What do Old Believers believe and where did they come from? Historical background

IN recent years An increasing number of our fellow citizens are interested in issues of a healthy lifestyle, environmentally friendly farming methods, survival in extreme conditions, the ability to live in harmony with nature, and spiritual improvement. In this regard, many turn to the thousand-year experience of our ancestors, who managed to develop the vast territories of present-day Russia and created agricultural, trade 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 populated not only the 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 to 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 and not lose their language and customs. It is no coincidence that the famous hermit from the Lykov family of Old Believers is so well known all over the world.

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 Some people believe that Old Believers are people with a primitive education who adhere to outdated farming methods.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

Old and new faith

One of the most tragic events in history Russia XVII century became schism of the Russian Church. Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich Romanov and his closest spiritual companion Patriarch Nikon(Minin) decided to carry out a global church reform. Having begun with seemingly insignificant changes - a change in the folding of fingers during the sign of the cross from two to three fingers and the abolition of prostrations, the reform soon affected all aspects of the Divine Service and the Rule. Continuing and developing to one degree or another until the reign of the emperor Peter I, this reform changed many canonical rules, spiritual institutions, customs of church government, written and unwritten traditions. Almost all aspects of the religious, and then cultural and everyday life of the Russian people underwent changes.

However, with the beginning of the reforms, it became clear that a significant number of Russian Christians saw in them an attempt to betray the doctrine itself, to destroy the religious and cultural structure that had developed for centuries in Rus' after its Baptism. Many priests, monks and laity spoke out against the plans 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, apologists pointed out that the reforms not only forcibly reshape traditions and legends, under pain of execution and persecution, but also affected the most important thing - they destroyed and changed the Christian faith itself. Almost all defenders of the ancient church tradition wrote that Nikon’s reform is apostate and changes the faith itself. Thus, the holy martyr pointed out:

They went astray and retreated from the true faith with Nikon, an apostate, a malicious, pernicious heretic. They want to establish faith with fire, the whip, and the gallows!

He also called not to be afraid of torturers and to suffer for “ old Christian Faith" Expressed in the same spirit famous writer of that time, defender of Orthodoxy Spiridon Potemkin:

Striving for the true faith will be damaged by heretical pretexts (additions), so that faithful Christians will not understand, but may be seduced into deception.

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

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

The confessor and martyr Deacon Theodore wrote about the need to defend the fatherly tradition and the old Russian faith, citing numerous examples from the history of the Church:

The heretic starved the pious people who suffered from him for the old faith in exile... And if God vindicates the old faith with a single priest before the whole kingdom, all the authorities will receive shame and reproach from the whole world.

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

Commanded, sir, that we should be in our same Old Faith, in which your father the sovereign and all the noble kings and great princes and our fathers died, and the venerable fathers Zosima and Savatius, and Herman, and Metropolitan Philip 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 there was another faith. The pre-schism confession began to be called old faith, and the post-schism reformed confession - new faith.

This opinion was not denied by the supporters of Patriarch Nikon’s reforms themselves. Thus, Patriarch Joachim, at a famous debate in the Faceted Chamber, said:

First a new faith was established; with the advice and blessing of the most holy ecumenical patriarchs.

While still an archimandrite, he stated:

I don’t know either the old faith or new faith, but I do whatever the bosses tell me to do.

So gradually the concept “ old faith", and people professing it began to be called " Old Believers», « Old Believers" Thus, Old Believers began to name people who refused to accept church reforms Patriarch Nikon and adhering to church institutions ancient Rus', that is old faith. Those who accepted the reform began to be called "newovers" or " new lovers" However, the term New Believers" did not take root for long, but the term “Old Believers” still exists today.

Old Believers or Old Believers?

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

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

At the suggestion of Prince Potemkin, Catherine signed a number of documents granting them rights and benefits to live in special areas of the country. In these documents, the Old Believers were not named as “ schismatics", but as " ", which, if not a sign of goodwill, then undoubtedly indicated a weakening of the negative attitude of the state towards the Old Believers. Old Orthodox Christians, Old Believers However, they did not suddenly agree to use this name. In apologetic literature and the resolutions of some Councils it was indicated that the term “Old Believers” was 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 rituals, and faith itself remained completely intact. Thus, the Irgiz Old Believer Council of 1805 called co-religionists “Old Believers,” that is, Christians who use old rituals and old printed books, but obey the Synodal Church. The resolution of the Irgiz Cathedral read:

Others retreated from us to the renegades, called Old Believers, who, like us, keep old printed books and conduct services from them, but have no shame in communicating with everyone in everything, both in prayer and in eating and drinking.

