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** [[Belokrinitskaya hierarchy]] - The largest [[Popovtsy]] denomination. One can refer to the Russian part of this denomination as the [[Belokrinitskoe Soglasie]] (the "Belokrinitsky Agreement") or as the [[Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church]].*** Okruzhniki (extinct)*** Neokruzhniki (extinct)** Novozybkovskaya hierarchy or [[Russian Old-Orthodox Church]]** [[Beglopopovtsy]] (extinct, now the Russian Old-Orthodox Church)** Luzhkane, also known as ''Luzhkovskoe soglasie'' (extinct). In some places, they had no priests and so belonged to [[Bespopovtsy]].
** [[Pomortsy]] or Danilovtsy (not to be confused with Pomors) originated in North European Russia (Russian Karelia, Arkhangelsk region). Initially they rejected marriage and prayer for the Tsar. ** Novopomortsy, or "New Pomortsy" - accept marriage** Staropomortsy, or "Old Pomortsy" - reject marriage** [[Fedoseevtsy]] – “Society of Christian Old Believers of the Old Pomortsy Unmarried Confession” (1690s- present); deny marriage and practise cloister-style asceticism.** [[Fillipovtsy]].** [[Chasovennye]] (from a word ''chasovnya'' - a chapel) - Siberian branch. The Chasovennye initially had priests, but later decided to change to a priestless practice. Also known as [[Semeyskie]] (in the lands east of Baykal Lake).
** Old Believers perform the [[Divine Liturgy]] with seven [[prosphora]], not five, as in new-style Orthodoxy. ** Old Believers chant the [[alleluia]] verse after the psalmody twice, not three times.** Old Believers do not use [[polyphony|polyphonic]] singing, but only monophonic (unison) chant. They also have their own way of writing down music: not with linear notation, but with special signs — ''kryuki'' or ''znamena'' ("hooks: or "banners" in English translation; see [[Znamenny Chant]]). Old Believers practice several different types of Znamenny Chan]: [[znamenny raspev]], [[stolpovoy raspev]], [[pomorsky raspev]] (or khomovoe singing), [[demestvenny raspev]], etc. ** Old Believers use only [[icon]]s of old Russian or Byzantine iconography; they do not believe in venerating realistic images of Christ, the [[Theotokos]] and the saints as icons (which has wide acceptance in new-style Orthodoxy). Old Ritualists do not accept photographic or printed reproductions of icons in their worship. ** Old Believers do not kneel while praying, but in comparison with new-style Orthodoxy, they perform more bows and prostrations. While making prostrations, Old Believers use a special little rug called a ''[[podruchnik]]'', placing their hands on it. The fingers used to make the Sign of the Cross must remain clean during the prayers.** On average the Old Believers' services last two to three times longer than in new-style Orthodoxy. In general, the Old Believers insist on following the rubrics to the letter, and refrain from shortening the [[Psalter]] readings and hymnography. They also tend to combine several services together, sometimes redundantly. Thus, a typical Old-Rite "vigil service" (''vsenoschnoe bdenie'') would include shortened ("small") [[vespers]], a solemn ("great") vespers, [[compline]], midnight office, [[matins]] and [[Hours|the First Hour]].
** While saying repetitive prayers, Old Believers use a special type of beads called ''[[lestovka]]''.** Old Believers who have ordained priests use a more strict preparation before [[Eucharist|Communion]] — with very strict fasting within the week before Communion. This explains in part why Communion among laity is common only during the [[Lent]] and other long fasts.** It is common after each [[confession]] to have some [[epitimia]]. Usually, it is certain number of bows, which are counted with the help of a lestovka.
Brought the article somewhat more in accord with the current WP-version
[[Image:Boyarynja Morozova.jpg|frame|Detail of the painting ''Boyarynya Morozova'' by Vasily Surikov depicting a the defiant Old Believer Boyarynya arrested by Tsarist authorities in 1671. She holds two fingers raised: a hint of the old (i.e. "proper") way of [[Sign of the cross|cross-signing]] oneself: with two fingers, rather than with three.]]
