The followers of Nikon themselves, using state power and force, proclaimed their church Orthodox, or dominant, and began to call their opponents an insulting and fundamentally incorrect nickname "schismatics." On them, they blamed all the blame for the church schism. In fact, the opponents of Nikon's innovations did not commit any schism: they remained faithful to the ancient church traditions and rituals, without changing their native Orthodox Church in any way. Therefore, they rightly call themselves Orthodox Old Believers, Old Believers or Old Orthodox Christians. Who was the real initiator and leader of the split?

Patriarch Nikon ascended the Moscow patriarchal throne in 1652. Even before his elevation to the patriarch, he became close to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Together they decided to remake the Russian church in a new way: to introduce new rites, rituals, books in it, so that in everything it resembles the Greek church, which has long ceased to be completely pious.

Proud and proud, Patriarch Nikon did not have much education. But he surrounded himself with learned Ukrainians and Greeks, of whom Arseniy the Greek, a man of very dubious faith, began to play the greatest role. Upbringing and education he received from the Jesuits; on arrival in the East, he accepted Mohammedanism, then again joined Orthodoxy, and then deviated to Catholicism. When he appeared in Moscow, he was sent to the Solovetsky monastery as a dangerous heretic. Hence Nikon took him to himself and immediately made him the main assistant in church affairs. This caused a great temptation and murmur among the believing Russian people. But Nikon could not object. The king gave him unlimited rights in the affairs of the church. Nikon, encouraged by the king, did what he wanted, without consulting anyone. Relying on the friendship and power of the tsar, he embarked on church reform decisively and boldly.

Nikon had a cruel and stubborn character, behaved proudly and inaccessibly, calling himself, following the example of the Pope, “the extreme saint”, was titled “the great sovereign” and was one of the richest people in Russia. He treated the bishops arrogantly, did not want to call them his brothers, terribly humiliated and persecuted the rest of the clergy. Everyone was afraid and in awe of Nikon. The historian Klyuchevsky calls Nikon a church dictator.

In the old days there were no printing houses, books were copied. In Russia, liturgical books were written in monasteries and under bishops by special masters. This skill, like icon painting, was considered sacred and performed with diligence and reverence. The Russian people loved the book and knew how to take care of it like a shrine. The slightest inventory in the book, an oversight, a mistake was considered a big error. That is why the numerous manuscripts of old times that have survived to us are distinguished by the purity and beauty of writing, the correctness and accuracy of the text. It is difficult to find blots and strikethroughs in ancient manuscripts. There were fewer misprints in them than in modern books of typos. The significant errors noticed in previous books were eliminated even before Nikon, when a printing house began to operate in Moscow. The correction of the books was carried out with great care and discretion.

The correction under Patriarch Nikon was completely different. At the council in 1654, it was decided to correct the liturgical books according to the ancient Greek and ancient Slavonic, in fact, the correction was made according to the new Greek books printed in the Jesuit printing houses of Venice and Paris. Even the Greeks themselves spoke of these books as distorted and erroneous.

Thus, the activity of Nikon and his associates was reduced not to correcting ancient books, but to changing them, or, more precisely, to damage. Other church innovations followed the change in books.

The most important changes and innovations were the following:

1. Instead of the two-finger sign of the cross, which was adopted in Russia from the Greek Orthodox Church together with Christianity and which is part of the Holy Apostolic tradition, the three-finger sign was introduced.

2. In old books, in accordance with the spirit of the Slavic language, the name of the Savior "Jesus" was always written and pronounced, in new books this name was changed to the Greekized "Jesus".

3. In the old books it is established at the time of baptism, wedding and consecration of the temple to walk in the sun as a sign that we are following the Sun-Christ. In new books, a circumambulation against the sun is introduced.

4. In the old books, in the Symbol of Faith (VIII member), it reads: "And in the Holy Spirit of the Lord, true and life-giving," after the corrections, the word "true" was excluded.

5. Instead of the "double", that is, the double hallelujah, which the Russian church has been creating since ancient times, the "triple" (triple) hallelujah was introduced.

6. The Divine Liturgy in Ancient Russia was performed on seven prosphoras, new "directors" introduced the five-prosphora, that is, two prosphoras were excluded.

The examples given show that Nikon and his assistants boldly encroached on changing the church institutions, customs and even the apostolic traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church, adopted from the Greek Church during the baptism of Rus.

These changes in church legalizations, traditions and rituals could not but cause a sharp rebuff from the Russian people, who sacredly kept the ancient holy books and traditions.

In addition to the very fact of changes in ancient books and church customs, sharp resistance among the people was caused by the measures with the help of which Patriarch Nikon and the tsar supporting him planted these innovations. Russian people, whose conscience could not agree with church innovations and distortions, were subjected to cruel persecution and executions. Many preferred to die than betray the faith of their fathers and grandfathers.

Patriarch Nikon began his reforms with the abolition of two-fingered addition. The entire Russian church then made the sign of the cross with two fingers: three fingers (thumb and two last) were folded by Orthodox Christians in the name of the Holy Trinity, and two (index and great middle) in the name of two natures in Christ - divine and human. The ancient Greek Church also taught to fold the fingers to express the main truths of the Orthodox faith. Two fingers comes from the apostolic times. The Holy Fathers testify that Christ Himself blessed his disciples with just such a finger. Nikon canceled it. He did it without permission, without a conciliar decision, without the consent of the church, and even without consulting any bishop. At the same time, he ordered to be marked with three fingers: to fold the first three fingers in the name of St. Trinity, and the last two "have idle", that is, they do not represent anything. Christians said: the new patriarch abolished Christ.

Three-fingered was a clear innovation. It shortly before Nikon appeared among the Greeks, and they also brought it to Russia. Not a single holy father and not a single ancient cathedral testify to three fingers. Therefore, the Russian people did not want to accept him. In addition to the fact that it does not depict the two natures of Christ, it is also wrong to depict a cross on oneself with three fingers in the name of St. Trinity, without confessing in them the human nature of Christ. It turns out that St. The Trinity was crucified on the cross, not Christ in his humanity. But Nikon did not think to reckon with any arguments. Taking advantage of the arrival in Moscow of the Antiochian patriarch Macarius and other hierarchs from the East, Nikon invited them to speak in favor of the new constitution. They wrote the following: “Tradition has been received from the beginning of the faith from the holy apostles and holy fathers, and the holy seven councils, to create the sign of the honest cross with the first three fingers of the right hand. And whoever from Orthodox Christians does not create the cross taco, according to the legend of the Eastern Church, hedgehog from the beginning of the faith even to this day, is a heretic and imitator of the Armenians. And for this, for the sake of his Imam, she was excommunicated from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and cursed. " Such a condemnation was first proclaimed in the presence of many people, then set out in writing and printed in the book "Tablet" published by Nikon. These reckless curses and excommunication struck the Russian people like a thunderbolt.

The pious Russian people, the entire Russian Church could not agree with such an extremely unjust condemnation proclaimed by Nikon and his like-minded people - the Greek bishops, especially since they were telling a clear lie, as if both the apostles and St. the fathers installed three fingers. But Nikon did not stop there. In the book "Tablet" to those just quoted, he added new condemnations. He went so far as to blaspheme two fingers as allegedly containing the terrible "heresies and impiety" of the ancient heretics, condemned by the Ecumenical Councils (Arians and Nestorians).

In the "Tablet" Orthodox Christians are condemned and anathematized for the fact that they confess the true Holy Spirit in the symbol of faith. In essence, Nikon and his assistants cursed the Russian Church not for heresies and errors, but for a completely Orthodox confession of faith and for ancient church traditions. These actions of Nikon and his associates made them in the eyes of the pious Russian people heretics and apostates from the Holy Church.

Patriarch Nikon began to introduce new rituals, new liturgical books and other “improvements” into the Russian Church without the approval of the council, without permission. He ascended the Moscow patriarchal throne in 1652. Even before his elevation to the patriarch, he became close to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Together they decided to remake the Russian Church in a new way: to introduce new rites, rituals, books in it, so that in everything it resembles the Greek church of their day, which has long ceased to be completely pious.

In the entourage of Patriarch Nikon, the greatest role began to be played by the international adventurer Arseny the Greek, a man, among other things, of a very dubious faith. Upbringing and education he received from the Jesuits, upon arrival in the East, he converted to Islam, then again joined Orthodoxy, and then deviated to Catholicism. When he appeared in Moscow, he was sent to the Solovetsky monastery as a dangerous heretic. Hence Nikon took him to himself and made him the main assistant in church affairs. This caused a murmur among the Russian people. But they feared to object to Nikon, since the tsar granted him unlimited rights in the affairs of the church. Relying on the friendship and power of the tsar, Nikon embarked on church reform decisively and boldly.

He began by strengthening his own power. Nikon had a cruel and stubborn character, behaved proudly and inaccessibly, calling himself, following the example of the Pope, “the extreme saint”, was titled “the great sovereign” and was one of the richest people in Russia. He treated the bishops arrogantly, did not want to call them his brothers, terribly humiliated and persecuted the rest of the clergy. Everyone was afraid and in awe of Nikon. The historian Klyuchevsky called Nikon a church dictator.