In the historical and apologetic writings of the Old Orthodox Christians of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries, the terms “Old Believers” and “Old Believers” continued to be used. They are used, for example, in " Stories of the Vygovskaya desert"Ivan Filippov, apologetic work" 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 “ A Guide to Russian History The 1870 edition says:

Peter became much stricter towards the Old Believers.

At the same time, over the years, some Old Believers began to use the term “ Old Believers" Moreover, as the famous Old Believer writer points out Pavel Curious(1772-1848) in his historical dictionary, name Old Believers more inherent in non-priest agreements, and “ Old Believers"—to persons belonging to the concords that accept the fleeing priesthood.

And indeed, by the beginning of the 20th century, agreements accepting the priesthood (Belokrinitsky and Beglopopovsky) instead of the term “ Old Believers, « Old Believers" began to be used more and more often " Old Believers" Soon the name 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 opinions and agreements who accept the basic dogmas of the Orthodox Church, but do not recognize some of the rituals accepted by it and conduct their worship according to old printed books.

However, even after this, many Old Believers continued to be called Old Believers. The non-priest consents especially carefully preserved this name. 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 about the “old Christian faith,” and not about “rites.” That is why nowhere in all the historical decrees and messages of the first zealots of ancient Orthodoxy is the name “ Old Believer.

What do Old Believers believe?

Old Believers, as the heirs of pre-schism, pre-reform Rus', they try to preserve all the dogmas, canonical provisions, ranks and successions 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, two hypostases of Jesus Christ, his atoning Sacrifice on the Cross and 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.

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

Old Believers-priests

Old Believers-priests, in addition to other church institutions, they recognize the three-tier 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), Blessing of Anointing. In addition to these seven sacraments in Old Beliefs There are other, somewhat less well-known sacraments and sacred rites, namely: tonsure as a monk (equivalent to the sacrament of Marriage), the greater and lesser Consecration of water, the consecration of oil on Polyeleos, the priestly blessing.

Old Believers without priests

Old Believers without priests It is believed that after the church schism caused by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the pious church hierarchy (bishops, priests, deacons) disappeared. Therefore, some of the church sacraments in the form in which they existed before the schism of the Church were abolished. Today, all Old Believers without priests definitely recognize only two sacraments: Baptism and Confession (repentance). Some non-priests (Old Orthodox Pomeranian Church) also recognize the sacrament of Marriage. The Old Believers of the Chapel Concord also allow the Eucharist (Communion) with the help of St. gifts consecrated in ancient times and preserved to this day. Also, the chapels recognize the Great Blessing of water, which on the day of Epiphany is received by pouring into new water water that was blessed in the old days, when, in their opinion, there were still pious priests.

Old Believers or Old Believers?

Periodically among Old Believers of all agreements, a discussion arises: “ Can they be called Old Believers?? Some argue that it is necessary to call ourselves exclusively Christians because no old faith and old rituals exist, as well as a new faith and new rituals. According to such people, there is only one true, one right faith and only one true Orthodox rituals, and everything else is heretical, unorthodox, crooked Orthodox confession and wisdom.

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

Still others believe that the word Old Believers should be replaced with 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 rituals, which among the Old Believers are correct, while among the Nikonians they are damaged or completely incorrect.

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 rituals equally honorable and equally salutary. The use of one or another is only a matter of taste and historical and cultural tradition. This is stated in the decree Local Council Moscow Patriarchate from 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 views that have nothing to do with Christianity and, in general, with Abrahamic and biblical religions. Supporters of some such associations and sects proclaim the revival of pre-Christian religious traditions, pagan Rus'. In order to stand out, to separate their views from the Christianity received in Rus' 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, the view began to spread in society that Old Believers- these are truly pagans who revive old faith in the ancient Slavic gods - Perun, Svarog, Dazhbog, Veles and others. It is no coincidence that, for example, it appeared religious association"Old Russian Inglistic Orthodox Church Old Believers-Ynglings" Its head, Pater Diy (A. Yu. Khinevich), called “Patriarch of the Old Russian Orthodox Church Old Believers", even stated:

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

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

At some point in the early 2000s, the term " Old Believers"became very 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 declined today. In recent years, the overwhelming majority of neo-pagans still prefer to be called “ Rodnovers».

G. S. Chistyakov

The Old Believers, in their confrontation with the clergy and desire to honor the traditions of ancient Orthodoxy, often went to extremes. They disobeyed the authorities, accused the Church of heresy and killed themselves in the hope of salvation.