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the '''Old Believers''' (Russian: ''старове́ры'' or ''старообря́дцы'') separated after 1666-1667 from the hierarchy of the [[Church of Russia]] as a protest against church reforms introduced by [[Patriarch]] [[Nikon of Moscow]].
Old Believers continue liturgical practices which the Russian Orthodox Church maintained before the implementation of these reforms. Because of the use of these older liturgical practices, they are also known as '''Old Ritualists'', especially by those who recognize the faith of the Old Believers as being identical with mainstream Orthodoxy.
Russian-speakers refer to the schism itself as ''raskol'' ('''раскол''' - etymologically indicating a "cleaving-apart").
|-
! [[Creed]]
| рождена, '''а''' не сотворена ''(begotten '''but''' not made)''; И в Дѹха СвѧтагоДуха Святаго, Господа''' истиннаго''' и Животворѧщаго Животворящаго ''(And in the Holy Ghost, the '''True''' Lord, the Giver of Life)'' || рождена, не сотворена ''(begotten not made)''; И в Дѹха СвѧтагоДуха Святаго, Господа Животворѧщаго Животворящаго ''(And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, the Giver of Life)''
|-я
! [[Sign of the Cross]]
|-
!Alleluia
| Аллилуїa, аллилуїa, слава ТебѣТебе, Боже ''(Alleluia, alleluia, glory to Thee, o God)''|| Аллилуїa, аллилуїa, аллилуїa, слава ТебѣТебе, Боже (thrice ''alleluia'')|-!Glory be to the Father| Слава Отцѹ и Сынѹ и Свѧтомѹ Дѹхѹ, И нынe и приснω и во вѣки вѣкωмъ. Аминь. ''(Slava Otsu i Synu i Svyatomu Dukhu, i nynie i prisno i vo vieki viekom. Amin.) || Слава Отцѹ и Сынѹ и Свѧтомѹ Дѹхѹ, И нынe и приснω и во вѣки вѣкωвъ. Аминь. ''(... i vo vieki viekov. Amin)''
|}
Notes on other differences appear below. Modern readers may perceive these alterations as trivial, but the faithful of that time saw rituals and dogmas as strongly interconnected: church rituals had from the very beginning represented and symbolised doctrinal truth (see the section on ''Justification of Old BeliefBackgrounds'' below). Furthermore, the authorities imposed the reforms in an autocratic fashion, with no consultation of the people who would become subject to them, and the reaction against the so-called Nikonian reforms would have objected as much to the manner of imposition as to the actual alterations. In addition, changes often occurred arbitrarily in the texts. For example, wherever the books read 'Христосъ' ("Christ"), Nikon's assistants substituted 'Сынъ' ("the Son"), and wherever they read 'Сынъ' they substituted 'Христосъ'. Another example is that wherever the books read 'Церковь' ("Church"), Nikon substituted 'Храмъ' ("Temple") and vice-versa. The perceived arbitrariness of the changes infuriated the faithful, who resented needless change for the sake of change.
== The Schism or "Raskol" ==
In 1971 the Moscow Patriarchate revoked the anathemas placed on the Old Believers in the 17th century, but most Old Believer communities have not returned to Communion with other Orthodox Christians.
Estimates place the total number of Old Believers remaining today at from 1 to 10 millions, some living in extremely isolated communities in places to which they fled centuries ago to avoid persecution. One [http://www.churchofthenativity.net/index.html Old-Believer parish] in the United States has entered into communion with the [[Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia]].
Old-Believer churches in Russia currently have started restoration of their property, although Old Believers (unlike the nearly-official mainstream Orthodoxy) face many difficulties in claiming their restitution rights for their churches. Moscow has churches for all the most important Old Believer branches: [[Rogozhskaya Zastava]] ([[Popovtsy]] of the [[Belokrinitskaya hierarchy]] official center), a cathedral for the [[Novozybkovskaya hierarchy]] in [[Zamoskvorech'ye]] and [[Preobrazhenskaya Zastava]] where [[Pomortsy]] and [[Fedoseevtsy]] coexist.
