The old faith is the oldest faith on earth. Bows in service

What is the essence of the Old Faith? Faith of our great-grandfathers, ancestors, Faith of our Ancestors? There are a lot of views on this issue today, but do these views reveal (and to what extent do they reveal) the very essence of the issue? The current "heralds" more and more in their lectures and seminars "pour mud on the heads" of their own opponents. Because of this, the essence of Slavic Vedichestvo will soon reach the point of absurdity, which our "faithful friends" have been striving for for more than one thousand years. Few have raised the question: why was man created in Nature as he is? What are its tasks? It is also a part of the Universe ... I do not think that in the Universe you can find something that was created just like that. Everything created has its own purposes and functions. And the Konov of the Universe has not yet been canceled.

Our Ancestors always considered themselves Dazhdbozh's grandchildren, Svarog's great-grandchildren, Vyshen's great-great-grandchildren, they knew everything about the canons of the Universe. And we now know all this, only for several hundred years, through the "holy scriptures" they knocked it all out of our heads, made us forget that the Slavs always believed in themselves, in the power of their Spirit and Conscience. "Az" - God living on Earth.

In all the book sources of academic history, pre-Christian Russia is called pagan and all sorts of fables are attributed to it. In fact, in Russia there was a highly moral, highly moral, cosmic Vedic Faith. Our Ancestors not only considered themselves Co-Creators of the Universe, but they were in fact, as they constantly interacted with Nature, with the elements. And the elements are the manifestation of the Gods (i.e. energies) on Earth.

The most important crime of the Christian Church is not the "holy" Inquisition, and not even those millions and millions of ruined Slavic-Aryan lives, through which she imposed her opinion, this very religion. The most important crime of Christians is that they have replaced Faith in God with Faith in God ...

Our ancestors lived in harmony and in harmony with Nature. She gave them everything ... and wisdom, and health, and self-confidence (her energy). And they "paid her the same", since they never separated themselves from her and were always a part of Nature.

From Nature, from the Universe, each person receives a certain share of energy for his development.

According to the idea of ​​our pre-Christian Ancestors, the Universe was formed from the body of the Primordial God, the All-God - the Heavenly Kin. Man is similar to the Universe, as he consists of the same elements. Various Gods and deities of the Earth originated from the Heavenly Clan. All the energies of the Earth and the Universe were represented by our Ancestors as separate deities, parts of a single God of Gods. They believed in one God who includes the earthly and heavenly worlds. This means that the earthly and heavenly worlds are connected, since they are parts of the Creator's body. Our Ancestors knew this and deified everything: groves, trees, plants, animals, and the Cosmos ... And since man originated from heavenly and earthly elements, it means that his body is also divine.

The Faith of our Ancestors, our Old Faith is the most accessible and simple of the Confessions for the Slavs, since it carries in itself harmony not only of the existence of man and Gods, but also harmony with Nature, and harmony in relations between man and man. The goal in a person's life is Life itself.

Life is given to a person for creation for the benefit of his family, his people and his State and does not end with the cessation of the existence of the physical body or, as they say, with the death of a person, it continues further, but in a different, more perfect form and in a different form. As it is said in the sacred Vedas: "You observe death in the environment, but for yourself you will not find it."

Our Ancestors loved life, but were never afraid of death, since they knew that death is the end of one form of life and at the same time the birth of another form of life. Physical death is the door to transition to other forms of life. The soul of a person with the karma accumulated by a person passes into another world.

Life was created for Life, not only in the World of Reveal, but also in the World of Navi, and in the World of Rule. Life, as a phenomenon, is given to a person for a comprehensive study of himself as an integral part of the Universe and for knowing the Universe as an integral part of himself. At the same time, a person must learn creative work in order to become a Creator-Creator, to match our Ancestors and our Gods. And, having cognized the Creative life, and spiritually developing, a person comes to the conclusion that, along with Life, the most important companion for him is Death, for Life and Death are forms of existence, two poles of one magnet that do not exist separately from each other in Nature.

