In recent years, an increasing number of our fellow citizens are interested in questions healthy lifestyle life, environmentally friendly ways of managing, survival in extreme conditions, the ability to live in harmony with nature, spiritual improvement. In this regard, many are turning to the millennial experience of our ancestors, who managed to master the vast territories of present-day Russia and created agricultural, commercial and military outposts in all remote corners of our Motherland.

Last but not least, in this case, we are talking about Old Believers- people who at one time settled not only territories Russian Empire, but also brought the Russian language, Russian culture and Russian faith to the banks of the Nile, to the jungles of Bolivia, the wastelands of Australia and the snowy hills of Alaska. The experience of the Old Believers is truly unique: they were able to preserve their religious and cultural identity in the most difficult natural and political conditions, not to lose their language and customs. It is no coincidence that the famous hermit Agafya Lykova from the Lykov family of Old Believers is so well known all over the world.

However, about themselves Old Believers not much is known. Someone believes that the Old Believers are people with a primitive education, adhering to outdated ways of farming. Others think that the Old Believers are people who profess paganism and worship the ancient Russian gods - Perun, Veles, Dazhdbog and others. Still others ask: if there are Old Believers, then there must be some old faith? Read the answer to these and other questions regarding the Old Believers in our article.

Old and new faith

One of the most tragic events in history Russia XVII century has become schism of the Russian Church. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and his closest spiritual companion Patriarch Nikon(Minin) decided to carry out a global church reform. Starting with minor, at first glance, changes - a change in the addition of fingers during the sign of the cross from two-fingered to three-fingered and the abolition of prostrations, the reform soon affected all aspects of Divine services and the Charter. Continuing and developing in one way or another until the reign of the emperor Peter I, this reform changed many canonical rules, spiritual institutions, customs of church administration, written and unwritten traditions. Almost all aspects of the religious, and then the cultural and everyday life of the Russian people underwent changes.

However, with the beginning of the reforms, it turned out that a significant number of Russian Christians saw in them an attempt to betray the very doctrine of the faith, the destruction of the religious and cultural order that had been taking shape in Russia for centuries after its Baptism. Many priests, monks and laity spoke out against the designs of the tsar and the patriarch. They wrote petitions, letters and appeals, denouncing innovations and defending the faith that had been preserved for hundreds of years. In their writings, the apologists pointed out that the reforms not only forcibly, under fear of executions and persecution, reshape traditions and traditions, but also affect the most important thing - they destroy and change the very Christian faith. The fact that Nikon's reform is apostate and changes the very faith was written by almost all the defenders of the ancient church tradition. So, the holy martyr Archpriest Avvakum pointed out:

They lost their way and apostatized from the true faith with Nikon the apostate, the insidious malefactor heretic. With fire, yes with a whip, yes with a gallows they want to approve the faith!

He also urged not to be afraid of tormentors and to suffer for " old christian faith". The well-known writer of that time, the defender of Orthodoxy, expressed himself in the same spirit. Spiridon Potemkin:

Exercising the true faith will harm with heretical prepositions (additions), so that faithful Christians do not understand, but be deceived by deceit.

Potemkin condemned Divine services and rituals performed according to new books and new orders, which he called "evil faith":

Heretics are those who baptize in their evil faith, they baptize blaspheming God into the One Holy Trinity.

Confessor and Hieromartyr Deacon Theodore wrote about the need to defend patristic tradition and the old Russian faith, citing numerous examples from the history of the Church:

The heretic, pious people suffering from him for the old faith, starved in exile ... And if the old faith is corrected by God with a single priest before the whole kingdom, all authorities will be shamed and reviled from the whole world.

The monks-confessors of the Solovetsky Monastery, who refused to accept the reform of Patriarch Nikon, wrote to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in their fourth petition:

Command us, sovereign, to be in our same Old Faith, in which your father of sovereigns and all the noble tsars and great princes and our fathers died, and the venerable fathers Zosima and Savatiy, and Herman, and Philip the Metropolitan and all the holy fathers pleased God.

So gradually it began to be said that before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, before the church schism, there was one faith, and after the schism, another faith. The pre-schism confession began to be called old faith, and the post-schismatic reformed confession - new faith.

This opinion was not denied by the supporters of the reforms of Patriarch Nikon themselves. So, Patriarch Joachim, at a well-known dispute in the Faceted Chamber, said:

Before me a new faith was wound up; with the advice and blessing of the most holy ecumenical patriarchs.

While still an archimandrite, he stated:

I do not know either the old faith or the new faith, but what the authorities order is what I do.

Thus, gradually, the concept old faith", and people who professed it began to be called" Old Believers», « Old Believers". In this way, Old Believers began to call people who refused to accept the church reforms of Patriarch Nikon and adhere to church institutions ancient Russia, that is old faith. Those who accepted the reform began to be called "new believers" or " newcomers". However, the term new believers" did not take root for a long time, and the term "Old Believers" exists to this day.

Old Believers or Old Believers?

For a long time, in government and church documents, Orthodox Christians who preserved the ancient liturgical rites, early printed books and customs were called " schismatics". They were accused of loyalty to church tradition, which allegedly led to church schism. For many years, schismatics were subjected to repression, persecution, infringement of civil rights.

However, during the reign of Catherine the Great, the attitude towards the Old Believers began to change. The Empress considered that the Old Believers could be very useful for settling the uninhabited regions of the expanding Russian Empire.

At the suggestion of Prince Potemkin, Catherine signed a number of documents granting them the rights and benefits to live in special regions of the country. In these documents, the Old Believers were not named as " schismatics”, but as “Old Believers”, which, if not a sign of goodwill, undoubtedly indicated a weakening of the negative attitude of the state towards the Old Believers. ancient orthodox christians, Old Believers, however, did not suddenly agree to the use of this name. In the apologetic literature, the resolutions of some Councils indicated that the term "Old Believers" is not entirely acceptable.

It was written that the name "Old Believers" implies that the reasons for the church division of the 17th century lie in the same church rites, and the faith itself remained completely intact. So the Irgiz Old Believers Cathedral of 1805 called fellow believers "Old Believers", that is, Christians who use the old rites and old printed books, but obey the Synodal Church. The resolution of the Irgiz Cathedral read:

Others retreated from us to the renegades, called the Old Believers, who, as if we also keep old printed books, and send services according to them, but with everyone they communicate in everything without shame, both in prayer and in eating and drinking.

In the historical and apologetic writings of the Old Orthodox Christians of the 18th - the first half of the 19th century, the terms "Old Believers" and "Old Believers" continued to be used. They are used, for example, in History of the Vygovskaya desert» Ivan Filippov, apologetic essay « Deacon's Answers"and others. This term was also used by numerous New Believer authors, such as N. I. Kostomarov, S. Knyazkov. P. Znamensky, for example, in “ Guide to Russian history The 1870 edition says:

Peter became much stricter towards the Old Believers.

However, over the years, part of the Old Believers still began to use the term " Old Believers". Moreover, as the well-known Old Believer writer points out Pavel Curious(1772–1848) in his historical dictionary, title Old Believers more inherent in non-priestly consents, and " Old Believers» - persons belonging to the concords, accepting the fleeing priesthood.