The reform began with the corruption of books. In the old days there were no printing houses; books were copied in monasteries and at episcopal courts by special masters. This skill, like icon painting, was considered sacred and performed with diligence and reverence. The Russian people loved the book and knew how to take care of it as a shrine. The slightest inventory in the book, an oversight or mistake was considered a great sin. That is why the numerous manuscripts of old times that have survived to us are distinguished by the purity and beauty of writing, the correctness and accuracy of the text. It is difficult to find blots or strikethroughs in ancient manuscripts. There were fewer misprints in them than in modern books of typos. The significant errors noticed in previous books were eliminated even before Nikon, when the Printing House began to operate in Moscow. The correction of the books was carried out with great care and discretion.

It was different under Patriarch Nikon. At the council in 1654, it was decided to correct the liturgical books according to the ancient Greek and ancient Slavonic, in fact, the correction was made according to the new Greek books printed in the Jesuit printing houses of Venice and Paris. Even the Greeks themselves spoke of these books as distorted and erroneous.

Other church innovations followed the change in books. The most notable innovations were the following:

• - instead of the two-finger sign of the cross, which was adopted in Russia from the Greek Orthodox Church together with Christianity and which is part of the Holy Apostolic tradition, the three-finger was introduced.
• - in old books, in accordance with the spirit of the Slavic language, the name of the Savior “Jesus” was always written and pronounced, in new books this name was changed to the Greekized “Jesus”.
• - in old books it is established at the time of baptism, wedding and consecration of the temple to walk in the sun as a sign that we are following the Sun-Christ. In new books, a circumambulation against the sun is introduced.
• - in old books, in the Symbol of Faith (8th member), it reads: “And in the Spirit of the Holy Lord, the True and Life-giving”, after the corrections the word “True” was excluded.
• - instead of the double, that is, the double hallelujah, which the Russian church has been creating since ancient times, the triangular (that is, triple) hallelujah was introduced.
• -the Divine Liturgy in Byzantium, and then in Ancient Russia, was performed on seven prosphora; the new "directors" introduced the five prosphora, that is, two prosphora were excluded.

Nikon and his assistants boldly encroached on changing the church institutions, customs and even the apostolic traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church, adopted at the Baptism of Rus. These changes in church legalizations, traditions and rituals could not but cause a sharp rebuff from the Russian people, who sacredly kept the ancient holy books and traditions. In addition to the destruction of books and church customs, sharp resistance among the people was caused by those violent measures with the help of which Nikon and the tsar who supported him planted these innovations. Russian people, whose conscience could not agree with church innovations and distortions, were subjected to cruel persecution and executions. Many preferred to die than betray the faith of their fathers and grandfathers.

Just one example of how church reform was done.

Since the most famous example of Nikon's reforms is the change in sign, let us dwell a little on this issue. The entire Russian Church then made the sign of the cross with two fingers: three fingers (thumb and the last two) folded in the name of the Holy Trinity, and two (index and great middle) in the name of two natures in Christ - divine and human. This is how the ancient Greek Church taught to fold the fingers to express the main truths of the Orthodox faith. Two fingers comes from the apostolic times. His image is contained in mosaics of the 4th century. The Holy Fathers testify that Christ Himself blessed the disciples with just such a sign. Nikon canceled it. He did it without permission, without a conciliar decision, without the consent of the Church, and even without consulting any bishop. In return, he ordered to be marked with three fingers: to fold the first three fingers in the name of St. Trinities, and the last two "have idle", that is, they do not represent anything. Christians said: the new patriarch abolished Christ.

Three-fingered was a clear innovation. It shortly before Nikon appeared among the Greeks, and they also brought it to Russia. Not a single holy father and not a single ancient cathedral testify to three fingers. Therefore, the Russian people did not want to accept him. Not only was the three-finger symbol a much less expressive and accurate depiction of what we believe in, it contained an obvious inaccuracy of confession, for when we put the sign of the cross on ourselves, it turns out that it is St. The Trinity was crucified on the cross, and not One of Her faces - Jesus Christ in his humanity.

But Nikon did not think to reckon with any arguments. He began his reforms not with the blessing of God, but with curses and anathemas. Taking advantage of the arrival in Moscow of the Antiochian Patriarch Macarius and other hierarchs from the East, Nikon invited them to speak in favor of a new sign. They wrote the following: “Tradition has been received from the beginning of the faith from the holy apostles and holy fathers and the holy seven councils to create the sign of the honest cross with the first three fingers of the gum of the hand. And whoever from Orthodox Christians does not create the cross taco, according to the legend of the Eastern Church, hedgehog from the beginning of the faith even to this day, is a heretic and imitator of the Armenians. And for this, for the sake of his Imam, she was excommunicated from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and cursed. "

Such a terrible condemnation was first proclaimed in the presence of many people, then set out in writing and printed in the book "Tablet" published by Nikon. These reckless curses and excommunication struck the Russian people like a thunderbolt. The pious Russian people, the entire Russian Church could not agree with such an extremely unjust condemnation proclaimed by Nikon and his like-minded people - the Greek bishops, especially since they were telling a clear lie, as if both the apostles and St. the fathers installed three fingers. But Nikon did not stop there either. He needed not only to destroy, but also to spit on the antiquities of Orthodoxy.

In the book "Tablet" to those just quoted, he added new condemnations. He went so far as to blaspheme two fingers as allegedly containing the terrible "heresies and impiety" of ancient heretics condemned by ecumenical councils (Arians and Nestorians). In the "Tablet" Orthodox Christians are condemned and anathema for the fact that they confess the Holy Spirit to the True in the Creed. In essence, Nikon and his assistants cursed the Russian Church for a completely Orthodox confession of faith and for ancient church traditions.

These actions of Nikon and his associates made them apostates from the Holy Church.

Nikon's activities met with strong opposition from a number of spiritual leaders of that time: Bishop Pavel Kolomenskoye, Archpriest Avvakum Petrov, John Neronov, Daniel from Kostroma, Loggin from Murom and others. The leaders of the religious opposition enjoyed great respect among the people for their high personal qualities. They dared to speak the truth in the eyes of the mighty of this world, did not care about their personal gains, served the Church and God with all devotion, sincere and ardent love. In oral sermons, in letters, they boldly denounced all the perpetrators of church misfortunes, not being afraid to name the patriarch and tsar first. They are striking in their willingness to go to suffering and torment for the work of Christ, for the truth of God.

The faithful and staunch champions of church antiquity were soon subjected to cruel tortures and executions. The first martyrs for the right faith were the archpopes John Nero, Loggin, Daniel, Avvakum and Bishop Pavel Kolomensky. They were expelled from Moscow in the very first year of Nikon's reform activities (1653-1654).

At the council of 1654, convened on the issue of book correction, Bishop Pavel Kolomensky courageously declared to Nikon: “We will not accept the new faith,” for which he was deprived of the pulpit without a council court. Right at the cathedral, Patriarch Nikon beat Bishop Paul with his own hands, tore off his mantle and ordered him to immediately be sent into exile. In a distant northern monastery, Bishop Paul was severely tortured and finally murdered in secret.

The people said that an executioner and a murderer sat on the throne. Everyone was in awe of him, and none of the bishops dared to speak out with a courageous word of reproof. Timidly and silently, they agreed with his demands and orders. Those who could not step over their conscience, but were unable to resist, tried to retire. Thus, Bishop Alexander of Vyatka, while maintaining personal loyalty to the old faith, preferred to leave his see, retiring to one of the monasteries.

Unfortunately, among the Russian clergy of the mid-17th century. turned out to be a significant number of cowardly people who did not dare to contradict the cruel authorities. Therefore, the main enemy of Nikon was the church people: simple monks and laymen, the best, spiritually strong and devoted sons of Orthodoxy. There were quite a few of them, probably even the majority. From the very beginning the Old Believers were a popular faith.

Nikon stayed on the patriarchal throne for seven years. With his lust for power and pride, he managed to alienate everyone from him. He also broke with the king. The patriarch intervened in the affairs of the state, even dreamed of becoming higher than the king and completely subordinating him to his will. Alexei Mikhailovich began to grow weary of his “sobin friend”, lost interest in him.

Then Nikon decided to influence the tsar with a threat, which he had previously been able to do. He decided to publicly renounce the patriarchate, hoping that the king would be touched by his abdication and would beg him not to leave the throne. This would be a good reason to restore and strengthen their influence on the king.

At the solemn liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin on July 10, 1658, he announced from the pulpit, addressing the clergy and the people: “From laziness I have grown hardened, and you have hardened from me. From now on I will not be your patriarch; if I think to be a patriarch, then I will be anathema ”. Immediately on the pulpit, Nikon took off his bishop's vestments, put on a black robe and a monk's cowl, took a simple stick and left the cathedral.

However, Nikon was cruelly mistaken in his calculations. The tsar, having learned about the departure of the patriarch, did not restrain him. Nikon, hiding in the Resurrection Monastery, which he called "New Jerusalem", began to wait for the Tsar's reaction. He still behaved imperiously and arbitrarily: he ordained, condemned and cursed the bishops. But his vain expectation hardened him so much that he even cursed the king with his entire family.

Of course, he could not come to terms with his new position as only a monastery inhabitant. Nikon tried to return to patriarchal power again. One night, he suddenly arrived in Moscow at the Assumption Cathedral during a divine service and sent to notify the tsar of his arrival. But the king did not come out to him. Frustrated, Nikon returned to the monastery.

The flight of Nikon from the patriarchal throne brought a new disorder to church life. On this occasion, the tsar convened a council in Moscow in 1660. The council decided to elect a new patriarch. But Nikon at this council broke out in abuse, called him "Demonic host"... The tsar and the bishops did not know what to do with Nikon.