The meaning of any life is hidden precisely in Life itself, and in order to know the meaning of his Life, a person needs to fully live it all without a trace, with all the joys and sorrows, with all the twists and turns of fate, creatively creating for the good of his kind and spiritually developing, cognizing the Ancient Wisdom Gods and their Ancestors.

The striving to study the Ancient Wisdom, to cognize the surrounding World and oneself, without causing harm, is an integral feature of the one who professes Vedicism, the Old Faith.

Ancient Wisdom, is cognized not in order to rule and command someone, and not in order to exalt or exalt over other kinds. Ancient wisdom has always been learned in order to realize their life's Path and in order to pass it on to its descendants.
Faith cannot be accepted or rejected, unlike religion or a fictionalized religious cult. Faith exists whether anyone agrees with it or not. Faith is the Most Ancient Radiant Wisdom of our Gods and Ancestors. And just as it is impossible to change the way of life of your Ancient Ancestors, it is also impossible to change the Faith, adjusting it to modern living conditions and political programs.
The Ancient Image, transmitting the Knowledge about the living structure in the Universes, described by the Vedas, cannot be brought under the modern criteria of academic science, since modern scientific and political thought is degrading and backward in relation to the Ancient Wisdom preserved in the Vedas. This is due to the fact that modern science is built on materialistic laws that do not cover immaterial (Mental) and Divine (Spiritual) phenomena and structures, and also divides Living forms of existence (mobile and sedentary) into living and inanimate matter. All this contradicts the Ancient Wisdom contained in the Vedas:

"Do not live according to the laws that people have created in order to deprive you of Freedom, but live according to the Laws of the One God."

The current Orthodox young generation, perhaps, is surprised to perceive the concept of Old Believers, Old Believers, and all the more does not delve into what is the difference between Old Believers and Orthodox believers.

Fans of a healthy lifestyle are studying the life of modern hermits, using the example of the Lykov family, who lived 50 years far from civilization until geologists discovered them at the end of the 70s of the last century. Why did Orthodoxy not please the Old Believers?

Old Believers - who are they

Let's make a reservation right away that the Old Believers are people who adhere to the Christian faith of the pre-Nikonian times, and the Old Believers worship pagan gods that existed in the folk religion before the arrival of Christianity. The canons of the Orthodox Church have changed somewhat with the development of civilization. The 17th century introduced a split in Orthodoxy after the introduction of innovations by Patriarch Nikon.

According to the decree of the Church, rituals and traditions were changed, all those who disagreed were anathematized, and the persecution of worshipers of the old faith began. The adherents of the pre-Nikonian traditions began to be called Old Believers, but there was no unity among them either.

Old Believers are adherents of the Orthodox movement in Russia

Believers persecuted by the official church began to settle in Siberia, the Volga region and even on the territory of other states, such as Turkey, Poland, Romania, China, Bolivia and Australia.

The current life of the Old Believers and their traditions

The found settlement of Old Believers in 1978 stirred up the entire space of the then still existing Soviet Union. Millions of people literally "stuck" to televisions to see the way of hermits, which has practically not changed since the days of grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

At present, there are several hundred settlements of Old Believers in Russia. Old Believers teach their children themselves, old people and parents are in special reverence. The whole settlement is working hard, all vegetables and fruits are grown by the family for food, the responsibilities are very strictly distributed.

A random visiting guest will be welcomed with goodwill, but he will eat and drink from a separate dish so as not to defile the members of the community. House cleaning, washing and dishwashing is carried out only with well or spring running water.

The sacrament of baptism

The Old Believers try to carry out the ceremony of baptizing babies during the first 10 days, before that they very carefully choose the name of the newborn, it must be in the calendar. All items for baptism are cleaned in running water for several days before the sacrament. Parents are not present at the christening.

By the way, the hermits' bath is an unclean place, so the cross received during baptism is removed and put on only after washing with clean water.

Wedding and funeral

The Old Believers Church prohibits marriage for young people who are family members up to the eighth generation or who are bound by the "cross". The wedding is held on any day except Tuesday and Thursday.

A wedding at the Old Believers

Married women do not leave the house without a headdress.

