Avvakum Petrovich - biography of the archpriest. Biography of Archpriest Avvakum Who was Archpriest Avvakum
Avvakum Petrov (1620 or 1621-1682), archpriest, head of the Old Believers, ideologist of the schism in the Russian Orthodox Church.
Born in the village of Grigoriev, Makaryevsky district, Nizhny Novgorod province, in the family of a rural priest. After Avvakum’s marriage to fellow villager Nastasya Markovna, he was ordained a deacon (1641), and in 1644 he became a priest in the village of Lopatitsy.
The desire to harshly expose the misdeeds of parishioners led to his first clash with the flock. In 1646, Avvakum was beaten and driven out of the village along with his wife and son. He left for Moscow, where his fellow countryman Ivan Neronov supported him.
In the capital, Avvakum zealously became involved in the activities of the circle of Russian theologians “zealots of ancient piety”, led by the royal confessor Stefan Vonifatiev. In 1653, Archpriest Avvakum began an open struggle with Patriarch Nikon. He sharply opposed the correction of liturgical books. He was outraged by both the prohibition of two fingers and the reforms in church services. Avvakum submitted a petition to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, in which he defended the old rituals. He refused to accept changes in worship, for which he was soon captured and exiled first to the Androniev Monastery, and then to Tobolsk.
After a ten-year exile, released from it at the request of Moscow friends, the archpriest returned to Moscow in 1664. Alexei Mikhailovich, who had quarreled with Nikon, received Avvakum graciously and ordered him to be settled in the Kremlin, in the courtyard of the Novodevichy Convent. Avvakum addressed new petitions to the king, demanding the eradication of the Nikonian heresy. The archpriest himself pointedly did not attend churches where they served according to the new rituals.
In the summer of 1664, church hierarchs, fearing unrest among the Old Believers in Moscow, obtained from Alexei Mikhailovich a decision on a new exile of the archpriest to Pustozersk. There he was imprisoned first in a wooden frame, and then in an earthen prison, but Avvakum did not stop fighting. During his 15-year imprisonment in Pustozersk, he wrote two collections of theological works - “The Book of Conversations” and “The Book of Interpretations”, many letters and messages to like-minded Old Believers. These texts were transmitted from the Pustozersky prison, both in whole and in parts, and then sent out to Old Believer communities.
Avvakum's works testify to the breadth of his theological interests and courage in matters of theology. He even dared to interpret the texts of the Holy Scriptures in detail. Thus, the “Book of Interpretations” includes explanations of individual psalms, chapters from the Book of Proverbs of Solomon, the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, and the Gospel of Matthew. During his exile in Pustozero, Avvakum wrote his most famous work - his autobiography.
The text of the “Life” best demonstrated the virtues of Avvakum the writer: rich, figurative and inimitable language, a sense of humor and irony, subtle observation and a tenacious memory for details. Fearing new Old Believer uprisings and seeing Avvakum as a possible leader, the Moscow government sentenced him to death for his great blasphemy against the royal house.
On April 14, 1682, Avvakum and his closest friends, who all this time shared with him the hardships of the Pustozero prison - priest Lazar, monk Epiphanius and deacon Fedor - were burned in a wooden frame.
Subsequently, Archpriest Avvakum was canonized by the Old Believers as a saint and great martyr.
Avvakum Petrov (Petrovich) is the archpriest of the city of Yuryevets-Povolzhsky, one of the first and most remarkable figures of the Russian Old Believers (“schism”). Avvakum was born around 1620 in the village of Grigorov, Knyagininsky district, Nizhny Novgorod province, into the family of a priest. Having lost his father early, he married at the age of 19 at the direction of his mother, finding in his wife a later faithful friend of his long-suffering life. Around 1640, Avvakum Petrovich was appointed priest of the village of Lopatits, and then transferred to the city of Yuryevets, from where he had to flee to Moscow, due to the embitterment of parishioners and local authorities for harsh denunciations of various vices. In Moscow, thanks to his friends, the royal confessor Stepan Vonifatiev and the archpriest of the Kazan Cathedral Ivan Neronov, Avvakum was involved in the correction of liturgical books, which the then Patriarch Joseph continued according to more ancient old printed Slavic originals.
Archpriest Avvakum, Old Believer icon
Since 1652, after the death of Joseph, the work of book correction was continued by the new Patriarch Nikon, but now according to Greek models. Many immigrants from Little Russia, students of the Kiev-Mohyla Bursa, who were then considered (but hardly rightly) more educated than the local Moscow scribes, were involved in the revision of book texts, to the detriment of Russian reference workers. Nikon made one of the main investigators Arseny the Greek, a person from the East, a morally extremely suspicious person. Earlier, during his life in Turkey, Arseny the Greek, under pressure from the Ottomans, temporarily renounced Christianity and accepted the Muslim faith, even being circumcised. Now this recent renegade has been made one of the leaders of the reform with the goal of giving the Russian church “correct” liturgical texts. The new inspectors also began to introduce strange features into church rituals, unusual for Great Russians, changing the vestments of the clergy, the decoration of churches, and the appearance of liturgical acts. Nikon initially insisted that his foreign employees were better educated than the Great Russians. However, the falsity of these statements became clear very soon. It became noticeable that the patriarch’s people themselves did not know which texts were more reliable. New editions of books under Nikon were published almost every year, and each updated edition changed not only the previous Russian text, but very often also those “edits” that were made in the books by the patriarch’s employees shortly before.
The dominance under Nikon in correcting the books of foreigners alien to Russia aroused sharp opposition from prominent national church leaders, including Avvakum Petrovich. The new investigators declared the former great Russian saints (Sergius of Radonezh, Cyril of Belozersky, Joseph of Volotsky, Nil of Sorsky, etc.) almost heretics who did not know the true faith. The most important national councils (like Stoglav, held under Ivan the Terrible) were now equated almost to heretical gatherings. Russian patriots, not without reason, began to fear the perversion of the purity of ancient faith and piety. It was clear that Nikon himself started the reforms most of all for ambitious purposes: this rude, ignorant, but energetic, ruthless and ambitious man wanted to present himself as the creator of some great spiritual renewal (which the Russian Church, in fact, did not need) in order to then surpass with the authority of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich himself, then still an inexperienced young man.