At that time, a secret Jesuit, the Greek “Metropolitan” Paisius Ligarid, arrived in Moscow with forged letters. Then reliable reports were received that Paisius Ligarid was in the service of the Pope and that the Eastern patriarchs for this overthrew him and cursed him. But in Moscow they turned a blind eye to this, probably because Paisius Ligarid could be very useful to the tsar. This dexterous and resourceful person was entrusted with the case of Nikon. Paisius immediately became the head of Russian church affairs. He stated that Nikon “must be cursed as a heretic,” and that for this it is necessary to convene a large council in Moscow with the participation of the Eastern patriarchs. In response, Nikon helplessly scolded the Greek "Thief", "infidel", "dog", "lord", "man".

For the trial of Nikon and consideration of other church affairs, Tsar Alexei convened a council in 1666, which was continued in the next one, in 1667. The eastern patriarchies, Paisius of Alexandria and Macarius of Antioch, arrived at the council. The invitation of these patriarchs was unsuccessful. As it turned out later, they themselves were deposed from their thrones by a council of eastern hierarchs, and therefore did not have the canonical right to decide any church affairs.

Nikon's trial began. The council found Nikon guilty of unauthorized flight from the pulpit and other crimes. The patriarchs called him "Liar", "deceiver", "tormentor", "murderer", compared with Satan, they said that he "Even worse than Satan", recognized him as a heretic because he ordered not to confess thieves and robbers before his death. Nikon did not remain in debt and called the patriarchs "Impostors", "Turkish slaves", "vagabonds", "corrupt people" etc. In the end, the cathedral stripped Nikon of the priesthood and made him a simple monk.

After a change in his fate, Nikon himself changed in relation to his reforms. While still on the patriarchal throne, he sometimes said that "The old missives are kind" and for them "You can serve the service of God"... Having retired from the throne, he began to publish books in the monastery that were in agreement with the old ones. By this return to the old text, Nikon, as it were, passed judgment on his own book reform, recognizing it as unnecessary and useless.

Nikon died in 1681, not reconciled with either the tsar, or the bishops, or the Church.

Reference material. Plan.

I. "New" and "Old" in the life of the Moscow state in the 17th century. The reasons for Nikon's church reforms and protests against them.

II. Church reforms of Nikon.

Patriarch Nikon.

Nikon's ideas about the Universal Church.

Preparation of reforms.

Church reforms: content, methods of implementation, reaction of the population.

III. Split.

Old Believers, their views and actions.

Archpriest Avvakum.

The actions of the church and the secular authorities in relation to the Old Believers.

IV. Decisions of the Church Council 1666-1667.

Anathema (curse) of the Old Believers by the cathedral.

The collapse of Nikon.

Basic concepts and terms.

Moscow piety, innovations, the idea of ​​the Universal Church, spiritual (ecclesiastical) and secular (royal) power, disagreement in rituals, unification of Russian and Greek rituals, church reforms, Nikonianism, Nikonians, Old Believers, Old Believers (Old Believers), schism of the Orthodox Russian Church, Antichrist, expectation of the end of the world, heretics, schismatics, anathema, Church Council.

Historical names.

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Patriarch Nikon, Old Believers: Archpriest Avvakum, Daniel, noblewoman F.P. Morozova.

Key dates.

1654 - the beginning of Nikon's church reforms. The beginning of the split in the Russian Orthodox Church.

1666-1667 - The Church Council, which condemned the Old Believers and overthrew Nikon.

New and old With the accession of Boris Godunov, innovations began in Russia that were very necessary, but unusual for Russians, who were afraid of everything foreign "more than the devil's frankincense."

Under Mikhail and Alexei Romanov, foreign innovations began to penetrate into all external spheres of life: blades were poured from Swedish metal, the Dutch set up iron works, the brave German soldiers marched near the Kremlin, the Scots officer taught Russian recruits the European order, the frigates played performances. Some Russians (even the Tsar's children), looking into Venetian mirrors, tried on foreign costumes, someone started the situation as in the German Sloboda ...

But was the soul affected by these innovations? No, for the most part Russian people remained the same zealots of Moscow antiquity, "faith and piety", as their great-grandfathers were. Moreover, they were very self-confident zealots, who said that "Ancient Rome fell from heresies, the Second Rome was captured by godless Turks, Russia is the Third Rome, which alone remained the guardian of the true Christian faith!"

To Moscow in the 17th century. the authorities more and more often called the “spiritual teachers” - the Greeks, but part of society looked down on them: weren't the Greeks faint-heartedly concluded a union with the Pope in Florence in 1439? No, there is no other pure Orthodoxy, except Russian, and there will never be.

Due to these ideas, the Russians did not feel an "inferiority complex" in front of a more learned, skillful and more comfortable foreigner, but they feared that these German water-plunging machines, Polish books, along with "flattering Greeks and Kievans" did not touch the very foundations of life and faith ...

In 1648, before the wedding of the tsar, there was anxiety: Alexei was "taught in German" and now he will force his beard to shave in German, drive him to pray at the German church - the end of piety and antiquity, the end of the world is coming.

The king got married. The salt revolt died down. Not everyone remained with their heads, but everyone with beards. However, the tension did not subside. A war broke out with Poland for the Orthodox Little Russian and Belarusian brothers. Victories inspired, the hardships of the war irritated and ruined, the commoners grumbled, fled. Tension, suspicion, expectation of something inevitable grew.

IdeaEcumenical ChurchAND it was at such a time that Alexei Mikhailovich's "friend" Nikon, who became patriarch in 1652, conceived church reforms.

Nikon completely absorbed the idea of ​​the superiority of spiritual power over secular power, which was embodied in the idea of ​​the universal church.

1- The patriarch was convinced that the world was divided into two spheres: universal (general), eternal, and private, temporary.

The universal, the eternal, is more important than anything that is private and temporary.

The Moscow state, like any state, is private.

The unification of all Orthodox churches - the Ecumenical Church - is what is closest to God, what on earth embodies the eternal.

Everything that does not agree with the eternal, universal must be abolished.

Who is higher - the patriarch or the secular ruler? For Nikon, this question did not exist. The Patriarch of Moscow is one of the patriarchs of the Ecumenical Church, therefore, his power is higher than the royal one.

When Nikon was reproached for papism, he answered: "For good, why not read the Pope?" Alexei Mikhailovich was partly, apparently, captured by the reasoning of his imperious "friend". The tsar bestowed upon the patriarch the title of "great sovereign". It was a royal title, and of the patriarchs, only Alexei's grandfather, Filaret Romanov, bore it.

Before the reforms The Patriarch was zealous for true Orthodoxy. Considering the Greek and Old Slavonic books as the primary sources of Orthodox truths (for Russia took the faith from there), Nikon decided to compare the rituals and liturgical customs of the Moscow Church with the Greek ones.

And what? The novelty in the rituals and customs of the Moscow Church, which considered itself the only true Church of Christ, was everywhere. The Muscovites wrote "Jesus", not "Jesus", served the liturgy at seven, not five, like the Greeks, prosphora, were baptized with 2 fingers, personifying God the father and God the son, and all other Eastern Christians overshadowed themselves with the cross with 3 fingers ("Pinch"), personifying God, father, son and Holy Spirit. On Mount Athos, a Russian pilgrim monk, by the way, was almost killed as a heretic for baptism with two fingers. And the patriarch found many more discrepancies. Local characteristics of the service have developed in various regions. The Holy Council of 1551 recognized some of the local differences as all-Russian. With the beginning of printing in the second half of the XVI century. they have become widespread.

Nikon came from peasants, and with peasant straightforwardness, he declared war on the differences between the Moscow Church and the Greek.

Nikon's reforms 1. In 1653 Nikon sent out a decree ordering to be baptized with a "pinch", as well as informing how many bows to the ground should be correctly placed before reading the famous prayer of St. Ephraim.

Then the patriarch attacked the icon painters who began to use Western European painting techniques.

The new books were ordered to print "Jesus", Greek liturgical rites and chants according to the "Kiev canons" were introduced.

Following the example of the Eastern clergy, the priests began to read about the stories of their own composition, and the tone here was set by the patriarch himself.

Russian handwritten and printed books on divine services were ordered to be viewed in Moscow. If they found discrepancies with the Greeks, the books were destroyed, and new ones were sent out in return.

The Holy Council of 1654 with the participation of the Tsar and the Boyar Duma approved all of Nikon's undertakings. All who tried to argue, the patriarch "carried" out of the way. Thus, Bishop Paul of Kolomna, who objected at the Council of 1654, without co-

Boron court was defrocked, fiercely bit, exiled. From humiliation, he went insane and soon died.

Nikon raged. In 1654, in the absence of the tsar, the people of the patriarch forcibly broke into the houses of Moscow residents - townspeople, merchants, nobles and even boyars. They took the icons of “heretical writing” from the “red corners”, gouged out the eyes of the images and wore mutilated faces through the streets, reading the decree, which threatened to excommunicate everyone who paints and keeps such icons. "Defective" icons were burned.

Split Nikon struggled with innovations, thinking that they could

cause discord among the people. However, it was his reforms that caused a split, since part of the Moscow people perceived them as innovations encroaching on faith. The church split into "Nikonians" (the church hierarchy and most of the believers who are accustomed to obeying) and "Old Believers".

Old Believers Old Believers hid books. The secular and spiritual authorities persecuted them. From persecution, the zealots of the old faith fled to the forests, united in communities, founded sketes in the wilderness. The Solovetsky monastery, which did not recognize Nikonianism, was under siege for seven years (1668-1676), until the governor Meshcherikov took it and hanged all the rebels.