Popovtsy and non-popovtsy

The schism in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1650-60s, associated with the reforms of Patriarch Nikon, put adherents of the old rite in a difficult situation - there was not a single bishop in their ranks. The last was Pavel Kolomensky, who died in 1656 and left no successors.

According to the canons, the Orthodox Church cannot exist without a bishop, because only he is authorized to appoint priests and deacons. When the last pre-reform priests and deacons passed away, the Old Believers parted ways. One part of the Old Believers decided that they could resort to the help of priests who had renounced the Nikon faith. They began to willingly accept priests who had left their diocesan bishop. This is how the “priests” appeared.

Another part of the Old Believers was convinced that after the Schism, grace completely left the Orthodox Church and all that was left for them was to humbly wait Last Judgment. The Old Believers who rejected the priesthood began to be called “bespopovtsy.” They settled mainly on the uninhabited shores of the White Sea, in Karelia, and the Nizhny Novgorod lands. It was among the Bespopovites that the most radical Old Believer agreements and rumors subsequently appeared.

Waiting for the Apocalypse

Eschatological motives became a key element in the ideology of the Old Believers. Many rumors of Old Believers, protecting themselves from the “Antichrist power”, existed from generation to generation in anticipation of the imminent end of the world. The most radical movements even tried to bring it closer. In preparation for the last days, they dug caves, lay down in coffins, starved to death, threw themselves into the pool, and burned themselves with entire families and communities.

Throughout its history, the Old Believers exterminated tens of thousands of their adherents. Alexander Prugavin, an expert on Old Believers and sectarianism, tried to determine the number of schismatics who died in the fire. According to his calculations, about 10,000 people were burned alive just before 1772.

Netovtsy (Spasovo consent)

This is one of the biggest non-priest agreements. The total number of Netovites at the end of the 20th century reached 100 thousand people, mainly living in the Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir regions, as well as in the Middle Volga region.

Netovites (the word speaks for itself) deny Orthodox shrines, rituals and many sacraments, trust exclusively in the Savior, who “himself knows how to save us poor people.” Throughout their existence, they tried to avoid any contact with the Orthodox Church, especially if it concerned burial rites. The dead were buried in the forest, ravine or behind the fence of the cemetery.

The Netovites still did not reject the sacrament of baptism. They recognize it as possible to perform the rite of baptism in the Orthodox Church, interpreting it in a very unique way: “although it was a heretic who baptized, but a priest in robes, and not a simple peasant.” However, more strict movements make do with self-baptism, and some replace this rite by simply putting a cross on a newborn.

Spassovo's consent requires from his followers quite severe asceticism in everyday life. For example, the consumption of foods made with yeast or with hops is prohibited; they also do not eat potatoes. There is a taboo on bright and colorful clothes. The proverb says: “Whoever wears a mottled shirt means his soul is the sister of the Antichrist,” or “What is not a speck of color is a servant of an imp.”

Suicide in the form of self-immolations was widespread among Netovites.

Dyrniks

This is one of the most radical branches of salvation, which does not recognize any spiritual mentors. They do not venerate “newly painted” icons because without the priesthood there is no one to sanctify them, and “oldly painted” icons because they were desecrated by the possession of heretics. Dyrniks do not have special places of worship. Prayer occurs either under open air, or indoors through special hole due east. It is a sin for them to pray through a window or wall. A small group of hole makers now live in Central Siberia.

Pomeranian consent

The history of Pomeranian consent dates back to 1694, when a men's community was founded on the Vyg River. In 1723, the Vygov monastery became famous for compiling the “Pomeranian Answers.” This polemical book subsequently became an apologetic basis for the defense of the entire Old Believers.

The Pomeranians demand from their followers a complete break with the official church, and everyone who comes to them from Orthodoxy is required to rebaptize. The sacraments are not abandoned, but they are divided into those necessary for salvation (baptism, repentance and communion) and the rest, which can be dispensed with.

Serious disagreements arose among the Pomeranians over marriage. Over time, practicality triumphed. Thanks to the introduction of the marriage order, the Pomeranians legalized marital relations, which led to the possibility of legal transfer of property by inheritance.

In Soviet times, Pomeranians were the most numerous among the non-priest consents. Today large groups their followers live in Vilnius, Riga and Moscow.