Possessing rare energy and enthusiasm, being a staunch supporter of Russian national principles, Avvakum Petrov was the first to make the most decisive protest, which he did not stop until the end of his life, despite severe persecution first from Nikon, and then from the general secular and spiritual authorities. Already in September 1653, Avvakum was thrown into the basement of the Andronievsky Monastery for opposing the patriarch, and then exiled to Tobolsk. Here, too, he did not cease to “zealously scold Nikonov’s heresy,” as a result of which he was transferred even further, to Yeniseisk, and then placed under the command of the rude and cruel governor Afanasy Pashkov, who had instructions to conquer Dauria (Trans-Baikal region). Avvakum Petrov spent six years in the Daurian land, reaching Nerchinsk, Shilka and Amur. For exposing the actions of the governor, he was repeatedly subjected to severe hardships and torture.
Avvakum's journey through Siberia. Artist S. Miloradovich, 1898
Meanwhile, in Moscow, Patriarch Nikon, who openly challenged the tsarist authority, was defeated in a battle with secular authority. However, the boyars surrounding Alexei Mikhailovich, pushing aside Nikon himself, did not want to reject his “reforms.” Having begun the struggle with the Poles for Little Russia, the tsar then cherished the utopian hope of very soon expelling the Turks from Europe, liberating and uniting the entire Orthodox world. Nikonianism, which replaced Russian Orthodoxy by Orthodoxy non-national , seemed useful for this ghostly project. The church “reform” was in line with the interests of the Moscow authorities, but they needed to finally remove Nikon, who was too presumptuous in his personal claims, from the patriarchal throne. It was decided to use some Old Believer leaders against him. Among them, Avvakum was allowed to return to Moscow in 1663, but a year later this intractable patriot, not inclined to play the role of a toy in the wrong hands, was exiled from the capital to Mezen, where he remained for a year and a half.
In 1666, during the trial of Nikon with the participation of the eastern patriarchs bribed by the Moscow government, Avvakum Petrov was brought to Moscow. The council that took place there (which personally condemned Nikon for trying to become higher than the tsar, but approved and finally approved his reforms) tried to persuade Avvakum to abandon his Russian-national opposition. But Avvakum remained adamant and in 1667, together with other patriots - priest Lazar and clerk Theodore - he was exiled to the Pustozersky prison on Pechora. After a 14-year imprisonment full of severe hardships, during which he never ceased to teach like-minded Old Believers through messages, Avvakum Petrov was burned. The pretext for execution was a letter from Avvakum to Nikon’s admirer Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, where the author again sharply condemned church “reforms” and argued that the deceased Alexei Mikhailovich was now suffering in the next world. The burning took place in Pustozersk on April 1, 1681. Habakkuk and his comrades courageously accepted their martyrdom.
Burning of Archpriest Avvakum. Artist P. Myasoedov, 1897
The personality of Avvakum Petrov, the most prominent figure of the Russian Old Believers, who even now lives by its traditions, provides an example of heroic standing for an idea. Avvakum was one of the greatest figures of ancient Russian literature. More than 37 works are attributed to him, mostly of theological and polemical content, including an autobiography (“life”) that is stunning in style and description of the torments he experienced. Some of Habakkuk's writings are now lost. Instead of the image of a “fanatical obscurantist,” Avvakum Petrov appears in his books as an educated man of that time with a responsive soul and a sensitive conscience.
Books from Avvakum Petrov:
“Materials for the history of the Russian schism” by N. Subbotin (the biography of Avvakum is given in the preface).
04/14/1682 (04/27). – Archpriest Avvakum, the largest figure of the early Old Believers, was executed
Avvakum Petrovich (1620 or 1621–1682) - archpriest, ideologist and one of the leaders, was distinguished by rare spiritual gifts, energy and stubborn will (the flip side of these qualities was a very difficult, critical, quarrelsome character). Archpriest Avvakum outlined the basic information about his life in his autobiographical “Life” and other writings.
Born in the village. Grigorovo "in the Nizhny Novgorod region" in the family of a priest. He lost his father early and was raised by his pious mother. At the age of 19, he married at the direction of his mother, finding in his wife a faithful friend of his long-suffering life; they had 5 sons and 3 daughters.
Having moved to the village. Lopatishchi of the same district, Avvakum was ordained a deacon in 1642, and a priest in 1644. In the summer of 1647, he fled with his family from the persecution of the local “boss” whom he criticized to Moscow, where he found support from the royal confessor Stefan Vonifatiev, a champion of piety, after which he returned to his ruined home in Lopatishchi. From that time on, Avvakum began to maintain active contacts with the Moscow “circle of zealots of piety” and consistently implement their plans for correcting morals. Because of this, he entered into constant conflicts with both the flock and the authorities, causing general discontent. He was beaten more than once and expelled along with his wife and young son.
Seeking protection, in May 1652 Avvakum again headed to Moscow, where he received an appointment to the city of Yuryevets-Povolsky, where he was promoted to archpriest. And in the new place, Archpriest Avvakum also antagonized the laity and clergy with his demands; after 8 weeks he was brutally beaten by a crowd and fled to Moscow. Here he began to serve in the Kazan Cathedral, the archpriest of which was his patron, the head of the “zealots of piety,” Archpriest John Nero. He introduced Habakkuk.
Archpriest Avvakum was involved in the correction of liturgical books undertaken by Patriarch Joseph (in connection with the expansion after 1564) and consisted of comparing them with older printed Slavic originals. Since 1652, after the death of Joseph, the work of book correction was continued, but according to the Greek originals, and the previous correctors, including Habakkuk, who did not know the Greek language, were removed. Kyiv and Greek enquirers were summoned to Rus', in whom distrust arose due to suspicions of being infected with the Latin heresy (the terrifying Rus' in the 15th century was still alive in memory). The powerful Patriarch, not knowing the Greek language, completely trusted the Greeks and demanded unquestioning obedience from everyone, without condescending to patient explanations and persuasion.
The new procedure for correcting books aroused opposition from adherents of the inviolability of the ritual, who began to see in Nikon’s power activities a hidden encroachment on the purity of ancient faith and piety. Possessing enormous energy and fanatical enthusiasm and being a stubborn adherent of antiquity, Avvakum was the first to speak out against it with “fiery jealousy” (“It’s up to us, it’s supposed to lie like that forever and ever!”), for which already in September 1653 he was imprisoned in Andronevsky’s basement monastery, then exiled with his family to Tobolsk, but since here he did not cease to “zealously scold Nikonov’s heresy,” he was transferred to Yeniseisk, and then given command of the strict governor Afanasy Pashkov, who had instructions to conquer Dauria (Trans-Baikal region). Avvakum spent six years wandering around the Daurian land, right up to Nerchinsk, Shilka and Amur, and was repeatedly punished for denouncing the actions of the governor. During these years, two sons of Avvakum died from hunger and want. In response to the active resistance of Habakkuk and his comrades, the Council of 1656 anathematized and cursed all followers of two-fingered disobedience to the Church (finding in this a connection with the heresy of Nestorianism), which aggravated the conflict.