The leaders of the Old Believers - Archpriest Avvakum and Daniel, wrote petitions to the tsar, but seeing that Alexei did not defend the "old days", announced the imminent arrival of the end of the world, because the Antichrist had appeared in Russia. The Tsar and the Patriarch are “his two horns”. Only the martyrs of the old faith will be saved. The sermon of "cleansing by fire" was born. The schismatics locked themselves up in churches with whole families and burned themselves so as not to serve the Antichrist. The Old Believers captured all strata of the population - from peasants to boyars.

Boyarynya Morozova (Sokovina) Fedosia Prokopyevna (1632-1675) gathered schismatics around her, corresponded with Archpriest Avvakum, sent him money. In 1671 she was arrested, but neither torture nor persuasion forced her to renounce her convictions. In the same year, the boyar, chained in iron, was taken to prison in Borovsk (this moment is captured in the painting by V. Surikov "Boyarynya Morozova").

The Old Believers considered themselves Orthodox and did not disagree with the Orthodox Church in any dogma of faith. Therefore, the patriarch called them not heretics, but only schismatics.

Church Cathedral 1666-1667 he gave the schismatics a curse for their disobedience. The zealots of the old faith have ceased to recognize the church that excommunicated them. The split has not been overcome to this day.

The collapse of Nikon Did Nikon regret what he had done? May be. At the end of his patriarchate, in a conversation with Ivan Neronov, the former leader of the schismatics, Nikon dropped: “both old and new books of Dobra; it doesn't matter what you want, for those you serve ... "

But the church could no longer give in to the recalcitrant rebels, and the latter could no longer forgive the church for encroaching on "holy faith and antiquity." And what was the fate of Nikon himself?

The patience of the Quiet King was not unlimited, and no one could subdue him to his influence to the end. Nikon's claims led to a quarrel with Alexei Mikhailovich. In protest, Nikon himself left the patriarchal throne in 1658 and retired to the Resurrection Monastery near Moscow (New Jerusalem), which he founded.

Did the patriarch expect that he would be asked to return? But Nikon is not Ivan the Terrible and not the sovereign of Moscow. Cathedral 1666-1667 with the participation of two Eastern patriarchs, he anathematized the Old Believers and at the same time deprived Nikon of his dignity for unauthorized resignation from the patriarchate.

Nikon was exiled north to the Ferapontov Monastery.

Additional material.Patriarch Nikon.

And now let's talk about whom Klyuchevsky said: “Of the Russian people of the 17th century. I do not know a person larger and more peculiar than Nikon, "and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich called him" the chosen and strong shepherd, mentor of souls and bodies, beloved favorite and companion, the sun shining in the entire universe ... "

The friendship of the tsar with Nikon began even before the latter took the patriarchal department, when Nikon was the abbot of the Novo-Spassky monastery, where the family tomb of the Romanov boyars was located. Nikon was the first to set up the young tsar to rule on his own. Alexei was struck by Nikon's fanatical dedication to his work. The tsar also admired the behavior of Nikon, the archbishop of Novgorod, when, in the Novgorod revolt of 1650, he went out to the rebels, let them beat him up, just to hear his admonitions.

Who is Patriarch Nikon? He was called a reformer, a zealot of the faith; a shortsighted politician who initiated untimely church transformations; a cruel person, a sympathetic person; The king's "friend"; a church hierarch who intended to subordinate secular authority to spiritual authority; the accuser of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich ...

Nikon was born in 1605 into a peasant family near Nizhny Novgorod. He himself learned to read and write, gave up the work of his fathers and became a village priest, early took the monastic rank. He zealously performed the service, carried out posts, buried himself in books. Revealed his ability to convince people and subordinate them to his influence. Monk Nikon did not seek security; for a long time he lived as a stern hermit in ascetic northern monasteries. His spiritual exploits became known, and Nikon made a quick career, becoming the archimandrite of a prestigious Moscow monastery, the Novgorod archbishop and, finally, at the age of 47, the patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

We will not again touch on his views and reforms, we will dwell only on some facts of the life of the patriarch and the peculiarities of his character. For the merciless extermination of Nikon's opponents, everyone was considered evil and cruel. This is undoubtedly true, but contemporaries narrate that the patriarch was weighed down by enmity, and he easily forgave his enemies if he noticed that they were ready for reconciliation.

Nikon became the kindest "nurse" to sick friends. He often picked up dying people on the street and nursed them. He rendered charitable assistance to many and in his own way was faithful in friendship. When the tsar was on a campaign in 1654, Moscow was seized by a terrible disease. Many boyars and clergymen fled from the capital. Nikon "pulled out of the contagion" the royal family, he fought the epidemic as best he could, with rare courage he consoled the sick.

The great sovereign Patriarch Nikon sincerely measured that his power was higher than the royal one. Relations with a gentle and compliant, but to a certain extent, Alexei Mikhailovich became tense, until, finally, grievances and mutual claims ended in a quarrel. Nikon retired to New Jerusalem (1658), hoping that Apekseus would beg him to return. Time passed ... The Tsar was silent. The patriarch sent him an irritated letter in which he told how bad everything in the Muscovite kingdom was.

“The worldly judges judge and rape, and for this reason you gathered against yourself on the day of judgment, a great council, crying out about your iniquities. You preach to everyone to fast, and now nobody knows who does not fast for the sake of the poverty of grain; in many places they fast to death, because there is nothing to eat.

There is no one who would be pardoned: norts, blind, widow, Chernittsy and thicken, are given by grave; everywhere weeping and contrition; there is no one rejoicing in these days ”(letter of 1661).

And then, before the Holy Cathedral of 1666-1667, Nikon, who had arbitrarily renounced patriarchal affairs, passionately denounced Alexei, painting a picture of Russia with the blackest colors. In the latter, he could compete with Prince Khvorostin-

At the cathedral of 1666-1667. Nikon behaved like a prosecutor denouncing the tsar, and Alexei only made excuses that he did not encroach on the Russian Church. But the cathedral deprived Nikon of the rank of patriarch and exiled north to the Ferapontov monastery in cells "stinking and smoky," as Nikon himself called them.

In the Ferapontov Monastery Nikon began to instruct the monks in the true faith, however, he no longer did shocking acts, as in 1655, when he declared on

Sacred Cathedral, that although he is the son of a Russian and a Russian, but his faith is Greek, and then, with all the honest people in the Assumption Cathedral, he took off the Russian hood and put on the Greek one.

In the Ferapont monastery, Nikon also treated the sick and sent a list of those healed to the tsar. But in general, he was bored in the northern monastery, as all strong and enterprising people, deprived of an active field, are bored. The resourcefulness and wit, which distinguished Nikon in a good mood, were often replaced by a feeling of offended irritation. Then Nikon could no longer distinguish real offenses from invented by him. Klyuchevsky related the following incident. The tsar sent warm letters and gifts to the former patriarch. Once, from the royal bounties, a whole train of expensive fish arrived at the monastery - sturgeon, salmon, stellate sturgeon, etc. "Nikon answered with a reproach to Alexei: why didn't he send apples, grapes in molasses and vegetables?"

Nikon's health was undermined. “Now I am sick, naked and barefoot,” the former patriarch wrote to the tsar. “Out of every need ... I sighed, my hands are sick, my left one does not rise, in front of my eyes a thorn from the child and smoke, stinking blood comes from my teeth ... My legs are swollen ...” Alexei Mikhailovich ordered several times to ease the maintenance of Nikon. The tsar died before Nikon, and before his death he apologized to Nikon in vain.

After the death of Alexei (1676), the persecution of Nikon intensified, he was transferred to the Kirillov Monastery. But then the son of Alexei Mikhailovich, Tsar Fyodor, decided to soften the fate of the disgraced and ordered him to be taken to New Jerusalem (Resurrection Monastery). Nikon could not stand this last trip and died on the way on August 17, 1681.

Archpriest Avvakum.

Little Tsar Peter remembered for the rest of his life how the Moscow archers stormed the royal palace and threw people close to him on the spears. Many of the archers crossed themselves with two fingers. Since then, "old" - "split" - "rebellion" have become identical concepts for Peter.

The split was indeed a rebellion of the "old Muscovy" against various foreign innovations. The most famous scholar of the 17th century. Archpriest Avvakum stated this directly: “Oh, poor Russia! Why do you want Latin customs and German deeds? "

Habakkuk himself was a kind of mirror of the late 17th century. His personality is so strong and unique that one cannot fail to mention the archpriest when talking about the rebellious age.

Avvakum was born, like Nikon, in the Nizhny Novgorod land, in 1620 or 1621. His father, a resident of the village of Grigorov, did not contribute anything to the upbringing of his son, for he was constantly "diligently drunk". But Avvakum's mother, Marya, was an extraordinary woman: she was smart, literate, loved books and was distinguished by piety, which her children inherited.

Avvakum amazed fellow villagers with his "bookishness" and asceticism. He wanted to devote himself to the service of God. In 1641 he married a religious no less than his fellow villager Nastasya Markovna and was ordained a deacon, and in 1643 he became a priest in the village of Lopatitsy.

Avvakum devoted himself entirely to the cause. He zealously preached, taught the villagers "a righteous life," denounced the non-Christian behavior and sins of others, regardless of faces. Like any bright person, Habakkuk formed a circle of disciples and followers. However, for many of the boyars' children, “all the pops that pop” were like a bone in their throats.

Avvakum quarreled with some "bosses". They once almost "crushed him to death", then they shot at the priest. Avvakum was forced to flee to Moscow, where he found a kind welcome from his fellow countryman Ivan Neronov and the tsar's confessor Stephen Vonifatiev. These clerics, close to Alexei Mikhailovich, helped Avvakum to return to Lopatitsa as a winner. True, he was soon exiled again and from 1648 to 1652. found in Moscow, "working" with the former patrons.

Patriarch Nikon was once close to the "Bonifate circle", but with the beginning of his reforms and "cruelties" he parted with the tsar's confessor completely. Habakkuk came out of the people and understood the Orthodox faith in the folk way, i.e. for him there was no difference between the church rite and the essence of Christian teaching. Habakkuk saw in Nikon's events an attempt on the holy of holies - on faith.

In 1652 Avvakum left the capital for a short time. He was made protopop of the city of Yuryevets. But he only lasted 8 weeks there. The local population, irritated by his sermons, forced Avvakum to flee to Moscow. This is where the transformation of the obsessive priest into the defender of the old faith adored by fans began.

Avvakum and Kostroma Archpriest Daniel write a petition to the king. They gently try to convince Alexei that Nikon's reforms are "godless." Avvakum speaks in churches, on the streets, in boyar and merchant chambers, whose owners oppose Nikonianism.

Already in 1653 Avvakum fell into the dungeon of the Androniev Monastery, and then went into exile in Tobolsk. In the "Siberian capital" the archpriest did not calm down, and in 1655 he was ordered to be taken even further to the Lena River, and a year later he was sent on a campaign with Afanasy Pashkov to the land of the Daurs. Were the Cossacks of Pashkov and Pashkov himself indifferent to the old faith or for other reasons, but Avvakum's relationship with the pioneers did not work out. Like everyone else, Avvakum endured hardships, hunger, but in addition, the "mischievous voivode" (according to the archpriest) often took off his anger on him and once even beat him until he lost consciousness.

Moscow friends of Avvakum managed to get him forgiveness only in 1662. Avvakum went to Moscow, and on the way through towns and villages he again began to preach against the "heresy of Nikon." Boyars-Old Believers met the archpriest in 1664 in the capital "like an angel". The tsar also graciously received, settled in the Kremlin in the courtyard of the Novodevichy Convent and, passing the window of the Avvakum cell, he always bowed low to the archpriest and asked to bless and pray for him.

Avvakum discovered changes in Moscow that he probably did not expect. He realized that the people of the Wonifatiev circle were fighting not with Nikon's innovations, but with Nikon himself. Only the head of the Moscow Old Believers, Ivan Neronov, considers Nikonianism to be heresy, but Nero's struggle is weakening, for he is afraid of damnation from the ecumenical Orthodox patriarchs. A little later, Neronov will indeed move away from the split.

Avvakum wants to fight not against Nikon, but against Nikonianism. The hottest time in his life begins. The protopope preaches everywhere, writes petitions, composes "conversations", instructs Old Believers, unites this socially diverse religious brotherhood into a community, everywhere demonstratively crosses himself "not with a demonic cookie", but as from time immemorial - with two fingers, calls for martyrdom, disobedience and even self-immolation during name of faith. Avvakum's wife, noblewoman Morozova (Urusova), dozens of nameless holy fools, disobedient priests and monks, the Solovetsky monastery strengthened the schism.

The king and his entourage recoil from Habakkuk. “They didn’t like how I began to speak again,” the archpriest remarked. - Anything they like, keep quiet, but I didn’t agree! ”

In August 1664, the "fire-burning" archpriest was taken to exile in Pustozersk, but he did not get there, he lived in Mezin for a year. He continued to "speak", and all of Russia heard his words. Many commoners and noble people saw in him a living holy martyr, and Habakkuk's authority grew.

In 1666 Avvakum and a number of other schismatics appeared at the Holy Council in Moscow. They tried to reason with them. Eastern patriarchs addressed Habakkuk: “You are stubborn, archpriest: all our Palestine, and Serbs, and Albanians, and Romans, and Poles - all cross themselves with three fingers; alone you stand on your own ... so not befitting. " “Universal teachers! - answered Habakkuk, - Rome fell long ago, and the Poles died with it, remained enemies of Christians to the end; yes, even your Orthodoxy is motley, you have become weak from the violence of the Turks Mahmet, and continue to come to us to learn; here, by God's grace, autocracy and before Nikon the apostate Orthodoxy was pure and pure! " And, clearly mocking the ecumenical patriarchs, Habakkuk fell down at the door of the chamber, declaring that he would sleep.

Habakkuk was cut off and anathematized. Together with his like-minded people, he wandered through the icy deserts to Pustozersk. There he continued to compose, finished, in particular, his autobiography - "The Life of Archpriest Avvakum", a work written as a life of a saint and a polemic pamphlet at the same time, in a simple, crude, but bright and intelligible language to the last beggar. The archpriest already equated the Tsar and Nikon with the servants of the Antichrist, urged not to obey the authorities, to flee to the forests, mountains, deserts, to burn oneself with children and loved ones, for the end of the world is near, the Last Judgment is coming, and he must be met purified in flames. He wrote to Habakkuk and the kings - to Alexei, then to Fedor, urging him to return to the true faith. This continued until 1681.

On April 14, 1681 Avvakum, priest Lazar, deacon Fedor, monk Epiphanius as teachers of schism and "detractors of the royal house" were burned at the stake. However, about 60 works of Habakkuk remained to live among the Old Believers and are still revered by them.

The main reason for the split in the Russian Church lay in the spiritual sphere. Traditionally, in Russian religiosity, they attached great importance to rites, considering them the basis of faith. According to many Orthodox Christians, the Greeks "reeled" in their faith, for which they were punished by the loss of the "Orthodox kingdom" (the fall of Byzantium). Therefore, "old Russian antiquity", they believed, is the only correct faith.

Nikon's reform

The reform of Patriarch Nikon mainly concerned the rules for the conduct of the church rite. It was prescribed that the person praying should make the sign of the cross with three fingers (fingers), as was customary in the Greek church, instead of two, as previously existed in Russia; bows were introduced during prayer instead of earthly ones; it was prescribed during the service in the church to sing "Hallelujah" (glorification) not two, but three times; during the procession, move not in the sun (salting), but against; the name Jesus is written with two "and", and not with one, as before; new words were introduced into the process of worship.

Church books and icons were corrected according to newly printed Greek models instead of Old Russian ones. Uncorrected books and icons were publicly burned.

The council supported Nikon's church reform and cursed its opponents. The part of the population that did not accept the reform began to be called Old Believers or Old Believers. The Council's decision deepened the schism in the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Old Believers' movement became widespread. People went to the forests, to the uninhabited places of the North, the Volga region, Siberia. Large settlements of Old Believers appeared in the Nizhny Novgorod and Bryansk forests. They founded sketes (remote settlements in remote places), where they performed rituals according to the old rules. Tsarist troops were sent against the Old Believers. When they approached, some Old Believers with whole families closed themselves in houses and burned themselves.

Archpriest Avvakum

Old Believers demonstrated firmness and adherence to the old faith. Archpriest Avva-kum (1620 / 1621-1682) became the spiritual leader of the Old Believers.

Avvakum advocated the preservation of the old Orthodox rituals. He was imprisoned in a monastery prison and offered to renounce his views. He didn't. Then he was exiled to Siberia. But he did not resign himself there either. At the Church Council he was defrocked and cursed. In response, Habakkuk himself cursed the Church Council. He was exiled to the polar prison Pustozersk, where he spent 14 years with his companions in an earthen pit. In captivity, Habakkuk wrote his autobiographical book "Life" (before that they wrote only about the lives of the saints). On April 14, 1682, he was burned at the stake together with his “fellow-brothers ... for great blasphemy”. Material from the site

Feodosia Morozova

The noblewoman Theodosia Prokopyevna Morozova was a supporter of the Old Believers. She made her rich home a refuge for all persecuted "for the old faith." Morozova did not give in to persuasion to depart from the old faith. Neither the persuasion of the patriarch and other bishops, nor cruel torture, nor the confiscation of all of her vast riches had any impact. Boyarynya Morozova and her sister, Princess Urusova, were sent to the Borovsky monastery and put in an earthen prison. Morozova died there, but did not give up her beliefs.

Monks of the Solovetsky Monastery

Among the Old Believers were the monks of the Solovetsky Monastery. They refused to read the traditional Orthodox prayer for the tsar, believing that he had submitted to the Antichrist. The government could not tolerate this. Government troops were sent against the disobedient. Mona Str resisted for eight years (1668-1676). Of his 500 defenders, 60 survived.

Church reformPatriarch Nikon- undertaken in the 1650s - 1660s, a complex of liturgical and canonical measures in the Russian Church and the Moscow State, aimed at changing the ritual tradition that existed then in Moscow (the northeastern part of the Russian Church) in order to unify it with modern Greek. It caused a split in the Russian Church and led to the emergence of numerous Old Believer movements.

Cultural, historical and geopolitical context of the reform

Professor N.F.

The influence of Byzantium in the Orthodox world was based precisely on the fact that it was a cultural center for all Orthodox peoples of the East, from where science, education, the highest and most perfect forms of church and social life, etc. came to them. It did not represent anything like old Byzantium in this respect Moscow. She did not know what science and scientific education were, she did not even have a school at all and people who had received the correct scientific education; her entire educational capital consisted in that, from a scientific point of view, not a particularly rich and varied inheritance, which at different times the Russians received mediocre or directly from the Greeks, without adding to it on their part almost absolutely nothing. It is therefore natural that the primacy and supremacy of Moscow in the Orthodox world could only be purely external and very conditional.