Fedoseevtsy

At the end of the 18th century, as a result of disputes about the inscription on the cross and about marriage, the Fedoseevites separated from the Pomeranian consent. In 1781, Ilya Kovylin (former serf of Prince Golitsyn) founded a community in Moscow in the area of ​​the Preobrazhenskoye cemetery. The Fedoseyevskaya community was distinguished by strict discipline and unconditional submission to the mentor. Its members were required to observe celibacy and chastity.

Like many other Bespopovites, Fedoseevites believe that there is no more grace in the world. "Every modern state power we regard it as satanic, as a trap of the Antichrist,” they say. Of the church sacraments, only baptism and the Eucharist, which are performed by the laity, have been preserved. Due to non-recognition of the Orthodox priesthood, Fedoseevites practice cohabitation without marriage.

During the Great Patriotic War large number Fedoseevites collaborated with the German authorities and actively opposed the Red Army and partisans.

The most numerous groups of Fedoseevites live in the Pskov, Novgorod, Ulyanovsk and Tyumen regions. Their total number is about 200 thousand people.

Pastukhovo consent

It originated in the depths of the Pomeranian consent; its founder was the shepherd Vasily Stepanov. Unlike the Pomeranians, the shepherds avoided all communication with civil authorities. Money, passports and other items with images were rejected state emblem. But in order to avoid debauchery they were forced to recognize the marriage.

The extreme degree of rejection of the outside world imposed a ban on the shepherds from living in populated areas, where there was at least one government employee, a supporter of the Orthodox Church or a representative of another Old Believer persuasion. Their feet never set foot on stone pavements, like the inventions of the “age of Antichrist.”

Runners

In 1772, in the village of Sopelki near Yaroslavl, a running movement arose as a movement opposing the “Antichrist power.” The basis of the runners’ teaching is salvation from the Antichrist, whom, unlike most Bespopovites, they perceived not as a spiritual phenomenon, but as a personified person in the guise of Peter I.

The runners live in anticipation of the “first resurrection” when Christ will fight the Antichrist. And “then the thousand-year reign of Christ will begin, the New Jerusalem for the dwelling of pilgrims will be lowered from heaven to a place where there is no sea.” The runners see their new abode near the Caspian Sea, where they regularly make pilgrimages.

All runners are “self-baptized” and undertake to lead a chaste life, eating only lean food. They completely reject marriage, but at the same time they allow fornication, considering it a lesser sin.

Popular rumor tells of a strange custom among runners called the “Red Death.” Its essence is to suffocate a dying person with a red pillow so that by martyrdom he atones not only for his sins, but also for the sins of his brothers in faith.

For centuries, the runners, persecuted by the authorities as a “harmful sect,” remained a small group scattered throughout the remote places of Siberia and the Northern Urals.

Vodyaniki

Vodyanyniks or Old Priests belong to those denominations where the priesthood is not completely rejected. They denounce the Old Believers who accept priests for money, but recognize the transition clergyman from Orthodoxy to the Old Believers if the priest renounces the “heretical faith.”

If a member of the Staropopovsky community gets sick, he is forbidden to take medicine. The essence of the treatment comes down solely to communion with Epiphany water.

Vozdykhantsy

In 1870, in Kaluga, shoemaker Ivan Akhlebinin founded a community that later received the name Vozdykhantsev. Members of this persuasion reject any external worship of God, icons, sacraments and church hierarchy, but recognize the “explanatory books” - the Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles and the Psalter.

According to the beliefs of the Vozdykhans, first there was the kingdom of God the Father, then came the kingdom of God the Son, and after 8 thousand years from the creation of the world came the kingdom of the Holy Spirit. This doctrine was reflected in the rituals of the Vozdykhans. At prayer meetings, instead of making the sign of the cross, they sigh, raising their eyes to heaven and running a hand or handkerchief over their face.

Many other radical agreements and interpretations of the non-priest Old Believers, without significantly differing from each other, have only their own characteristics. Thus, the followers of the consent of the gapes, having gathered for prayer on the day of the Eucharist, stand with their mouths open in anticipation of being given communion by the angels.

Darkers are those who recognize the rite of baptism, but perform it only at night, as if imitating Christ.

In Akulinovo consent, community life and celibacy are accepted. This served as a repeated reason for accusing Akulino members of debauchery and sin.

The Kapitonovites of the Kshara charter are supporters of radical approaches to suicide for faith, participants in mass acts of self-immolation.

Ryabinovites believe that the cross of Christ consisted of cypress, cedar and pine tree. They associate the last tree with rowan, from which the cross should be made.