In 1658, relations between the Tsar and the Patriarch became conflicting, and in 1661 the Tsar allowed Avvakum to return to Moscow, perhaps hoping to win him over to his side as Nikon’s already famous opponent. The return across all of Siberia dragged on until 1663. In Moscow, Avvakum was promised the position of a clerk at the Printing House and money, but Avvakum did not sacrifice his faith for the sake of “the sweetness of this age and bodily joy.” He argued with the royal confessor Lukyan Kirillov, prominent courtiers and bishops - “about the folding of fingers, and about the three-lipped hallelujah, and about other dogmas”; he became the spiritual father of the noblewoman F.P. Morozova, her sister Princess E.P. Urusova and many other Moscow “old lovers”. A year later, for this activity, and also as a result of a petition submitted to the Tsar, in which the entire Russian Church was convicted of heresy, he was exiled to Mezen, where he stayed for about a year and a half.
It should be noted that the relationship between the Tsar and the Patriarch was broken down in 1658 by the machinations of the boyars, who were hampered by the severity of the Patriarch and who therefore wrote accusing denunciations against him of “encroaching on the rights and integrity of the royal power.” The boyars encouraged supporters of the old rite against the demanding Nikon. Nikon, who disagreed with the actions of the Tsar, had to leave the patriarchal throne and retire to the Resurrection Monastery in Istra. And it was after his departure that the most brutal persecution of the Old Believers began (for which Nikon is also unfairly accused).
At the end of 1665 - beginning of 1666, in connection with preparations for the Church Council to elect a new Patriarch (began in February 1666), the leaders of the Old Believer opposition were arrested. On March 1, 1666, Avvakum was brought to Moscow, where at the Council that was taking place at that time they tried to force him to abandon the confrontation. Nikon was convicted, declared a simple monk and sent into exile to the Ferapontov and Kirillo-Belozersky monasteries. In addition, many bishops at the Council came to the correct opinion that, while approving the “new rite,” one should not declare the old one heretical, for the disagreements are insignificant. But Avvakum, together with like-minded people, remained adamant in rejecting the “new rite.” After a stormy controversy at the Council, Archpriest Avvakum and his like-minded people, Deacon Fyodor Ivanov and Suzdal priest Nikita Dobrynin, were defrocked and anathematized on May 13, 1666, after which they, chained, were placed in the Nikolsky Ugreshsky Monastery, where on June 2 Fyodor and Nikita repented and signed the letters required of them. Avvakum remained adamant and was transferred to the monastery prison.
The new Council of 1667 was more cruel: it declared the old rite “heretical” and decided to punish “heretics” with civil executions, which formalized the schism. Avvakum, the priest Lazar and the Solovetsky monk Epiphanius were sentenced for their persistence - exile to the Pustozersky prison on Pechora, to “a tundra, cold and treeless place,” and Lazar and Epiphanius had their tongues cut.
At first, they still had the opportunity to communicate with each other quite freely, as well as maintain connections with the outside world. Deprived of the literature necessary for their work, Habakkuk and his brothers nevertheless continued to expose “Nikonian” innovations in their writings. In a petition sent at the same time to the Tsar, Avvakum wrote that they were in vain excommunicated from the Church and called heretics, for in this case all former Russian hierarchs and Sovereigns who adhered to the old rituals deserved a similar fate. In his opinion, the main responsibility for all decisions of the Church lies with the Tsar himself.
As a result of these writings, in 1670 a new wave of repression began against adherents of the old rituals. In March, Avvakum’s students Fyodor Yurodivy and Luka Lavrentievich were hanged on Mezen. Avvakum's sons Ivan and Procopius were also sentenced to hang, but they “obeyed” and were imprisoned together with their mother in an earthen prison. On April 14 of the same year, the second “execution” of Pustozersky “prison inmates” took place (Lazar, Fyodor Ivanov and Epiphany had their tongues cut out a second time and their right hands were chopped off); Avvakum was ordered “instead of the death penalty” to be kept in prison on bread and water. The deterioration of the situation of the Pustozersky prisoners occurred due to the dissemination of their writings.
Avvakum lived for 15 years in a log house, in an earthen prison, where he wrote about 70 works, including his famous “Life” - the first experience of Orthodox autobiography in Russian literature, where the fate of the author and Rus' of the 17th century are described in a living, colloquial language. This work has been translated into foreign languages more than once.
Having survived Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Archpriest Avvakum turned to the new one with a daring petition, in which he frightened his son with the afterlife torment of his father for indulging the “Nikonians.” And “for the great blasphemy against the royal house,” Habakkuk was burned in a log house along with three other prisoners.
Burning of Archpriest Avvakum. G. Myasoedov. 1897
From the point of view of historical facts, Avvakum and his supporters were largely right: it was not the Russians, but the Greeks who abandoned tradition. Rus' adopted Christianity according to the Studian Charter (which in Greece was later superseded by the Jerusalem Charter), preserving the old rituals until the 17th century. The ancient form was the double word "halleluia." The three-fingered sign of the cross in the Orthodox East was preceded by two fingers. The “old” double-fingered system in Byzantium was preserved even in the 12th century.
It should be noted that the fierce debate about the correctness of two or three fingers was only a tribute to the peculiarities of different historical eras, but did not contradict each other theologically. This is how Church historian N.F. Kapterev explained the meaning of both customs.
“Why the Greeks later replaced the ancient early Christian one-fingered sign of the cross (no later than the beginning of the 9th century) with two fingers is understandable. When the heresy of the Monophysites appeared, it took advantage of the hitherto used form of finger formation - one-finger - to propagate its teachings, since it saw in one-finger a symbolic expression of its teaching about the one nature in Christ. Then the Orthodox, contrary to the Monophysites, began to use two fingers in the sign of the cross, as a symbolic expression of the Orthodox teaching about two natures in Christ. It so happened that the one-fingered sign of the cross began to serve as an external, visual sign of Monophysitism, and the two-fingered sign of Orthodoxy...
The struggle and constant coexistence with the Monophysites explains the circumstance why two-fingered persisted for so long in the Church of Constantinople, and then between Syrian Orthodox Christians, and why three-fingered, this, apparently, the most natural form of finger formation for a Christian, could appear in the Greek Church became the dominant custom only in later times, when the fight against Monophysitism had finally ceased...
