Avvakum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Avvákum Petróv (Russian: Авваку́м Петров́) (November 20, 1620 or 1621 - April 14, 1682) was a Russian protopope of Kazan Cathedral on Red Square who led the opposition to Patriarch Nikon's reforms of the Russian Orthodox Church. His autobiography and letters to the tsar, Boyarynya Morozova and other Old Believers are considered masterpieces of 17th-century Russian literature.
Starting in 1652 Nikon, as Patriarch of the Russian Church, initiated a wide range of reforms in Russian liturgy and theology. These reforms were mostly intended to bring the Russian Church into line with the other Orthodox Churches of Eastern Europe. Avvakum and others strongly rejected these changes. They saw them as a corruption of the Russian Church, which they considered to be the "true" Church of God. The other Churches were more closely related to Constantinople in their liturgies and Avvakum argued that Constantinople fell to the Turks because of these heretical beliefs.
For his opposition to the reforms Avvakum was repeatedly imprisoned and finally burned at the stake in Pustozyorsk, where he had been exiled by the government. The spot where he was burned is now marked by an ornate wooden cross. Groups rejecting the changes continued, however, and they became referred to as the Old Believers. Avvakum's colourful autobiography memorably recounts hardships of his imprisonment and exile to the Far East of Russia, the story of his friendship and rupture with the tsar Alexis, his practice of exorcising demons and devils, and his boundless admiration for nature and other works of God.