Popovtsy is the most numerous movement. Their distinctive feature is the recognition of the need for priests in conducting services and rituals. At the same time, some priests accept the acceptance of priests from the New Believers Church. They are also characterized by the participation of lay people in church life, along with priests. Priesthood became most widespread in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Don region, Chernigov region, and Starodubye. From a dogmatic point of view, the priests are practically no different from the New Ritual Church, with the exception that they adhere to pre-Nikonian rituals and liturgical books. Today, the number of priests is estimated at 1.5 million people, with their main centers in Russia being the Moscow and Rostov regions.

In 1846, with the accession of the Bosno-Sarajevo Metropolitan Ambrose (Popovich) to the Beglopopovites, the Belokrinitsky hierarchy, currently the Russian Orthodox Church, arose.

In the 1920s, the renovationist Bishop Nikolai (Pozdnev) joined Beglopopovism, becoming the head of the Beglopopovites; currently the Beglopopovites are called the Russian Ancient Orthodox Church.

Some beglopopovsky consents during the 19th and 20th centuries, due to the impossibility of receiving fugitive priests, turned into actual bespopovsky consents, among them the chapel and Luzhkov consents.

Bespovostvo - common name adherents of one of the two main directions of Russian Old Believers. It arose at the end of the 17th century, after the death of priests of the “old” ordination, that is, those ordained in the Russian Church before the reform of Patriarch Nikon (mid-17th century).

Bespopovstvo (another name is Old Orthodoxy) has more radical differences from the New Believers. In 1654, the only Old Believer bishop died without leaving a successor. According to church dogma, only the bishop has the right to ordain clergy. Thus, formally following the canonical rules, after the death of all pre-Nikonian priests, the Old Believers were forced to form a non-priestly interpretation. Bespopovtsy, fleeing persecution, settled in wild and uninhabited places - one of which was the shore of the White Sea (from this this community was called Pomors). The number of bespopovites is estimated at half a million people.

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Bespopovtsy- one of the two main branches of the schism of the Old Believers, so called because its followers do not accept the priesthood (priests).

THE EMERGENCE OF CHAPEL CONSENT OF THE OLD BELIEVERS-BESPOPOVTSEVS

When the pre-schism priests died in ancient times, there was a fundamental division of all Old Believers into two factions.

Those who chose to remain completely without a church hierarchy rather than accept newly ordained priests received the name Bespopovtsy. For some time, the Old Believers still had hope that somewhere (in the country of Belovodye, in impenetrable forests or mountains, in the deserts of the East) the true priesthood of the ancient order was preserved, and many longed to find it. Up to mid-18th century century, the bulk of the priestless people recognized the absence of the priesthood as a temporary test.

The desire to gain church hierarchy was so great among them that the famous founders of non-priesthood - the Denisov brothers - conducted written negotiations with representatives of priests who lived on Vetka about receiving a bishop even from the dominant church, if only he would agree to maintain the old rituals. But hopes for the possibility of quickly acquiring a hierarchy gave way to disappointment, and in reality they had to build their religious and everyday life in the absence of the priesthood. Under the influence of terrible persecution, the priestless people considered that the last time had come, in Orthodox Church(Old Believers call it the dominant church) and the Antichrist reigned everywhere in the world.

In this regard, the priestless people retained only baptism and confession (performed by laymen, often even women) from the church sacraments. They are the minimum necessary for salvation. All other sacraments are not performed at all. Realizing, for example, the need for the Eucharist, the Bespopovites thought to replace it for themselves with “their own communion.” completely rejecting marriage for the termination, in their opinion, of the true Orthodox priesthood, they demand from all their fellow believers, husbands and wives, a celibate life.

Most non-priest consents accept consents coming from others according to the first rank, i.e. re-baptize again, which is where the name of the agreement comes from - “non-priest-re-baptized”. These include the Pomeranians, Fedoseevites, Filippovites, Stranniks and others. The exceptions are the chapel, novospasovtsy, babushka and netovtsy singing, non-singing and deniers, also called non-rebaptized bespopovtsy.

In the 18th century, some Bespopovites added a third sacrament - marriage - to the two main sacraments (baptism and confession). the reason was as follows: in their opinion, this is a simple rite that has no dogmatic meaning, which is a combination of elements of ancient traditions with fragments of a wedding, from which priestly actions were removed. Ultimately, this action is an ordinary parental blessing, which consists of conditionally distinguished two parts: the first is the pronouncing of the blessing in the form of a traditional formula, the second is the alternate kissing of the icons by the newlyweds. In conclusion, the ceremony of dividing the bride’s one braid into two is performed, which symbolically distinguishes married woman from the girl. This is the ritual of Old Believer marriage.