In the late 1640s, Arseny (Sukhanov) from the courtyard of the Zografsky Athonite monastery in Moldavia reported to the Tsar and the Moscow Patriarch about the burning of the books of the Moscow press (and some other Slavic books) that took place at the Athonite burning as heretical. Moreover, the Alexandrian patriarch Paisius, having made an inquiry on the occasion of the incident and not approving the act of the Athonites, nevertheless spoke in the sense that it was the Moscow books that sin in their ranks and rituals.

“In the 17th century. relations with the East are becoming especially lively. Grecophilism gradually finds itself more and more supporters in society, and in the government itself it becomes more and more sincere. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich himself was a staunch Grekophile. In his extensive correspondence with the Eastern patriarchs, the goal of Alexei Mikhailovich is quite definitely expressed - to bring the Russian Church into full unity with the Greek. The political views of Tsar Alexei, his view of himself as the heir of Byzantium, the governor of God on earth, the defender of all Orthodoxy, who, perhaps, will free Christians from the Turks and become tsar in Constantinople, also forced him to strive for such an identity of the Russian and Greek faiths. From the East, they supported his plans in the king. So, in 1649, Patriarch Paisiy, on his arrival in Moscow, at a reception with the tsar, directly expressed his wish that Alexei Mikhailovich became tsar in Constantinople: "May the New Moses be, may free us from captivity." The reform was placed on a fundamentally new and broader ground: the Greek forces came up with an idea to bring Russian church practice into full accord with the Greek. " The former Ecumenical Patriarch Athanasius III Patellarius, who was in Moscow in 1653 and took a direct part in the justice, inspired the tsar and the patriarch with similar ideas.

Another significant geopolitical factor that pushed the Moscow government to carry out reforms was the annexation of Little Russia, then under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Constantinople throne, to the Moscow state:

The similarity of the Little Russian liturgical practice with the Greek was due to the recent reform of the liturgical statute by Metropolitan Peter Mogila.

Speaking about the peculiarities of the religiosity of Patriarch Nikon and his contemporaries, Nikolai Kostomarov noted: “Having spent ten years as a parish priest, Nikon, against his will, assimilated all the rudeness of the environment around him and carried it with him even to the patriarchal throne. In this respect, he was a completely Russian person of his time, and if he was truly pious, then in the old Russian sense. The piety of the Russian person consisted in the possible exact execution of external methods, which were attributed to the symbolic power that bestows God's grace; and Nikon's piety did not go far beyond the limits of ritual. The letter of worship leads to salvation; therefore, it is imperative that this letter be expressed as correctly as possible. "

Characteristic is the answer received by Nikon in 1655 to his 27 questions, with which he turned immediately after the Council of 1654 to Patriarch Paisius. The latter “expresses the view of the Greek Church on the rite as an insignificant part of religion, which could have and had different forms. As for the answer to the question of penis, Paisius evaded a definite answer, limiting himself only to explaining the meaning that the Greeks put in three-fingered. Nikon understood Paisius's answer in the sense he desired, since he could not rise to the Greek understanding of the rite. Paisiy, however, did not know the situation in which the reform was being carried out and the acuteness with which the question of ceremonies was raised. The Greek theologian and the Russian scribe could not understand each other. "

Background: Greek and Russian Liturgical Practices

The evolution of the rite of Christian worship in ancient times, especially those of its elements that are determined not by the book tradition, but by oral church tradition (and these include such significant customs as, for example, the sign of the cross), is known on the basis of the information available in the scriptures Holy Fathers. In the works of the early holy fathers, up to the 8th century, one finger is most often mentioned as a sign for the sign of the cross, very rarely many fingers and never two fingers (the dual and plural are written differently in Greek). By the 9th century, and by the time of the Baptism of Rus, in the Byzantine Empire, in Constantinople there was a two-finger for the sign of the cross, about this there is a detailed scientific study of Christian texts by Golubinsky. Later, from about the middle of the 13th century, the Greeks began to switch to three fingers. As for the number of prosphora on the proskomedia, augmented or triangular hallelujah, the direction of movement of the cross, there was no uniformity. Among the Russians, a combination of some customs gained a dominant position (two-fingered, augmented hallelujah, salting, etc.), which would later be called the old rite, and the Greeks later (especially after the fall of Constantinople) gradually established a combination of other customs, which would later be called a new rite.

The process of political and cultural delimitation of North-Eastern (Vladimir, and then Moscow) and South-Western Russia (which became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), which began in the 13th-14th centuries, led to the penetration of modern Greek liturgical traditions through Lithuania, although, for example, in Lithuania and even the Serbs at the beginning of the 17th century were still quite widespread with two fingers. In this regard, the question arose in Muscovite Rus what order should be followed in divine services. At the Stoglav Cathedral in 1551, this question was answered: “If anyone does not bless two fingers, like Christ, or does not imagine the sign of the cross, may the rekosha fathers be damned, the holy fathers. "(Stoglav 31) is a meaningful presentation of the text:" Εἴ τις οὐ σφραγίζει τοῖς δυσὶ δακτύλοις, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστός, ἀνάθεμα. " , from the Greek liturgical collections "Euchologia" 10-12 centuries, translated into Slavic, from the order: "Απόταξις τῶν αιρετικῶν Αρμενιῶν"; "... it is not fitting for the holy hallelujah tregubiti, but to say hallelujah twice, and in the third -" glory to you, God "..." (Stoglav 42).

The famous linguist and historian of the Russian and Church Slavonic languages ​​Boris Uspensky described the difference between the pre-Nikonian and post-Nikonian traditions:

Using the sign of the cross as an example, we can see that Byzantinization has to be talked about only conditionally: we are talking about an orientation towards Byzantium, but since Byzantium no longer existed by that time, modern Greeks were perceived as carriers of the Byzantine cultural tradition. As a result, the assimilated forms and norms could differ very significantly from the Byzantine ones, and this is especially noticeable in the field of church culture. Thus, the Russian clergy under Patriarch Nikon disguises themselves in Greek dress and, in general, assimilates in their guise to the Greek clergy (the disguise of the clergy in Greek dress under Nikon precedes the dressing up of civil Russian society in Western European dress under Peter I). However, the new clothes of the Russian clergy correspond not to the clothes that Greek clergy wore in Byzantium, but to the clothes they began to wear under the Turks, after the fall of the Byzantine Empire: this is how a kamilavka appears, the shape of which goes back to the Turkish fez, and a cassock with wide sleeves, also reflecting the Turkish style of clothing. Following the Greek clergy, Russian priests and monks began to wear long hair. However, the Greek clergy in the Ottoman Empire wore long hair, not because it was customary in this environment in Byzantium, but for another - the opposite reason. Long hair in Byzantium was a sign of secular, not spiritual power, and Greek priests began to wear them only after the Turkish conquest - since the administrative responsibility was imposed on the Constantinople Patriarchate in the Ottoman Empire, and thus the clergy were invested with secular power. As a result, the tonsure that was adopted in Byzantium at one time disappears; in Russia, tonsure ("gumenzo") was adopted before Nikon's reforms (later it is retained by the Old Believers). - Uspensky B.A. History of the Russian literary language (XI-XVII centuries). - 3rd ed., Rev. and add. - M .: Aspect Press, 2002 .-- S. 417-418. - 558 p. -5000 copies. - ISBN 5-7567-0146-X