Indeed, by the beginning of the 20th century, instead of the term " Old Believers, « Old Believers"began to use more and more" Old Believers". Soon the name of the Old Believers was enshrined at the legislative level by the famous decree of Emperor Nicholas II " On strengthening the principles of religious tolerance". The seventh paragraph of this document reads:

Assign a name Old Believers, instead of the currently used name of schismatics, to all followers of interpretations and agreements who accept the basic dogmas of the Orthodox Church, but do not recognize some of the rites adopted by it and send their worship according to old printed books.

However, even after that, many Old Believers continued to be called Old Believers. The non-priestly consents preserved this name especially carefully. D. Mikhailov, author of the magazine " Native antiquity”, published by the Old Believer circle of zealots of Russian antiquity in Riga (1927), wrote:

Archpriest Avvakum speaks of the "old Christian faith", and not of "rites". That is why nowhere in all the historical decrees and messages of the first zealots of ancient Orthodoxy - nowhere is the name “ old believer.

What do the Old Believers believe in?

Old Believers, as the heirs of pre-schismatic, pre-reform Russia, they try to preserve all the dogmas, canonical provisions, ranks and followings of the Old Russian Church.

First of all, of course, this concerns the main church dogmas: the confession of St. Trinity, the incarnation of God the Word, the two hypostases of Jesus Christ, his atoning Sacrifice on the Cross and the Resurrection. The main difference between confession Old Believers from other Christian confessions is the use of forms of worship and church piety, characteristic of the ancient Church.

In recent years, an increasing number of our fellow citizens are interested in healthy lifestyles, environmentally friendly ways of managing, survival in extreme conditions, the ability to live in harmony with nature, spiritual improvement. In this regard, many are turning to the millennial experience of our ancestors, who managed to master the vast territories of present-day Russia and created agricultural, commercial and military outposts in all remote corners of our Motherland.

Last but not least, in this case, we are talking about the Old Believers - people who at one time settled not only the territories of the Russian Empire, but also brought the Russian language, Russian culture and Russian faith to the banks of the Nile, to the jungles of Bolivia, the wastelands of Australia and the snow-covered hills of Alaska . The experience of the Old Believers is truly unique: they managed to preserve their religious and cultural identity in the most difficult natural and political conditions, not to lose their language and customs. It is no coincidence that the famous hermit Agafya Lykova from the Lykov family of Old Believers is so well known all over the world.

However, not much is known about the Old Believers themselves. Someone believes that the Old Believers are people with a primitive education, adhering to outdated ways of farming. Others think that the Old Believers are people who profess paganism and worship the ancient Russian gods - Perun, Veles, Dazhdbog and others. Still others are asking the question: if there are Old Believers, then there must be some kind of old faith? Read the answer to these and other questions regarding the Old Believers in our article.

Old and new faith

One of the most tragic events in the history of Russia in the 17th century was the schism of the Russian Church. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and his closest spiritual companion, Patriarch Nikon (Minin), decided to carry out a global church reform. Starting with minor, at first glance, changes - a change in the addition of fingers during the sign of the cross from two-fingered to three-fingered and the abolition of prostrations, the reform soon affected all aspects of Divine services and the Charter. Continuing and developing in one way or another until the reign of Emperor Peter I, this reform changed many canonical rules, spiritual institutions, customs of church administration, written and unwritten traditions. Almost all aspects of the religious, and then the cultural and everyday life of the Russian people underwent changes.

However, with the beginning of the reforms, it turned out that a significant number of Russian Christians saw in them an attempt to betray the very doctrine of the faith, the destruction of the religious and cultural order that had been taking shape in Russia for centuries after its Baptism. Many priests, monks and laity spoke out against the designs of the tsar and the patriarch. They wrote petitions, letters and appeals, denouncing innovations and defending the faith that had been preserved for hundreds of years. In their writings, the apologists pointed out that the reforms not only forcibly, under fear of executions and persecution, reshape traditions and traditions, but also affect the most important thing - they destroy and change the very Christian faith. The fact that Nikon's reform is apostate and changes the very faith was written by almost all the defenders of the ancient church tradition. So, the holy martyr Archpriest Avvakum pointed out:

They lost their way and apostatized from the true faith with Nikon the apostate, the insidious malefactor heretic. With fire, yes with a whip, yes with a gallows they want to approve the faith!

He also urged not to be afraid of tormentors and to suffer for the "old Christian Faith". The well-known writer of that time, the defender of Orthodoxy, Spyridon Potemkin expressed himself in the same spirit:

Exercising the true faith will harm with heretical prepositions (additions), so that faithful Christians do not understand, but be deceived by deceit.

Potemkin condemned Divine services and rituals performed according to new books and new orders, which he called "evil faith":

Heretics are those who baptize in their evil faith, they baptize blaspheming God into the One Holy Trinity.

Confessor and Hieromartyr Deacon Theodore wrote about the need to defend patristic tradition and the old Russian faith, citing numerous examples from the history of the Church:

The heretic, pious people suffering from him for the old faith, starved in exile ... And if the old faith is corrected by God with a single priest before the whole kingdom, all authorities will be shamed and reviled from the whole world.

The monks-confessors of the Solovetsky Monastery, who refused to accept the reform of Patriarch Nikon, wrote to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in their fourth petition:

Command us, sovereign, to be in our same Old Faith, in which your father of sovereigns and all the noble tsars and great princes and our fathers died, and the venerable fathers Zosima and Savatiy, and Herman, and Philip the Metropolitan and all the holy fathers pleased God.

So gradually it began to be said that before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, before the church schism, there was one faith, and after the schism, another faith. The pre-schism confession was called the old faith, and the post-schism reformed confession was called the new faith.

This opinion was not denied by the supporters of the reforms of Patriarch Nikon themselves. So, Patriarch Joachim, at a well-known dispute in the Faceted Chamber, said:

Before me a new faith was wound up; with the advice and blessing of the most holy ecumenical patriarchs.

While still an archimandrite, he stated:

I do not know either the old faith or the new faith, but what the authorities order is what I do.

So gradually the concept of “old faith” appeared, and people who professed it began to be called “Old Believers”, “Old Believers”. Thus, the Old Believers began to be called people who refused to accept the church reforms of Patriarch Nikon and adhere to the church institutions of ancient Russia, that is, the old faith. Those who accepted the reform began to be called "new believers" or "novolyubtsy". However, the term "New Believers" did not take root for a long time, and the term "Old Believers" exists to this day.

Old Believers or Old Believers?

For a long time, in government and church documents, Orthodox Christians who preserved the ancient liturgical rites, early printed books and customs were called "schismatics." They were accused of faithfulness to church tradition, which allegedly caused a church schism. For many years, schismatics were subjected to repression, persecution, infringement of civil rights.

However, during the reign of Catherine the Great, the attitude towards the Old Believers began to change. The Empress considered that the Old Believers could be very useful for settling the uninhabited regions of the expanding Russian Empire.