The funeral is not a special event; the Old Believers do not have mourning. The body of the deceased is washed by people of the same sex, specially selected in the community. Chips are poured into the knocked-down coffin, the body is placed on it and covered with a sheet. The coffin has no lid. There is no commemoration after the funeral; all the belongings of the deceased are distributed in the village as alms.

The Old Believer Cross and the Sign of the Cross

Church rituals and divine services take place around the eight-pointed cross.

On a note! Unlike Orthodox traditions, there is no image of the crucified Jesus on it.

In addition to the large crossbar, to which the Savior's hands were nailed, there are two more. The upper crossbar symbolizes a tablet; the sin for which the condemned was crucified was usually written on it. The lower small board is a symbol of scales for weighing human sins.

The Old Believers use an eight-pointed cross.

Important! The current Orthodox Church recognizes the right to existence of Old Believer churches, as well as crosses without a Crucifixion, as signs of Christianity.

Orthodox believers apply the sign of the cross with three fingers, which denote the unity of the Holy Trinity. It was this tradition that formed the basis of the conflict between the Old Believers and the new Nikon movement, the Old Believer Christians refused to overshadow themselves, in their words, with a fig. Old Believers still cross themselves with two fingers, the index and middle, while pronouncing "Hallelujah" twice.

Hermits treat divine services with special reverence. Men must wear clean shirts, and women wear sundresses and headscarves. During the service, all those present in the temple stand with their arms crossed on their chests, demonstrating humility and humility.

In the Old Believer churches, the modern Bible is not recognized, but only the pre-Nikonian Scripture, which is carefully studied by all members of the settlement.

The main differences from Orthodoxy

In addition to non-recognition of the traditions and rituals of the modern Orthodox Church and the above differences, Old Believers:

• make only prostrations to the ground;
• they do not recognize a rosary of 33 beads, using ladders, in which there are 109 knots;
• baptism is performed with a three-fold immersion in water with the head, while sprinkling is accepted in Orthodoxy;
• the name Jesus is written by Jesus;
• only icons made of wood and copper are recognized.

Many Old Believers are now adopting the traditions of the Old Believer Orthodox Churches, which has found encouragement in the official Church.

Who are the Old Believers?

Old Believers are often called Old Believers (schismatics) or vice versa. Many people do not even think that we are talking about completely different directions. "Old Believers and Old Believers: What is the Difference Between These People?" - ask the ignorant.

How did the confusion arise?

Old Believers and Old Believers have different worldviews. The confusion in terminology was created by not well-educated media workers, making these words synonymous. Their misuse was also facilitated by the fact that the schismatics were forced to flee to Belovodye and Primorye after Nikon's reforms. The Old Believers gave shelter to the Old Believers and helped them hide from persecution. These people were connected not by a common faith, but by belonging to one ethnic group.

Old Believers and Old Believers: differences

To understand what is the difference between these people, first you need to understand what worldview the representatives of one and the second direction belong to. Russian Christians who refused to accept the reforms of Patriarch Nikon are called Old Believers. People who did not want to obey the new rules were called schismatics. They were persecuted and oppressed in every possible way. Many families were forced to flee abroad. Modern descendants of the Old Believers can be found even in Brazil. Only in the twentieth century, the "apostates" began to be treated more leniently. In 1905, Nicholas II signed a decree according to which the politically incorrect word “schismatic” was replaced by the more neutral “old believer”.

The reluctance of a part of the country's Orthodox population to accept Nikon's innovations was associated with significant changes in the conduct of rituals. These changes, according to the schismatics, defiled the truth:

• In the Old Believer books, the name of the Savior is written with one letter "and", that is, Jesus. After the reforms, the name received a modern spelling.
• Before Nikon's innovations, crossing was supposed to be done with two fingers. According to the new canon, the banner of the cross was applied with three fingers.

• The reformer patriarch decreed that walking around the church can only be done counterclockwise.
• Under Nikon, liturgical books were rewritten. Differences appeared not only in the conduct of services. Some terms have been replaced: the word "faithful" has been replaced by "Orthodox". There were other significant changes as well.

