396 years ago, Avvakum was born. This man, his words and his deeds have had a fundamental importance in the creation of Russian culture as we know it, and I would therefore like to share with you a few things about this figure.
The Old Believers
Avvakum’s name is closely related to the “Old Believers”, or старообрядцы. You might have heard them before, but, more probably, you may have read about them. It is hard to find them in Russia, unless you travel to the remoter, eastern regions of this vast country. The Old Believers’ number is today hard to estimate due to their scatteredness. They were, and are, the people who rejected the innovations brought into the Russian church by Patriarch Nikon, between 1952 and 1966. Nikon made the reforms in order to bring back the Russian Orthodox faith into a “purer” state, closer to Constantinople’s. On the other hand, the Old Believers thought these changes to be the reason why Constantinople had fallen into the hands of the Turks.
If you read the reforms today, you wonder how could something so “superficial” lead to a “raskol” (scission) of those dimensions. The answer is that they were not superficial at all: even though they were mostly relevant to the liturgy, at that time liturgy and faith were strongly linked. A change as small as the direction of the Procession – whether clock or counterclockwise – was seen as an unacceptable one.
The Old Believers have been victims of persecution from the beginning to the 1970s, years in which the anathema upon them was revoked and their civil rights were given back. Nevertheless, the centuries-long persecution led to their emigration outside Russia, which is the reason why so few of them can now be found here, and why in such remote locations.
Petrov Avvakum
Who is Petrov Avvakum? He was the Russian protopote of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, who more strongly felt the adversity against Nikon’s reforms and decided to take a stand, giving voice to the thousands of believers whose voice was not heard – and not asked for – by Nikon. Despite being imprisoned and fed on bread and water for 14 years, he kept predicating, until – in 1682 – he was burned at the stake. His autobiography is one of the few Russian manuscripts of 17th century, a literary masterpiece.
On this day, November the 20, 1620, he was born. Let us remember a brave man, who fought for his faith and the faith of thousands of fellow believers, renouncing to a life of comforts for what he thought was right. Happy birthday, Avvakum.