At the suggestion of Prince Potemkin, Catherine signed a number of documents granting them the rights and benefits to live in special regions of the country. In these documents, the Old Believers were named not as "schismatics", but as "Old Believers", which, if not a sign of goodwill, undoubtedly indicated a weakening of the state's negative attitude towards the Old Believers. Old Orthodox Christians, the Old Believers, however, did not suddenly agree to the use of this name. In the apologetic literature, the resolutions of some Councils indicated that the term "Old Believers" is not entirely acceptable.

It was written that the name "Old Believers" implies that the reasons for the church division of the 17th century lie in the same church rites, and the faith itself remained completely intact. So the Irgiz Old Believers Cathedral of 1805 called fellow believers "Old Believers", that is, Christians who use the old rites and old printed books, but obey the Synodal Church. The resolution of the Irgiz Cathedral read:

Others retreated from us to the renegades, called the Old Believers, who, as if we also keep old printed books, and send services according to them, but with everyone they communicate in everything without shame, both in prayer and in eating and drinking.

In the historical and apologetic writings of the Old Orthodox Christians of the 18th - the first half of the 19th century, the terms "Old Believers" and "Old Believers" continued to be used. They are used, for example, in Ivan Filippov's "History of the Vygovskaya Hermitage", the apologetic essay "Deacon's Answers" and others. This term was also used by numerous New Believer authors, such as N. I. Kostomarov, S. Knyazkov. P. Znamensky, for example, in the "Guide to Russian History" edition of 1870 says:

Peter became much stricter towards the Old Believers.

However, over the years, some of the Old Believers still began to use the term "Old Believers". Moreover, as the well-known Old Believer writer Pavel Curious (1772–1848) points out in his historical dictionary, the name Old Believers is more inherent in non-priestly consents, and “Old Believers” - to persons belonging to the consents, accepting the fleeing priesthood.

Indeed, by the beginning of the 20th century, instead of the term “Old Believers, “Old Believers”, the term “Old Believers” increasingly began to use “Old Believers”. Soon the name of the Old Believers was fixed at the legislative level by the well-known decree of Emperor Nicholas II "On strengthening the principles of religious tolerance." The seventh paragraph of this document reads:

Assign the name of Old Believers, instead of the currently used name of schismatics, to all followers of interpretations and agreements who accept the basic dogmas of the Orthodox Church, but do not recognize some of the rites adopted by it and send their worship according to old printed books.

However, even after that, many Old Believers continued to be called Old Believers. The non-priestly consents preserved this name especially carefully. D. Mikhailov, the author of the journal "Native Antiquity", published by the Old Believers' circle of zealots of Russian antiquity in Riga (1927), wrote:

Archpriest Avvakum speaks of the "old Christian faith", and not of "rites". That is why nowhere in all the historical decrees and messages of the first adherents of ancient Orthodoxy - nowhere is the name “Old Believer.

What do the Old Believers believe in?

The Old Believers, as the heirs of pre-schismatic, pre-reform Russia, try to preserve all the dogmas, canonical provisions, ranks and followings of the Old Russian Church.

First of all, of course, this concerns the main church dogmas: the confession of St. Trinity, the incarnation of God the Word, the two hypostases of Jesus Christ, his atoning Sacrifice on the Cross and the Resurrection. The main difference between the confession of the Old Believers and other Christian confessions is the use of forms of worship and church piety, characteristic of the ancient Church.

Among them are the sign of the cross with two fingers, immersion baptism, unison singing, canonical iconography, and special prayer clothes. For worship, the Old Believers use old-printed liturgical books published before 1652 (mainly published under the last pious Patriarch Joseph. The Old Believers, however, do not represent a single community or church - for hundreds of years they were divided into two main areas: priests and non-priests.

Old Believers Priests

The Old Believers-priests, in addition to other church institutions, recognize the three-fold Old Believer hierarchy (priesthood) and all the church sacraments of the ancient Church, among which the most famous are: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Priesthood, Marriage, Confession (Repentance), Unction. In addition to these seven sacraments, in the Old Believers there are other, somewhat less known sacraments and sacred rites, namely: tonsure as a monk (equivalent to the sacrament of Marriage), a large and small Blessing of water, the blessing of oil on Polyeleos, a priestly blessing.

Old Believers-bezpopovtsy

The Old Believers-bezpopovtsy believe that after the church schism perpetrated by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the pious church hierarchy (bishops, priests, deacons) disappeared. Therefore, part of the sacraments of the Church in the form in which they existed before the schism of the Church was abolished. Today, all Old Believers-bezpriests definitely recognize only two sacraments: Baptism and Confession (repentance). Some bezpopovtsy (Old Orthodox Pomeranian Church) also recognize the sacrament of Marriage. The Old Believers of the chapel consent also allow the Eucharist (Communion) with the help of St. gifts consecrated in antiquity and preserved to this day. The chapels also recognize the Great Consecration of water, which on the day of Theophany is obtained by pouring water into new water, consecrated in the old days, when, in their opinion, there were still pious priests.

Old Believers or Old Believers?

Periodically, among the Old Believers of all consents, a discussion arises: “Can they be called Old Believers?” Some argue that it is necessary to be called exclusively Christians because there is no old faith and old rites, just as there is no new faith and new rites. According to them, there is only one true, one right faith and only true Orthodox rites, and everything else is a heretical, non-Orthodox, false confession and sophistication.

Others, as mentioned above, consider it imperative to be called Old Believers professing the old faith, since they believe that the difference between the Old Orthodox Christians and the followers of Patriarch Nikon is not only in rituals, but also in faith itself.

Still others believe that the word Old Believers should be replaced by the term "Old Believers". In their opinion, there is no difference in faith between the Old Believers and the followers of Patriarch Nikon (Nikonians). The only difference is in the rites, which are correct among the Old Believers, and damaged or completely incorrect among the Nikonians.

There is a fourth opinion regarding the concept of Old Believers and the Old Faith. It is shared mainly by the children of the synodal church. In their opinion, between the Old Believers (Old Believers) and the New Believers (New Believers) there is not only a difference in faith, but also in rituals. They call both old and new rites equally honorable and equally salvific. The use of one or another is only a matter of taste and historical and cultural tradition. This is stated in the resolution of the Local Council of the Moscow Patriarchate of 1971.

Old Believers and Pagans

At the end of the 20th century, religious and quasi-religious cultural associations began to appear in Russia, professing religious beliefs that had nothing to do with Christianity and, in general, with Abrahamic, biblical religions. Supporters of some such associations and sects proclaim the revival of the religious traditions of pre-Christian, pagan Russia. In order to stand out, to separate their views from the Christianity received in Russia during the time of Prince Vladimir, some neo-pagans began to call themselves "Old Believers".

And although the use of this term in this context is incorrect and erroneous, views began to spread in society that the Old Believers are really pagans who revive the old faith in the ancients. Slavic gods- Perun, Svarog, Dazhbog, Veles and others. It is no coincidence that, for example, the religious association "Old Russian Ynglistic Church of Orthodox Old Believers-Ynglings" appeared. Its head, Pater Diy (A. Yu. Khinevich), who was called "the patriarch of the Old Russian Orthodox Church of the Old Believers," even stated:

The Old Believers are supporters of the old Christian rite, and the Old Believers are the old pre-Christian faith.