If the appearance of double fingers and the duration of its existence in the Orthodox Greek Church depended exclusively on Monophysitism, only during the struggle against it did it have its own special meaning and significance, then as soon as the fight against Monophysitism ceased, the Greek Church of Constantinople, wishing to differ in the very form of the finger formation, not only from the Monophysites-one-fingered, but also from the Nestorians, who always strictly adhered to double-fingered, since they combined with it their heretical teaching about the union of two natures in Christ, and in double-fingered they saw a symbolic expression and confirmation of their heretical teaching - replaced double-fingered with a more natural one and characteristic of every Christian, in addition to his religious characteristics, three-fingered, as expressing the main, fundamental dogma of Christianity - the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. This change among the Greeks of the sign of the sign of the cross - from two to three fingers, occurred, as one might think, at the end of the 12th century and continued until the end of the 13th century, when it finally became dominant among them...” (Kapterev N.F. History of the sign of the cross ).
However, the Old Believers also rejected corrections of obvious errors that had accumulated during the rewriting of books and introduced nonsense into the texts. And their main mistake was the anathematization of the official Church and the identification of royal power with the power of the Antichrist. The “schism” movement then embraced about a quarter of all Orthodox Christians, and they found themselves in self-isolation from influencing the future destinies of Russia. This was, unfortunately, a false start in the premature anticipation of the coming of the Antichrist.
Discussion: 12 comments
Habakkuk was a great man, strong and courageous. May God rest his soul!
Yeah. I doubt that the Lord will show mercy to the possessed priest. How many were seduced by the scumbag Avvakum to commit suicide. And now the “Old Believer” evil spirits and their sympathizers are molding him into a “martyr”...
Well, about the fact that Nikon or the Tsar is the Antichrist, there were different opinions among the Old Believers, both for and against. And how is it that the Old Believers were right in everything, only not in the fact that they anathematized those who were mistaken and forcibly driven onto the path of error? And what kind of “official” church is this, apparently something different from the Holy Orthodox Church?
Evgeny, do not judge for God, do not become like the Antichrist.
Regarding scum and evil spirits, please re-read Matthew 5:22.
Regarding suicides - self-immolations did not just happen at random moments, but when archers approached the Old Believers, most often in an already besieged log house. The Sagittarius came with the aim of arrest for the forcible imposition of New Believer innovations recognized by history as erroneous through torture, torment, and murder. Those who doubted their strength to withstand torture burned themselves in fear of the betrayal of Christ. This suicide is essentially the same, in the same circumstances, as those of the canonized holy martyrs who committed suicide: Holy Martyr. the maiden Pelagia (May 4), who did not wait until she was burned, but entered the fire herself, another holy martyr. Virgin Pelagia (October 8), who committed suicide by throwing herself from the roof of a house in order to depart to Christ pure and immaculate. There are other examples, but I have not systematically searched for them.
It seems that it is written about “Habakkuk”: “there is no peace for the wicked” and “...if you are violent, then you will suffer alone”... and then suffering death is not always a sign of righteousness, because it is said “the death of a sinner is cruel”
Archpriest Avvakum is a holy martyr and confessor of the faith of Christ. He endured much suffering in the struggle for the purity of Orthodoxy, but did not betray the faith of his and our great ancestors. Since he prayed to St. Alexander Nevsky, teacher Sergius of Radonezh, princes Dmitry Donskoy,
Dmitry Pozharsky and many others. other great and holy people who lived before the schism. Church reform of the 17th century was carried out according to the plan of the Vatican and the Uniates. Read B.P. Kutuzova Church “reform” of the 17th century. as ideological sabotage and national catastrophe.
Evgeniy, you are not afraid that your tongue will wither. You continue to bite and gnaw those for whom the archpriest is holy and dear. I feel sorry for you. Tomorrow is the day of remembrance of the Holy Hieromartyr and Confessor of the Archpriest Avvakum, who was burned for Orthodoxy in the mountains. Pustozersk, I will pray for you, because we pray to Archpriest Avvakum for exorcism, it helps a lot, a verified fact. My advice to you is not to touch (blasphemy), it is unknown to you, that is, it is not round in your nose. Thank Father Nikon for driving a powerful wedge between us Russians. Before him, for almost seven centuries, no one could do this. Therefore, we understand this church tragedy, the history of the Russian people, differently, it’s a pity, brothers, there is no need to rewrite or remake history, for example, like the Western countries, the results of World War 2, your own and only in your own direction. Their schoolchildren often do not know on whose side the Red Army fought. So we perceive and evaluate history lessons differently. Peace and good luck to all of you.
Habakkuk is not a saint; he is a schismatic, a rebel and a heretic. I feel very sorry for those people who were seduced by him.
BUT even if at least one person followed the teachings of Habakkuk, there will be no salvation for him or the so-called “martyr” Habakkuk.
“...Monk Sergius, who lived on Kerzhenets, a student of Avvakum, according to the testimony of the monk Euphrosynus, was the culprit in distributing Avvakum’s letters praising self-destruction: he asked Avvakum about the self-immolators in a special letter, and presented the matter in a false light. “There is my fault in seven things,” Sergius later repented, “I didn’t write to Avvakum in the same way as is done here, but I told too painful tales of unnecessary cruelty, and I told the self-immolators and not the former piety,” - I didn’t say that they were going to trouble themselves without permission. they incriminate themselves, but the story goes, “as if they escaped from the hands of the tormentors and were burned.” This is what Sergius wrote to Avvakum. “And to that,” Sergius said, “my father sent an answer to my question,” i.e. Avvakum, approving self-destruction, and added (i.e. Avvakum) that self-destruction was also approved by his other prisoners with whom he reasoned (Efrosin . ref. 18-20). And from Avvakum’s letters to Simeon it is clear that the latter wrote to Pustozersk with questions about both the “tormenting cruelty” and the “piety” of self-immolators, which is why Avvakum’s speech in his reply messages is filled with details about these subjects: Avvakum defines “martyrs to the rank” of all burnt, he also speaks of those who burned themselves. “They did a good job, child Simeone,” he answers here about the latter, “it must be so!” We reasoned among ourselves." At the same time, Habakkuk describes the reason for self-immolation as Simeon apparently told him: “And in the Lower One it is glorious: heretics burn some, and others, inflamed with love and weeping for piety, without waiting for heretical condemnation, they themselves dared to go into the fire” (Matt. for source. V, 204. 206-10)..." (p. 91) More details:
Disputes in the schism on dogmatic issues in the 17th century.
http://christian-reading.info/data/1897/07/1897-07-03.pdf
ABOUT SUICIDAL BURNING.
We included two of your huge texts in the responses twice. But this time and in the future we are forced to urge you to moderation. Your text has been shortened.