This marked the beginning of the division of non-priests into those who were married and those who were not.

In the 18th century, there was a further fragmentation of the Bespopovites, who were divided into large directions and numerous rumors.

At the head of non-priest communities are mentors - “blessed fathers.” they give orders in meetings during worship and conduct church services and services, which they supposedly allow out of necessity. According to the Bespopovites, not everyone has such rights, but only those who have received a successive blessing from the former former mentors. It essentially has the meaning of placing on a sacred degree.

It is worth noting that there are many interpretations or agreements in non-priesthood, differing among themselves in the acceptance and non-acceptance of minor rituals.

Today, Bespopovites live in many countries of the world: Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Poland, USA, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, etc.

The most numerous of the surviving concords of the Bespopovites is the chapel.

In Central Russia at the beginning of the 1920s. The Fedoseevites had a numerical superiority among the Bespopovites; they numbered about 2-2.5 million people. At the same time there were up to 2 million Pomeranians. However, the spontaneous transition of many Fedoseyev communities to marital consent in the 1920-1950s. changed the quantitative ratio towards the Pomeranians.

CHAPTERIAL CONSENT GOVERNED BY CHARACTERS

Chapels (another name is chapel agreement; managed by charterers) - Old Believers, who were originally priests, but due to persecution, which especially intensified under Nicholas I, were left without the priesthood for a long time. Thus, by being forced to perform basic services and conduct services without the church hierarchy, they became priestless. Like traditional bespopovtsy, they performed services in chapels without altars, which later gave the name to the agreement.

The current situation led to the adoption by the chapels of many purely priestless ideas: about the spiritual coming of the Antichrist (although there are those who claim that he came sensually), about the complete dominance of the Antichrist in the New Believer church and in the state, about the admissibility of self-immolations in case of persecution by the authorities (self-immolations were noted in the Sayan Mountains back in the 1940s), about the inadmissibility of communication , mainly in prayer and meals, with the pacified and especially with the personnel, about the fundamental impossibility of obtaining passports, pensions, etc.

The most important difference between the chapels and other non-priests remains only the refusal to rebaptize those who come to them from other Old Believer agreements. Baptism is performed by the laity in a wooden font - a tub, while in many non-priest agreements it is preferred to perform baptism in open water.

The Chapel Agreement arose from several migration flows of Old Believers, moving at different times from European Russia further and further east. In 1720 the main part of the ancestors of the chapels left the Nizhny Novgorod forests for the Urals. At the beginning of the 20th century, the bulk of their descendants were concentrated in the triangle formed by the cities of Perm, Tyumen and Chelyabinsk. The resettlement to the Urals was also facilitated by the fact that early XVIII centuries, the owners of Ural factories provided patronage to the fleeing Old Believers, seeing in them a powerful workforce. Later, state factories began to provide this kind of assistance, and Yekaterinburg turned into a center of Old Believers who settled in the Urals. The chapels themselves trace their origins to the holy monk Sophrony, who settled in Kerzhenets and was accepted from heresy by the priests of the pre-Nikonian ordination Dionysius, the future Shuisky, Trifilius of Vologda and others. The leader of the Ural Old Believers, the holy monk Nikifor, received correction from Sophrony, who then left Kerzhenets with many elders to the Urals from -for disagreeing with the Vetkovo-Starodub fathers, in vain suspecting them of the ugly reception of sacred persons ordained by the Little Russian bishops-Oblivans.

It should be noted that after the death of Patriarch Andrian in 1701, many people were summoned to Moscow to participate in the work of the Synod, who, from the point of view of Nicephorus, had pouring baptism and dubious ordination. Nikifor's disagreement with the Kerzhen and Vetkovo-Starodub fathers occurred due to the fact that they allegedly received sacred persons indiscriminately, without finding out who was ordained by whom.

His followers began to find out which bishops were known to have been baptized in three immersions and who were also ordained by bishops baptized in three immersions. After this kind of research, they began to accept priests ordained only by such bishops. in 1776, the leaders of the chapels believed, relying on certain data supposedly received in the Synod, that from the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church only the Ryazan and Georgian bishops were baptized in three immersions, which means they accepted priests ordained by these bishops.