There are other neo-pagan communities and native faith cults that may be mistakenly perceived by society as Old Believers and Orthodox. Among them are the Veles Circle, the Union of Slavic Communities of the Slavic Native Faith, the Russian Orthodox Circle and others. Most of these associations arose on the basis of pseudo-historical reconstruction and falsification of historical sources. In fact, apart from folklore folk beliefs, no reliable information about the pagans of pre-Christian Russia has been preserved.

At some point, in the early 2000s, the term "Old Believers" began to be widely perceived as a synonym for pagans. However, thanks to extensive explanatory work, as well as a number of serious lawsuits against the “Old Believers-Ynglings” and other extremist neo-pagan groups, the popularity of this linguistic phenomenon has now declined. In recent years, the vast majority of neo-pagans still prefer to be called "Rodnovers".

In the history of the religious worldview of our ancestors, there are quite a few tragic and “mystery” pages. These include the violent “break” of the relatively peaceful cohabitation of the Old Believer tradition of the Orthodox worldview of our ancestors with the Christian, religious worldview based on the worship of Jesus Christ. It happened in the 17th century as a result of Nikon's "reforms".

Until that time, in Russia, they were completely free to wear on their chests over Christian crosses, for example, tribal serpentines, they listened with interest to the sermons of the priests, but those who turned away from NATIVE Orthodoxy were still called outcasts.

The imposition of Christianity on Russia was carried out from above and by far from peaceful means. From the time of the “holy” for Christians, Prince Vladimir, who killed his brother and seized the throne of Kyiv, the persecution of the Old Believers and, first of all, the guardians of ancient Orthodoxy - sorcerers and witches began. According to the Old Believer Orthodox tradition, the sorcerers, who in Russia were traditionally called sorcerers, were supposed to “consecrate” not only the Veche - a meeting of all the laity to discuss public affairs and announce the decisions of the Kopa, but also the activities of the Kopa itself.

In this regard, the Old Believers and the Old Believers are close, since before Nikon's "reforms" there was no rigid centralization of the Christian church, and often the priests were chosen in the same way as the sorcerers of the goyim Old Believers. Mine right was preserved in Russia for a long time, and even under the conditions of administrative pressure from the tsarist government and the church hierarchy, it was preserved in solving important matters of the peasant community, in the tradition of resolving issues “with the whole world”, or with (a cop).

In the surviving communities of Old Believers, the tradition of the Old Believers of Pravoslavia was not violated to give the right to vote on the Kop only to householders who had a permanent settled place. These were family elders - tires - heads of clans, who were called "mock judges". They acted as the organizing force of the peasant communities and later they began to be called “masculine common”, i.e. men of the community. What is the peculiarity of the “copy right” of the Orthodox Old Believers?

According to the Orthodox tradition, the sons and younger brothers of householders, as well as women, did not have the right to vote and came to the meeting only at the special request of the Kopa for testimony. The Veduns (magicians) were the guardians of the Orthodox traditions of the ancestors, but the elders were also present at the Kop, whose opinion was asked when it was necessary to pass a sentence on the basis of ancient traditions. The elders did not have the right to vote on the Kop, but their advice was definitely listened to. Respect for elders is a distinctive side of ancient Orthodoxy, and it was preserved among the Old Believers. Mine right was exercised on the principle of consent - the coming to a unanimous opinion of all gatherings.

“As our grandfathers acted, so we will act” - this phrase was illuminated by a centuries-old tradition, and therefore it was relatively easy to settle not only issues of the working life of the community, but also various kinds of conflicts. The principle of the election of princes, clergy and elders, consecrated by the centuries-old Orthodox tradition, served the development of community self-government and, naturally, affected the interests of the hereditary princely, and then the royal power. That is why Kopnoe Pravo (Kopa's opinion), based on unanimity, justice (Laws of the Pra Vedas) and the experience of ancestors, was attacked in the first place by the princes and the Christian church hierarchy. The influence of the Orthodox traditions of the ancestors was so great that the Christian Old Believer movement came to priestlessness. In the history of the "split" they are known as Fedoseyevshchina, Filippovshchina, runners, netovites, and so on.

Under these conditions, the official secular and ecclesiastical authorities united. The leaders of the "schism" - Archpriest Avvakum, Ivan Neronov, Nikita Pustosvyat, deacon Fyodor and others - suffered cruel punishments (death penalty, exile, cutting out the tongue, etc.).

As you know, an integral part of the “reforms” of Patriarch Nikon, supported by the “quietest” Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, was the correction of liturgical books according to Greek models and the introduction of a uniform liturgical rite, which served as the immediate reason for the “schism”. Outwardly fierce disputes between the Old Believers and the "Nikonians" focused on minor ritual and textual issues - the Old Believers stubbornly defended bipedal addition instead of three-toed, style ”Jesus” instead of "Jesus" etc.

However, the “reforms” were not carried out for the sake of small changes. They served the goals of strengthening centralized power and the final break with ancient Orthodoxy, illuminated by centuries-old traditions and kept by sorcerers and witches of the Slavic communities. This conclusion draws a line under everything that united the Old Believers and Old Believers, allowed people with different religious worldviews to get along.

The love of power and cruelty of Nikon, shown in the suppression of the Novgorod rebellion in 1650, best of all served the purposes of strengthening the royal power and Judeo-Christianity in Russia. However, the kings, paradoxically as it may sound, often tolerated the sorcerers and witches of ancient Orthodoxy. Moreover, there are cases in history when high dignitaries resorted to the services of sorcerers and witches, worthy successors of the art of P (Ra) Metheus. In the little-known Morozov Chronicle, there is a very important news for the topic of our study that the sorcerers predicted the future of Boris Godunov.

Here is what it says about it: “Having called to yourself, the sorcerers and sorceresses, and ask them: is it possible for you to see this matter ... will I be king? The enemies of him said: truly we announce to you that if you receive your desire, you will be in the kingdom of Moscow; only do not be angry with us ... your kingdom will not be long, only seven years. He spoke to them with great joy and kissed them: at least seven days, if only to put the name of the king and fulfill his desire!". (Afanasiev A.N. Myths, beliefs and superstitions of the Slavs, vol. 3. - M .: Eksmo Publishing House, 2002, p. 588).

Since the clergy before Nikon’s “reforms” were elected on the Kop, which was reflected, for example, in such a popular saying as: “The Kopa will smear the priest too,” the main blow was dealt to those “priests” who did not completely break with the old faith of their ancestors. They were the most severely persecuted, and the chronicles preserved a good deal of evidence on this subject.

For example, “in 1628, following a denunciation by the archimandrite of the Nizhny Novgorod Caves Monastery and by decree of the patriarch, there was a search for the deacon Semeyka, who kept “unkind heresy” notebooks and a sentence of several lines. Semeyko testified that he raised the notebooks in one stone tower, and the conspiracy was given to him by the archer and he was written “to fight” (that is, to guard in battle). Upon inspection, the notebooks turned out to be fortune-telling, called “Raffles”, according to which (as you know) they used to tell fortunes during court fights (“fields”). These notebooks were burned, and the deacon was exiled to a monastery, where he was ordered to shackle him on his feet in iron and put him to menial work, and not to give him communion until the patriarchal permission, except for the hour of death.