The Old Believers are called adherents of the pre-Christian worldview. These people believe in the Slavic Vedas. The followers of tradition should not be considered backward, ignorant people. Their worldview is much larger than that of Christians. Old Believers are closer to nature and better understand its laws.

The schismatics, like any Christians, share the Creator and what was created by him. The pre-Christian tradition makes man akin to nature, makes him return to it. Connection with the natural environment is necessary for self-knowledge and finding your place in this world. The Vedas are often called not religion, but ancient wise knowledge. According to the Old Believer chronology, the inhabitants of the planet are currently going through an era called the night of Svarog. This is one of the most difficult periods in the history of mankind, characterized by all kinds of disasters and crises. From the point of view of the Slavic Vedas, everything that happens in the world today is quite understandable and should not cause surprise or bewilderment.

The knowledge we gained at school does not always find its application in life. When giving ready-made material, the teacher is not always able to answer the student's question. For example: "Old Believers and Old Believers: What's the Difference?" These terms are not synonymous. Knowing your home history will help you avoid misunderstandings.

Recently, being carried away by the study of Russian culture, different ways of spiritual and physical development, many people have become interested in Old Believers. Indeed, the Old Believers - who are they? There are many opinions and views on this matter. Some believe that these are Orthodox Christians who profess the faith that existed before the church schism during the Nikon reform. Others think that these are people who have chosen for themselves a faith that Orthodox priests call pagan. An old faith that was spread before the Baptism of Rus by order of Prince Vladimir.

Old Believers - who are they

The first associations that come to mind are people living in the taiga, rejecting all the benefits of civilization, following the old way of life, doing everything themselves, without using any technique. Medicine is also not widespread, all diseases are treated with the prayers of the Old Believers and fasting.

How true is this? It's hard to say, because Old Believers don't talk about their life, don't use social networks, don't write about it in blogs. The life of Old Believers is secretive, takes place in closed communities, they try not to contact people once again. One gets the feeling that they can be seen only by accidentally getting lost in the taiga, wandering for more than one day.

Where do Old Believers live?

For example, Old Believers live in Siberia. In a harsh and cold climate, it was thanks to them that new unexplored and inaccessible corners of the country were mastered. There are villages of Old Believers in Altai, there are several of them - Upper Uimon, Maralnik, Multa, Zamulta. It was in such places that they hid from persecution by the state and the official church.

In the village of Upper Uimon, you can visit the Museum of Old Believers and learn in detail about their life and faith. Despite the fact that the attitude towards them has changed for the better with the course of history, Old Believers prefer to choose remote corners of the country for life.

To clarify the questions that involuntarily arise when studying them, you should first understand where they came from and what is the difference between them. Old Believers and Old Believers - who are they?

Where did they come from

To find out the answer to the question of who they are, the Old Believers, you first have to plunge into history.

One of the significant and tragic events in Russia was the split of the Russian Church. He divided the believers into two camps: followers of the "old faith" who did not want to accept any innovations, and those who humbly accepted the innovations that arose thanks to Nikon's reforms. appointed by Tsar Alexei, who wished to change the Russian Church. Incidentally, the concept of "Orthodoxy" appeared along with Nikon's reform. Therefore, the phrase "Orthodox Old Believers" is somewhat incorrect. But in modern times, this term is quite relevant. Because at the moment there is officially the Russian Orthodox Church, in other words, the Church of the Old Believers.

So, changes in religion have taken place and have led to many events. We can say that at that time, in the 17th century, the first Old Believers appeared in Russia, whose followers exist to this day. They protested against the Nikon reforms, in their opinion, changing not only the features of some rituals, but also the faith itself. These innovations were carried out with the aim of making Orthodox rituals in Russia as similar as possible to Greek and worldwide. They were justified by the fact that church books, which were copied by hand, since the time of Baptism in Russia, had some distortions and typos, according to supporters of innovations.

