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 RASKOLNIKS

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RASKOLNIKS

the Church service books, into which many errors had crept by careless copying, and conformed them with the original Greek text, great complaint was expressed that he was departing from old Slavonic hallowed words, and was making cause with the stranger out- side of Russia. When he undertook to change the style of popular forms and ceremonies, such as the sign of the cross, the spelling and pronunciation of "Jesus ", shaving the beard, or to differ in the number of Alle- luias before the Gospel, he aroused popular resent- ment, which rose until there came an open break in which every point he proposed was rejected. After- wards when Peter the Great came to the throne (1689-172.5) and introduced western customs, abol- ished the Patriarchate of Moscow, substituted the Holy Synod and made himself the head of Church authority, changed the forms of the ancient Russo- Slavonic letters, and set on foot a host of new things in Church and State, the followers of the old order of things publicly condemned him as the Antichrist and renounced the State Church for ever, while clinging to the older forms of their fathers. But both Nikon and Peter had the whole Russian episcopate with them as well as the great majority of the Russian clergy and people. The dissenters who thus separated from the established Greco-Russian Orthodox Church became also known as Stariobriadtsi (old Ritualists) and Slarovierlsi (old Believers), in allusion to their ad- herence to the forms and teacliing prevaiUng before Nikon's reforms.

As none of the Russian bishops seceded from the Established Church the Raskolniks therefore had but an incomplete form of Church. Of course a number of priests and deacons adhered to them, but as they had no bishops they could not pro- vide new members of the clergy. Soon death began to thin the ranks of their clergy and it became ap- parent that within a brief period they would be left without any priesthood whatever. Then some of their leaders began to deny that a priesthood was necessary at all. This led to the splitting of the Raskolniks into two distinct branches: the Popovtsi (Priestly, i. e. "Pope"-ly), who insisted on the hier- archy and priesthood, and the Bezpopovtsi (Priestless, i. e. without "Popes"), who denied the necessity of any clergy whatever. The latter, however, accepted their ministrations. The fortunes of these two denom- inations or sects were quite different. The former grew to great importance in Russia, and are now said to have between thirteen and fifteen millions of ad- herents. The latter subdivided again and again into smaller sects, and are said to number between three and four millions, all included. They will be taken up separately.

Fopnvlsi or Hierarchical Raskolniks. — At first these renewed their clergy by taking over dissatisfied or dismissed priests from the established Orthodox Church, after having them take an oath against all the reforms instituted by Nikon and Peter; but this method was hardly satisfactory, for in most cases the material thus obtained was of a low moral grade. They believed that the whole Russian episcopate had gone over to Antichrist, but still were valid bish- ops, and hence endeavoured to have priests ordained by them, but in vain. They searched the Eastern world for a bishop who held their peculiar ideas, and it seemed almost as though they must eventually change for lack of clergy, when chance aided them. A community of Popovtsi monks had settled at Bielo- krinitsa (White Fountain) in Bukowina. Ambrose (1791-1863), a Greek monk, was appointed Bishop of Sarajevo in Bosnia, and was consecrated by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Subsequently a later patriarch deposed him, and when his resentful feel- ings against the Constantinople authorities were at their height, the Raskolniks approached him with the request to become their bi.shop. On 16 April, 1846,

Ambrose agreed to go over to their faith and adopt all the ancient practices, consecrate other bishops for them, and become their metropolitan or archbishop. On 27 October, 1846, he was solemnly received in the monastery of Bielo-krinitsa, took the necessary oaths, celebrated pontifical Mass and assumed episcopal jurisdiction. Bielo-krinitsa is only a few miles from the Russian border, and a hierarchy was soon brought into being for Russia. After bishops were conse- crated for Austria and Turkey, bishops were conse- crated and installed in Russia. The Russian Govern- ment could not crush the head of the Raskol Church, for it was in Austria. The Popovtsi grew by leaps and bounds, commenced to provide for a regular educated clergy and vied with the Established Church. At present they have, since the decree of toleration in 190.5, a well-established hierarchy in Russia, with a metropolitan at Moscow, and bishops at Saratoff, Perm, Kazan, Caucasus, Samara, Kolomea, Nijni- Novgorod, Smolensk, Vyatka, and Kaluga.

Their chief stronghold is the Rogozhsky quarter in Moscow, where they have their great cemetery, monastery, cathedral, church, and chapels. In 1863, at the time of the Polish insurrection the Raskolnik archbishop and his lay advisers sent out an encyclical letter to the "Holy Catholic Apostolic Church of the Old Believers", supporting the tsar and declaring that on all main points they were in agreement with the Established Church. This again split their Church into two factions which last to this day: the Okruzhniki or Encyclicalists and the Raz- dorniki or Controversialists, who denied the points of agreement with the national Church. In addition to this the Established Church has now set up a section of these Raskolniks in union with it, but has permitted them to keep all their peculiar practices, and these are called the Yedinovertsi or "Uniates". A great many of the controversial section of the Raskolniks are coming into the Catholic Church, and already some eight or ten priests have been received.

Bezpopovtsi, or the Priestless, seemed to represent the despairing side of the schism. They have their great stronghold in the Preobrazhenky quarter in Moscow, and are strong also in the Government of Archangel. They took the view that Satan had so far conquered and throttled the Church that the clergy had gone wrong and had become his servants, that the sacraments, except baptism, were withdrawn from the laity, and that they were left leaderless. They claimed the right of free interpretation of the Scriptures, and modelling their lives accordingly. They recognize no ministers save their "readers" who are elected. Lest this be said to duplicate Protestant- ism, one must remember that they have kept up all the Orthodox forms of service as far as possible, crossings, bowings, icons, candles, fastings, and the like, and have regularly maintained monasteries with their monks and nuns. But they had no element of stability; and their sects have become innumerable, ever shifting and varying, with incessant divisions and subdivisions. The chief of the subdivisions are: (1) Pomortsi; or dwellers near the sea, a rural division which is very devout; (2) Feodocei (Theodosians) who founded hospitals and laid emphasis on good works; (3) Bezbrachniki (free lovers) who repudiated mar- riage, somewhat like the Oneida community in New York; (4) Stranniki (wanderers) a peripatetic sect, who went over the country, declaring their doctrines; (5) Molchalniki (mutes), who seldom spoke, believing evil came through the tongue and idle conversation; and (6) Niemoliaki (non-praying), who taught that as God knows all things it is useless to pray to him, as He knows what one needs. These various divisions of the Priestless are again divided into smaller ones, like many of the strange sects in England and Amer- ica, so that it is almost impo.ssibl(' to follow them. Often they indulge in the wildest immorality, justify-