The Ritual Practices of the Old Believers of the Olonets Diocese (Late 18th — Early 20th Century)

The article discusses the specific features of the practice of performing prayer services, inherent in the Old Believer communities in one of the religiously significant territories of the European North, where the influence of “ancient piety” turned out to be the most noticeable and lasting. The activity of small but numerous and influential groups of Old Believers in areas of Olonets diocese is an underexplored problem of the religious history of Karelia. The specific features of the Old Believers’ ecclesiastical ritual are considered in the article during a long, more than a century of historical period based on archival materials.It is revealed that the Old Believers managed to create a dynamic system of interaction with the local population, which has become an impressive alternative to the “dominant church” and allowed satisfying the spiritual needs of the laity without resorting to the parish clergy. Thanks to the efforts of Old Believer mentors, the performance of such rites as baptism, confession, wedding, and burial was endowed with specific features. The implementation of church rites could vary depending on the degree of radicalism of the Old Believers’ interpretations and the evolution of their theological ideas. The Old Believer mentors skillfully built their wide-ranging propaganda, constantly highlighting real and perceived weaknesses in the behaviour of the local parish clergy. Preaching, public discussions between priests and Old Believer leaders did not always help to overcome the problem of fighting for the congregation. In this situation, the priests relied on the village police, which helped eliminate the most visible manifestations of the Old Believers’ ceremonial practices

History of religions · Political radicalism · Prayer · Strengths and weaknesses · European Linguistics and Anthropology · Social and Behavioral Studies · Soviet and Russian History