52. Возникновение раскола. Открытое появление его в Русской Церкви

During Nikon's voluntary eight-year stay in the Resurrection Monastery, adherents of imaginary antiquity became emboldened. They managed to summon from distant Siberia the most evil of Nikon’s opponents, who later stood at the head of the schism, Archpriest Avvakum. He was a gifted and very well-read man, but lacking proper education, with an unyielding character and terrible spiritual pride. Upon returning from exile, he called himself nothing more than “a prisoner of faith and the Church, a champion of pious fatherly dogmas, a pillar of the Church and ataman of the regiment of Jesus.” Habakkuk both spoke and wrote (about 30 of his works are known by name) against the corrected books, forbade going to those churches where they serve according to them, and partaking of the Holy Mysteries from those priests who do not adhere to two fingers and a special hallelujah; in every possible way in the ink of Patriarch Nikon, called him the Antichrist, the son of Gehenna, etc. For daring speeches, he was expelled from Moscow twice (after his return from Siberia), imprisoned, kept in bonds, but no measures could humble the dissenter. Outward piety, harshness of speech, extraordinary courage in relation to the authorities, both spiritual and secular, fanatical readiness for terrible suffering and death attracted many unreasonable Christians to his side and surrounded him with a crowd of ardent followers (boyars Morozova, Urusova, etc.). In the same way, other defenders of the old rite sowed the seeds of schism: Deacon Theodore in Moscow, priest Nikita in Suzdal, Lazar in Romanov 76 and others. The Solovetsky monastery became a special hangout for schismatic teachers, where they were exiled from various places by church and civil authorities (Prince Lvov, Elder Theoktist and others); adherents of imaginary antiquity (Nikanor, Archimandrite Savvina Monastery, etc.) randomly flocked under the strong walls of this monastery; Finally, many Cossacks from Stenka Razin’s gang began to come running here. Strong measures were needed to curb false teachers and protect the simple-minded from error, and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich convened the archpastors of the Russian Church to a council in Moscow in 1666. The Council unanimously accepted and approved all the corrections made during the reign of Patriarch Nikon, both in church liturgical books and in rituals. His studies had not yet ended when the Eastern patriarchs arrived in Moscow for the trial of Patriarch Nikon. Having condemned Nikon and installed Joasaph II in his place, they took part in the Moscow Council on the matter of correcting books and rituals. In May 1666, the great council of Greek and Russian archpastors (3 patriarchs, 11 metropolitans, 8 archbishops and 5 bishops) solemnly confirmed the determination made by the Russian bishops regarding the corrections of Nikon, and laid an oath on those who, due to adherence to uncorrected books and supposedly old customs, would be opponents of the Church. After this definition, adherents of supposedly old books and rituals already openly appeared as schismatics, and thus a decisive separation of the schism from the Orthodox Church took place. The main disseminators and defenders of schismatic opinions and customs were summoned to the great Moscow council of 1666–1667. Some of them (such as monk Ephraim Potemkin, hieromonk Gregory - former archpriest John Neronov, abbot Theoktist, etc.) repented and received forgiveness from the cathedral. But Archpriest Avvakum, Priest Lazar, and Deacon Theodore remained unrepentant, were anathematized and exiled to distant prisons. The resolution of the great Moscow council was sent to the Solovetsky monastery, but the rebels hiding there refused to comply with the demands of the council and sent a petition to the tsar to keep the monastery in its previous order; when this petition was rejected, they decided to openly rebel against the government, so it was necessary to send an army to pacify them. From 1668 to 1676 the siege of the Solovetsky Monastery lasted and ended with its capture. The perpetrators of the rebellion were punished; those who declared submission to the Church and the Tsar were forgiven and left in the monastery. Six years after this, a schismatic riot arose in Moscow itself. Here the archers under the command of Prince Khovansky took the side of the schismatics. A huge crowd of schismatics came to the Kremlin, noisily demanding a debate about faith. After long negotiations, it was appointed in the Faceted Chamber in the presence of the ruler Sofia Alekseevna, the patriarch and bishops, among whom was Saint Mitrofan of Voronezh. The schismatics entered the chamber with noise and shouting, placed lecterns and benches, placed icons and old books on them, lit candles in front of the icons and presented the petition to the princess. While reading the petition, the defrocked priest Nikita the Pustosvyat (one of the main leaders of the schism), who drank heavily for courage, began to shout and boldly revile the patriarch and the entire sacred cathedral. Kholmogory Bishop Afanasy wanted to prohibit defrocking. Nikita, in the presence of everyone, rushed at the saint and hit him. Princess Sofia Alekseevna shouted at him menacingly, and only then did he come to his senses. Patriarch Joachim tearfully exhorted the schismatics and pointed them to the