It is very correct that the article begins with a psychological description of Avvakum: “he was distinguished by... energy and stubborn will (the flip side of these qualities was a very difficult, critical, quarrelsome character).” It should be noted that Nikon has the same qualities. As they say, I found a scythe on a stone. But they are from neighboring villages, and both are Mordvins. There are many Mordvins living here, and the locals, as always in such cases, have developed a certain average stereotype of the Mordvins: indeed, along with the tenacity and perseverance that are believed to be characteristic of this people, they also note persistence, obstinacy, and inability to compromise before malice, rancor. I think that in many ways the nature of such an irreconcilable confrontation between Avvakum and Nikon on secondary, “technical” issues of faith is due precisely to the national mentality. An unmodern point of view, intolerant, but - alas! - justified by popular experience. Two Mordvins brought Russia to a centuries-old tragedy... And the question arises: were they Christians in the true sense of the word? Or was personal pride more important to them than their Orthodox brothers? This is a lesson for all of us today, who continue to criticize both of them in the comments. Both are good, I think! It's time to stop this quarrel. Forgive us all, Lord!
Archpriest Avvakum is a bright and controversial personality. The priest, whom the Old Believers elevated to the rank of saint, did not recognize halftones and compromises. For his stern character and willingness to “lay down his life for his sheep,” he was hated by his enemies and idolized by his followers.
His authority in the 17th century was enormous: his followers called Habakkuk a righteous man and a persecuted martyr. The nobles and flock, who adhered to free morals, hated the stern priest for his denunciations. The priest was beaten, thrown into dungeons without food and clothing, exiled to harsh Siberia, but no one broke the spirit and convictions of Avvakum - neither kings nor nobles.
An integral nature, a talented speaker and preacher, a true champion of Orthodoxy and the philosophy of the Old Believers - he showed by example what it means to fight to the end.
Childhood and youth
Avvakum Petrovich Petrov was born in the village of Grigorovo, Nizhny Novgorod district in 1620. My mother was an example for the future preacher and spiritual mentor of the Old Believers. Mary (later she became a nun and received the name Martha) raised Habakkuk in severity and spiritual purity. Adhering to the old Orthodox canons, spending her free time in prayer and fasting, the woman raised her son in the “fear of God.”
The father, a hereditary parish priest, died when his son was 15 years old. According to Avvakum, his father loved to drink, which was the reason for his early death.
At the age of 22, Avvakum Petrov was ordained a deacon for his zeal in faith and strict adherence to the Law of God.
Life and teachings
After 2 years, Avvakum was entrusted with a church parish in Lopatintsy, a village in the Nizhny Novgorod province. The young priest, demanding of himself and his flock, frantically castigated the vices of the parishioners, punishing even minor sins. Neither the poor nor the nobles, who donated considerable money to the temple, received leniency.
One day a young harlot came to confession to Habakkuk. According to church canons, she described the sins in detail, and if the mind did not leave the priest, then the flesh rebelled. To pacify her, the priest, after confession, extended his palm over three burning candles. Pain conquered sinful desires, and the parishioners, whose respect for the priest doubled, reached out to Habakkuk.
For his righteous deeds and strict adherence to the laws of Orthodoxy, Avvakum was given the title of archpriest - archpriest. The rumor about the stern priest, distinguished by extreme piety, spread throughout the area. Crowds of believers came to him for advice and blessings.
Archpriest Avvakum became famous as an exorcist. They brought to him the mentally ill and the insane, who were possessed by an unclean spirit. Often the priest left them “for treatment” in his house.
The blessing from Archpriest Avvakum was called happiness by both the poor and the rich. One day, governor Vasily Sheremetev, traveling along the Volga on a ship, wished to see the famous priest. The priest was taken to the ship, and after a soul-saving conversation, the governor asked for a blessing for the young son. Matvey Sheremetev was taken to Archpriest Avvakum, but he, seeing the guy’s “fornicating” appearance (he shaved his beard), refused to make the sign of the cross.
The enraged nobleman ordered Avvakum to be thrown into the river, and he miraculously managed to save his life - the fishermen arrived in time.
An ascetic and opponent of all entertainment, Avvakum flew into a frenzy when he saw the loitering public in Lopatintsy. When circus performers came to the village with bears and musical instruments, the archpriest rushed at the cheerful company with his fists. He beat the circus performers, broke tambourines and domras, bruised one bear, and the second ran away into the field.
Archpriest Avvakum was not afraid to stand up for the poor, orphaned and wretched. When the widow complained that the nobleman had taken her daughter away from her, the priest, without hesitation, interceded. The nobleman beat Avvakum Petrovich half to death and destroyed the house.
Archpriest Avvakum also served briefly in Yuryevets-Povolsky, where he was transferred from the village of Lopatintsy. The preacher’s harsh disposition also became the cause of conflicts with parishioners who did not want to adhere to the old canons and did not heed the pastor’s instructions. Avvakum was beaten and trampled with batogs, and they threatened him and his family. The Old Believer fled to Moscow in 1651.
In the capital, Archpriest Avvakum, a contemporary of the tsar, became friends with the royal confessor and future father. Under the then Patriarch Joseph, the priest participated in book publishing. When the archpriest of the Kazan Cathedral, John, in whose house Avvakum was staying, was away on church business, the priest replaced him.
Soon, friendship with Nikon grew into enmity: Avvakum’s Orthodox philosophy was based on the old-style faith, and Patriarch Nikon, who took the place of the deceased Joseph, undertook to reform the church. Arseny the Greek appeared in Moscow. Nikon gave preference to Greek liturgical books, while Avvakum advocated for the Old Russian Orthodox. Archpriest Avvakum addressed the king with a petition, where he criticized Nikon and Greek rituals.
In the fall of 1653, the Old Believer was persecuted - he was exiled to the Andronikov Monastery. Avvakum sat in a damp basement without food for three days, but did not submit. Nikon ordered the rebel to be stripped of his hair, but the tsar did not allow it, replacing defrocking with exile to Tobolsk.
In Tobolsk, Archpriest Avvakum continued his agitation and criticism of Nikonianism, for which he was exiled to Transbaikalia. There the preacher criticized the owner of the region, Nerchinsk governor Pashkov. He beat Avvakum and put him in prison for the winter.
In the spring, the rebel was assigned to a regiment that moved east through Baikal, Amur and Shilka. On this difficult road, Habakkuk’s two little sons died. In 1663, the archpriest returned to Moscow, where the Tsar invited him. The reason for the unexpected favor was Nikon's disgrace. The monarch invited the Old Believer to become a confessor, but he refused, not seeing the tsar’s adherence to the old canons of Orthodoxy.