In 1725, in Nizhny Tagil, Nikifor received priest John from the Orthodox Church (he was later revered among the chapel priests Job). The third Ural priest was the holy monk Iyakov, who was also accepted by Nikifor. After correction Fr. Iyakov lived in the Nevyansk plant until his death (1754). Nicephorus accepted priests from the Vyatka province from the Orthodox Church - Fr. Simeon and Fr. Gabriel. The first, after correction, went to Iryum, and the second to Ishim. Both of them were martyred in Tobolsk. Until about the first third of the 18th century, the Ural chapels in their existing ranks received sacred persons passing from the Orthodox Church, and in 1735 their leaders from among the mining employees even asked, but unsuccessfully, Empress Anna Ioannovna to formalize this practice legally. After the death of Fr. Iyakov, the Ural Old Believers were left without the priesthood, since there was no one to accept fugitive priests from the Orthodox Church, and they were afraid to invite priests from Moscow, Kerzhenets or Vetka: they might get caught by one ordained by Bishop Epiphanius, whom they considered an impostor. The reception of this bishop on Vetka aggravated the alienation of the Ural Old Believers from the rest of the priests.

When priest Peter came to the Ural Old Believers, there was no one to correct him. Then, according to the cathedral decision, he “through three prayers took on the sacred vestments and began to perform sacred functions.” After his death, it was possible to find the priest Herodion, who was recognized as having a succession of orders going back to the priest Iyakov. For Fr. Herodion was followed by the priest Theophylact, who together with him received a number of priests, including Fr. Philip, ordained by the Georgian Bishop Gregory (at that time those bishops whose ordination by the Ural Old Believers considered completely legal had already died in Russia; they still believed that the Georgian Church was not infected by pouring baptism). Philip in turn introduced several Georgian ordained priests, including Fr. Arkhipp - the last Nizhny Tagil priest. With his death in 1825, the Ural Old Believers were finally left without a church hierarchy. IN early XIX centuries, they actively searched for suitable priests, but to no avail, and subsequent persecution of the Old Believers made this completely impossible. True, some of the chapels recognized the Irgiz priests and Fr. Paul (Tula), but Irgiz was soon ruined, and Fr. Pavel died.

The extreme difficulty of obtaining new Old Believer priests and finally their complete disappearance gradually strengthened the role of unordained clerks, or old men, who were leading the divine services (hence another name for consent - old man consent). The absence of a church vertical also led to the fact that chapels began to accept those coming to them from Orthodoxy as heretics of the third order (of course, if the person coming was baptized three times). Consequently, the consent began to be formed as non-priestly, although its members retained (and still retain) reserve Gifts, consecrated by the fathers, who had successive corrections from the priests of pre-Nikonian ordination. Among the chapels, apparently, there were also Holy Gifts consecrated on Irgiz. In addition, at the council of 1913 they discussed the possibility of receiving communion. However, in the magazine “Ural Old Believer”, in response to the editor’s question about where the chapels got their spare Gifts, they confidently point to the priests of Nikiforovskaya, etc. corrected. The Holy Gifts were also preserved in the famous Lykov family, belonging to the chapel consensus (at present, only Agafya remains of them).

In 1840, the chapel cathedral refused to accept priests(according to some sources, in connection with the defeat of Irgiz), and at the Ekaterinburg cathedrals of 1884 and 1887. the possibility of accepting the Belokrinitsky priesthood, discussed there, was rejected and the priestless practice of worship was consolidated (with the omission of purely priestly chapel prayers by non-ordained elders, with confession to the elder, etc.). This circumstance was also facilitated by the fact that, due to the poverty of the priesthood, adventurers began to act among the chapels, calling themselves priests of the so-called Belovodsk instruction, whose imposture was sooner or later revealed.

In the middle of the 18th century, new streams of so-called Poles joined the Ural-Siberian Old Believers (as they are still called to this day, for example, in Altai), that is, those Old Believers who returned from Poland, from Vetka and moved further east from Ural. Already since 1780. Beglopopovtsy Poles actively assimilated with the Ural and Siberian chapels.

The great heterogeneity of the chapel consensus at the beginning of the 20th century became an obstacle to the growth of the separate self-awareness of the chapels. The first congress (cathedral) of chapels after the law on religious tolerance was held in the village of Sosnovaya Maza near Khvalynsk on February 7, 1910. Then the questions were considered inner life consent, incl. It was decided to pray for the king who came to be rebaptized if they did not prove that they had been baptized in three immersions in the name of the Holy Trinity. The congress confirmed the rejection of the priesthood, not only transferring from the dominant church, but even belonging to the Belokrinitsky hierarchy. “The Belokrinitsky priesthood are impostors like Grishka Otrepyev, and the foolish Russians believed him, like the Austrians,” we read in the Acts of the First Council.

