These days are special for Russians, and for all Orthodox. In what does this consist? For the first time in a long time there is freedom from persecutions against Old Believers. It is now possible to widely state our faith on various issues without fear of oppression. Many are listening to us, these same people also are interested in dialogue with us, particularly over the spiritual crisis of our times. Nevertheless, while we respond to this invitation, “dialogue” can never mean the mixing of the true and the false faith. We must be clear, the false faiths of our world are pagan and heretical, and compromise with them will destroy the unity of the church.

The church has always suffered with heretics, and I say that they had no spiritual rationale, but merely pride and injected falsity into our doctrine. This past century changed everything, and we must confront it with new life. In the last century we witnessed the development of ecumenism, which created an indifference to truth. Such an indifference is at the root of our problems.

Ecumenism denies the existence of a single, true church, and that, at the present moment, the truth is “divided” among different “branches of Christianity.” The heathens and atheists want a dogma-less superchurch based on a purely “mechanical” union of churches in the same spirit of the Roman pantheon.

Today there are people who accept the “branch theory,” who hold to the slogan that the walls between us do not reach heaven. They wish the creation of a purely terrestrial religion, one where all are saints, and all “walls” between us are permeable. But we must also remember that, in times like these, even great confessors can fall into heresy.

The story of Lazarus shows us how high these divisions go. Sin leads to perdition. Yet, on earth, and only on earth, can these divisions be breached. In perdition, there is no possibility of repentance, on earth, there is, and hence the nature of unity.

Finally, today, we can preach the truth of Christ to the world. Preaching is central to this. The sermon is a powerful way that Orthodox way of life and thought can be sent to the world. Occasionally, our preaching leads to personal attacks and slander, and, God forbid, even accusations of ecumenism from the “super correct.”

The apostle writes, “whoever approaches you and brings not knowledge, do not enter their abode and do not give greetings. To greet is to participate in evil.” But it is possible that this rejection of heresy is not identical with open hostility to it?

Hostility towards those thinking differently, even to the point of eliminating all contacts with the heretics, contradicts the very spirit of Orthodoxy. The apostles teach us that we must reach a hand to all those who have strayed. We should have a tolerable relation with heretics while being intolerant to the heresy. We must pray, as all the fathers write, for their healing. Today, this is even more urgent.

We must preach to the sectarians and heretics, but such preaching must not become extreme hostility. This is not part of the spirit of Christian life. Intolerance in such matters is usually the domain of neophytes, those not secure in the faith. Once in the church, these types then imitate the old Soviet way of dealing with “deviationists.” Their “missionary” activity is reduced to digging up dirt on heretics, guilt by association and other harmful methods.

St. Ivan Zlatoust, discussing these issues, writes, “Do not be heartless and claim that the heretics do not worry you. That old saw that we ‘have nothing in common.’ But in fact we do. They have the same nature as we, the same earth, the same worries, the same needs. The voice that ‘we have nothing in common’ is one of the Devil. It is inhuman. We must never say this, but show them love as common to brothers. . . . .we must be concerned with their salvation. We mucst rescue them.”

We maintain the tradition, and in that is the call to explain to the people the evil of false doctrine and heresy, but such most not lead to intolerance. For those obsessed with falsity, we must love them and pray for them.

When Christ preached, he preached to the erring, He saw their false interpretations and arrogance. This is evident in terms of the Samaritans, hated and rejected by the mass of Jewry. They created their own priesthood and institutions. Christ did relate to these people as apostates from Israel, but he said to them, “in the way of the heathens do not walk, into their city do not enter.” In a confrontation on the truth of the two branches of Judiasm, he says “you do not know to whom you bow, but we know, for salvation is of Israel.”

To the same Samaritans they were wicked in respect to the Son of God. From their side came sharp rebukes directed to Christ. The apostles James and John, the “sons of thunder” were stirred to action. They wanted to bring fire on the heads of the sectarians, “Lord! If you would desire, we can bring fire from heaven to destroy them, as Elijah did in ancient times.” But Christ, turning to them, forbade and said, “you do not know the spirit.” Occasionally we too forget by which spirit we are moved. The Old and decrepit Law, which led to prophets of the Old Testament, became something different for the students of Christ, as He said, “Christ did not become man to destroy, but to save.” As concerns the Jews, intolerance bred nothing, conversation bred much.

The parable of the Good Samaritan we see many things, including the more obvious notion of the love of one’s neighbor. However, the fathers teach that there is another interpretation, one deeper and of a more mystical meaning. In this case, we see Christ why is primarily concerned with rescuing that kind of man, the heretic and schismatic bringing him to the church.

In this case, our Lord places the moral worth of the heretic, the Samaritan, higher than the Orthodox, the Levite. The Samaritans seem more grateful to Christ, certainly more so than the Pharasees. Of the ten lepers healed by Christ, the one who returned to thank Christ was himself a Samaritan. Though in no respect placing them in a superior position relative to the faith, He does do this relative to their moral worth.

Our preaching can only be heard when the person of whom we are preaching, Christ, is identified with us, and us with Him. Paul states, “since being free from all, the more I am enslaved to acquire: I was an Israelite among Israelites, Law based to the Law based, alienated to the alienated, but always loyal to Christ, feeble to acquire the feeble. For all I was made all in order to save some.” . . .

In the book of Titus we read the apostle Paul saying that we admonish the heretic once or twice. Here, we cannot use this effort to become hostile, but Paul says, “for he who does not listen to our message, do not communicate with him so he might be shamed. But do not do this as with an enemy, but with a brother.”

