United States or Serbia ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Any further confirmation that may be required will be found in the Life of the famous Patriarch Nikon. The Russian Patriarchate came to an end in the time of Peter the Great.
One of the most important occurrences in this reign was the attempt of the Patriarch Nikon to establish an authority in the East similar to that of the Pope in the West and in many ways to Latinize the Church. This attempt to place the Tsar under spiritual authority was put down by a popular revolt followed by stricter orthodox methods in a sect known as the Raskolniks.
First go to Raithu and greet the pious Nikon in my name, and tell him that I remain here on the mountain, for after long praying in the church I have found myself unworthy of the office of elder which they offered me. Then get yourself carried by some ship's captain across the Red Sea, and wander up and down the Egyptian coast.
To this it is answered that by abandoning the ancient books and anathematizing the ancient traditions the sect of Nikon has lost all claim to the apostolical succession, so that the established clergy constitute no longer a Church, but the synagogue of Satan. All communion with these emissaries of hell is a sin, and ordination by the apostate bishops a defilement.
I have heard something.... Thank you, Nikon Semyonitch. But who is this Lebyadkin?" "He calls himself a captain, a man, it must be said, not over careful in his behaviour. And no doubt this is his sister. She must have escaped from under control," Nikon Semyonitch went on, dropping his voice, and glancing significantly at Varvara Petrovna. "I understand. Thank you, Nikon Semyonitch.
The mitre of the celebrated Nikon , who aspired to papal prerogatives, is diadem-shaped and remarkable for the richness of the precious stones with which it is set. The most usual shape recalls to some extent the favourite cupola, spreading out from the base to the top. The form of the chalice used in the Russian church varies considerably, as it does also in that of the Latin church.
The copyists had introduced countless variations, but these acquired a fresh unity and unanimity from the very fact of their publication in such a form. The Slavonic liturgy of Russia seemed in a state of hopeless corruption when, toward the middle of the seventeenth century, the patriarch Nikon determined upon a measure of reform.
For instance, he sent a letter to Kilikia ordering search to be made for a slave boy belonging to Seleukus, who had run away, and praising Peukestas because he had captured Nikon, the runaway slave of Kraterus.
In addition to the altered service book, Nikon introduced a cross with but two beams, a new stamp for the holy wafer, a different way of holding the fingers in pronouncing the blessing, and a new way of spelling the name Jesus, to which the Church was unaccustomed.
According to Protestant conceptions there was a very simple solution of the difficulty: the Nonconformists had simply to create a new Church for themselves, and worship God in the way that seemed good to them. But to the Russians of that time such notions were still more repulsive than the innovations of Nikon.
Word Of The Day