Traditions that are deeply woven into the life of the people are especially difficult to uproot. The Russian people very intensely took the split of the Russian Orthodox Church. And if not for the political will of the leaders of that time, we would now be baptized with two fingers. For the sake of formal, seemingly trifles, high-ranking people went to death. So they paid with the lives of Theodosius Morozov and Evdokia Urusov. Some people still do not accept the changes of Nikon, which caused a split in the Orthodox Church. Such people lead a special lifestyle and are called Old Believers. What did the religious leader Nikon decide to change?
The split of the Russian Orthodox Church was created in the minds of its ideologists long before it actually happened. By the end of the 17th century, the Russian state was strengthened, the horrors of the Time of Troubles began to be forgotten. In the 15th century, Constantinople fell. Elder Philotheus turned out to be a prophet. He wrote that Moscow should become the "third Rome." It would seem that the prophecy came true. The minds of the highest religious figures were captivated by the idea of theocracy. In imitation of Byzantium, they wanted to make the state subordinate to the Church. However, in Russia this, as always, happened not without extremes. If in Byzantium the state was formally independent of the Church, then in Russia Nikon was granted the title of “great sovereign”, which until then had been given only to kings. The patriarch sought to create a model characteristic of Catholicism, in which a religious leader would have more significance than a secular one. In Byzantium, power simply expressed its subordination to the interests of the faith and its ideals.
At a time when the split of the Russian Church was just about to take place, religion was very powerful. The services in the churches were very magnificent and solemn. However, Nikon planned to change a lot in services and prayers on the model of the Eastern churches. The problem was that the experts were people of different beliefs. Therefore, the result was very serious discrepancies about how to pray and correct old books. The second problem was that not ancient Greek books were used, but relatively new ones.
The most significant were the changes in the ritual side. In Russia, people are accustomed to the double sign, which symbolically reflected the human and divine nature of Christ. The three-fingered sign was equally ancient, but more characteristic of worship in the Eastern churches. It testified to the importance of the Trinity. Before the reform, it was considered just an option, after the reform, becoming mandatory for everyone.
However, this change was not limited to Nikon. Previously, the procession was carried out in the sun, and after the reform, the norm became the opposite, that is, it was necessary to walk against the sun. The number of prosphora on which the liturgy was served changed: instead of seven, five were used. We also changed the text of the article of faith. Some words were excluded from there, because in the Greek version they were absent.
Some compare Nikon, who provoked a split in the Russian Orthodox Church, with Peter the Great. Only Peter took everything Western as a model, and Nikon - everything Greek. However, a common feature of both historical figures was uncompromising. However, the split of the Russian Orthodox Church, like any revolution, destroyed its father. Patriarch Nikon was accused of cruelty and arbitrariness, deprived of dignity, and afterwards even sent to exile. However, the reforms themselves were approved in 1666-1667, when it was decided to deprive Nikon of the rank.
People who abandoned the reform began to abandon their persecutors and live in separate communities, avoiding marriages with the “Nikonians”. In material terms, they lived very well, because they were against bad habits and entertainment. They are the most Orthodox of all Orthodox. The protest against reforms was expressed not only by the laity, but also the whole monastery - Solovetsky. As a result, the monastery was taken with the help of a traitor, and the rebels for the most part were physically destroyed.
The Old Believers became persecuted, and very cruelly. If an army was sent to their communities, people often closed in churches - and the matter ended in self-immolation. Many, in order not to betray the faith, drowned. Some starved themselves to death, believing themselves to be not suicides, but martyrs. The scope of the persecution resembled the Western Inquisition.
Was it worth suffering for the invariability of the rite? The point was not only in form, but also in essence. The schismatics defended a peculiar path of the religious development of Russia, and therefore, at least, are worthy of respect.