Why people opposed Nikon's reforms

Why did people protest against new reforms? Perhaps the personality of Patriarch Nikon himself played a role here. Tsar Alexei appointed him to the important post of patriarch, gave him the opportunity to radically change the rules and rituals of the Russian Church. But this choice was a little strange and not very justified. Patriarch Nikon did not have sufficient experience in creating and implementing reforms. He grew up in a simple peasant family, eventually became a priest in his village. Soon he moved to the Moscow Novospassky monastery, where he met the Russian tsar.

Their views on religion largely coincided, and soon Nikon became patriarch. The latter not only did not have sufficient experience for this role, but, according to many historians, was domineering and cruel. He wanted a power without borders, and envied Patriarch Filaret in this regard. Trying to show his importance in every possible way, he was active everywhere and not only as a religious figure. For example, he personally participated in the suppression of the uprising in 1650, it was he who wanted a brutal reprisal against the rebels.

What changed

Nikon's reform brought about significant changes in the Russian Christian faith. That is why opponents of these innovations and followers of the old faith appeared, who later began to be called Old Believers. They were persecuted for many years, were cursed by the church, and only under Catherine II the attitude towards them changed for the better.

In the same period, two concepts appeared: "Old Believer" and "Old Believer". What is the difference and who they mean, today many no longer know. In fact, both of these concepts are essentially the same.

Despite the fact that Nikon's reforms brought the country only split and uprisings, for some reason there are opinions that they have changed almost nothing. Most often, history textbooks indicate only two or three changes, in fact there are more of them. So what has changed and what innovations have taken place? You need to know this in order to understand how the Old Believers differ from the Orthodox believers belonging to the official church.

Sign of the cross

Christians, after the innovation, crossed themselves by folding three fingers (or fingers) - thumb, index and middle. Three fingers or "pinch" means the Holy Trinity - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Although earlier, before the reform, only two fingers were used for this. That is, two fingers - the index and middle were left straight or slightly curved, and the rest were folded together.

It should depict the main two symbols of faith - the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. It was the two-fingered pattern that was depicted on many icons and came from Greek sources. Old Believers or Old Believers still use two-fingered fingers, making the sign of the cross.

Bows during services

Before the reforms, there were several types of bows in the service, there were four of them. The first - to the fingers or to the navel, was called ordinary. The second - in the belt, was considered average. The third was called "throwing" and was carried out almost to the ground (small bow to the ground). Well, and the fourth - to the very earth (great bow to the ground or proskinesis). This whole system of bows is still in effect at Old Believer divine services.

After the Nikon reform, it was allowed to bow only to the waist.

Changes to books and icons

In the new faith and the old, the name of Christ was written differently. Previously, Jesus was written, as in Greek sources. After the reforms, it was necessary to stretch out his name - Jesus. In fact, it is difficult to say here which spelling is closer to the original, since in the Greek language there is a special symbol denoting the stretching of the letter "and", in Russian it is not.

Therefore, in order for the spelling to correspond to the sound, the letter "and" was added to the name of God. The old spelling of the name of Christ has survived in the prayers of the Old Believers, and not only among them, also in the Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian, Croatian, Belarusian and Ukrainian languages.

Cross

The cross between the Old Believers and the followers of innovations is significantly different. Among the followers of ancient Orthodoxy, only the eight-pointed version was recognized. The Old Believer symbol of the crucifixion is represented by an eight-pointed cross located inside a larger four-pointed one. The most ancient crosses also lack images of the crucified Jesus. For its creators, the shape itself was more important than the image. The pectoral cross of the Old Believer also has the same appearance without the image of the crucifix.

Among Nikon's innovations concerning the cross, one can also single out the Pilate inscription. These are the letters that are visible on the uppermost small crossbar of the usual cross, which is now sold in church shops - I N C I. This is the inscription that was left by Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator who ordered the execution of Jesus. It means "Jesus of Nazareth, King of Judah." She appeared on new Nikon icons and crosses, old versions were destroyed.