Metropolitan +CORNELIUS
June 2007

As Moscow extended her influence, so did the Old Belief. In this southern area, since 1669, there arose several settlements of the Old faith. After the initial persecutions of the Tsarevna Sophia, many were forced to move north, into Polish and Lithuanian territory. But during the later reign of Anna I, new waves of the Old Faith again began to enter southern territory in large numbers.

In the strengthening of Russia’s position in Siberia, Old Believers contributed to the stability of Russia by building fortresses near the region of the Altai tribes. Further, in this area also began the search for strategic minerals at the foothills of the Altai [the region where the borders of Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China come together–MRJ]. Copper was first found here in 1720 near the Kolvan’ Lake and the mountains. Here again, the Old Belief helped the creation of Russian industry.

Catherine II and her senate, in 1762, sought a return of the Old Believers to Russia from Poland. She promised to settle the Old faith in Siberia in exchange for our labor. To this extent, many Old Believers then moved in large numbers to Southern Siberia. In 1764, Catherine, under her General Maslov, expelled the Old Faith to other parts of Siberia, particularly to Irkutsk. Roughly 20,000 were so sent.

This began the settlement of the Old Faith, again, in the Altai. They were settled as a homogenous group. Because some of these settlers were at one time living in Poland, they were called “Poles” by the local population. Colonel Sokolovsky, in charge of the region, was very interested in the Old Faith, and began to concern himself with reports of a large increase in their numbers. He wrote that “the descendants of those exiled, at one time near to Poland, preserved the legends of old times and know them to a great level of detail.”

Those of the Old Faith that were settled at the Altai received the status of state peasants who were forced to pay a double tax, but were, in reward for their labor and their settlement, were granted six years of life tax free. . . .

In 1799, the settlement of Cheremeshshanku was formed, the largest of the Old Faith groups on the region. In 1826, Professor Karl Ledeburg was traveling in this region. He wrote an article that described the way of life of the Old Faith in this area. We will provide a small snippet of his writing: “In this village where I spent the night, lies at the foot of the mountains, which itself rises to about 600 feet in this region. Here, peasants deal mostly with cattle breeding, agriculture and bee-keeping. Some families have over 200 hives. The peasants always have a surplus of grain, which they sell in the local bread stores. From this, the local miners receive their regular supply of flour. The Old Faith sells their produce at a lower price, and so the recent hike in grain prices do not seem to have affected this area. . . .

The local horses are of a high quality, and the peasants raise them in large numbers, and are very useful given the mining and industry in their region. . . .

About 50 years ago, bee-keeping was introduced in this region. There had been some unsuccessful experimentation in this area before then. The local honey is of excellent quality, almost completely white in color and of a pleasant aroma. From it they prepare fruits and candies, which to not have any aftertaste, which is common from honey. In addition, hunting and fishing also supplement the income of the bee-keepers. . . .

Peasant courts are part of the settlement, they partially form the street and some are just scattered. Each peasant household court have several buildings, some for living, some for the storage of reserves. The first floor of the house is where the family resides. This part is a little underground for storage, in that it is cooler there. They store their fortunes there: gold, silver, etc. The large room serves as the kitchen, and on either side are large living rooms. The other large room is the master bedroom, which is given up in favor of guests. The houses are extremely clean. . .

All the houses have chimneys, and so the smoke from fires quickly escapes. The houses are well furnished and very comfortable. All houses have their icon corner. Near the furnace are the looms, where the wife and other women work. It is normally fenced off by a large white curtain. Many of the houses have glass windows.

Though very hospitable, many peasants do not communicate with outsiders, and hence, not every house is amenable to me staying the night. But there is a special cottage for foreign guests. In many ways, this cottage becomes the temporary property of the lodger. The traveler quickly becomes an oddity, a curiosity to the villagers. Because I am German, all the more so. Almost the whole village assembled to stare at me.

As soon as you get settled, they usually provide a table on which to write. They provide excellent bread, perfectly prepared honey, milk and eggs. Less frequently, meant or fruit. During Lent, the meals are of lesser stature, and they waste no time in apologizing for their lack of hospitality. Nevertheless, despite their conditions, they retain a great degree of friendliness. They, as a rule, do not take money for their hospitality and services. . . .

They will always invite the stranger to lodge with them again if they ever return, but I hear that the utensils and bedding are meticulously washed because it had been used by a stranger, an outsider. Apparently, this is a custom of the Old Believers who were sent here by Catherine II. But these people are very prosperous, and they are growing in number all the time. . .”

Ethnographer Alexandr Novoselov (d. 1918) also visited the area. He wrote, “if you were to pull out a piece of Old Russia from the history books and give them life, it would look much like this. . .during the Vesper service I attended, it seems like you were transported back to the age of the catacomb Christians. All has been perserved intact.” Of course, the Soviet era changed everything. Living conditions changed radically under Soviet control, and, more specifically, under the conditions of the Kazak SSR. Still, however, the Old Faith remains here. It is still possible to find many talented singers who know how to chant in the ancient manner, long abandoned by the official church. The ancient Russian culture still lives here. The priest of the Temple, Fr. Daniel Rylsky, was short by Stalin’s henchmen. Because of this, for a long time, the community remained without a pastor, and as such took on the customs of the priestless, though this is not a priestless settlement. The temple was eventually destroyed and the bells stolen. Occasionally, however, underground clergy would visit the area. In 1991, the Priest Peter (d. 2001) was assigned to the parish and settlement. He helped in the rebuilding of the temple and its altar area. The new church was consecrated in the name of the Holy Mother of God. It’s first permanent priest was assigned in 1998, Fr. Alexander, and in 2004, Fr. Arsen.