Soon Archpriest Avvakum, who did not think to calm his unbridled temper and desire to say everything he thought, made new enemies without regard for the consequences. The Old Believer categorically opposed church reforms, crossed himself with two rather than three fingers, and advocated an 8-pointed cross. A year later, the sovereign’s mercy gave way to anger and the rebel was exiled to the Arkhangelsk region.
In 1666, Avvakum Petrovich appeared again in Moscow at the trial of Nikon. After terrible wanderings, they expected him to submit, but the preacher stood his ground. The church court excommunicated Habakkuk from the church and took away his sacred degree, causing him anger and anathema to the top leadership of the church.
The passion-bearer was kept in a monastery near Kaluga for a year, but he did not break. Then Avvakum was exiled to Pustozersk, in the Arctic. In a log house, half immersed in frozen ground, the priest languished for 14 long years. He did not give up preaching: unable to speak with his followers, the spiritual leader sent messages throughout the country through faithful people. This is how the famous “Life” appeared, later called the first artistic autobiography.
The pilgrims came in a stream to the preacher, whom they called a saint. They left him, hiding letters in staves. The speaker's statements were preserved thanks to these secret messages.
Personal life
The name of the famous Old Believer is associated with two women - Feodosia Morozova, known to contemporaries as, and his wife Nastasya Markovna.
The first is a spiritual student of Archpriest Avvakum, like him, who suffered for her faith and inflexibility. He depicted her - frantic, with eyes burning with fire. Like her spiritual mentor, Morozova died, not wanting to change her beliefs.
The second is a faithful wife who bore her husband nine children. The couple maintained the purity of their marriage throughout their lives. Like Avvakum, Nastasya professed the Old Believers. They got married young by today's standards: the husband turned 17, the wife 14 years old. They come from the same village, both from impoverished families, half orphans.
The couple lived as prescribed by Domostroy: the future preacher married a girl at the direction of his mother. But the marriage was sanctified by love: the wife resignedly followed her husband into exile and wanderings. In Siberia, on the way to the place of exile in Tobolsk, two young sons died, unable to withstand the harsh conditions.
Avvakum Petrovich saw in his wife the ideal of an Orthodox woman and called Nastasya “an assistant to salvation.” Nastasya Markovna became an example for the wives of the Decembrists, convicts and all exiles, for women who renounced a calm and comfortable life and followed their husbands.
In the book “Punishment without Crime,” Alexander Avdeenko recalled a story that came down to his contemporaries and characterizes the couple’s relationship. Exhausted by yet another exile, Nastasya asked her husband how long she would suffer, to which the priest replied:
- Markovna! Until my death.
“Okay, Petrovich, we’ll wander around some more.”
The woman’s answer became a kind of motto for all wives who shared the plight of their husbands. Anastasia Markovna died before her husband. My husband took the death of his significant other hard: his main support, advisor and friend left.
Death
After the death of the king, the throne was taken by his son, pious and impressionable. The rebellious Habakkuk, hoping that he would be able to turn the monarch away from the hated Greek rite, wrote him a letter. He said that he had a dream about Father Alexei Mikhailovich burning in hellfire for accepting the Nikonian teaching.
The archpriest did not calculate that Fyodor would become angry and accuse him of “the great blasphemy against the royal house” and church schism. The king's contemporary was severely punished. In 1682, the Old Believer and his associates Epiphanius, Lazarus and Fedor were executed in front of the crowd. They were tied to the corners of the log house, covered with birch bark and dry branches and set on fire.
Archpriest Avvakum knew about the impending execution, distributed books and meager property, and put on a white shirt. It is noteworthy that he considered fire to be cleansing and repeatedly called for self-immolation. He himself died from the fire.
The execution took place on Friday of Holy Week. According to the information received, when the flame shot up into the sky, Avvakum raised his hand with two fingers and exclaimed:
“Orthodox! If you pray with such a cross, you will never perish. If you leave this cross, your city will be covered with sand, and then the world will end!”
- Avvakum is called the founder of free speech, confessional prose and figurative literature. 43 works are attributed to him, including “The Book of Conversations”, “The Book of Reproofs”, and “The Book of Interpretations”. The most famous work is “Life”, the translation of books of which is still popular today.
- Archpriest Avvakum is the hero of the 20-episode film by Nikolai Dostal “Raskol”. The main theme of the series is the reforms carried out by Patriarch Nikon and the resistance led by Archpriest Avvakum.
- The Old Believer is called the first preacher of mass suicide in world religious teachings. During the peak years of his popularity, the number of mass self-immolations increased. At the beginning of 1687, more than 2,000 people were burned in the Paleostrovsky monastery. On August 9 of the same year in Berezovo, Olonetsky district - more than 1000.
- The Old Believer icons that Avvakum worshiped are distinguished by the abundance of inscriptions on the margins and dark faces. In the 18th century, official Orthodoxy banned the production of such icons.
- Habakkuk's texts contained statements that are called "prophetic." During the years of the revolution and civil war, a quote from Avvakum sounded special: “Satan begged God for a bright Russia, may he stain it with the blood of martyrdom.”
- in his lectures at the “people's university” he interpreted Archpriest Avvakum as an “instrument of revenge” against the Romanov dynasty.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Old Believer Church canonized him, and in the village of Grigorovo at the end of the 20th century a monument to Avvakum was erected.
Avvakum Petrovich - biography of the archpriest
Avvakum Petrov or Avvakum Petrovich (born November 25 (December 5), 1620, - death April 14 (24), 1682) - a prominent Russian church and public figure of the 17th century, priest, archpriest.
Archpriest Avvakum is one of the most prominent personalities in the history of Russia. He was a man of enormous spiritual strength, which was fully demonstrated during the times of persecution against him. From childhood he was accustomed to asceticism. He considered aversion from everything worldly and the desire for holiness to be so natural for a person that he could not get along in any parish because of his tireless pursuit of worldly pleasures and deviations from the customs of faith. Many revered him as a saint and miracle worker.
An important fact of Russian history in the 17th century was the church schism that emerged as a result of the church reform of Patriarch Nikon. The reform was supposed to eliminate discrepancies in church books and differences in the conduct of rituals that undermined the authority of the church. Everyone agreed with the need for reform: both Nikon and his future opponent Archpriest Avvakum. It was only unclear what to take as a basis - translations into Old Church Slavonic of Byzantine liturgical books made before the fall of Constantinople in 1453, or the Greek texts themselves, including those that were corrected after the fall of Constantinople.
