Old Believers in their confrontation with the clergy and striving to honor the traditions of ancient Orthodoxy often went to extremes. They did not obey the authorities, accused the Church of heresy and killed themselves in the hope of salvation.
Popovtsy and bespopovtsy
The schism in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 1650s-60s, associated with the reforms of Patriarch Nikon, put the adherents of the old rite in a difficult position - not a single bishop was in their ranks. The last was Pavel Kolomensky, who died in 1656 and left no successors behind him.
According to the canons, the Orthodox Church cannot exist without a bishop, because only he is authorized to appoint priests and deacons. When the last priests and deacons of the pre-reform establishment passed away, the paths of the Old Believers diverged. One part of the Old Believers decided that it was possible to resort to the help of priests who had renounced Nikon's faith. They began to willingly accept priests who had left their diocesan bishop. This is how the “priests” appeared.
Another part of the Old Believers was convinced that after the Schism, grace completely left the Orthodox Church and all that was left for them was to humbly await the Last Judgment. The Old Believers who rejected the priesthood began to be called "non-popovtsy". They settled mainly on the uninhabited shores of the White Sea, in Karelia, Nizhny Novgorod lands. It was in the midst of bespopovtsy that the most radical Old Believer accords and rumors subsequently appeared.
Waiting for the Apocalypse
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Eschatological motives became a key element in the ideology of the Old Believers. Many denominations of Old Believers, protecting themselves from the "antichrist power", existed from generation to generation in anticipation of the imminent end of the world. The most radical currents tried to bring it closer. Preparing for the last days, they dug caves, lay down in coffins, starved to death, threw themselves into the pool, and burned themselves with whole families and communities.
Throughout its history, the Old Believers have exterminated tens of thousands of their adherents. A connoisseur of Old Believers and sectarianism, Alexander Prugavin tried to determine the number of schismatics who died in the fire. According to his calculations, up to 1772 alone, about 10,000 people were burned to death.
Netovtsy (Spasovo consent)
This is one of the biggest pop-free consents. The total number of Netovans at the end of the 20th century reached 100 thousand people, mainly living in the Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir regions, as well as in the Middle Volga region.
The Netovites (the word speaks for itself) deny the Orthodox shrines, rituals and many sacraments, rely solely on the Savior, who "himself knows how to save the poor." Throughout their existence, they tried to avoid any contact with the Orthodox Church, especially when it came to the burial ceremony. The dead were buried in a forest, ravine, or outside a cemetery.
The Netovans did not reject the sacrament of baptism. They admit it is possible to perform the rite of baptism in the Orthodox Church, interpreting it in a very peculiar way: "although a heretic baptized, but a priest in vestments, and not a simple man." However, more strict currents get by with self-baptism, and some replace this rite by simply putting a cross on a newborn.
The Savior's consent requires from its followers a rather severe asceticism in everyday life. For example, the use of yeast-based products with hops is prohibited, and they do not eat potatoes either. There is a taboo on bright and colorful clothes. The proverb says: "on whom the shirt is dappled, it means that the soul of his antichrist sister", or "what is not a speck, then a servant is a devil."
Self-immolation suicide was widespread among the Net.
Holes
It is one of the more radical offshoots in the salvation accord, and does not recognize any spirit guides. They do not venerate "newly painted" icons because there is no one to consecrate them without the priesthood, and "old painting" - because they have been defiled from the possession of heretics. Holes do not have special liturgical premises. Prayer takes place either in the open air or indoors through a special opening strictly to the east. Praying through a window or wall is a sin for them. A small group of holes is now living in Central Siberia.
The history of the Pomor accord dates back to 1694, when a male community was founded on the Vyg River. In 1723, the Vygovskaya monastery became famous for compiling the Pomor Answers. This polemic book later became an apologetic basis for the defense of all Old Believers.
The Pomors demand from their followers a complete break with the official church, and everyone who comes to them from Orthodoxy must be re-baptized. They do not refuse the sacraments, but divide them into those necessary for salvation (baptism, repentance and communion) and others, without which one can do.
Serious disagreements among the Pomors arose over marriage. Over time, practicality has triumphed. Thanks to the introduction of the marriage rank, the Pomors legalized marital relations, which led to the possibility of legal transfer of property by inheritance.
In Soviet times, the Pomors were the most numerous among the pop-free consents. Today, large groups of their followers live in Vilnius, Riga and Moscow.
Fedoseevtsy
At the end of the 18th century, as a result of disputes about the inscription on the cross and about marriage, the Fedoseevites separated from the Pomor consent. In 1781, Ilya Kovylin (the former serf of Prince Golitsyn) founded a community in Moscow in the area of the Preobrazhensky cemetery. The Fedoseevskaya community was distinguished by strict discipline and unconditional submission to the mentor. Its members were obliged to observe celibacy and chastity.
Like many other bespopovtsy Fedoseevtsy believe that there is no more grace in the world. “We regard any modern state power as satanic, as a trap of the antichrist,” they say. Of the church sacraments, only baptism and the Eucharist, which are performed by laity, have been preserved. Due to the non-recognition of the Orthodox priesthood, the Fedoseevites practice cohabitation without a wedding.
During the Great Patriotic War, a large number of Fedoseevites collaborated with the German authorities and actively opposed the Red Army and the partisans.
The most numerous groups of Fedoseevites live in the Pskov, Novgorod, Ulyanovsk and Tyumen regions. Their total number is about 200 thousand people.
Shepherd's consent
It was born in the depths of the Pomor accord, its founder was the shepherd Vasily Stepanov. Unlike the Pomors, the Shepherds avoided all communication with the civil authorities. They rejected money, passports and other items with the image of the state emblem. But in order to avoid debauchery, they were forced to recognize the marriage.
The extreme degree of rejection of the outside world imposed a ban on the shepherds from living in settlements where there was at least one civil servant, a supporter of the Orthodox Church or a representative of another Old Believer persuasion. Their feet never set foot on stone pavements, as inventions of the "age of the Antichrist."
Runners
In 1772, in the village of Sopelki near Yaroslavl, a runner-up arose, as a trend opposed to the "anti-Christ power". The basis of the teachings of the runners is salvation from the Antichrist, which, unlike most bespopovtsy, they perceived not as a spiritual phenomenon, but as a personified personality in the guise of Peter I.
The runners live in anticipation of the "first resurrection" when Christ fights the Antichrist. And "then the millennial kingdom of Christ will come, the New Jerusalem for the dwelling of the strangers will be lowered from heaven to the place where the sea is not to that." The runners see their new abode near the Caspian Sea, where they regularly make pilgrimages.
All runners are "self-baptized", pledged to lead a chaste life, to eat only lean food. They completely reject marriage, but at the same time they allow fornication, considering it a lesser sin.
Popular rumor talks about a strange custom of runners called the "red death". Its essence is to strangle a dying person with a red pillow so that he will atone by martyrdom not only for his sins, but also for the sins of his brothers in faith.
For centuries, the runners, persecuted by the authorities as a "harmful sect", remained a small group scattered over the remote places of Siberia and the Northern Urals.
Vodyaniki
The Vodyaniks or the Old Popes belong to those sects where the priesthood is not completely rejected. They denounce Old Believers who accept priests for money, but they recognize the transition of a clergyman from Orthodoxy to Old Believers if the priest renounces the "heretical faith."
If a member of the Staropop community falls ill, he is prohibited from taking medicine. The essence of the treatment comes down exclusively to communion with Epiphany water.
Vozdykhants
In 1870, the shoemaker Ivan Akhlebinin founded a community in Kaluga, which later received the name Vozykhantsev. Members of this persuasion reject any external worship of God, icons, sacraments and church hierarchy, but they recognize the "explanatory books" - the Gospel, Acts of the Apostles and the Psalter.
According to the beliefs of the Vozdyhans, at first there was the kingdom of God the father, then the kingdom of God the son came, and after 8 thousand years from the creation of the world, the kingdom of the Holy Spirit came. This doctrine was reflected in the rituals of the Vozdyhans. At prayer meetings, instead of the sign of the cross, they sigh, raising their eyes to heaven and passing a hand or handkerchief over their face.
Many other radical accords and interpretations of non-popist Old Believers, while not significantly differing from each other, have only their inherent features. Thus, the followers of consensus, having gathered together for prayer on the day of the Eucharist, stand with their mouths open, expecting that angels will commune them.
Poachers are among those who recognize the rite of baptism, but perform it only at night, as if imitating Christ.
In Akulin's consent, hostel and celibacy are accepted. This served as a repeated reason for accusing the Akulinovites of debauchery and sinister sin.
Kapitonovites of the Kshar charter are supporters of radical approaches to suicide for faith, participants in mass acts of self-immolation.
Ryabinovites believe that the cross of Christ consisted of cypress, cedar and pevga. They associate the last tree with the mountain ash, from which the cross should be made.