болота, глухую тайгу или непроходимые горы. К их числу например относятся финно-угорские чудь и меря, которые проживали на землях, сегодня считающихся исконно русскими. Огромный интерес вызывает рассказ об урах и русах, Асгарде и его разрушении джунгарами. Даже если это мистификация староверов инглингов (так называется это направление), то

имеет не меньшее право на жизнь, чем изолганная официальная история, вдалбливаемая в наши головы со школьной скамьи.

В любом случае рассказ получился не только интересный, он пробудил интерес к дальнейшим поискам материалов на эту тему.

In 1652, Nikon (1605–81; Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church from 1652 to 1658) introduced a number of ritual and textual revisions with the aim of achieving uniformity between Russian and Greek Orthodox practices. Nikon, having noticed discrepancies between Russian and Greek rites and texts, ordered an adjustment of the Russian rites to align with the Greek ones of his time. In doing so, Nikon acted without adequate consultation with the clergy and without gathering a council.[1] After the implementation of these revisions, the Church anathematized and suppressed—with the support of Muscovite state power—the prior liturgical rite 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 (raskol'niki, Russian: раскольники). They became known as "Old Ritualists" (staroobryadtsy), a name introduced during the reign of Empress Catherine the Great[citation needed]. They continued to call themselves simply Orthodox Christians.

TheThe three-barred cross of the Russian Orthodox Church three-barred cross of the Russian Orthodox Church

By the middle of the 17th century Greek and Russian Church officials, including Patriarch Nikon, 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 books of its own that had significantly deviated from the Greek originals. Thus, the Russian Orthodox Church had become dissonant from the other Orthodox churches. Later research was to vindicate the Muscovite service-books as belonging to a different Greek recension from that which was used by the Greeks at the time of Nikon, and the unrevised Muscovite books were actually older than the current Greek books, which had undergone several revisions over the centuries and ironically, were newer and contained innovations.[1][2]

Nikon, supported by Tsar Alexis I (reigned 1645–1676), carried out some preliminary liturgical reforms. In 1652, he convened a synod and exhorted the clergy on the need to compare Russian Typikon, Euchologion, and other liturgical books with their Greek counterparts. Monasteries from all over Russia received requests to send examples to Moscow in order 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 texts over the previous centuries and the lack of textual historiographic techniques at the time.

The locum tenens for the Patriarch, Pitirim of Krutitsy, convened a second synod in 1666, which brought Patriarch Macarios III of Antioch, Patriarch Paisius 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.[1] 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 messianic theory depicting Moscow as the Third Rome appeared weaker. Instead of the guardian of Orthodox faith, Russia seemed an accumulation of serious liturgical mistakes.

Nevertheless, both Patriarch and Tsar wished to carry out their reforms, although their endeavours may have had as much or more political motivation as religious; several authors on this subject point out that Tsar Alexis, encouraged by his military success in the war against Poland-Lithuania to liberate West Russian provinces and Ukraine, grew ambitious of becoming the liberator of the Orthodox areas which at that time formed part of the Ottoman Empire. 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.

The numerous changes in both texts and rites occupied approximately 400 pages. Old Believers present the following as the most crucial changes:

Old Practice

New Practice 

Spelling of Jesus

Ісусъ [Isus] 

Іисусъ [Iisus] 

Creed

рожденна, а не сотворенна (begotten but not made); И в Духа Свѧтаго, Господаистиннаго и Животворѧщаго (And in the Holy Spirit, the True Lord and Giver of Life) 

рожденна, не сотворенна (begotten not made); И в Духа Свѧтаго, Господа Животворѧщаго (And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life) 

Sign of the Cross

Two fingers, pointer finger straight, middle finger slightly bent 

Two fingers joined with thumb, held at point 

Mosaic inscription inside (Offering of Caesarion, at the time of Alexios and Theophilos priests)

Mount Nebo (Jordan) fifth-century monastery Prosphora inscription in Greek: "Offering of Caesarios, at the time of Alexios and Theophilos, priests"

Inscription in Mount Nebo "Offering of Caesar at the time of Alexios and Theophilos priests" προσφορα καισαριου επει αλεξυ (ο)σκαι θεοφιλου πρεσβ(υτερο)σ

Number of Prosphora in the Liturgy and Artoclasia 

A funeral procession, illustrated in a manuscript of the Hours of the Virgin. Fifteenth century. British Museum, Add. MS. 27697.

Direction of Procession

Clockwise

Counterclockwise

Alleluia 

Аллилуїa, аллилуїa, слава Тебѣ, Боже (twice alleluia, glory to Thee, o God) 

Аллилуїa, аллилуїa, аллилуїa, слава Тебѣ, Боже (thrice alleluia, glory to Thee, o God) 

The schism

Opponents of the ecclesiastical reforms of Nikon emerged among all strata of the people and in relatively large numbers (see Raskol). 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 amongst them maintained that the official Church had fallen into the hands of the Antichrist. Under the guidance of Archpriest Avvakum Petrov (1620 or 1621 to 1682), who had become the leader of the Old Believers' movement, the Old Believers 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.

Christ the Saviour (Pantokrator), a 6th-century encaustic icon from Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai. 6th century Author anonymous

After the schism

After 1685 a period of persecutions began, including both torture and executions. Many Old Believers fled Russia altogether. However, Old Believers became the dominant denomination in many regions, including Pomorye (the Russian Far North), Kursk region, the Urals, Siberia, and Russian Far East. A compact 40,000-strong Lipovan community of Old Believers still lives in neighboring Kilia raion (Vilkovo) of Ukraine and Tulcea County of Romania in the Danube Delta. By the 1910s, in the last Imperial Russian census, just before the Bolshevik Revolution, approximately 10% of the population of the Russian Empire said that they belonged to one of the Old Believer branches.

Government oppression could vary from relatively moderate, as under Peter the Great (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 (reigned 1825–55). 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 1905 Tsar Nicholas II signed an Act of religious freedom, which 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 1762–96) to refer to Old Believers as raskolniki (schismatics), a name they consider insulting[citation needed]. 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.