At the very beginning of the split, fierce disputes began about whether it was permissible to depict this inscription. Archdeacon Ignatius from the Solovetsky Monastery wrote a petition to Tsar Alexei on this occasion, rejecting the new inscription in it and demanding the return of the old I X C C meaning "Jesus Christ the King of Glory." In his opinion, the old inscription speaks of Christ as God and Creator, who took his place in heaven after the Ascension. And the new one speaks of him as an ordinary person on earth. But Theodosius Vasiliev, deacon of the Red Yam Church and his followers, for a long time, on the contrary, defended the “Pilate inscription”. They were called Fedoseevtsy - a special offshoot of the Old Believers. All other Old Believers use an older inscription in the manufacture of their crosses to this day.

Baptism and procession

For Old Believers, only complete immersion in water is possible, carried out three times. But after Nikon's reforms, either partial immersion during baptism became possible, or even just dousing.

The procession of the cross used to be in the sun, clockwise or salting. After the reform, during the rituals, it is performed counterclockwise. This caused strong discontent at one time, people began to consider new darkness.

Criticism of the Old Believers

Old Believers are often criticized for their indispensable observance of all dogmas and rituals. When the symbolism and some features of the old rituals were changed, this caused strong discontent, riots and uprisings. Followers of the old faith might even have preferred a martyr's death than resigned themselves to the new rules. Who are the Old Believers? Fanatics or selfless people who stand up for their faith? This is difficult for a modern person to understand.

How, because of one letter that has been changed or thrown out or, on the contrary, added, can you condemn yourself to death? Many authors of articles write that the symbolism and all these minor, in their opinion, changes after Nikon's reform are only external. But is it correct to think so? Of course, the main thing is faith, and not just blind observance of all rules and customs. But where is the limit of these permissible changes?

If you follow this logic, then why do we need these symbols at all, why call ourselves Orthodox, why do we need baptism and other rituals, if they can be easily changed by simply gaining power, while killing hundreds of people who do not agree. Why do we need such an Orthodox faith, if it will not differ at all from the Protestant or Catholic faith? After all, all these customs and rituals exist for a reason, for the sake of their blind execution. It was not in vain that people kept knowledge of these rituals for so many years, passed it on from mouth to mouth, rewrote books by hand, because this is a huge work. Perhaps they saw behind these rituals something more, something that modern man is not able to understand and sees in this an unnecessary external attribute.

Old faith

I was not interested in religion before. Why? Because she walked in the forefront of the builders of communism. After all the columns of builders had stopped, the niche of my activity was not filled. There is a lot of free time. The soul was drawn to religion. In two years I completed a course in German Bible study in Germany by correspondence. Completed 48 tests, received a Certificate.

The "old faith" is the faith that the entire Orthodox people in Russia adhered to initially. Several centuries have passed since then and now you can find information about who the Old Believers were, and why they were repressed by the tsar and the Orthodox Church after its split. I turned to the literary source "RUSSIAN ORTHODOXY: MILESTONES OF HISTORY" - Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century - by M. Ya. Volkov.

“Old Belief is one of the trends in Russian Orthodoxy, which arose in the middle of the seventeenth century. In every principality, in every diocese, independence was observed during the feudal fragmentation in Russia. There were local saints and icons, there were some peculiarities in worship. When Nikon ascended the patriarchal throne, changes took place in church life. Nikon (before taking monastic vows - Nikita Minov) was an intelligent man, who owned the art of oratory, pious, he was of strong will and a tough character. He decided to re-edit the liturgical books and bring the church rites into uniformity. It was prescribed for everyone to cross with three fingers, instead of two, as they were baptized before in Russia, to walk with the procession only against the movement of the sun, to sing “Hallelujah” three times, to write the word “Jesus” after two “and”. He introduced many other innovations. At the same time, there was no justification for the need for this change in rituals.

This decision affected the most familiar rituals, which the clergy and believers considered an indicator of the truth of their Orthodox faith, evidence of the preservation of the Russian Church. The change in bows and fingers caused bewilderment and discontent among the believers. Protopopes Avvakum and Daniel prepared an extensive petition in which they pointed out the inconsistency of the innovations with the institutions of the Russian Church. They gave it to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, but the Tsar handed it over to Nikon, who resolutely suppressed the protest of his former like-minded friends from the circle of devotees of piety. All the archpriests who condemned the order of the patriarch were defrocked as clergymen and exiled by Nikon under strict supervision to a monastery, and some were exiled to Siberia.