Chronology of schism in the Russian Church

• February 1651- After the new church council, it was announced about the introduction of "unanimity" in worship instead of "polyphony" in all churches. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, not approving the conciliar decree of 1649 on the permissibility of "polygamy" supported by the Moscow Patriarch Joseph, turned to the Patriarch of Constantinople, who resolved this issue in favor of "unanimity." The tsar's confessor Stefan Vonifatiev and the bed-room Fyodor Mikhailovich Rtishchev stood on this, too, who begged Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to approve unanimous singing in the churches instead of polyphonic.
• 11 February 1653- Patriarch Nikon ordered to omit in the edition of the Followed Psalter the chapters on the number of bows at the prayer of the Monk Ephraim the Syrian and on the sign of the cross with two fingers.
• February 21, 1653 - After 10 days, at the beginning of Great Lent in 1653, Patriarch Nikon sent out to Moscow churches "Memory" about replacing part of the prostrations on the prayer of Ephraim the Syrian with belt and on the use of the three-finger sign of the cross instead of the two-finger sign.
• September 1653 - Protopop Avvakum is thrown into the basement of the Androniev Monastery, where he spent 3 days and 3 nights "not eating or drinking." Admonition to accept the "new books", but to no avail. Patriarch Nikon ordered to cut him off. But the king interceded, and Avvakum Petrov was exiled to Tobolsk.
• 1654 year- Patriarch Nikon arranges a church council, at which, as a result of pressure on the participants, he seeks permission to hold a "book inquiry on ancient Greek and Slavic manuscripts." However, the alignment went not to old patterns, but to modern Greek practice. Among the participants in the council was Bishop Pavel of Kolomna and Kashira. At the council, he openly defended the "old books", and under the council decrees instead of a signature he wrote: "If someone takes away from the devotional customs of the holy catholic church, or adds to them, or in some way corrupts, let it be anathema." Nikon beat Paul at the council, tore off his mantle, deprived him of the episcopal see without a council court and exiled him to the Paleostrovsky monastery.
• 1654 - By order of Patriarch Nikon start to burn old icons. It was a shock for the mass of believers, in whose consciousness the principle of veneration of icons is unconditional for Orthodox Christian culture.
• Approx. 1655 year- The exile of Archpriest Avvakum with his family "to the Daurian land." Avvakum spent six years there, reaching Nerchinsk, Shilka and Amur. By 1663, after leaving the affairs of Patriarch Nikon, he was returned to Moscow.
• Early 1656- The local council, which was held in Moscow, and assembled by Patriarch Nikon with the participation of four eastern hierarchs: Patriarch Makarii of Antioch, Patriarch Gabriel of Serbia, Metropolitan of Nicea Gregory and Metropolitan of all Moldavia Gedeon, condemned the two-finger crossing. All who were baptized with two fingers were declared heretics, excommunicated from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• On the week of Orthodoxy (on the first Sunday of Great Lent) in 1656, in the Moscow Dormition Cathedral, Patriarch Macarius of Antioch, Patriarch Gabriel of Serbia and Metropolitan Gregory of Nicaea solemnly declared anathema against those who are baptized with two fingers during the service.
• 3 (16) April 1656 - Bishop Pavel Kolomensky was transferred under stricter supervision to the Novgorod Khutynsky monastery, where he was apparently killed.
• 1664 year- Protopope Avvakum was exiled to Mezen, where he continued his sermon and supported his adherents, scattered throughout Russia, with letters in which he called himself "the slave and messenger of Jesus Christ", "the protosingel of the Russian church."
• April 29, 1666- Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich made a speech in front of the Great Moscow Church Council, in which he said that in Russia the Orthodox faith was planted by the apostles through Cyril and Methodius, Olga and Vladimir. The king called this faith pure wheat. Then he enumerated the errors of the opponents of the reform (“schismatics” or “the seed of the devil”) who spoke about the church of blasphemy: “as the church is not a church, divine secrets are not mysteries, baptism is not baptism, bishops are not bishops, the scriptures are flattering, teachings - unrighteous, and all filth and not pious. " Further, the king said that it was necessary to cleanse the wheat (church) from the chaff (schismatics), relying on the authority of four "adamants": the Eastern Greek patriarchs. In response, Metropolitan Joachim spoke on behalf of the Russian bishops, who agreed with the tsar, calling the schismatics "enemies and adversaries" of the church, and who asked the tsar to help the bishops subdue the enemies with the help of the tsarist power.
• May 15, 1666 - Archpriest Avvakum appeared in front of the Great Moscow Church Cathedral, refused to repentance, and was sentenced to exile in the Pustozersky prison on Pechora. At the council, priest Lazarus also refused to repent, for which he was exiled to the same prison. The deacon of the Cathedral of the Annunciation, Theodore, was brought to the council, who did not bring repentance at the council, was anathematized, and was exiled to the Nikolo-Ugreshsky monastery. Soon he sent his written repentance to the cathedral, was forgiven, but then returned to his former views, for which in 1667 he would be cut off his tongue and sent to Pustozersky prison, into exile, and then burned alive in a log house together with the archpriest Avvakum.
• At the second stage of the Great Moscow Church Council of 1666-1667, Patriarch Macarius of Antioch, together with Patriarch of Alexandria, who also participated in the work of the Council Paisius, managed to impose extremely harsh definitions in relation to the Russian Old Believers, which actually made the schism in the Russian Church irreversible. The council approved the books of the new press, approved new rites and rites, and imposed oaths and anathemas on old books and rituals. The adherents of the old rites were declared schismatics and heretics. The country found itself on the brink of a religious war.
• 1667 year- Due to the refusal of the brothers of the Solovetsky monastery to accept innovations, the government took strict measures, ordered to confiscate all estates and property of the monastery.
• 1667 to 1676 the country was engulfed in riots in the capital and on the outskirts. Old Believers attacked monasteries, robbed Nikonian monks, and seized churches.
• June 22, 1668- The tsarist regiments arrived on Solovki and began to siege the monastery (Solovetsky uprising).
• November 1671- The Supreme Palace noblewoman, a representative of one of the sixteen highest aristocratic families of the Moscow state, Theodosia Morozova, an ardent adherent of the old rite, was transported to the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin, from where, after interrogations, she was transported to prison in the courtyard of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery.
• 1672 year- In the Paleostrovsky Monastery, 2,700 Old Believers committed self-immolation. The first known case of mass self-immolations, the so-called "fires".
• End of 1674- Boyarynya Morozova, her sister Evdokia Urusova and their associate, the wife of the Strelets Colonel Maria Danilova, were brought to the Yamskaya Dvor, where they tried to convince them of loyalty to the Old Believers by torture on a rack. By order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, she and her sister, Princess Urusova, were exiled to Borovsk, where they were imprisoned in an earthen prison in the Borovsk city prison, and 14 of their servants for belonging to the old faith at the end of June 1675 were burned in a log house.
• 11 (21) September 1675- Princess Evdokia Urusova died of complete exhaustion.
• 2 (12) November 1675 - Theodosia Morozova was also starved to death in an earthen prison.
• January 22 (February 1) 1676- The Solovetsky Monastery was taken by storm. The riot in the Solovetsky monastery, during which 400 people died, was brutally suppressed.
• In 1677 and in 1678 at the Small and Large local church cathedrals of the Russian Church, the noble princess Anna Kashinskaya (nun Sophia in the schema) was decanonized, only because the hand of the holy princess, who died in the 14th century, depicted two fingers, and her relics lay open in the cathedral of the city of Kashin for general worship. She was declared not a saint, the relics were buried, the grave was brought to naught and it was forbidden to serve her, and they ordered to sing only the requiem. The church in honor of the princess was renamed. Moreover, first, a commission of several people who came to Kashin buried the relics and declared her not a saint, closed the church, took away icons depicting St. Anna, and then retrospectively held two cathedrals. Anna Kashinskaya only in 1649 at the local church council of the Russian Church was canonized, then solemnly in the presence of the entire royal family and with a large crowd of people they transferred the incorruptible relics to the cathedral, (the tsar twice traveled to Kashin in 1649 and in 1650: to opening and for the transfer of relics), wrote holy icons with her image, which stood in the church for worship, wrote a church service to Anna, which they served and prayed to St. Anna, in honor of Anna they named the newly baptized children.
• From 1676 to 1685, according to documented information, about 20,000 Old Believers died from self-immolation. Self-immolations continued in the 18th century.
• January 6, 1681- The uprising organized by adherents of the Old Believers in Moscow. Its likely organizer was Avvakum Petrov.
• 1681 - The New Ecclesiastical Council recognized the need for the joint struggle of the spiritual and secular authorities with the intensifying "schism", asked the tsar to confirm the decisions of the Great Moscow Cathedral of 1667 to send stubborn schismatics to the city court, decided to take away old printed books and issue corrected ones in return, established supervision over the sale of notebooks, which, under the guise of extracts from the Holy Scriptures, contained blasphemies against the books of the Church.
• April 14 (24), 1682, Pustozersk - Burning of Archpriest Avvakum and three of his fellow prisoners in a log house (see Pustozersk sufferers). Protopop Avvakum, according to legend, predicted imminent death to Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich at the moment of burning.
• April 27, 1682 - Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich died at the age of 20 without making an order regarding the succession to the throne. The issue of succession to the throne caused excitement, which was resolved by the decision to marry two tsars at the same time - the juvenile Ivan V and Peter I under the regency of their elder sister Sophia Alekseevna.
• July 5, 1682 - Dispute about faith in the Faceted Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin. The official church was represented by Patriarch Joachim (the main character on the part of the Orthodox was not he, but Athanasius, Bishop of Kholmogorsk and Vazhesky), the Old Believer - Nikita Pustosvyat. The dispute boiled down to mutual accusations of heresy and ignorance between the parties and, in the end, to abuse and almost a fight. The Old Believers left the Kremlin with their heads raised and publicly announced their complete victory on Red Square, although in fact the dispute did not come to any result. The archers blackmailed by Princess Sophia retreated from the Old Believers, accusing them of turmoil and a desire to restore the archers against the tsars. IA Khovansky barely managed to save the rest of the Old Believers, whom he had previously guaranteed safety. The next morning, Princess Sophia ordered the seizure of the schismatics: Nikita Pustosvyat was executed at the Execution Ground, and his comrades-in-arms were sent to monasteries, from where some managed to escape.
• In 1685 under Princess Sophia, a decree was issued on the persecution of detractors of the Church, instigators of self-immolation, harboring schismatics up to the death penalty (some by burning, others with a sword). Other Old Believers were ordered to be beaten with a whip, and, having deprived of their property, exiled to monasteries. The concealers of the Old Believers are "beaten with batogs and, after the confiscation of property, also sent to the monastery." Until 1685, the government suppressed riots and executed several leaders of the schism, but there was no special law to prosecute schismatics for their faith.

The main features of the Nikon reform

The first step of Patriarch Nikon on the path of liturgical reform, taken immediately after joining the Patriarchate, was to compare the text of the Symbol of Faith in the edition of printed Moscow liturgical books with the text of the Symbol inscribed on the sackos of Metropolitan Photius. Having discovered the discrepancies between them (as well as between the Service Book and other books), Patriarch Nikon decided to start correcting the books and rites. Approximately six months after his accession to the patriarchal throne, on February 11, 1653, the Patriarch ordered to omit in the publication of the Followed Psalter the chapters on the number of bows at the prayer of the Monk Ephraim the Syrian and on the two-fingered sign of the cross. Some of the clerks expressed their disagreement, as a result, three were fired, among them Elder Savvaty and Hieromonk Joseph (in the world Ivan Nasedka). Ten days later, at the beginning of Great Lent in 1653, the Patriarch sent out to Moscow churches "Memory" about replacing part of the prostrations in Ephraim the Syrian's prayer with belt bows and about using the three-fingered sign of the cross instead of the two-fingered one. This is how the reform began, as well as the protest against it - the church schism organized by the former comrades of the Patriarch, Archpriest Avvakum Petrov and Archimandrite Ivan Neronov.

