Has Archpriest Habakkuk been canonized? Two curses of Archpriest Avvakum

Archpriest Avvakum (1620-1682) is an outstanding historical figure. On Russian soil, the authority of this man in the 17th century was enormous. He was considered a righteous persecuted martyr and one of the main opponents of Patriarch Nikon. The severity of his character and the highest integrity aroused respect not only among his supporters, but also among his enemies. The logical end was martyrdom. The death of this man finally split the Russian Orthodox Church. The Nikonians burned Habakkuk, and with him “all the bridges burned down.” There are no points of contact left between the Old Believers and the Nikonians.

The Old Believers' opposition to Nikonianism

short biography

This amazing man was born in the village of Grigorovo, Nizhny Novgorod province. His father was the parish priest Peter. The mother's name was Maria. When the boy was 15 years old, his father died. At the age of 17, the young man married a 14-year-old girl, Anastasia. A year before her marriage, she was orphaned and lived in poverty. Having become a wife, she devotedly served her husband and was a devout assistant in all his affairs.

In 1642, the young man was ordained a deacon (the lowest degree of priesthood). After 2 years, he was given the 2nd degree of priesthood, and he became a priest in the village of Lopatitsy, Nizhny Novgorod province. Already during these years, the future great martyr began to demonstrate to those around him an uncompromising and stern character. He unswervingly followed the word of God in everything and demanded the same from his flock.

One day a girl of fornication and extraordinary beauty came to him for confession. The priest was inflamed with passion for her. But in order to suppress the vicious feeling in himself, he lit 3 candles and placed the palm of his right hand on the fire. So he stood until severe pain suppressed his sinful desire.

For his righteous deeds, he was awarded the title of archpriest (modern - archpriest). And in 1648 there was a conflict with governor Sheremetev. He was sailing along the Volga with his son and wanted the archpriest to bless his young son. Habakkuk was taken to the ship, but he considered that the young man was too lascivious and refused to bless him. The angry boyar ordered the priest to be thrown into the water. He would have inevitably drowned, but fishermen on a boat arrived and pulled the choking man out of the water.

Soon the uncompromising clergyman was transferred to Yuryevets-Povolsky, and in 1651 he ended up in Moscow. Here Patriarch Joseph treated him very well. But he died in 1652, and his place was taken by Patriarch Nikon, who also initially favored the principled priest.

Church reform and the fight against Nikonianism

Church reform began very soon. She put an end to the traditions of “ancient piety.” The Greek rite was taken as a basis, which in many ways did not coincide with the Great Russian one. All this caused sharp criticism from Avvakum, Ivan Neronov, as well as many other prominent clergy. They all left Patriarch Nikon. In response to this, he organized their persecution.

In 1653, Archpriest Avvakum was locked in the monastery basement for 3 days. He was not given water or food, demanding that he renounce his views and accept the new church rite. However, he did not break in spirit and did not compromise. Having achieved nothing from the rebel priest, he was exiled to Tobolsk.

However, the martyr did not stay long in Tobolsk, as he continued to actively campaign against the new church reform. Then he was exiled to Transbaikalia to the Nerchinsk governor Afanasy Pashkov. He was a man of pathological cruelty. It was he who was put in charge of the exiled archpriest. It would seem that one should behave extremely carefully with the governor and not contradict him. But, as they say, I found a scythe on a stone.

The priest began to harshly criticize Pashkov, considering all his activities wrong. Naturally, the undivided owner of Transbaikalia did not like this. He ordered the daring heretic to be brought to him and severely beat him. Then he ordered to be flogged and put in prison near the Padunsky threshold on the Angara River. The rebellious freethinker sat there in cold and hunger for a whole winter, but did not bow his head to the governor and did not ask for his forgiveness.

In the spring the archpriest was released from prison. He and his family were assigned to a regiment that marched through untrodden lands to the east. People overcame stormy rivers, made their way through the taiga and at the same time suffered many hardships. For 6 years the priest himself, as well as his wife and children, stayed in the harsh Siberian lands. They visited Baikal, Amur, Shilka. They often didn’t eat enough and got sick.

Burning of Old Believers

Only in 1663 did the priest, not broken in spirit, return to Moscow. The reason for the royal favor was the disgrace of Patriarch Nikon. The return journey went through all of Russia and was long. In all cities, Archpriest Avvakum mercilessly criticized Nikonianism. But in the throne room the martyr was greeted with reverence and respect. The sovereign made an offer to become his confessor. However, the proud freethinker refused.

He wrote an autobiographical book entitled "The Life of Archpriest Avvakum." At the same time, he annoyed the secular and spiritual leadership in every possible way with teachings. Soon, representatives of the highest hierarchy became convinced that the daring priest was not Nikon’s enemy, but was categorically opposed to reforming the church. He continued to cross himself with two fingers, although everyone recognized three fingers. He advocated the eight-pointed cross and walking with salt. The Greek rite interpreted these primordial Russian Orthodox traditions differently.

The priest's impudent behavior ultimately angered the sovereign. In 1664, he was exiled to the north of the Arkhangelsk province to the city of Mezen, and in 1666 he was brought to Moscow, where the church trial of Patriarch Nikon was underway. Everyone hoped that the freethinker would come to his senses and recognize the church reform, but he remained unconvinced. Then the church court deprived him of the priesthood, which caused discontent among many people, including the queen’s mother. Such an action formally meant excommunication. Therefore, Habakkuk became angry and anathematized the highest church leadership.

After this, a supporter of the old faith was exiled to the Pafnutyevo-Borovsky Monastery, located in the Kaluga province. They kept him there in a dark cell for almost a year, hoping that he would come to his senses. When those in power realized that everything was useless, they sent the Old Believer in 1667 to the farthest north beyond the Arctic Circle to the city of Pustozersk, located in the lower reaches of the Pechora River. But at that time they did not dare to execute the freethinker, although many of his comrades lost their lives, not wanting to give up the old faith.

