Old Believers

Old Believers are Russian Orthodox Christians who rejected the mid-seventeenth-century reforms of Patriarch Nikon and preserved earlier rites and church practices.

Patriarch Nikon: Patriarch of Moscow from 1652 to 1666, whose liturgical reforms helped divide the Russian Orthodox Church. His reforms triggered the disputes Old Believers refused to accept.
Sign of the Cross: A Christian gesture tracing a cross on the body as a profession of faith or prayer. The number of fingers used became a visible marker of the dispute.
Boyarynya Morozova: Feodosia Morozova was a Russian noblewoman who supported Old Believers and died in confinement in 1675. Her defiance made aristocratic support for the old rites publicly visible.
Popovtsy: Old Believers who retained or later re-established a priesthood and sacramental clergy. Their acceptance of priests distinguishes them from priestless Old Believer communities.
Solovetsky Monastery Uprising: A revolt at Solovetsky Monastery from 1668 to 1676 against royal religious and administrative policies. The monastery’s resistance became an early focal point for opposition to reform.
Raskol: The seventeenth-century schism in the Russian Orthodox Church over liturgical reforms and ecclesiastical authority. Old Believers emerged as the dissenting communities of this schism.
Jesus Prayer: A short Christian prayer, commonly phrased as “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” Its wording and ritual setting were among the inherited practices defended by dissenters.
Old Believer priesthood: The clergy serving Old Believer communities, organized differently among priestly and priestless traditions. Disagreement over valid clergy produced lasting institutional divisions.
Bezpopovtsy: Old Believers who concluded that valid priests were no longer available and organized worship without them. Their rejection of post-schism clergy created a distinct priestless tradition.
Old Believer migration: The movement of Old Believer communities from central Russia to frontier regions and abroad, often under pressure. Relocation helped communities preserve rites beyond the reach of authorities.

Linked from 6 pages