During the reform, the liturgical tradition was changed in the following points:

• A large-scale "book on the right", expressed in the editing of the texts of Holy Scripture and liturgical books, which led to changes even in the wording of the Symbol of Faith - the union-opposition "a" was removed in the words about faith in the Son of God, "born, not created", about the Kingdom They began to speak of God in the future ("there will be no end"), and not in the present tense ("there will be no end"); the word "Istinnago" was excluded from the definition of the properties of the Holy Spirit. Many other innovations were also introduced into the historical liturgical texts, for example, another letter was added to the name "Isus" (under the title "Ic") and it began to be written "Iesus" (under the title "Iis").
• Replacing the two-fingered sign of the cross with the three-fingered one and canceling the “throwing”, or small bows to the ground - in 1653 Nikon sent a “memory” to all the churches in Moscow, which said: “It is not proper to do kneeling in a church, but you would bow down to your belt. ; more and three fingers would be baptized naturally. "
• Nikon ordered the processions to be carried out in the opposite direction (against the sun, not salting).
• The exclamation "Hallelujah" during the service began to be pronounced not twice (augmented hallelujah), but three times (triangular).
• The number of prosphora on the proskomedia and the style of the seal on the prosphora have been changed.

Reaction to reform

The Patriarch was told that such actions were unauthorized, and then in 1654 he organized a council, where, as a result of pressure on the participants, he sought permission to conduct a "book inquiry on ancient Greek and Slavic manuscripts." However, the alignment went not to old patterns, but to modern Greek practice. In 1656, Patriarch Nikon convened a council in Moscow, at which all those who were baptized with two fingers were declared heretics, excommunicated from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and cursed. In the week of Orthodoxy (on the first Sunday of Great Lent) in 1656, in the Moscow Dormition Cathedral, an anathema was solemnly proclaimed against those who are baptized with two fingers during a divine service.

The harshness and procedural incorrectness (for example, Nikon once publicly beat him, tore off his mantle, and then, without a council decision, single-handedly deprived the pulpit and exiled the opponent of the liturgical reform, Bishop Pavel Kolomensky), the reforms caused discontent among a significant part of the clergy and laity, which also fed on personal hostility towards the distinguished intolerance and ambition to the patriarch. After the exile and death of Pavel Kolomensky, the movement for the "old faith" (Old Believers) was led by several clerics: Archpriest Avvakum, Longin of Murom and Daniel of Kostroma, priest Lazar Romanovsky, deacon Fyodor, monk Epiphanius, priest Nikita Dobrynin, nicknamed Pustosvyat and others.

The Great Moscow Cathedral of 1667, having condemned and deposed Nikon for unauthorized abandonment of the cathedra in 1658 and confirmed the decision of the Moscow Cathedral of 1656 that all heretics baptized with two fingers, banned Russian rites of the 17th century (old rituals) and approved only the Greek rites of the 17th century (new rituals) and anathematized all opponents of the reforms. Subsequently, due to state support for church reform, the name of the Russian Church was assigned exclusively to those who adopted the decisions of the Councils of 1666 and 1667, and the adherents of liturgical traditions (Old Believers) began to be called schismatics and persecuted.

Old Believers' Views on Reform

According to the Old Believers, Nikon's views on a separate tradition, in this case Greek, as a reference, were similar to the so-called "trilingual heresy" - the doctrine of the possibility of the existence of Holy Scripture exclusively in the languages ​​in which the inscription was made on the cross of Christ - Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. In both cases, it was a question of abandoning the liturgical tradition that naturally developed in Russia (borrowed, by the way, on the basis of ancient Greek samples). Such a refusal was completely alien to the Russian church consciousness, since the historical Russian churchliness was formed on the Cyril and Methodius tradition, in essence of which was the assimilation of Christianity, taking into account the national translation of Holy Scripture and the liturgical corps, using the local groundwork of the Christian tradition.

In addition, the Old Believers, based on the doctrine of the inextricable connection between the outer form and the inner content of the rites and sacraments, since the time of the "Answers of Alexander the Deacon" and "Pomor Answers" insist on a more accurate symbolic expression of Orthodox dogmas in the old rites. So, according to the Old Believers, the two-fingered sign of the cross, deeper than the three-fingered sign, reveals the mystery of the incarnation and death of Christ on the cross, for it was not the Trinity that was crucified on the cross, but one of Her Persons (the incarnate God the Son, Jesus Christ). Similarly, the augmented hallelujah with the attachment of the Slavic translation of the word "hallelujah" (glory to Thee, O God) already contains a threefold (according to the number of Persons of the Holy Trinity) glorification of God (in the pre-Nikon texts there is also a triangular hallelujah, but without the attachment "glory to Thee, O God") , while the triangular hallelujah with the attachment "glory to Thee, God" contains the "quadruple" of the Holy Trinity.

Research by church historians of the 19th-20th centuries (N.F.Kapterev, E.E. Golubinsky, A.A. sources.

Among the Old Believers, the patriarch received the nickname "Nikon-Antichrist" for his actions and the severe persecutions that followed the reform.

The term "Nikonianism"

During the times of the liturgical reform, among the Old Believers, special terms appeared: Nikonianism, Nikonian schism, Nikonian heresy, New Believers - terms with negative evaluative connotations, polemically used by adherents of the Old Believers in relation to supporters of the liturgical reform in the Russian Orthodox Church of the 17th century. The name comes from the name of Patriarch Nikon.

Evolution of the attitude of the local Russian Orthodox Church towards the old rites

The condemnation of the adherents of the old rituals as non-Orthodox and heretical, carried out by the councils of 1656 and 1666, was finally sanctioned by the Great Moscow Council in 1667, which approved the reforms of Patriarch Nikon, and anathematized everyone who did not take council decisions as heretics and disobedient to the Church.

The hierarchs of the Russian Church at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries (the cathedral book "Rod", Patriarch Joachim in "Spiritual Uveta", Pitirim of Nizhny Novgorod in "Sanguine", Demetrius of Rostov in "Search", etc.), following the oaths of the Great Moscow Cathedral, especially condemned the following "old rites":

• Two-footed sign of the cross as "devilish tradition", "fig", "demonic", Arianism, Nestorianism, Macedonianism, "Armenian and Latin command", etc .;
• hallelujah - as "heretical and loathsome"
• Eight-pointed cross, especially revered by the Old Believers - as "Bryn and schismatic"

Since 1800, the Holy Synod, to one degree or another, began to allow the use of the old rituals (common faith, co-religionists were allowed to pray in the old way, subject to the new religious leadership).

The personal highest decree of Nicholas II, given to the Senate, On strengthening the principles of religious tolerance, dated April 17, 1905, in particular read:

"In order to heal church divisions due to the old rituals and the greatest calming of the conscience of those who use them in the fence of the Russian Orthodox Church", the synod under the deputy locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), who later became the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, on April 23, 1929, recognized the old rituals "Salutary", and the oath prohibitions of the cathedrals of 1656 and 1667. "Canceled, as if not former".

The local council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1971, convened to elect the patriarch, specially considered the issue of "oaths for the old rituals and for those who adhere to them" and made the following decision:

To approve the decree of the Patriarchal Holy Synod of April 23 (10), 1929 on the recognition of the old Russian rituals as salutary, as well as new rites, and equal to them. To approve the decree of the Patriarchal Holy Synod of April 23 (10), 1929 on the rejection and imputation of, as if not former, condemnatory expressions related to the old rituals and, in particular, to the two-fingered, wherever they meet and whoever they utter. To approve the decree of the Patriarchal Holy Synod of April 23 (10), 1929 on the abolition of the oaths of the Moscow Cathedral in 1656 and the Great Moscow Cathedral in 1667, which they imposed on the old Russian rituals and on the Orthodox Christians who adhere to them, and consider these oaths, as if they had never happened. The consecrated local council of the Russian Orthodox Church embraces with love all those who sacredly preserve the ancient Russian rituals, both members of our holy church and those who call themselves Old Believers, but sacredly profess the saving Orthodox faith. The consecrated local council of the Russian Orthodox Church testifies that the salvific value of the rituals is not contradicted by the diversity of their external expression, which was always inherent in the ancient undivided Church of Christ and which was not a stumbling block in it and a source of division.

In 1974, the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad made a similar decision.

This cancellation of oaths, however, did not lead to the resumption of prayer fellowship between any major ecclesiastical jurisdiction of New Believers and Old Believers.

Criticism of the reform in the Russian Orthodox Church

Boris Kutuzov, church historian and head (regent) of the Savior Cathedral of the Andronikov Monastery in Moscow, believes that the main political aspect of the reform was “Byzantine charm,” that is, the conquest of Constantinople and the revival of the Byzantine Empire with the help and expense of Russia. In this regard, Tsar Alexei wanted to inherit over time the throne of the Byzantine emperors, and Patriarch Nikon wanted to become the Ecumenical Patriarch. Kutuzov believes that the Vatican had a great interest in the reform, which wanted, using Russia as a weapon against Turkey, to strengthen the influence of Catholicism in the East.