The protests of the defenders of the "old faith" received support in various strata of Russian society, which led to the emergence of a movement called the Schism. The ideologists of the schism were representatives of the lower clergy, who broke with the ruling church. They stood for the "old faith", thus protesting against the increase in oppression from the church leadership. The main aspect of the Schism's ideology remained the preaching of leaving (in the name of preserving the "old faith" and saving the soul) from the evil generated by the "Antichrist." And the church and secular feudal lords moved away from the Schism.

Some of the believers and clergy refused to accept Nikon's "innovations" and withdrew from subordination to the patriarch. This is how the Old Believers were formed. Old Believers (or Old Believers) considered everything “new” to be a great sin: shaving beards and mustaches, short hairstyles, and wearing modern clothes. Previously, Orthodox believers were prohibited from smoking, swearing, drinking, or going to clubs. They were forbidden to read non-religious books, newspapers, it was forbidden to play chess, even communication with different believers was forbidden.

Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich remade the Orthodox Church in Russia according to the Greek model, departed from the primordial Russian belief, and switched to foreign beliefs. The Old Believers opposed this, since they believed that the spread in the Greek church of the rite of worship and rituals, different from the rite and rites of the Russian church, was an indicator of the loss of the true Orthodox faith by the Greeks. This was, in their opinion, a consequence of the conquest of Byzantium by the Turks, the subjugation of the Greeks to the "godless" conquerors and the intercourse of the Greek church with the "Latin" (heretical) Roman church.

The Old Believers did not want priests in the church who took levies for their maintenance and the church. The role of priests among the Old Believers was replaced by “mentors” and “teachers” who performed the simplest services without extortion from the believers. At church gatherings in 1656 and 1667, the Old Believers were cursed and brutally persecuted by the tsarist government and the church.
It's scary to even think - they were betrayed to the curse! Because of the persecution, the Old Believers abandoned everything, saving their lives, and their families secretly left their homes. In general, a curse sent in someone's direction does not disappear without a trace, but finds its addressee, wherever he is. After the split of the Orthodox Church, repressions were carried out.

Supporters of the "old faith", those who did not accept the innovations of Patriarch Nikon, were severely repressed. According to the decree of 1684, adopted at the request of Patriarch Joachim, the revealed schismatics were to be tortured further, if they did not submit to the official church during torture, they should be executed “by burning”. Those people who, being not Old Believers, provided them with their own dwelling, were also threatened with severe punishments, when the Old Believers fled from their homes, and even more so hid them in their home. This legislation opened the way for massive persecution and persecution of the supporters of the "old faith". Many years have passed since then.

Only at the local council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1971 the church curse was lifted from the Old Believers and the formal reconciliation of Orthodoxy with the supporters of the “old Russian Orthodox faith”, now called the Old Believers, took place. If we carry out simple arithmetic operations (the first curse of the church council was in 1656 and the lifting of the curse at the local council in 1971), then they show that the Old Believers and their descendants were under the negative influence of the curse for three hundred and fifteen years. "

What happened to the religion of our ancestors, because of which they took on so much persecution and hardship? Gradually, the primordial foundations of the Old Believers began to loosen, especially during the years of Soviet power, when after the revolution the Orthodox clergy were sent some to Solovki, some to dungeons, and some to be shot.

Yes, times are changing, life is changing, attitudes towards religion are changing. Young people from Old Believer families over time, even remaining religious, less and less adhered to the "grandfather's foundations", especially in everyday life. And with the change of several generations and several decades of atheism, the younger generation no longer knows that their ancestors were Old Believers. And only a small number of Old Believer families in Russia remained faithful to their “old faith”. Interestingly, there are so many nationalities in the world, so many different religions, different religious movements, deviations. Such is the struggle for human souls. So many people have died because of religion. But God is one, and before God all religions are equal.