In 1660 a petition was filed against another deacon, Ivan Kharitonov, to the effect that he tears grass and digs roots in the meadows, and releases weddings, and wives with babies often come to him. With the petition, two conspiracies written by the Kharitonovs, one for the healing of wounds, and the other for the tenderness of the "hearts of angry people," are attached to the evidence. (Ibid., p. 592). As you can see, denunciations became the main means of combating Christian priests, who did not completely break with the old Orthodox faith of their ancestors and adopted from the sorcerers (witnesses) everything that could serve the benefit of people.

However, the Old Believers are not Old Believers. The Old Believers, while maintaining ancient piety towards the traditions of their ancestors and inheriting much of what the sorcerers and witches knew, could still get along with the secular authorities.

When, for example, in 1702, Peter I with his army “traveled along the “Sovereign’s Road”, laid through the centuries-old forest and swamps from Nyukhcha to Povenets, the entire Old Believer district was seized with fear: some were preparing to suffer for their faith, others - to leave already inhabited places. The tsar was informed that Old Believers-hermits live here nearby, but Peter, more busy with the upcoming siege of Noteburg, answered: “Let them live,” and “drove quietly,” the chronicler notes with joy ”(Filippov I. History of the Vygovskaya Old Believer Desert. St. Petersburg. , 1862, p. 113).

It should be noted that violence, as a method of fighting the Orthodox Old Believers and Christian schismatics, was by no means the only method of fighting the official Christian church and state power. The struggle was waged in the sphere of ideology and for these purposes. not only Vedic literature was destroyed, but ancient manuscripts were also forged.

For example, “at the beginning of the XVIII century. To combat the schism, the “Cathedral act against the heretic Martin” and Theognostov’s breviary were written, which were presented as ancient manuscripts, allegedly denouncing the Old Believers. Vygovtsy managed to prove their forgery. Having carefully studied the manuscripts, Andrey Denisov and Manuil Petrov discovered that the text was written according to scraping, the lettering did not correspond to the ancient ones, and the sheets of parchment were rebound. For this subtle analysis, Pitirim called Andrey Denisov a “sorcerer,” but even a non-Old Believer who talked with the Nizhny Novgorod bishop objected that the Vygovsky dogmatist did not act by magic, but “by his natural sharp understanding.”

Even more accurate was the definition of the famous historian of the Old Believers V.G. ).

The question arises, why did the official Christian church engage in forgery of ancient manuscripts?

Obviously, then, in order to stretch the “historical thread”, to connect the history of Nikon’s “reforms”, supported by state power, with the history of the Orthodox people.

By forging manuscripts and “correcting” the history of the Russian people, orthodox Judeo-Christianity slyly began to call itself “Orthodox” and this very serious ideological forgery was supported by the state.

Moreover, in the first documents proving the identity of a person in Russia, a column was entered: “religion - Orthodox”. In this way, at first glance, in an amazing way, the Orthodox Old Believers and Old Believer Christians of today were connected into a single whole.

For a more detailed clarification of the differences between the Old Believers and the Old Believers, let us turn to the issues of Vedic and Christian “faith” in religious teachings.

In his pamphlet: What is Orthodoxy? I affirmed and affirm now that faith is an integral part of any religion. They are related as “private” and “general”.

The main difference between the Vedic Orthodox religious doctrine and the Christian one is that it had a systemic nature, was a systemic religious worldview. Our ancestors did not contrast "earthly" and "heavenly", as Christians do. That is why they “worshipped” their dead relatives, bequeathed to do this to us.

In the Vedic Orthodox religious doctrine, faith cannot be “blind”, since “faith depends on the personal spiritual experience of all incarnations (“ve” - knowledge, “Ra” - the original light, i.e. enlightenment)” (Trekhlebov A.V. Slavic nomenclature. Dictionary blasphemer." -M.:, 2003, p.126).

Spiritual experience acquired through the reincarnation of the soul is the sacred meaning of the Vedic faith.

If an “Orthodox” Christian can be satisfied with the definition of “faith” by the second-century Christian theologian Teritulian C.S. and his affirmation of “faith” in the ascension of Christ: “I believe, because it is absurd”, then the Vedic Orthodox teaching cannot be satisfied with this. The only thing they have in common is that faith is always subjective. This is true, but the Vedic Orthodox religious doctrine is not subjective in nature. She can be called religious philosophy and religious worldview, but not faith in the usual sense for Christians.

In the famous "Veles Book" the most important philosophical concepts of Yav, Rule and Nav are given. They have already been disclosed in my brochure and therefore I will limit myself to only brief description their distinguishing features.

Reality is the earthly, material world. Rule - a heavenly, ideal world that controls the world of Reveal. Nav - the afterlife of spirits. They form the trinity of the universe and the worldview system of Orthodox people.

This worldview is well described in the “Book of Veles” with the translation of Asov A.I. Vedic Orthodox literature helped our ancestors with the comprehension of the Rule - Truth - Truth.

It was this literature that was destroyed during the years of Nikon's "reforms" and the subsequent centuries of Christian obscurantism. The schismatic Christians treated Vedic literature differently, and this thesis can be confirmed by many facts. Witches and witches, as already noted, could predict the future, and for this they entered a trance state.

This is the way the Absolute Truth (God) is comprehended up to the present day by the initiates - “right (ved)niks”. The way to comprehend the Truth (Truth) is Rule in Orthodoxy in Russia, Tao in China and Yoga in India. The one who realized Raja Yoga in India could be called the one who realized the Truth of the Vedas and became b(Ra) hmanom.

Naturally, not everyone could take the Path of comprehending the Rule (Truth-Truth). However, following what our sorcerers and witches (witnesses) taught was not forbidden to anyone, including Old Believer Christians.

For the Orthodox, God has many faces, but this did not diminish the significance of all his manifestations. It was this side of the ancient Orthodox worldview that was least suitable for Christians. For them, the symbol of "faith" was Jesus Christ, and this is the main difference between the Christian worldview.

Thus, there were serious differences between the Old Believers and the Old Believers. There were big differences between them, but they were united by common national roots and the Old Believers were much closer to the religious Orthodox worldview of our ancestors than the orthodox Christians of today.

Rybnikov V.A.

Opinion of Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov

about what needs to be done with the books of the Old Believers. With everyone.

This is about tolerance.

It leads to bad thoughts about who and how rewrote history for us ...

In the 17th century, Patriarch Nikon carried out reforms that were caused by the need to bring the liturgical practice of the Russian Church to a single model. Part of the clergy, along with the laity, rejected these changes, declaring that they would not deviate from the old rites. They called Nikon's reform a "corruption of the faith" and declared that they would preserve the old statutes and traditions in worship. It is difficult for an uninitiated person to distinguish an Orthodox from an Old Believer, since the difference between representatives of the “old” and “new” faiths is not so great.

Who are the Old Believers and Orthodox Christians

Old Believers - Christians who have departed from the Orthodox Church due to their disagreement with the reforms carried out by Patriarch Nikon.
Orthodox Christians - believers who recognize the dogmas of the Orthodox Church.

Comparison of Old Believers and Orthodox Christians

What is the difference between Old Believers and Orthodox Christians?
Old Believers are more detached from the world than Orthodox Christians. In everyday life, they have preserved ancient traditions, which, in essence, have become a certain ritual. The life of Orthodox Christians is deprived of many religious rites that weigh it down. The main thing that should never be forgotten is prayer before every deed, as well as keeping the Commandments.
In the Orthodox Church, the sign of the cross is made with three fingers. It means the unity of the Holy Trinity. At the same time, the little finger and ring finger are pressed together to the palm and symbolize faith in the divine-human nature of Christ. The Old Believers put their middle and index fingers together, confessing dual nature Savior. The thumb, ring finger and little finger are pressed to the palm, as a symbol of the Holy Trinity.
It is customary for the Old Believers to proclaim "Alleluia" twice and add "Glory to Thee, God." So, they say, proclaimed ancient church. Orthodox "Alleluia" proclaim three times. The word itself means "praise God". The triple pronunciation, from the point of view of the Orthodox, glorifies the Most Holy Trinity.
In many Old Believer movements, it is customary to wear clothes in the Old Russian style to participate in worship. This is a shirt or blouse for men, a sundress and a large scarf for women. Men tend to grow beards. Orthodox Christians have a special style of dress only for the priesthood. Lay people come to the temple in modest, not defiant, but ordinary secular clothes, women - with their heads covered. By the way, in modern Old Believer parishes there are no strict requirements for the clothes of those who pray.
During the service, the Old Believers do not keep their hands at their sides, like the Orthodox, but crossed on their chests. And for some, and for others, this is a sign of special humility before God. All actions during the service believing Old Believers perform synchronously. If you need to bow, then everyone present in the temple does it at the same time.
The Old Believers recognize only the eight-pointed cross. It is this form of it that they consider perfect. Orthodox, besides this, are also four-pointed and six-pointed.
During worship, the Old Believers make prostrations. The Orthodox during the service accepted belt. Earthly ones are performed only in special cases. Moreover, on Sunday and holidays, as well as Holy Pentecost, prostrations are strictly prohibited.
The Old Believers write the name of Christ as Jesus, and the Orthodox - And and sus. The uppermost inscriptions on the cross also differ. For the Old Believers, this is TsR SLVA (King of Glory) and IC XC (Jesus Christ). On the Orthodox eight-pointed cross is written INCI (Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews) and IIS XC (And and sus Christ). On the pectoral eight-pointed cross of the Old Believers there is no image of the crucifixion.
As a rule, eight-pointed crosses with gable roof, the so-called stuffed cabbage, is a symbol of Russian antiquity. The Orthodox do not accept crosses covered with a roof.

TheDifference.ru determined that the difference between the Old Believers and Orthodox Christians is as follows:

Adherents of the old faith in everyday life are more detached from the world than Orthodox Christians.
The Old Believers make a two-fingered sign of the cross, the Orthodox - a three-fingered sign.
During prayer, the Old Believers adopted a double proclamation of "Hallelujah", among the Orthodox - three times.
During worship, the Old Believers keep their arms crossed on their chests, the Orthodox - lowered at the seams.
All actions during the service of the Old Believers are performed synchronously.
As a rule, Old Believers wear clothes in the old Russian style to participate in the divine service. The Orthodox have a special type of clothing only for the priesthood.
During worship, the Old Believers bow to the ground, the Orthodox - waist.
The Old Believers recognize only the eight-pointed cross, the Orthodox - eight-, six- and four-pointed.
The spelling of the name of Christ is different for Orthodox and Old Believers, as well as the inscription of letters above the eight-pointed cross.
On the pectoral crosses of the Old Believers (eight-pointed inside the four-pointed) there is no image of the crucifix.

Old Believers and Old Believers: the history of occurrence

Old Believer noblewoman Morozova

In the autumn of 1884, the artist Vasily Surikov began to paint a picture that he had been thinking about for a long time. For several years he painted studies and sketches in pencil, watercolor and even oil. And in 1887 he exhibited it at the fifteenth traveling art exhibition. She took the audience back to the distant 17th century. As the author himself said, he portrayed the shame of following the boyar Feodosia Prokopyevna Morozova for interrogation to the Kremlin for her adherence to a split in the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. But not only the image of Morozova with its tragedy captivates the audience of this picture. The picture contains the dramatic history of the entire Russian people, all strata of society, the drama of different generations and destinies. With this, she went beyond the framework of a personal tragedy, describing the tragedy of a whole century.

Feodosia Sokovnina was preparing for the wedding. She married the boyar Gleb Morozov, whose brother was the tutor of the king. Entering the Morozov family, Feodosia became one of the richest and most noble noblewomen of Moscow. On that sunny day, it seemed nothing could overshadow her happiness. Feodosia did not know that she would soon give birth to a son, and after a while she would remain a widow and heiress to the huge fortune of the Morozov brothers. She did not know that Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich would summon her, the richest and most noble noblewoman of Moscow, for interrogation. That she, the queen's friend, will be tortured on the rack. It is to him, the sovereign, she will threaten, raising her hand to the sky with folded two fingers. She did not know that she, along with her sister and closest friend, would be put in a damp dungeon, where they subsequently died of starvation. And the reason for all this will be a schism that cut in two not only the church, but the whole of Russia.

To eradicate the Old Believers: the policy of Tsar Romanov A.M., which led to a split in religion and society

Having ascended the throne at the age of 16, Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov knew what goal he was going for. The purpose of this was to create an Orthodox empire such as Byzantium. Since the Russian state developed quite successfully and even managed to unite with itself the entire territory now called the state of Ukraine, the tsar had an ambitious idea to be the restorer of the universal Orthodox state. He dreamed of freeing the lands of the Balkans, Constantinople, Greece and becoming the new emperor. The Greek bishops and metropolitans had favor with Tsar Alexei and were frequent guests in his receiving chambers. They warmed up his feelings to unite and spread their Orthodox faith.
Reform was needed to change the principles of the already established faith of his people. With the help of this reform, the texts of all sacred books used by Russian clergy were to be changed. Consequently, the ongoing ceremonies with rituals also affected the change.

Tsar Romanov A.M. for religious reform, he finds a Russian clergyman who gravitates toward the Greek system of Christianity. It was the Metropolitan of Novgorod named Nikon. He said that he himself was Russian, but gravitated towards the Greek system of religion.

Even at the beginning of the reign of Alexei Romanov, the tsar's confessor Stefan Vonifatiev created a circle of "zealots of piety" under the sovereign. Its purpose was to strengthen the role of the Orthodox faith, raise the authority of the church and fight against Catholicism and Protestantism. The circle included the most active ascetics, such as Metropolitan Nikon of Novgorod, Archpriest Avvakum, rector of the Kazan Cathedral Ivan Neronov and others. All of them were supporters of the presentation of Russia as a third Rome. All of them emphasized that Russia is a God-chosen state, the only one in the world that has preserved true spiritual knowledge and faith. The confessors wanted to create an ideal Orthodox kingdom. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov was to become an example of life according to Christ. Therefore, the image of the Christian king was created - a strict zealot of the faith, whose life is completely subordinate to church rules and regulations. But the king was dominated by the universal idea of ​​empire, and Nikon strongly supported this idea.

The new patriarch against the Old Believers

In 1652, with the active assistance of Alexei Mikhailovich, Nikon became the patriarch of the Russian Church. Bearing in mind the order of the king, the new patriarch immediately began a church reform. His first innovation was a demand sent to all parishes, which spoke of the replacement of prostrations with bows and baptism with three fingers instead of two. This immediately sparked protest. First of all, his associates in the circle of piety protested. Many clergy and ordinary people this reform was perceived by the laity as a change of faith. Many saw this as a threat to the salvation of their souls. The idea became popular among the people, saying that Nikon became a servant of the Antichrist, or that he is the Antichrist.

The imperious patriarch Nikon, in turn, began to persecute people who were objectionable to him, which were his former associates in the circle and other priests who opposed religious reform. Zealots of the faith, such as Archpriest Ivan Neronov, noblewoman Morozova, deacon Fyodor Ivanov, publicly declared that the time had come, the fierce, the kingdom of the Antichrist. Archpriests Avvakum and Daniel wrote a letter to the tsar, where they denounced the heresy of Patriarch Nikon. Having learned about this, the patriarch ordered to seize the priests disobedient to his will. They were taken into custody. Daniel was cut and exiled to Astrakhan. Avvakum was kept in prison for ten months and then exiled to Siberia with his family. On the way, the archpriest was treated cruelly: they beat him with a whip and threw him into the cold snow. He was stripped of his spiritual title and cursed. In turn, Avvakum cursed Patriarch Nikon. Thus began a long religious schism that has not ended to this day.

It is difficult for modern people to imagine how one can torture and execute, burn people and set themselves on fire because of such issues as baptism with two or three fingers. What actually happened? What caused such a violent reaction in Russian church society?

The church schism was a global catastrophe. The change concerned not only the ceremonies, since behind this there were two main questions:
Is Russia really the bearer of the true faith? Can the higher ranks of the clergy change the scriptures with their own hands, making significant changes to them?

However, the schism affected not only the church. Everyone who was dissatisfied or offended by the authorities, from the boyars to the very bottom of the peasants and serfs, went into a split in order to express their protest. All the troubles and executions after the suppressed uprisings, the resettlement of villagers in newly built cities, the enslavement of peasants, the plague of 1954 - all this was attributed to the violation of old church customs. Indeed, many innovations have been introduced to regulate man in the church.

Some of the innovations:

• Priests were ordered to take one ruble for a wedding, two rubles for a remarriage, and three rubles for a third, even if one of the former spouses died of natural causes.
• Previously, among the peasants, the wedding did not always provide for the obligatory entry into marriage. The rite was performed when they considered it convenient for themselves. Now it was condemned by the church as adultery.
• A girl or widow who gave birth to a child out of wedlock had to go to a monastery, and the guilty person (the father of the child) had to pay a fine of three rubles to the Metropolitan's treasury.
• In the early 1680s, church attendance was required from the age of twelve. Also, a person had to observe fasts and confess. The same people who did not come to confession were marked in a special notebook and were considered schismatics.

Persecution and persecution Annie of the Old Believers (Old Believers)

In the years 1670-1680, the persecution regime intensified. Raskolnikov was ordered to be bound and brought to court. They were allowed to be tortured. After three warnings, they were burned and their ashes scattered to the wind. According to this principle, many Old Believers were burned: they drove men, women, children and the elderly into one hut and set it on fire.

Those people who were ready to repent were exiled to a monastery and kept there on bread and water for the rest of their lives. For concealing information about the Old Believers, scourging and exile to distant cities of Siberia were supposed. This also applied to priests.

With such measures, the government decided to frighten the population into obedience, but the result was the opposite. Archpriest Avvakum urged the Old Believers to accept death by fire, rather than accept a new faith. He assured that if they perished for the sake of their faith, they would turn into holy martyrs and enter the Kingdom of God.

Throughout Russia, burning huts were burning - this is how the Old Believers were burned alive. This inquisition was supported by the Tsar of Russia. Some Old Believers, seeing that they were already being followed, set fire to their own hut and died for their faith. This went on for more than a decade. The best part of the clergy who adhered to the Old Believers went to the schism group. Some burned themselves, some were burned by the government. In the 17th century, about 20,000 families, in protest of the new faith, burned themselves in their hut. Many Old Believers, having left their homes, went to live in the forest.

The roots of the schism of the seventeenth century must be sought in those changes in church life and Russian society that took place in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, with the arrival in Moscow of the Greek princess Sophia or Zoya Paleolog. Having become the wife of the Grand Duke Ivan III and being the heiress of the Byzantine emperors, Sophia instilled Byzantine or Greek rules in the Russian church. Together with her, a large retinue of unemployed Greek priests and monks came to Russia, who had lost their parishes in the occupied lands of Byzantium. Here in Russia they received high positions. The Russian Church became more and more Greek. Current Orthodox Church completely adopted the Greek rules of rituals. All the rituals performed in our time just come from Greek Orthodoxy (liturgy, memorial service, prayer services).

When the church unrest of the 15th-16th centuries subsided and the unrest of the Old Believers and Old Believers were suppressed, the authorities of Moscow declared that Russia had now become the Third Rome. But there was another significant reason, thanks to which the concept of "Moscow - the Third Rome" was rapidly gaining momentum. It was a false understanding of the nearness of the end of the world by church hierarchs.

At one time, Archbishop Gennady Gonzov, who was engaged in the suppression of icon-minded Old Believers in Novgorod, in all seriousness believed that since the Greek church calendar Pascal ends in 1492, which means that this year will be the last in history. This calendar led the chronology from the creation of the world, and it was in this year that 6000 years ended, after which, as they believed then, the second coming of Christ would come. Many priests did not agree with the archbishop's point of view. they, on the basis of the sacred writings, proved to him that it was not given to any of the people to know the time of the second coming of Christ. But Archbishop Gennady fanatically defended his opinion and was ready, with the permission of the authorities, to persecute priests who disobeyed him.

When the end of the world did not happen at the appointed time, another admirer of Greek church culture under the name of Joseph Volotsky came to the rescue of the erring priests. He interpreted the year 1492 as the beginning of a thousand-year reign on earth. He believed that a favorable kingdom would come when all enemies were defeated. Namely, he meant that all the peoples of the earth had to submit to Russia.
[A very strange statement for a clergyman who, in theory, should not interfere in politics with ideas that are not based on scriptures. Most likely, this priest acted out of his own selfish motives for the sake of profit and glory. A true clergyman must speak only the truth, guided by the sacred scriptures, and must not conform to the government even in the face of the threat of reprisals. The Old Believers and Old Believers died for their faith in the Lord God and did not change their minds, adjusting to the stupid intentions of the country's government.]