By Nikon's decree, Greek books were taken as samples, and discrepancies with the ancient ones appeared in the new translations. This served as the formal basis for the split. The more significant innovations adopted by Patriarch Nikon and the church council of 1654 were the replacement of baptism with two fingers with three fingers, pronouncing the praise to God “Hallelujah” not twice, but three times, moving around the lectern in the church not in the direction of the Sun, but against it.
All of them were related to the purely ritual side, and did not concern the essence of Orthodoxy. But under the slogan of a return to the old faith, people united who did not want to come to terms with the growth of state and landowner exploitation, with the increasing role of foreigners, with everything that seemed to them inconsistent with the traditional ideal of “truth.” The schism began when Patriarch Nikon banned double-fingering in all Moscow churches. In addition, he invited learned monks from Kyiv to “correct” church books. Epiphany Stavinetsky, Arseny Satanovsky and Damaskin Ptitsky arrived in Moscow, and immediately took over the monastery libraries. Everything familiar collapsed at once - not only the church, but also society found itself in a deep and tragic split.
It was primarily the “God-lovers,” or “zealots of piety,” who took up arms against Nikon, led by Stefan Vonifatiev. In addition, the rector of the Kazan Church on Red Square, Ivan Neronov, the archpriests - Daniil of Kostroma, Loggin of Murom, Daniil of Temnikov, and Avvakum of Yuryev - stood out with great activity. Nikon was also a member of this circle, which is why the “zealots” supported his election as patriarch.
“Lovers of God” believed that it was necessary to restore order in the church, eradicate the indifferent attitude of the laity to church services and rituals, and introduce sermons. In their opinion, the correction of liturgical books should have been carried out not according to Greek, but according to ancient Russian manuscripts. They were very wary of everything foreign and were hostile to the penetration of elements of Western culture into Russia.
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich partly agreed with them, although he had a different idea of the essence of church reforms.
The very first actions of the new patriarch convinced the “zealots” that they were deeply mistaken regarding Nikon’s Old Belief. The abolition of double-fingers instantly caused widespread indignation. They began to talk about Nikon as a “Latinist,” the forerunner of the Antichrist.
Nikon prudently and quickly removed the restless zealots from his path. Stefan Vonifatiev was the first to fall into disgrace. He was tonsured a monk, and soon died in the Nikon Iveron Monastery. Following him, Nero was also convicted, charged with insulting the personality of the patriarch. He ended his life as an archimandrite of the monastery in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky.
Of all the schism teachers, the fate of Archpriest Avvakum turned out to be the most severe. Back in September 1653, he was sent into exile to Tobolsk, from where, 3 years later, he was transferred to Eastern Siberia.
Avvakum vividly and figuratively narrates in his “Life” about his many years of stay in Dauria, about the torment that befell his family. Here is just one episode from this book:
“The country is barbaric, the foreigners are not peaceful, we don’t dare leave behind the horses, and we can’t keep up with the horses, we are hungry and languid people. At another time, the poor archpriest wandered and wandered, and then fell down and could not get up. And the other languid one immediately fell down: both were climbing, but could not get up. Then the poor woman blames me: “How long, archpriest, will this torment last?” And I said to her: “Markovna, until death.” She’s against it: “Okay, Petrovich, we’ll still wander in the future.”
At the beginning of 1661, Alexei Mikhailovich allowed Avvakum to return to Moscow. Avvakum perked up, considering that the sovereign had turned his back on the Nikonians and would now obey the Old Believers in everything. In fact, the situation was much more complicated.
As one would expect, the power-hungry Nikon did not want to be satisfied with a second role in the state. Based on the principle of “priesthood above the kingdom,” he tried to completely break out of subordination to secular power and assert his supreme dominance not only over church people, but also over the laity. Extremely concerned about this turn of events, the boyars and higher clergy began to increasingly oppose church reforms, despite the fact that Alexei Mikhailovich directly advocated their implementation.
Gradually, a cooling was brewing between the king and the patriarch. Nikon, who delved little into the essence of behind-the-scenes intrigues, could not even think about changing the sovereign’s attitude towards himself. On the contrary, he was confident in the inviolability of his position. When Alexei Mikhailovich expressed displeasure with the patriarch’s domineering actions, Nikon, on July 11, 1658, after a service in the Assumption Cathedral, told the people that he was leaving his patriarchal throne and retired to the Resurrection Monastery. By this he hoped to finally break the weak-willed tsar, but did not take into account the growing influence of the Old Believer boyars on him.
Noticing his mistake, Nikon tried to go back, but this further complicated the matter. Given the established dependence of the Russian Church on secular power, the way out of this situation depended entirely on the will of the Tsar, but Alexei Mikhailovich hesitated and, not wanting to give in to the claims of his recent “sobrine friend,” at the same time for a long time could not muster the courage to inflict the last on him hit. But his new entourage managed to arrange the return of Archpriest Avvakum and other members of the former circle of “God-lovers” to Moscow. Knowing nothing about these circumstances in Dauria, Avvakum connected his challenge with the victory of the Old Belief.
Avvakum's journey through Siberia
For almost two years he traveled to Moscow, tirelessly preaching his teaching along the way. Imagine his disappointment when he saw that Nikonianism had taken root everywhere in church life, and Alexei Mikhailovich, having lost interest in Nikon, nevertheless had no intention of abandoning his reforms. A passionate readiness to fight for his convictions awakened in him with the same force, and he, taking advantage of the sovereign’s favor, submitted a lengthy petition to him.
“I hoped,” wrote Avvakum, “while surviving in the east through the deaths of many, there would be silence here in Moscow, but now I saw the church more and more confused than before.” He bombarded the Tsar with petitions protesting against Nikonianism, and the Patriarch himself, Alexei Mikhailovich, wanted to win over the intrepid “zealot of piety” to his side, as this would make it possible to completely drown out the increasingly growing popular opposition.
That is why, without directly expressing his attitude towards Avvakum’s petitions, he tried to persuade him to yield by promising first the position of the tsar’s confessor, then, which attracted Avvakum much more, the inquiry officer and the Printing House. At the same time, on behalf of the tsar, boyar Rodion Streshnev persuaded the archpriest to stop his sermons against the official church , at least until the council, which will discuss the issue of Nikon.