The second congress, which proclaimed itself the first all-Russian one, took place on September 25-29, 1911 in Yekaterinburg and was convened on the initiative of M.L. Sokolova. Ekaterinburg mentor P.S. was then elected chairman. Mokrushina. Issues about the coordination of religious rites, the founding of the Brotherhood of Christians of Chapel Concord, and public education were discussed. At the beginning of the century, Siberian chapels held annual councils in the village of Kutorok.

In 1912, a similar council, in which 300 people participated, was held on January 29 and 30. Then the following decisions were made: not to accept communities, but to consider registered mentors as heresiarchs; laity to be accepted as a third rank into the non-communal fold with the curse of communal heresy; do not drink tea or vodka, punish those who violate them with heavy penances, and those who drink vodka are considered heretics of the third order; Do not send children to public schools, excommunicating violators from common prayer.

The next council took place in the city of Balakovo on May 1, 1913 - under the chairmanship of E.A. Komissarova. The most pressing question that was examined at it: should the ancestors of the chapels be considered heretics or simply mistaken for the fact that they accepted the fleeing priesthood through confirmation and in their existing rank? Fellow chairman of the cathedral A.F. Nesterov even demanded that other ancestors be found for himself, but the general opinion prevailed: a mistake had been made, the spare Gifts are in doubt, however, if anyone wants to partake of them, let it be on his conscience. On the issue of the coming of the Antichrist, the congress participants made a typically priestless decision: he is already reigning. They refused to register communities and create schools for youth. But on these issues, the chapels did not have a common opinion, which is clear from the polemics with anti-community activists, which was conducted on the pages of the Ural Old Believer.

Mass persecution of monasteries and chapels since the mid-1930s. led to the fact that they moved in large numbers to the east of the Urals, including to the Yenisei, where they lived in relative peace until 1951, when most of their hermitages were destroyed by troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs using aircraft, mortars, etc. . In connection with these dramatic circumstances, the Angarsk Cathedral of Chapels in 1957, by a special resolution, allowed those who were in custody to receive food from the personnel.

Very significant for the Ural-Tyumen chapels remains their division into two directions - factory and rural, which existed for at least two centuries (the word "direction" in the Old Believers is synonymous with "bush", which is actually a term).

The first - factory (sometimes also called urban) - direction belonged to the mining workers, who invariably outnumbered the members of the second direction. Factory workers have always been considered more liberal in terms of compliance with statutory norms, while rural ones are more fundamentalist-minded. By the 20th century, the strictness of the statutes began to be less adhered to by the rural movement: its members were also affected by the general process of de-peasantization, but the psychological distance between the factory and the rural is still felt by the descendants of both.

It should be pointed out that there were no attempts to organize a regular training system, a common periodical press, etc. Publishing activity was also not carried out until the beginning of the 90s, despite the presence of a large number of old printed books, the leader in reprinting of which was the Belokrinitsky hierarchy. Its reprint editions are in constant demand in all Old Believer communities.

Tyumen chapels (mainly rural ones) live in Tyumen, Yalutorovsk, Zavodoukovsk, etc. In villages and small towns they constituted and still constitute the influential and most active part of the population, which successfully influences the formation of public opinion and local authorities (subsidizing repairs and construction of chapels, etc. from the budget). Current state These communities are the following: they are small in number and are mainly visited by elderly Old Believers.

Among rural chapels there is an extremely pronounced opposition to television, radio, drinking coffee, tea, etc. For a long time, only books copied by hand were accepted, but recently they began to use photocopies.

Among all the chapels in the Urals and Siberia, holy springs are especially revered, among which they include the spring in the village of Roshcha, Sverdlovsk region (near the border with the Perm region). Among the young Perm chapels in the 90s. Mass pilgrimages to Lake Svetloyar, to the “city of Kitezh”, which according to legend disappeared under the water through the prayer of the inhabitants in order to avoid capture from the Tatars, were popular.

The scientific study of the chapels began at least 100 years late compared to other Old Believer agreements. The main participants in the study were Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg archaeographic centers. According to researchers, during the years of persecution of religion (especially in the 30-40s, when the activities of most of the central structures of the Old Believers in the USSR were practically paralyzed), the chapels became even more accustomed to an existence independent of European Russia and formed a persistently skeptical attitude towards the existing there are Old Believer churches.

Monasticism and hermitage are still developed in harmony. The main region of compact residence of chapels is Transbaikalia and Tuva, no less in the east of the Urals and in Siberia. There are several communities of chapels in the USA, where they fled (mainly through China) in the 20-30s and 50-60s.