Abstract
The division that occurred in the Patriarchate of Muscovy in the middle of the 17th century resulted in a large part of the believers being alienated from the clergy; in consequence, many communities of the Old Believers, who had come to terms with this loss, renounced most of the sacraments, including the Eucharist. This situation impacted the art of the Old Believers, especially in the Priestless Old Believer communities, for instance, in the interiors of their houses of prayer, where the presbytery area disappeared, and the iconostasis changed its function. This article contains an analysis of how one of the old iconographic themes connected with the Eucharist, namely the Communion of the Apostles, functioned in the Old Believer setting. Sources originating from those circles, especially the 18th-century Pomorian Answers (Pomorskie otvety), indicate that the Old Believers saw the Eucharist as a spiritual experience—the only one that was available to the faithful who lived in communities that lacked a clergy. This is most probably the context in which, for instance, Old Believer versions of the Communion of the Apostles should be understood. The view of the Old Believer identity, and Old Believer art, as proposed in this article takes under consideration not only the tradition but also the change, which was an unavoidable part of their communities’ experience, and which may also constitute an essential key to our reading of the contents and meaning of Old Believer icons.
Highlights
The main aim of the existence of all Old Believer communities was the preservation of the Rus’ old religion
That while the Old Believers were usually forced to keep to private cult, they quite quickly reconciled themselves to the fact, as perfectly illustrated by Archpriest Avvakum’s recommendation that the believers should, if necessary, conduct the liturgy individually in front of the holy icons (Zhitie protopopa Avvakuma 1979, pp. 37–38; Sulikowska-Bełczowska 2019). This was the conduct adopted by the melchisedeks, a small splinter group of the Priestless Old Believers described by Archimandrite Paul in the late 19th century
The question should be posed how exactly the Old Believers understood the liturgical image of the Communion of the Apostles, a representation that centres on the act of communion, that is, the acceptance of the eucharistic bread and wine
Summary
The main aim of the existence of all Old Believer communities was the preservation of the Rus’ old religion The believers perceived this religion as identical with the rituals, customs and symbols that were inherited from the past or were identified with the past. I make use of Old Believer sources in an attempt to shed new light on the interpretative possibilities offered by the liturgical representations functioning in the “old faith” milieus. Fundamentally rejected the very idea of modernisation, but in reality, they were forced to yield to it (cf. Crummey 2011)
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