The end of life's journey

Pustozersk was located at the “end of the earth,” but this did not frighten the pilgrims. They went there in an endless stream to communicate with the rebellious archpriest. They went back, hiding messages to the flock in their staffs, denouncing Nikonianism. Those messages called for the defense of “ancient piety.”

At the same time, it should be noted that the schismatics did not limit themselves to preaching the Great Russian rite. Many of them called for self-immolation as the only way to save the soul. It is generally accepted that it was Habakkuk who initiated the self-immolation. But that's not true. He considered self-immolation only as one of the means of fighting the Nikonians. Moreover, the person had to take such a step absolutely voluntarily and without coercion.

The very idea of ​​self-immolation came from the theory of self-destruction of the elder Kapiton, whose activity occurred in the 30s of the 17th century. Capito's teaching is a life-denying heresy, since suicide was declared good. Such a view had nothing in common with genuine Christianity.

Monument to Archpriest Avvakum

In 1676, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich died. Fyodor Alekseevich ascended the Moscow throne. He was a quiet and impressionable man. He paid great attention to matters of piety. A rebellious Old Believer, whose health in the far north had already been considerably undermined, decided to take advantage of this.

He wrote a letter to the sovereign in which he reported that he had seen Alexei Mikhailovich burning in hell in a dream. He ended up in hell for rejecting the true faith and accepting Nikonianism. Thus, the freethinker, deprived of the degree of priesthood, wanted to turn the new king away from the Greek rite.

But Fyodor did not even think that his father could be a sinner. He considered the letter “a great blasphemy against the royal house.” After this, events began to unfold tragically. Archpriest Avvakum was accused of all mortal sins and in 1682 he was burned in a log house along with his closest associates. Thus ended the life of an amazing and persistent man who accepted martyrdom for his faith. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Old Believer Church canonized him as a saint, and a monument was erected in the village of Grigorovo at the end of the 20th century.

In the lower reaches of the Pechera River, 20 kilometers from the modern city of Naryan-Mar, there once was a Pustozersky fort - the first Russian city in the Arctic. Now this outpost of Russia’s development of the North and Siberia has ceased to exist.

The city was abandoned in the 20s of the last century. Neither the remains of the fortress nor residential buildings have survived in the local tundra. Only a strange monument rises: from a log frame, two wooden obelisks rise, like a double finger, crowned with a canopy. This is a monument to the “Pustozero sufferers” who, according to legend, were burned on this very spot. One of them is Archpriest Avvakum Petrov, one of the most prominent personalities of the era of church schism, priest, writer, rebel and martyr. What was the fate of this man that led him to the wild polar region, where he found his death?

Parish priest

Avvakum Petrov was born in 1620 in the family of the parish priest Peter Kondratyev in the village of Grigorov near Nizhny Novgorod. His father, by Avvakum’s own admission, was inclined to “drink intoxicated”; his mother, on the contrary, was the strictest in life and taught her son the same. At the age of 17, Avvakum, on the orders of his mother, married Anastasia Markovna, the daughter of a blacksmith. She became his faithful wife and assistant for life.

At the age of 22, Avvakum was ordained a deacon, and two years later - a priest. In his youth, Avvakum Petrov knew many bookish people of that time, including Nikon, the one who would later become the initiator of church reforms that led to a schism.

However, for the time being, their paths diverged. Nikon left for Moscow, where he quickly joined the circle of those close to the young Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Avvakum became the priest of the village of Lopatitsa. First in Lopatitsy, then in Yuryevets-Povolsky, Avvakum showed himself to be such a strict priest and intolerant of human weaknesses that he was repeatedly beaten by his own flock. He drove away buffoons, exposed the sins of parishioners in church and on the street, and once refused to bless a boyar’s son because he was shaving his beard.

Nikon's enemy

Fleeing from angry parishioners, Archpriest Avvakum and his family moved to Moscow, where he hoped to find patronage from his old friend Nikon and the royal circle. However, in Moscow, on the initiative of Nikon, who became Patriarch, church reform began, and Avvakum quickly became the leader of the zealots of antiquity. In September 1653, Avvakum, who by that time had written a number of harsh petitions to the tsar with complaints about church innovations and did not hesitate to publicly oppose Nikon’s actions, was thrown into the basement of the Andronikov Monastery, and then exiled to Tobolsk.

Exile

The Siberian exile lasted 10 years. During this time, Avvakum and his family went from a relatively prosperous life in Tobolsk to the terrible Dauria - as the Transbaikal lands were called at that time. Avvakum did not want to humble his stern, unyielding disposition, everywhere he exposed the sins and untruths of his parishioners, including the highest-ranking ones, angrily denounced Nikon’s innovations that reached Siberia, and as a result he found himself further and further from the inhabited lands, dooming himself and his family to more difficult living conditions. In Dauria, he found himself as part of the detachment of governor Pashkov. Avvakum wrote about his relationship with this man: “Either he tormented me, or I did not know.” Pashkov was not inferior to Avvakum in severity and toughness of character, and, it seems, set out to break the stubborn archpriest. Not so. Avvakum, repeatedly beaten, doomed to spend the winter in the “icy tower”, suffering from wounds, hunger and cold, did not want to humble himself and continued to brand his tormentor.

Undressed

Finally, Avvakum was allowed to return to Moscow. At first, the tsar and his entourage received him kindly, especially since Nikon was in disgrace at that time. However, it soon became clear that the point was not personal enmity between Avvakum and Nikon, but that Avvakum was a principled opponent of the entire church reform and rejected the possibility of salvation in the Church, where they served according to new books. Alexey Mikhailovich first admonished him, personally and through friends, asking him to calm down and stop denouncing church innovations. However, the sovereign’s patience finally ran out, and in 1664 Avvakum was exiled to Mezen, where he continued his preaching, which was very warmly supported by the people. In 1666, Avvakum was brought to Moscow for trial. A church council was specially convened for this purpose. After much exhortation and bickering, the Council decided to deprive him of his rank and “curse” him. Habakkuk responded by immediately imposing an anathema on the participants of the cathedral.

Avvakum was stripped of his hair, punished with a whip and exiled to Pustozersk. Many boyars stood up for him, even the queen asked, but in vain.

Martyr

In Pustozersk, Avvakum spent 14 years in an earthen prison on bread and water. Other prominent figures of the Schism - Lazarus, Epiphanius and Nikephoros - served their sentences with him. In Pustozersk, the rebellious archpriest wrote his famous “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum.” This book became not only the brightest document of the era, but also one of the most significant works of pre-Petrine literature, in which Avvakum Petrov anticipated the problems and many techniques of later Russian literature. In addition to the Life, Avvakum continued to write letters and messages, which left the Pustozersk prison and were distributed in different cities of Russia. Finally, Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, who replaced Alexei Mikhailovich on the throne, became angry at one particularly harsh message from Avvakum, in which he criticized the late sovereign. On April 14, 1682, on Good Friday, Habakkuk and three of his companions were burned in a log house.

The Old Believer Church venerates Archpriest Avvakum as a martyr and confessor.

Archpriest Avvakum Petrov(25 November 1620–14 (24) April 1682)

Holy Hieromartyr and Confessor Archpriest Habakkuk Petrov was born on November 20, 1621 in the village Grigorovo, Nizhny Novgorod, in the family of a priest. Having lost his father early, he was raised by his mother, “ great faster and prayer book" Married a fellow villager Anastasia Markovna, which became his faithful helper to salvation" At the age of 21 he was ordained a deacon, at 23 a priest, and eight years later he was “consecrated to the rank of archpriest” (archpriest - senior priest, archpriest) of the city of Yuryevets of the Volga region.

The gift of a preacher, the gift of healing the sick and possessed, the willingness to " to lay down one's soul for one's sheep“attracted numerous children from all walks of life to him. But harsh denunciations of the arbitrariness of local authorities and the moral depravity of the flock caused discontent and embitterment, as a result of which he was more than once beaten almost to death and persecuted. Seeking protection in Moscow, he became close with circle of zealots of piety, headed by the royal confessor Fr. Stefan Vonifatiev. The future patriarch also joined the circle Nikon.

The goal of the lovers of God was to streamline church services, publish correct liturgical and spiritual-educational literature, as well as improve the morals of the then Russian society. Having become patriarch, Nikon began to act in the opposite direction. Instead of correction, he began to change the books and the order of worship according to modern Greek models published in Catholic Venice. When the lovers of God learned about this, they, in the words of Archpriest Avvakum, “ my heart went cold and my legs trembled».

Nikon's reforms found Avvakum in Moscow, where he served in the church Kazan Mother of God on the Red Square. The struggle for patristic tradition was led by the “fiery archpriest.” Nikon’s supporters did not disdain the most cruel means: torture, starvation, burning at the stake, everything was used to propagate the “ventures” of the despot patriarch. Avvakum was put “on the chain”, then exiled with his family to Tobolsk, then even further east, to Dauria (Trans-Baikal Territory), under the command of “ fierce commander» Pashkova.

After ten years of wandering in incredibly difficult conditions of Siberia, where he lost two young children, the sufferer is summoned to Moscow and convinced to accept Nikon’s innovations. But Habakkuk remains adamant. Another link, now to the north. Before the council of 1666, Avvakum was again brought to Moscow, to the Borovsky Monastery, and for ten weeks he was persuaded to give up the fight, but in vain.

“I believe this, I confess this, I live and die with this,” the holy warrior of Christ answered the tormentors.

Lawlessly stripped of his hair and anathematized, together with his like-minded priests Lazarus, deacon Theodore and monk Epiphanius he was sent to distant Pustozersk, located near the North Sea, to the region of permafrost, where he languished in an earthen pit for 15 years. Deprived of the opportunity to preach orally, Habakkuk writes and, through faithful people, sends messages, interpretations and consolations to the children of the Church of Christ throughout Rus'. Nowadays more than 90 works of the saint are known, and almost all of them were created during the years of imprisonment in Pustozero. Here he wrote the famous “Life”.

Heeding the calls of Archpriest Avvakum, an increasing number of Russian people stood up in defense of the old faith. Patriarch, a zealous supporter of innovations Joachim began to demand the execution of the holy confessors. After the death of the king Alexey Mikhailovich his young son ascends to the Russian throne Theodore. Archpriest Avvakum sends a petition to the new king calling on him to return to his grandfather’s piety. The order came in response:

burn Pustozersky prisoners “for the great blasphemy against the royal house.”

On April 14, 1682, on the day of remembrance of the holy new martyrs Anthony, John and Eustathius, on Friday of Holy Week, the sentence was carried out. People gathered for the execution and took off their hats. When the fire began to gain strength, a hand with two fingers rose above the flames and the mighty voice of the holy martyr Habakkuk began to be heard with farewell words that became a testament and prophecy:

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! Stand in faith, children! Do not give in to the flattery of the servants of the Antichrist...

Archpriest Avvakum (Avvakum Petrovich Kondratyev; 1620 or 1621, Grigorovo, Knyaginitsky district - April 14 (27), 1682, Pustozersk) - archpriest of the city of Yuryevets-Povolsky, opponent of the liturgical reform of Patriarch Nikon of the 17th century; spiritual writer.

43 works are attributed to him, including the famous “Life”, “Book of Conversations”, “Book of Interpretations”, “Book of Reproofs”, etc. He is considered the founder of new Russian literature, free figurative speech, and confessional prose.

Old Believers reverence Avvakum as a martyr and confessor.

Life

Coming from a poor family, quite well-read, of a strict disposition, he gained fame quite early as an ascetic of Orthodoxy, who also engaged in exorcism of demons.

Strict with himself, he mercilessly pursued any deviation from church rules, as a result of which around 1651 he was forced to flee from the indignant flock of the city of Yuryevets-Povolsky to Moscow. Here Avvakum Petrovich, considered a scientist and personally known to the tsar, participated in the “book council” carried out under Patriarch Joseph. When Patriarch Joseph died in 1652, the new Patriarch Nikon replaced the previous Moscow inquirers with Ukrainian scribes led by Arseny the Greek. The reason was the difference in approaches to reform: if Avvakum, Ivan Neronov and others advocated correcting church books based on Old Russian Orthodox manuscripts, then Nikon was going to do this based on Greek liturgical books. Initially, the patriarch wanted to take the ancient “charatean” books, but then he was content with Italian reprints. Avvakum and other opponents of the reform were confident that these publications were not authoritative and were distorted. The archpriest sharply criticized Nikon's point of view in a petition to the king, written by him together with the Kostroma archpriest Daniil.

Avvakum took one of the first places among the adherents of antiquity and was one of the first victims of the persecution to which Nikon's opponents were subjected. In September 1653, he was thrown into prison and they began to persuade him to accept the “new books,” but to no avail. Avvakum Petrovich was exiled to Tobolsk, then for 6 years he was under the governor Afanasy Pashkov, sent to conquer the “Daurian land”, reached Nerchinsk, Shilka and Amur, enduring not only all the hardships of a difficult campaign, but also cruel persecution from Pashkov, whom he exposed him in various “untruths”.

Meanwhile, Nikon lost all influence at court, and in 1663 Avvakum was returned to Moscow. The first months of his return to Moscow were a time of great personal triumph for Avvakum - the tsar himself showed affection for him. However, soon everyone became convinced that Avvakum was not Nikon’s personal enemy, but a principled opponent of church reform. Through the boyar Rodion Streshnev, the tsar advised him, if not to join the reformed church, then at least not to criticize it. Habakkuk followed the advice, but this did not last long. Soon he began to criticize the bishops even more strongly than before, introducing an unequal 4-pointed cross instead of the 8-pointed one adopted in Rus', the correction of the Creed, the Trifinger addition, Partes singing, rejecting the possibility of salvation according to the newly corrected liturgical books, and even sent a petition to the king, in which he asked to depose Nikon and restore Joseph's rituals.

In 1664, Avvakum was exiled to Mezen, where he stayed for a year and a half, continuing his preaching and supporting his followers scattered throughout Russia with messages in which he called himself “a slave and messenger of Jesus Christ,” “a proto-Singelian of the Russian church.”

In 1666, Avvakum was again brought to Moscow, where on May 13, after futile exhortations at the cathedral that gathered to try Nikon, he was cut off and cursed in the Assumption Cathedral at mass, in response to which he immediately imposed an anathema on the bishops.

And after this they did not give up the idea of ​​​​convincing Avvakum, whose defrocking was met with great indignation among the people, and in many boyar houses, and even at court, where the queen, who interceded for Avvakum, had a “great disturbance” with the king on his day of defrocking. Avvakum was again persuaded in the face of the Eastern patriarchs in the Chudov Monastery, but he firmly stood his ground. At this time, his comrades were executed. Avvakum was punished with a whip and exiled to Pustozersk (1667). At the same time, his tongue was not cut out, like Lazarus and Epiphanius, with whom he and Nikifor, the archpriest of Simbirsk, were exiled to Pustozersk.

For 14 years he sat on bread and water in an earthen prison in Pustozersk, continuing his preaching, sending out letters and messages. Finally, his harsh letter to Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, in which he criticized Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and scolded Patriarch Joachim, decided the fate of both him and his comrades: they were all burned in a log house in Pustozersk.

Avvakum is revered in most Old Believer churches and communities as a martyr and confessor. In 1916, the Old Believer Church of Belokrinitsky Consent canonized Avvakum as a saint.

On June 5, 1991, a monument to Avvakum was unveiled in the village of Grigorovo, Nizhny Novgorod region.

Theology

Avvakum Petrovich's doctrinal views are quite traditional; his favorite area of ​​theology is moral and ascetic. The polemical orientation is expressed in criticism of Nikon’s reforms, which he connects with “Roman fornication,” that is, with Latinism.

God, judging by the works of Habakkuk, invisibly accompanied the passion-bearer at all stages of his life’s journey, helping to punish the wicked and wicked. Thus, Avvakum describes how a governor who hated him sent an exile to fish in a fishless place. Habakkuk, wanting to shame him, appealed to the Almighty - and “the God of fish caught his nets full.” This approach to communication with God is very similar to the Old Testament: God, according to Habakkuk, shows close interest in the daily lives of those who suffer for the true faith.

Avvakum suffered, according to him, not only from the persecutors of the true faith, but also from demons: at night they allegedly played domra and pipes, preventing the priest from sleeping, knocked the rosary out of his hands during prayer, and even resorted to direct physical violence - they grabbed the archpriest by the head and twisted it. However, Avvakum is not the only zealot of the old faith overcome by demons: the torture allegedly perpetrated by the devil’s servants on the monk Epiphanius, Avvakum’s spiritual father, was much more severe.

Researchers have discovered a very strong dependence of the ideological world of Habakkuk on patristic and patericon writing. Anti-Old Believer literature often discusses the archpriest’s contradictory answer to a question from one of his correspondents, preserved in a letter whose authenticity is in doubt, about an expression that confused her in one liturgical text about the Trinity. This expression could be understood in such a way that in the Holy Trinity there are three essences or beings, to which Habakkuk replied “do not be afraid, smite the insect.” This remark gave New Believer polemicists a reason to talk about “heresy” (tritheism). Subsequently, they tried to justify these views of Avvakum in Irgiz, so that from such apologists a special sense of “Onufrievites” emerged. In fact, the archpriest’s views on the Holy Trinity did not differ from the patristic ones, as can be seen from the preface to the Life, and his careless expressions were not accepted by the Old Believers. A number of researchers, in particular N. M. Nikolsky and E. A. Rozenkov, talk about Avvakum’s lack of awareness of issues of Orthodox dogma. Thus, the phrase from the letter in which Habakkuk promised the call that followed that he would see “three kings” causes confusion.

see also

• Split
• Old Believers
• Church reform of Patriarch Nikon
• death of Avvakum Petrov

Links

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
• Avvakum Petrovich “Life... Petitions to the Tsar. Letters to Boyarina Morozova" facsimile reproduction of the Paris edition of 1951. ImWerden Library
• Avvakum in the Fundamental Electronic Library “Russian Literature and Folklore”
• Habakkuk. Messages from Archpriest Avvakum to Boyarina Theodora Morozova, Princess Evdokia Urusova and Maria Danilova / Communication. P.I. Melnikov // Russian Archive, 1864. – Issue. 7/8. - Stb. 707-717.
• Habakkuk. Petition from Archpriest Avvakum // Russian Archive, 1864. – Vol. 1. – Stb. 26-33.

Mazitova Irina, Smirnova Natalya GBOU Secondary School No. 879.

Research materials that can be used in literature, history and MHC lessons

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“May the descendants of the Orthodox of their native land know the past fate...” (A.S. Pushkin)

The image of Archpriest Avvakum in the Life and in modern Russian literature (based on the works of Yu. Nagibin and V. Pikul).

Mazitova Irina, Smirnova Natalya

GBOU secondary school No. 879.

Head: Mikhailovskaya Elena Vladimirovna.

Introduction.

…. “Any historical era is inextricably linked with the personalities who created it, with their merits and demerits, heroic and shameful manifestations of their characters, illustrating not only the personalities of their heroes, but also the entire era to which they belonged.”

... “Are you afraid of that cave? Go for it, spit on it - don’t be afraid! Until that cave there is fear. And when I entered it, then I forgot everything...” “From the dark depths of the 17th century, as if from an abyss, the piercing eyes of Archpriest Avvakum, a writer whom we highly honor, have long been shining for us, attractively and mysteriously.” But why?

Archpriest Avvakum Petrov was the largest ideologist of that religious-social movement, which went down in history under the inaccurate name of “schism.” At the same time, he was a writer with outstanding literary talent.

Valentin Pikul rightly noted: “If it weren’t for Avvakum, our literature would not, it seems, have had a solid foundation on which it has been unshakably based for three centuries. Russian literature began precisely with Avvakum, who was the first in Rus' to speak in a fiery and figurative language - not church, but folk. Realism, killing the enemy on the spot, was generated by Habakkuk.”

When books triumph, the author triumphs. But with Habakkuk things are not so simple. Everyone recognizes his outstanding literary gift: “A living, peasant, full-blooded voice burst into dead literature, like a storm. These were the brilliant “life” and “messages” of the rebel, the frantic archpriest Avvakum.”

Everyone recognizes that he was a people's intercessor, fearlessly fighting with the ecclesiastical and secular authorities, with the tsar himself: “Like a lion roar, tenacious, exposing their manifold charm.” Everyone agrees that Habakkuk never betrayed his soul, that he did not bend under the cross of his “truth”: “In it, we boast and rejoice in our sorrows, tormented by you Nikonians, in prisons, and in chains, and in deaths many times.” from your salary. For twenty-two summers I have been floating this way and that, sometimes naked, sometimes naked, sometimes killed, sometimes in the rain, sometimes on scum, sometimes on a chain, sometimes in irons, sometimes in prison, besides everyday attacks and separations of my wife and children.”

However, popular opinion and a superficial view are disgusted by a certain shadow of schism on the martyr's crown of Habakkuk. He is the leader and symbol of the Old Believer movement and Old Believer protest. From this they conclude that he is a fanatic and an obscurantist, hostile to novelty as such. They express doubt about his intellect - a doubt that goes back to Simeon of Polotsk. According to Avvakum, this sworn Westerner and brilliant Latinist concluded their face-to-face debate with the following review of his opponent: “Witness, sharpness of the physical mind, and dashing stubbornness! And he doesn’t know how to do science.” The opinion of Simeon of Polotsk has become textbook. This is a look from above: yes, Avvakum is a nugget, a spontaneous talent, the same as Alexei Koltsov and Sergei Yesenin; but Habakkuk lacked proper education (in the Eurocentric sense of the word, of course). Therefore, his philosophy is “ritualism,” a blind, ignorant adherence to the medieval tradition - not even to its spirit, but to its letter. And yet Habakkuk is left within the confines of medieval culture. Meanwhile, both in his worldview and in his creative practice, innovative features clearly appear. Russian writers of the 20th century Valentin Pikul and Yuri Nagibin reflect on this in their works. Their works dedicated to the “furious archpriest” became the subject of our analysis.

But first, let's talk about who Archpriest Avvakum is, how his life and fate turned out, how his contemporaries and descendants treated him.

Essay on life.

Coming from a poor family, quite well-read, of a strict disposition, Avvakum gained fame quite early as a supporterOrthodoxy, who was also involved in expulsiondemons.

Strict with himself, he mercilessly pursued any deviation from church rules, as a result of which aboutwas forced to flee from the indignant flock of the cityYuryevets-Povolozhsky V Moscow. Here is Avvakum Petrovich, considered a scientist and personally famousto the king, participated in thePatriarch Joseph"book right". When Joseph died in year, new patriarchNikonreplaced the previous Moscow onesinquiry officersLittle Russianscribes headed by Arseniy Grek. The reason was the difference in approaches to reform: if Avvakum, Ivan Neronov and others advocated correcting church books based on Old Russian Orthodox manuscripts, then Nikon was going to do this based on Greek liturgical books. Initially, the patriarch wanted to take the ancient “charatean” books, but then he was content with Italian reprints. Avvakum and other opponents of the reform were confident that these publications were not authoritative and were distorted. The archpriest sharply criticized Nikon's point of view inpetitionto the Tsar, written by him together with the Kostroma archpriest Daniil.

Habakkuk took one of the first places among the adherents of antiquity and was one of the first victims of the persecution to which opponents were subjectedNikon. Already in September They threw him into prison and began to persuade him to accept the “new books,” but to no avail. Avvakum Petrovich was exiled toTobolsk, then spent 6 years under the governorAfanasia Pashkov, sent to conquer "Daurian land", reached Nerchinsk, Shilka And Cupid , enduring not only all the hardships of a difficult campaign, but also cruel persecution from Pashkov, whom he accused of various “untruths.”

Meanwhile, Nikon lost all influence at court and inHabakkuk was returned toMoscow. The first months of his return to Moscow were a time of great personal triumph for Avvakum - himselftsarshowed affection for him. However, they soon became convinced that Avvakum Petrovich was not Nikon’s personal enemy, but a principled opponent of the Reform. ThroughboyarRodion Streshnevathe king advised him, if not to join the reformed church, then at least not to criticize it. Avvakum Petrovich followed the advice, but this did not last long. Soon he began to criticize even more strongly than beforebishops, introduced instead of the 8-pointed unequivocal 4-pointed one adopted in Rus'cross, correction of the creed,Three-finger addition, reject the possibility of salvation according to the newly corrected liturgical books, and even sent a petition to the king, in which he asked to depose Nikon and restore Joseph’s rituals.

IN Avvakum Petrovich was exiled toMezen, where he stayed for a year and a half, continuing his preaching and supporting his followers scattered throughout Russia with messages in which he called himself “a slave and an envoyJesus Christ", "proto-Singelom of the Russian Church." INThe city of Habakkuk was again brought toMoscow, Where may 13after futile admonitions at the cathedral that gathered to try Nikon, he was cut off and cursed in the Assumption Cathedral at mass, in response to which he immediately imposedanathema on bishops.

And after that they did not give up the idea of ​​​​convincing Avvakum Petrovich,cutting of hairwhich was met with great indignation among the people, and in many boyar houses, and even at the court, where the queen, who interceded for Avvakum Petrovich, had “great disorder” with the king on his day of defrocking. Avvakum Petrovich was again persuaded in the face of the easternpatriarchs V Chudov Monastery, but he firmly stood his ground. At this time, his comrades were executed. Avvakum Petrovich was punished with a whip and exiled toPustozersk (G.). At the same time, his tongue was not cut out, like Lazarus and Epiphanius, with whom he and Nicephorus,archpriestSimbirsk, were exiled toPustozersk.

For 14 years he sat on bread and water in an earthen prison in Pustozersk, continuing his preaching, sending out letters and messages. Finally, his harsh letter to the TsarFedor Alekseevich, in which he criticized the kingAlexey Mikhailovich and scolded patriarch, decided the fate of both him and his comrades, and they were allburned in the log house in the city Pustozersk.

Habakkuk is revered in most Old Believer churches and communities asmartyr. In 1916 The Old Believer Church of Belokrinitsky Consent canonized Avvakum as a saint.

June 5 in the village GrigorovoThe opening of a monument to Avvakum took place in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

What are the views of Archpriest Avvakum?

Avvakum's doctrinal views are quite traditional; his favorite area of ​​theology is moral and ascetic. The polemical orientation is expressed in criticism of Nikon’s reforms, which he connects with the “Roman fornication”, that is, withLatin.

God, judging by the works of Habakkuk, invisibly accompanied the passion-bearer at all stages of his life’s journey, helping to punish the wicked and wicked. Thus, Avvakum describes how a governor who hated him sent an exile to fish in a fishless place. Habakkuk, wanting to shame him, appealed to the Almighty - and “the God of fish caught his nets full.” This approach to communication with God is very similar to the Old Testament: God, according to Habakkuk, shows close interest in the daily lives of those who suffer for the true faith.

Avvakum suffered, according to him, not only from the persecutors of the true faith, but also from demons: at night they played domras and pipes, preventing the monk from sleeping, knocked the rosary out of his hands during prayer, and even resorted to direct physical violence - they grabbed the archpriest by the head and twisted it. However, Avvakum is not the only zealot of the old faith overcome by demons: the torture inflicted by the servants of the devil on the monk Epiphanius was much more severe.

The idea of ​​equality of people in the writings of Archpriest Avvakum

In the system of socio-religious views of Archpriest Avvakum, one of the major representatives of Russian democratic literature of the second half of the 17th century, the idea of ​​equality of all people occupies a significant place.

In the recent scientific literature devoted to Habakkuk, his beliefs are characterized as extremely conservative; it is believed that “Habakkuk was entirely an exponent of an outdated tradition.” In a number of historical studies about the Old Believers movement of the 17th century. the ideology of this movement (including the views of Avvakum) is recognized as reactionary, “because it did not sharpen the class consciousness of the working masses, but, on the contrary, obscured it and led it into the realm of religion.”

The study of only one aspect of Avvakum’s worldview - his teaching on equality - convinces of the complexity and inconsistency of his views, allows us to establish democratic aspects in the worldview of this bright and original writer, the “rebel archpriest”, in the words of A. M. Gorky.

Let us turn to Habakkuk’s statements about equality and, first of all, to the question of what his argumentation was.

All people are “slaves of God,” he believed.

“Do not talk about the majesty of your rank, like a bolyaroshna - deny this thought and spit on it... “We are all servants of the heavenly king,” Avvakum sternly reprimanded one of his faithful students of boyar origin, Anisye. With such words, Avvakum addressed not only his followers, but also the royal commanders and even the king himself. “The master is the king over all, and the servant is God’s servant with all,” Avvakum asserted boldly, but “truly” in his petition to Alexei Mikhailovich.

All people are equally sinful, “all are scoundrels.” “I am a catechumen, you are a catechumen, we don’t marvel at each other, we are both equal,” Avvakum concludes his instructions to Elder Elena.

For Avvakum, all Orthodox Christians are brothers “in spirit.” He ordered his flock to remember that “one holy spirit acts in everyone, both in the first and in the last,” he “shows his mercy to everyone equally.” All - “the rich and the poor, the poor and the great, the humble and the poor, the orphan and the widow” - for Avvakum “my brothers and children in the Lord.”

These reasonings of Habakkuk are within the framework of the purely Christian argumentation of the equality “before God of all people as sinners and... children of God." But Habakkuk did not limit himself to recognizing the equality of all people before God. His thought went further: people are equal by their very nature.

These views were reflected in the main work of the archpriest’s entire life - the Life.

The Life, with many of its elements, is a vivid expression of the evolution of Russian medieval religious-didactic epic literature into the genre of moralizing everyday novel. The characteristic features of the Life as a work of a new, emerging genre seem to us to be its following features: the unfolding of the narrative, the multi-figure nature, the completeness of the biography of the main character, the individualization of the image, the desire to depict the versatility of character, attention to the acute, dramatic moments of private life caused by social circumstances, the multi-episode nature and at the same time, a single-line, chain composition with a fairly free connection of various episodes. With many of its features, the Life is not so much connected with the traditional genres of ancient Russian writing, but rather foreshadows the emergence of more developed forms of new Russian literature, which, it seems to us, poses for the researcher the task of not retrospectively studying the Life, but of understanding its place in the future of the subsequent development of the Russian literary process . It is no coincidence that it was the Life of Avvakum that attracted such close attention of outstanding Russian prose writers - Leo Tolstoy, Turgenev, Leskov, Melnikov-Pechersky, Mamin-Sibiryak, M. Gorky, A. N. Tolstoy, Leonid Leonov. Of the works about Archpriest Avvakum created in the second half of the twentieth century, the most interesting to us seemed to be the story by Yu. Nagibin “The Fiery Archpriest” and the historical miniature by V. Pikul “Abakkuk in the Fiery Cave.”

Yuri Nagibin "Fiery Archpriest".

Yuri Nagibin was born on April 3, 1920 in Moscow. Nagibin's fame as an author came to him in the early 1950s. In the 1970s, he was attracted by the topic of creativity as such based on modern and historical-cultural material; the writer illuminates his vision of this topic in the “Eternal Companions” series.

As the writer himself admitted, complete knowledge of the material did not bring him closer, but pushed him away from the intended task. Creative flight arose only when memory shook off the burden of facts that fettered the imagination. Among the historical figures who became the heroes of the cycle, Archpriest Avvakum occupies a special place as a symbol of unbending faith, devotion to ideals, consistency, self-denial and love for people, as well as intransigence towards money-grubbers, despots, deceitful and treacherous people.

The story describes the last day of the earthly existence of Archpriest Avvakum, who on this day remembers his entire life. And next to him are the archpriest’s comrades - people who would not exchange their faith for anything and would never renounce it. Even after the torture they continued to pray.

The archpriest's opponents are shown to be ruthless and harsh. The main opponents were Nikon and Tsar Alexei. Nikon is a “power-hungry, cunning, brainy thick-lipped guy” who himself wanted to rise above power. “He led the Orthodox Church under the Greco-Roman yoke, mercilessly dealing with his opponents.” Tsar Alexei, nicknamed the Quietest, shed more blood than the Terrible himself. “He loved Habakkuk in the secrecy of his feelings, he wanted peace with him.” But he only admitted this to the queen.

Against their background, Habakkuk looks like a noble and honest man who is not afraid of death and is ready to withstand any torment. Avvakum was encouraged to write his life by his comrade-in-arms and closest friend, Elder Epiphanius. “This should be a story about the storms of life, about what has been seen and endured, and not a teaching, not a sermon, not an instructive, comforting, petitionary or accusatory message.” Epiphanius demanded complete details from Avvakum: where he was born, from what parents, when he got married. Avvakum described all his joys and torments, of which he had a lot in his life.

The plot of “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum” and Nagibin’s story are similar. But the author - our contemporary - focuses on those episodes of the biography that most clearly show the hero’s personality, his worldview and character traits. Unlike the author of the Life, the “omniscient author” does not talk about the events of the archpriest’s difficult life sequentially, but weaves them into the story of Avvakum’s dying hours, when, as a rule, the most important and dear things are remembered. Once again we are convinced of the archpriest’s integrity, decency, humanity, amazing resilience, faith, which he does not want and cannot renounce even in the face of terrible torment.

Historical miniature by Valentin Pikul “Habakkuk in the fiery furnace”.

... V. Pikul himself compared his sketches with miniature portraits lying in museum display cases. Just like stories, these portraits characterized not only the personalities of their heroes, but also the entire era to which they belonged. And, of course, any historical era is inextricably linked with the personalities who created it, with their merits and demerits, heroic and shameful manifestations of their characters.

At the beginning of the miniature, Pikul says that if it were not for Avvakum, our literature would not have had a solid foundation on which it has rested for three centuries. The merit of Avvakum also lies in the fact, the author tells us, that it was Avvakum who was the first in Rus' to speak in a fiery and figurative language - not church, but popular. Precise and merciless realism, killing the enemy on the spot, was generated by “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum.” Pikul writes about “The Life of Avvakum”: “This is a monstrous volcano - this is the Russian Vesuvius, spewing into the people a red-hot lava of aphorisms and hyperboles, abuse and affection, images and metaphors, intelligence and anger, talent and originality!” The author confidently says that it is impossible to know Russian literature without knowing Avvakum!

We can see Avvakum’s character traits in the scene with the buffoons; it is also present in “Life”. The priest does not allow the buffoons into the village, telling them: “Your fury is demonic, leave the dances of the Antichrist..” A fight ensued. The priest fought fiercely and intelligently. Habakkuk is an immeasurable force. The priest was restless and did not get along with anyone, but he was diligent about church services.

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich favored Avvakum. The power-hungry Nikon was elected patriarch of Rus'. He changed church affairs in a new way. Patriarch Nikon was a fellow countryman of Avvakum.

There were friendly relations between Nikon and “Quiet”, which gradually grew stronger. The filial attitude was most clearly manifested in the fact that Alexei Mikhailovich allowed Nikon to be called the “Great Sovereign.” After the unsuccessful Swedish campaign, which the Tsar undertook with the blessing of the Patriarch, Alexei Mikhailovich completely lost interest in his former favorite. Soon the first serious conflict occurred between the Tsar and the Patriarch. Soon nothing remained of the former friendship between the Tsar and the Patriarch. Nikon perceived the coldness toward himself from the Quiet One very painfully and nervously. And although there was no talk of Nikon’s removal from the Patriarchate, he perceived what was happening as a catastrophe. Tsar Alexei did not seek to remove Nikon from the Primate See, but only wanted to rebuild his relations with him, returning them to the level that existed before, under Patriarch Joseph. But Nikon himself considered his career over, since he based it entirely on the favor of the sovereign. In addition, the main dream of his life - the rise of the Patriarchal power over the royal one - was crumbling. Nikon, it seems, did not understand that these theocratic claims were completely alien to the Orthodox tradition, even when the tsar turned his back on him. The patriarch fell into despair, but never admitted that it was not he himself who ultimately suffered the downfall, but his theocratic idea, in the design of which his own ambitions played the role of a generator.

Pikul’s historical miniature “Habakkuk in the Fiery Furnace” is the life of Avvakum, described by the author in a brief summary. The peculiarity of the miniature written by Pikul is this: superficially describing the whole life of Avvakum, the author selects the most important episodes from his life, preserving the main points. Reading about the life of Avvakum in the text written by Pikul, we understand that it was very difficult for Avvakum, but he always did as he saw fit. Even this small historical miniature about the hero shows what kind of torment Habakkuk experienced.

“You cannot know Russian literature without knowing Avvakum,” Pikul writes with confidence. The works of Avvakum, and especially his “Life,” depart from the old, traditional creativity of the Middle Ages and belong entirely to the personal creativity of the New Age, despite the fact that certain traditional elements are still present in them. Avvakum uses traditional elements, but not for their traditional purpose; he coarsens them with mockery, irony, combines them with rude vernacular expressions, as if playing, gives them a different meaning or translates them into a sharply naturalistic plane. Therefore, the works of Avvakum amaze with some special freedom of expression, spontaneity, and extraordinary sincerity. Sitting in an earthen prison, in terrible conditions and awaiting death, he seemed to be freed from all earthly vanity, from concern for the external form of his works, from various literary “decency” and strove to get closer to the goal of his writings as quickly as possible. For him, literary ritual, which occupied such a large place in traditional medieval art, is completely absent. The value of feeling, spontaneity, the inner, spiritual life of a person was proclaimed by Avvakum with exceptional passion. Sympathy or anger, scolding or affection - everything is in a hurry to pour out from his pen. “To strike the soul” before God is the only thing he strives for. Neither compositional harmony, nor the shadow of “twisting words” in the depiction of a person, nor the “red speech” familiar in ancient Russian teaching literature - in the “Life” of Avvakum there is nothing that would constrain his excessively ardent feeling in everything that concerns a person and his inner life.

None of the writers of the Russian Middle Ages wrote as much about their feelings as Avvakum. He grieves, grieves, cries, is afraid, regrets, wonders, etc. He strives to arouse the sympathy of readers, complains about his weaknesses, including the most everyday ones. One cannot think that this justification of man concerns only Habakkuk himself. Even his enemies, even his personal tormentors, are portrayed by him with sympathy for their human suffering. Sympathy for one's tormentors was completely incompatible with medieval techniques for depicting a person in the 11th-16th centuries. This sympathy became possible thanks to the writer’s penetration into the psychology of the persons depicted. For Avvakum, each person is not an abstract character, but a living one, closely familiar to him. Habakkuk knows well those about whom he writes. They are surrounded by a very concrete way of life. He knows that his tormentors are only performing their archery service, and secretly, perhaps, are burdened by their duties, and therefore is not angry with them. In all this, Habakkuk is inimitable.

Then no one could express their feelings, but Avvakum found a new path in literature and became the first publicist. He did a lot for literature and for the development of the genre of journalism. Pikul reflected all the sufferings of Avvakum in a historical miniature. He himself spoke about them, and the quotes and lyrical digressions simply confirm everything.

Pikul begins the story with a quote from Tolstoy: “Only once, like a storm, a living, full-blooded voice burst into dead literature. This was the brilliant “Life” of the frantic archpriest Avvakum. His speech is all about gesture, and the canon is destroyed to smithereens!” It was not in vain that Pikul took this quote, since it contains great meaning, the author’s admiration for Avvakum. Avvakum introduced a lot of new things into literature. He wrote in his own way, not like everyone else, and his speech was inimitable. The life of Avvakum spread throughout the world, and everyone admired his speech and its originality.

Throughout the text, the author also uses quotes. Enters clarifications. Pikul uses other quotes in order to give the text maximum color, to show that it was not only Tolstoy who admired him. Habakkuk is inimitable. Then no one could express their feelings so openly and brightly, he created a new path in literature, became the first publicist. He did a lot for literature, for the development of the genre of journalism, so that the “descendants of the Orthodox” knew the “past fate of their native land.”

... Double-fingered

My cross has risen

Grief in Pustozersk,

Shining around.

...Through hunger and cold,

Through grief and fear

I am to God like a dove,

Got up from the fire.

I promise you

Distant Rus',

Without forgiving enemies

I'll come back from heaven.

Let me be ridiculed

And consigned to the fire,

Let my ashes be scattered

In the mountain wind.

There is no sweeter fate

More desirable than the end

Than the ashes knocking

Into people's hearts.

V. Shalamov

List of used literature.

1. V. E. Gusev “On the genre of the life of Archpriest Avvakum,” “Archpriest Avvakum is an outstanding Russian writer of the 17th century.”

2. V.B. Tikhonov “Teaching of Archpriest Avvakum and “external wisdom”

3. G.V. Chudinova “The artistic image of the holy martyr in “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum” and the features of its interpretation in literature.”

4. Stepanov S.A. "Furious Habakkuk."

5. Yu. Nagibin “Fiery Archpriest”

6. V. Pikul “Habakkuk in the fiery furnace.”