Old Believers and Old Believers: education, life, work, prayer

The Old Believers say this: "We adhere to Christianity adopted in Russia in 988 (the baptism of Russia). The beneficent influence of the Christian church on society and government lasted for many centuries. But in the end, incompetent rulers came to power who wanted to reduce the influence of true knowledge on society and subjugate the management of the church.For these purposes, the government nominated the necessary priests to the post of patriarch, who established new rules and customs.After that, persecution for the faith began, mass exiles to Siberia, imprisonment and torture, mass executions, forced coercion church attendance for all the people."

For true Old Believers, it is impossible to use the technical progress of modern civilization, it is considered a sin to watch TV, listen to the radio, use electricity, use cars, tractors and other equipment. They are also not allowed to get a passport, as they say that there is a devil's seal. All married women are required to cover their heads and hair with a scarf, men must wear long beards. Old Believers usually have many children: six to ten children is quite normal for Old Believer families. They do not send their children to a modern school, but teach them to read and write at home. Usually they give knowledge of elementary grades: reading, spelling, elementary mathematics. This is quite enough for life in the settlement and the community. All children in the family from an early age help their parents with the housework and learn certain crafts. As soon as the children reach puberty, they are trying to marry or marry.

The Old Believers have their own education system, in which more prayers are memorized, reading, arithmetic and Znamenny singing are taught. They have several books that they use to teach: the ABC, the Psalter, and the Book of Hours. Children who are drawn to spiritual knowledge are taught Slavic writing and iconography.

The Old Believers themselves try to live apart as much as possible. They lead a sedentary lifestyle. Engaged mainly agriculture: Plow the land, plant crops, vegetables and some fruits. In the summer, they often collect all kinds of berries, nuts and mushrooms. Old Believers keep different kind animals: chickens, goats, sheep, cows, horses. According to their faith, it is allowed to use the flesh of slaughtered animals for food.

Old Believers try to observe all fasts, pray before meals, and hold joint prayers. They cook their food on fire and in ovens. For guests who are not related to the Old Believer tradition, they give food in dishes specially reserved for guests. They do not like to be filmed, they try to hide their face. They claim that it is a sin for them and then they have to make a thousand prostrations to the earth in order to atone for this sin. The Old Believers are not allowed inside their temple, they say that unbelievers are forbidden to enter. Well, accordingly, they also do not allow shooting inside the temple. Some of the Old Believers are more willing to make contact and allow themselves to be filmed on camera, tell how everything is arranged for them, invite them home and feed them food. And the older generation is not in the mood to associate with unbelievers.

They mainly buy clothes, dishes for the kitchen, and many other tools in the store, since there are practically no craftsmen involved in the production of these things among the small settlements of the Old Believers. They cut and sew clothes for going to church themselves, though from fabric bought in a store. The car and tractors are replaced by horses. Among the Old Believers, a child already knows how to ride a horse from an early age. A horse is always needed in the village: to plow the land, and take dried hay from the field, and bring firewood from the forest in a cart, and go to a distant place.

Particularly closed Old Believers do not have a passport of a citizen of the country. They do not receive any pensions or benefits. All hope is only in their own strength and in the Lord God. Since all Old Believers are family people and have many children, they do not need to worry in old age: about receiving a pension, about their illnesses and other hardships. Children will always help their elderly parents.

Basically, the Old Believers are strong and seasoned people who live outside the most best conditions and climate. The harsh Siberian winters, the lack of emergency medical care, constant physical labor made the Old Believers truly strong and responsible people.

Old Believers and Old Believers: some statistics

There are several main names for the Old Believer communities:

• Chapels
• Starikovshchina
• Nikolaev Bespopovtsy
• Kerzhaki

Old Believer settlements were seen in the Urals at the beginning of the 19th century. "Consent" among the Old Believers is usually called a large religious movement that unites all communities: priests and non-priests. Priestly communities are communities that have priests and have their own hierarchy. Accordingly, based on the very name "bespriests" means that such communities did not have their own clergy. Among the bespopovtsy, the head of the family (husband) himself took care of the religious enlightenment of his family. For example, unlike other settlements, the Chapel Society accepted fugitive clergy into its communities. They did not cross them, but simply performed a simple ceremony. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Chasovnoye community began to be referred to as Bespopovskoe. In this society, such a type of rite of baptism was practiced as baptism with repeated full immersions of the body of a person who underwent this ritual.

There were more Bespopov communities of Old Believers than priests, with a ratio of 3:1. Among the non-priest communities, one can name such as: Pastukhovo, Lyubushkino, Filippovsky consent and others. Priestly consents: Novoblessed, Novozybkovskoye, Suslovskoye and others. Look at the drawing.

After brutal reprisals and persecution, the Old Believers, saving their lives, fled deep into Siberia and other countries. The consent of the Old Believers was noted in many regions of Russia: Altai, Altai region, Krasnoyarsk region, Kemerovo region, Tomsk region, Far East, Khabarovsk Territory, Primorsky Territory, Amur Region. In other countries: Brazil, the USA (Oregon, Alaska) there were also Old Believers who fled because of persecution and persecution for their faith in Russia. The Old Believers number about 25 communities (not to be confused with a settlement, since one community could include several dozen settlements). The total number of Old Believers and Old Believers in Russia alone numbered about two million people (2,000,000).

Old Believers and Old Believers: differences from the Orthodox

• Old Believers baptize themselves with two fingers folded together instead of three.
• Baptism occurs with the help of complete immersion in water, and not by pouring water from a ladle.
• Rare use of the eight-pointed Crucifix. The four-pronged Crucifixion is not fully applied. Old Believers prefer a simple four-pointed cross.
• The Old Believers in their scriptures recorded the name Jesus with one letter "I", without a new addition of the second letter Jesus.
• Old Believers prefer unison and monodic singing of prayers. The following types of singing are unacceptable for them: partes, operatic, chromotic.
• Services to God are carried out according to the ancient scripture "Church Eye", which corresponds to the Jerusalem liturgical charter.
• Full performance of songs of canons and prayers.
• Practically no akathists and other later prayer compositions are used.
• The service of the Great Lent Passion is not going on.
• The Old Believers have initial and initial bows, which were removed after the reform of Patriarch Nikon.
• For Old Believers in services, everything should happen synchronously: simultaneous bows, baptism, prayers in voice, and so on.
• Holy water is the water that is consecrated on the birthday of Jesus Christ or on the day of his baptism.
• The procession of the Old Believers goes in the direction of the sun, that is, clockwise.
• More preferable presence at the services and prayers of Christians in traditional Russian outfits: caftan, sundress, kosovorot, etc.
• Also, the Old Believers use the Old Slavonic spelling of some words. For example, David - Davyd, Eve - Evva, Jerusalem - Jerusalem and the like.
• Old Believers in their prayers say the word Hallelujah (at the end or beginning of prayers) twice and then comes the phrase "glory to you God." If you translate the word "Hallelujah", then it will literally mean "glory to you God." In the modern church, the word Hallelujah is pronounced three times in a row: "Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, glory to Thee, God." Thus they affirm the glory of the Holy Trinity. But the Old Believers make the remark that the third word hallelujah is already superfluous, since "glory to you God" is the third hallelujah and the veneration of the Holy Trinity.