The Popovtsy represented the more moderate conservative opposition, those who strove to continue religious and church life as it had existed before the reforms of Nikon. They recognized ordained priests from the new-style Russian Orthodox church who joined the Old Believers and who had denounced the Nikonian reforms. In 1846 they convinced Amvrosii Popovich (1791-1863), a deposed [[Greek Orthodox]] bishop whom Turkish pressure had had removed from his see at Sarajevo, to become an Old Believer and to consecrate three Russian Old-Believer priests as bishops. In 1859, the number of Old-Believer bishops in Russia reached ten, and they established their own [[episcopate]], the [[Belokrinitskaya hierarchy]]. Not all priestist Old Believers recognized this hierarchy. Dissenters known as беглопоповцы (''beglopopovtsy'') obtained their own hierarchy in the 1920s. The priestist Old Believers thus manifest as two churches which share the same beliefs, but which treat each other's hierarchy as illegitimate. [[Popovtsy]] have priests, bishops and all [[sacrament]]s, including the [[eucharist]].
=== Bespopovtsy ===
The Bespopovtsy (the "priestless") rejected "the World" where [[Antichrist]] reigned; they preached the imminent end of the world, [[asceticism]], adherence to the old rituals and the old faith. The Bespopovtsy claimed that the true church of Christ had ceased to exist on Earth, and they therefore renounced priests and all sacraments except [[baptism]]. The Bespopovtsy movement has many sub-groups. [[Bespopovtsy]] have no priests and no [[eucharist]].
====Bespopovsty: Minor groups====
==Edinovertsy==
'''Edinovertsy''' (Russian: единоверцы -- 'people of the same faith', as opposed to ''староверы'' -- people of the "old faith", i.e., Old Believers) - Agreed to become a part of the official Russian Orthodox Church while saving the old rites. First appearing in 1800, the Edinovertsy come under the [[omophorion]] of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate or of the Russian Church Abroad. They retain the use of the pre-Nikonian rituals. They usually refer to themselves as "Old Ritualists" (''staroobryadtsy''), rather than as "Old Believers".
== Differences between the Old Believers and post-Nikonian Russian Orthodoxy ==
Old Believers and new-style Orthodoxy have a lot of small, but essential differences in their respective church services. The very style and atmosphere of the services differs:
[[Image:Lestovka.jpg|right|thumb|Lestovka]]
* Old Believers do not venerate saints that appeared in Orthodoxy after 1666. For example, they do not venerate St. [[Seraphim of Sarov]], one of the most well-known Russian saints of the 19th century. On the other hand, many Old Believers' ecclesial bodies have [[canonization|canonized]] a number of saints who are not recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church, e.g. [[Avvakum]] and others.
* Old Believers use cast (silver, bronze) and carved (wooden) icons as well as painted ones. The new-style Orthodoxy prohibited the veneration of icons in relief. In Old Believer circles the practice continued and became very popular, since Old Believers had often to hide their religious implements. Cast icons of small size (and often also folding; see [[skladen]]) proved very useful in that respect.
</blockquote>
== Justification of Old Belief Backgrounds ==
[[image:Raskolnikchurch.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Old Believer Church in Ulan Ude, Buryatia, Russia]]
The Old Believer schism did not occur simply as a result of a few individuals with power and influence. The schism had complex causes, revealing historical processes and circumstances in 17th-century Russian society. Those who broke loose from the hierarchy of the official State Church had quite divergent views on church, faith, society, state power and social issues. Thus the collective term “Old Believers” groups together various movements within Russian society which actually had existed long before 1666/1667. They shared a distrust of state power and of the episcopate, insisting upon the right of the people to arrange their own spiritual life, and expressing the ambition to aim for such control.