Touched by the attention of the sovereign and hoping that he would be entrusted with correcting the books, Habakkuk actually remained at peace for some time. This turn of events did not please the Old Believers, and they rushed from all sides to persuade the archpriest not to abandon the “fatherly traditions.” Habakkuk resumed his denunciations of the Nikonian clergy, calling them in his sermons and writings renegades and Uniates. “They,” he asserted, “are not children of the church, but of the devil.” The Emperor saw how groundless his hopes were for the reconciliation of Avvakum with the church and, succumbing to the persuasion of the clergy, on August 29, 1664, he signed a decree deporting Avvakum to the Pustozersky prison.
1666, February - in connection with the opening of a church council, Avvakum was brought to Moscow. They again tried to persuade him to accept the church reforms, but the archpriest “did not bring repentance and obedience, but persisted in everything, and also reproached the consecrated council and called it unorthodox.” As a result, on May 13, Habakkuk was stripped of his hair and cursed as a heretic.
After the trial, Avvakum, along with other schism teachers, was sent to prison in the Ugreshsky Monastery, from where he was later transferred to Pafnutyev-Borovsky. In a special instruction sent to the abbot of that monastery, it was ordered that Avvakum should be “tightly guarded with great fear, so that he does not leave prison and does no harm to himself, and do not give him ink and paper, and do not order anyone to come to him.”
They still hoped to break him with the help of the ecumenical patriarchs, who were expected at the council to depose Nikon.
The patriarchs arrived in Moscow in April 1667.
Because everything had already been decided with Nikon and he was deposed from the patriarchate on December 12, 1666, they had no choice but to thoroughly deal with Avvakum. The archpriest was delivered to them on July 17. They persuaded him for a long time, advising him to humble himself and accept church innovations.
“Why are you so stubborn? - said the patriarchs. “All of our Palestine, and Serbia, and Albania, and the Volokhs, and the Romans, and the Poles - all cross themselves with three fingers, you alone persist in dual faith.”
“Universal teachers! Rome fell long ago and lies unyielding, and the Poles perished with it, until the end they were enemies of Christians. And your Orthodoxy has become motley due to the violence of the Turk Makhmet - and one cannot be surprised at you: you have naturally become weak. And in the future, come to us as teachers: we, by God’s grace, have autocracy. Before Nikon the apostate in our Russia, the pious princes and kings had all Orthodoxy pure and immaculate and the church was unruly.”
After that, Avvakum went to the door and lay down on the floor with the words: “You sit, and I’ll lie down.”
He no longer listened to ridicule or admonitions. 1667, August - Avvakum was taken to Pustozersk. His family and many other Old Believers languished there. During the Pustozersky period, Avvakum fully developed his schism. He spoke out for antiquity, without at all thinking of neglecting the present: his vision of modern reality simply contradicted the prevailing trends of the era. Muscovite Rus' was rebuilt on different spiritual principles, bringing its cultural and ideological orientations in every possible way closer to the general Christian and Western European traditions.
The ideology of Avvakum bore the imprint of the views of that part of the Russian peasantry, which, under the influence of increasing serfdom, essentially turned into complete serfs and slaves. They advocated the preservation of their previous privileges and rejected all church changes, spontaneously recognizing their connection with the new political system. Peasants left their homes in droves and went into the deep forests of the North and Trans-Urals, fearing neither government persecution nor the anathemas of spiritual shepherds.
The number of mass self-immolations increased every year. Hundreds and thousands of people often died in fire. For example, at the beginning of 1687, more than 2,000 people were burned in the Paleostrovsky monastery. On August 9 of the same year in Berezovo, Olonetsky district - more than 1000. And there were many similar facts.
Burning of Archpriest Avvakum
Avvakum knew well about all this and in every possible way encouraged the Old Believers to self-immolate. In his “Epistle to a certain Sergius,” he wrote: “Most of all, at the present time in our Russia, they themselves go into the fire out of great sorrow, zealous for piety, like the apostles of old: they do not spare themselves, but for the sake of Christ and the Mother of God they go into death.” In the same message, Avvakum spoke about one of these mass self-immolations: “Brother, brother, it’s a dear thing that they will put you in the fire: do you remember in the Nizhny Novgorod region, where I lived when I was born, two thousand and two and the little ones themselves ran into the fire from those crafty spirits “They did it wisely, they found warmth for themselves, and with this they escaped the temptation of the local temptation.”
The archpriest advised Sergius: “What are you thinking? Don’t think, don’t think too much, go into the fire, God will bless you. Those who ran into the fire did good... Eternal memory to them.” In the years 1675–1695 alone, 37 “burnings” (that is, self-immolations) were recorded, during which at least 20,000 people died.
Thus, Avvakum became the first and almost the only preacher of mass suicide in world religious teachings. And therefore, paying tribute to him as a brilliant preacher; speaker and writer, we find it natural that he ultimately shared the fate of all heresiarchs.
Meanwhile, Emperor Alexei Mikhailovich died in God, and his son Fedor ascended the throne. It seemed to Habakkuk that they had simply forgotten about him. He was getting old, and it was becoming unbearable to withstand the melancholy and loneliness in the wilderness. And he took a step towards his death. 1681 - Avvakum sent a message to Tsar Fedor, in which he fanatically and recklessly poured out all the irritation against the church and clergy that had accumulated over many years.
“And what, Tsar-Sovereign,” he wrote, “if you gave me freedom, I would, like Elijah the prophet, overthrow them all in one day. I would not defile my hands, but I would also sanctify them with tea.”
Perhaps the tsar would not have attached importance to this letter if the monk had not mentioned below about his late father: “God judges between me and Tsar Alexei. He sits in agony, I heard from the Savior; then to him for his truth. The foreigners, who knew what they were told to do, did it. They betrayed their Tsar Constantine to the Turks, having lost faith, and they supported my Alexei in his madness.”
Tsar Fedor did not have any sympathy for the Old Believers and perceived Avvakum’s message as a threat to the existing government, and to himself personally. There was no one to bother for Avvakum: not a single one of his former well-wishers remained at the Moscow court; they were supplanted by the “Kyiv non-hai” - learned monks led by Simeon of Polotsk. And Avvakum “for the great blasphemy against the royal house” was ordered to be burned along with his three co-religionists.
1682, April 14 - the life of this fearless man, who remained an unsolved legend of ancient Russian spirituality, ended at the stake. Very scant details of this execution have reached us. It is known that it took place in front of a large crowd of people. The prisoners were led out from behind the prison fence to the place of execution. Habakkuk disposed of his property in advance, distributed books, and clean white shirts were found for the hour of death. And all the same, the sight was painful—festering eyes, chopped off, shrunken hands. Now no one persuaded Avvakum, Fedor, Lazar and Epiphanius to renounce.
The executioners tied the convicts to the four corners of the log house, covered them with firewood and birch bark and set them on fire.
People took off their hats...