Gospel, rewritten and corrected from Greek by Saint Alexis, as proof that the necessary corrections could and should have been made in the church liturgical books. The schismatics did not want to listen and, raising their hands with two folded fingers, shouted: “That’s it! Like this!" Finally they were released from the room. Then they poured out into the square shouting: “We won, we won!” They walked from the Kremlin to Yauza singing, after Yauza they entered one of the churches, served a prayer service and rang the bells for three hours. The next day the archers confessed to the princess and handed over the empty saint and his accomplices. Nikita was executed, the other rebels were sent to monasteries. Prince Khovansky plotted to start a new rebellion, but was captured and also executed. After this, the government increased its severity towards schismatics: they were ordered to be sought out and judged strictly. Dissenters then began to flee from persecution and punishment into the impenetrable forests of Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod, North Pomerania, and abroad - to Sweden and Poland. Over time, numerous schismatic communities formed along the Vyga River (present-day Olonets province), in Kerzhenets (Nizhny Novgorod), along the Sozha River (Vetka in the current Mogilev province) and in the Trans-Volga steppes along the Irgiz River. The essence of the schism was aptly outlined by the fathers of the great Moscow Council in two words: “Simplicity and ignorance.” The leaders of the schism, infected with spiritual pride, suffered from an extreme lack of education in general and especially theological 77. In their ignorance, they elevated to the level of ancient paternal traditions and even basic dogmas the Orthodox customs and opinions that appeared in the dark times of the Mongol yoke, and the very errors in the liturgical books of Joseph's correction. Other Christians were drawn into their network out of simplicity of soul and complete spiritual underdevelopment, in which the vast majority of followers of the imaginary antiquity still remain. A distinctive feature of the schism is attachment to the letter of the church liturgical book and ritual, without understanding their meaning and significance. “It was laid down for us,” the schismatics said and say, “it should lie like this forever and ever; Orthodox Christians must die for one thing.” This main feature of the schism was combined with hatred of the clergy and the government itself, first for patronizing Orthodoxy and rebelling against the schism, then for the foreign customs it introduced. Therefore, from the very beginning, the schism took on, in addition to being anti-church, a civil-democratic character, and especially later it revealed itself as a sharp protest against the reforms of Emperor Peter I. The more general opinions of schismatics are as follows: 1) Divine services should be performed according to the old (mainly Josephine) books. 2) Icons should only be worshiped if they are old or copied from old ones. 3) The eighth article of the Creed should read: “And in the Holy Spirit of the true Lord, the life-giving.” 4) You must cross yourself and bless with two fingers. 5) Around the church with a procession of the cross you must walk not from west to east, but from east to west (salting). 6) Only the eight-pointed cross should be venerated. 7) Write the name of the Savior Iesus, not Jesus. 8) Sing Alleluia twice, not three times. 9) Serve the liturgy not on 5, but on 7 prosphora 78. – Some of the fanatics undertook trips to the Don to the Cossacks, to the Olonets borders and other places, with the aim of spreading false teachings. At the same time, they tried in every possible way to influence the minds and hearts of ordinary people. Suddenly, for example, in some dense forest a bell rings. The villagers look for a place and see an old man who, apparently not paying attention to anything, performs a long prayer. Having finished it with tears and sobs, in a pompous and enthusiastic tone, he preaches about the imminent end of the world, about the coming of the Antichrist and points to the old book in his hands as the only guide to salvation. Attention is ready, minds are alarmed, and convenient ground has opened for the simple-minded to cool off towards the Church, pastors, and authorities. Such preachers of schism were: Kapiton in the country of Kostroma, Ephraim within the Nizhny Novgorod region, Elder Epiphanius, who wandered through various deserts, finally came to Moscow and submitted a petition to the king against Nikon’s corrections. – Habakkuk, for example, taught that the Trinity is divided into three different natures, and that Christ, a special God, sits on the fourth throne, co-reigning with the Holy Trinity; and Deacon Theodore, on the contrary, argued that the Trinity is inseparable, one person, etc. - Of the new civil orders, the schismatics condemn: people's censuses, the passport system, and recruitment. Among the customs adopted from the West during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and especially Emperor Peter I, most schismatics condemned: barbering and cutting hair (supposedly spoiling the image of God), smoking and sniffing tobacco, short frock coats, tailcoats and ties, theaters, horse racing, torchbearers at funerals, drinking coffee, eating sugar, potatoes, occupation medicine (especially anatomy), astronomy, chemistry, etc. You might be interested in: