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15th of November According to the new style, the Orthodox Church remembers the repose of St. prpmts. and Spanish noblewoman Feodosia Morozova, monastically Theodora (1675, in Borovsk).
We offer an informative and extremely rich selection of materials about the life and suffering of the Venerable Martyr Theodora (Bolyaryn Feodosia Morozova), the sister of her blessed princess Evdokia Urusova, and others like them Justina and Maria, prepared for our website by the Old Believer nun Livia. The story is crowned by the author's verse, which, in the light of the historical facts cited, looks like a skillful decoration of the article.
I honor the blessed Theodora with love and reverence, as a saint and reverend, as a martyr and confessor, as a great saint of God, and a prayer book for our souls(from the canon of the holy martyr)
“Alas, Theodosya! Alas, Eudokea! Two unharnessed spouses, two sweet-voiced gussets, two olives and two candlesticks, standing before God on earth! Truly similar in nature to Enoch and Elijah. Putting aside women’s weakness, accepting men’s wisdom, defeating the devil and putting the tormentors to shame, crying out and saying: “Come, cut off our bodies with swords and burn with fire, for we, rejoicing, go to our Bridegroom Christ” - this is how the holy martyr Avvakum wrote about the great Russian sufferers for true faith and piety. .
Download the canon of the Venerable Martyr Theodosius
Canon for download in PDF
« Feodosia Prokofievna Morozova(nee Sokovnina, monastic name Theodora; 21 (31) May 1632-2 (12) November 1675, Borovsk) - supreme palace noblewoman, activist of the Russian Old Believers, associate of Archpriest Avvakum. For her adherence to the “old faith” as a result of a conflict with Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, she was arrested, deprived of her estate, and then exiled to the Pafnutyevo-Borovsky Monastery and imprisoned in a monastery prison, in which she died of starvation,” we read in the brief information provided by Wiki- encyclopedia. But, like a priceless spiritual treasure, her authentic life, compiled in the 17th century by one of the eyewitnesses of her suffering, has also come down to us.
In 1682, at the burial site of the sisters, their brothers Alexey and Fyodor Sokovnin laid a tombstone. Borovsk. Photo from 1909. Image source – mu-pankratov.livejournal.com
LIFE of noblewoman Morozova
The month of November on the 2nd day, a legend in part about the valor and courage, and graceful testimony, and patient suffering of the newly-minted martyr Bolyaryna Theodosia Prokopievna, named nun Theodora, after the namesake of the earthly glory of Morozov, and her only begotten sister and her comrade, the blessed princess Evdokia, and their third prisoner Mary; Let's keep this story short. (Life).
Temple icon of the Borovsk Old Believer community It is known about the early youth and secular period of the life of the noblewoman-confessor that she was a very beautiful, intelligent and pious girl. At the age of seventeen she married a representative of one of the most influential families at the Moscow court - Gleb Ivanovich Morozov.
His brother, Boris Ivanovich Morozov, had a close relationship with Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, was his favorite and adviser. Evdokia Prokopyevna was married to Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Urusov. The noblewoman Theodosia had a sharp mind and was well-read in church literature. Boyar Morozov loved to talk with her on spiritual issues and always said after the conversation that he enjoyed her speeches “more than honey and honeycomb.” In her young years, Theodosia became a widow, left with her only son, Ivan. .
A prayer service at the chapel erected on the site of the martyrdom of the saint Boyaryna Feodosia was just over thirty years old when she took over a huge inheritance: almost simultaneously with her brother, childless Boris Ivanovich also died, and the combined fortune of both brothers was bequeathed to the young son of Gleb and Feodosia Morozov, Ivan Glebovich.
There were two hundred thousand or half a third of the estate in her house, and there were eight thousand of Christianity behind her, there were a hundred slaves and slaves, closeness under the queen was in the fourth boyars.
But luxury and secular glory did not at all seduce the true ascetic of Christ, who chose for herself the narrow path of asceticism and renunciation of earthly pleasures long before the start of persecution from the New Believer reformers.
meal after the procession at the Old Believer Church in Borovsk (With a broad hand, she distributed alms right and left. Morozova visited the houses of the poor, prisons, almshouses every day - and everywhere she gave the needy her alms, often very generous. In her welcoming house, wanderers, the poor, the poor and those persecuted for the old faith found shelter. Here Archpriest Avvakum found refuge for himself upon his return from Siberian exile. He had a great influence on the noblewoman Theodosia. Knowing in all the terrifying details of his suffering, bowing before his unshakable fortitude, she recognized this church pastor as a holy man and joyfully submitted to his will).
Like a zealous performer of the Gospel, kind to the poor, welcoming to the strange, and serving everyone in need of help, loving Theodosius (from the canon to the venerable martyr).
Raising his spiritual daughter in severity and abstinence, the impartial shepherd did not choose refined expressions appropriate to her noble family, but in simple and sincere words he instructed on the path of salvation:
My light, lady! I love the rule of night and old singing. And if you get lazy with the nightly rule, don’t let the damned flesh eat that day. The soul is not a toy that it can be suppressed by carnal peace!
...Are you the best for us, like a noblewoman? May God spread out the sky for us, and the moon and the sun shine equally for all, and so the earth, and the waters, and all that vegetates, by the command of the Master, serve you no more, and me no less. And honor flies. The only one who is honest is the one who gets up at night to pray.
Striving for greater perfection in spiritual exploits, the young noblewoman wished to completely renounce all worldly pleasures and take on the great angelic image. Elder Melania, a nun, wise in years and strong in faith, who, fleeing persecution, took refuge with a loving noblewoman, also had a great influence on her at that time. Five other nuns expelled for the right faith also lived with her, and thus, when the newfangled Moscow nobility, following Western example, began to open comedy theaters in their homes, pious Theodosia actually organized a secret monastery in her house and herself obeyed the monastic rules.
Follow from the sufferer Father Triphilius and learn about a certain reverent nun named Melania, and having called her, and having heard her words, loved her dearly, and deigned to choose her as your mother. And having humbled himself for Christ’s sake, surrendered himself to her, and completely cut off his will. And she remained a dangerous [diligent] novice to the end, for even until the day of her death she did not disobey her command in anything.
Then Theodosius strived to fulfill every will of God by deed and forced his flesh to perform feats of fasting; Nourished by fasting and flowering with prayers, shuddered by mortal memory and filled with joyful weeping, burned and kindled by the fire of God, the love that disintegrates is not consumed, but rather irrigated by the Holy Spirit.
Theodosius began to stretch his thoughts to a great extent, desiring a very angelic image. And he fell to his mother, kissing her hand, and bowing to the ground, praying that he would clothe her with the monastic rite. Mati again puts aside many things for the sake of things. The first is to think that it is impossible to hide this thing in the house, and if it is taken away from the king, many people will be in grief, asking questions for the sake of taking it away: “Who took the monastic vows?” But it’s another matter - and hiding from the house is another problem. Third: even if he hides himself, the time has come to marry his son, and for that there is a need for a lot of rumors and care, and about the wedding rites, and the monks should not do such a thing in vain. Fourth: it is necessary to completely refrain from shame [abstain] and for the sake of small hypocrisy and decency, no longer go to the temple, but become a man to the end.
She is greatly disintegrated by the love of God and greatly desired by the insatiable love of the monastic image and life.
Mother, seeing her great faith in this, and her great zeal, and her immutable mind, willed this to happen: she prays to Father Dositheus to grant her the angelic robe. He was tonsured, and was named Theodora, and from the Gospel of Mother Melania [Life].
You imputed the nobility of the race, and wealth and honor, taking on the angelic image, and was named Theodora, and lived in it pleasingly to God (from the canon of the venerable martyr).
Procession to the chapel in Borovsk About the prayer rule of the boyar nun, commanded to her by her spiritual father, we read that it did not differ from the generally accepted one (even today in Old Believer monasticism), but required considerable work and diligence:
So you too, empress, weep for your vain life and your sins, even though God has called you into home building and reasoning; but you also rejoiced when, having risen in your burden, you performed 300 bows and seven hundred prayers with joy and spiritual joy. Do three hundred throws on your knee every night. .
Ascetic feat educates and strengthens the soul, enlightening it with Divine grace, and makes it capable of accepting cruel sorrows and temptations in order to be ready for courage and suffering for the sake of the truth in Christ.
Thou didst put to death the leapings of youth through abstinence, prayer and contemplation of God, and the chosen vessel of God's grace appeared, the Venerable Theodora (from the canon of the venerable martyr).
From the life of the same-named boyar Theodosia - the Venerable Martyr Theodosia of Constantinople (8th century), who also, having despised the nobility of her family and earthly wealth, from a young age devoted herself to the pure service of Christ in the monastic rank, it is known that, not tolerating her high ascetic life, the enemy the salvation of the human race appeared to her in a visible image and threatened to take cruel revenge. At the same time, the persecution of the iconoclasts began and the saint accepted the crown of martyrdom for Orthodoxy and icon veneration. Here a parallel involuntarily suggests itself: after the death of Queen Marya Ilyinichna, who wholeheartedly sympathized with the confessors of ancient piety and always provided them with all possible assistance, a real threat of reprisal from representatives of the ruling church loomed over the house of the newly tonsured noblewoman-ascetic, disobedient to the new church orders. Her relatives close to the royal court warned her about this, urging her to join the New Believers. The impetus for the final break was the refusal to attend the royal wedding, when in 1671 the tsar decided to marry the young beauty Natalya Naryshkina, the future mother of Peter the Great: the nun Theodora considered her participation here impossible, both for the sake of the angelic image she had adopted and in order to avoid blessings and joint prayers with New Believer bishops.
When the marriage of the kings arrived, when Queen Natalia was given a drink, then Theodora did not want to come to the marriage of the kings with the other bolyarons, and Tsar Alexei weighed it heavily on her, since she deserved to be the first to stand and speak of the royal title. And I call the followers more diligently, and renounce to the end, saying, “My legs are so sad, and I can neither walk nor stand!” The king said: “We are so proud!”
For this reason, the venerable one did not want to come, because there, in the title of the Tsar, she named the faithful and kissed his hand, and it was impossible to get rid of them from the blessing of the bishops. And please suffer rather than communicate with them, knowing that the king would not simply abandon this matter, as it was: because all that summer he was very angry with her, and began to seek guilt, so as not to drive her out. And already near the spring the boyarina Troekurova came to her, and after struggling for a month [having endured, waited] - Prince Peter Urusova, with a reprimand, would have submitted, accepted all their newly published laws; If he doesn’t listen, there will be great troubles (life).
(The steadfastness of Morozova, who became famous throughout Moscow first for her generous alms, and now for her ardent devotion to the old faith, greatly embarrassed court circles and especially the bishops, among whom there was not a single person so firm in the faith. They insisted on Morozova’s arrest. The arrest followed soon In the dead of night, Chudov Archimandrite Joachim (later Patriarch of Moscow) and Duma clerk Larion Ivanov arrived at Morozova’s house. Here they found her sister, Princess Urusova. Both were interrogated.
– How do you get baptized and how do you say prayer? – Archimandrite Joachim posed the first question to Morozova.
Morozova folded her two fingers and said a prayer:
- Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.
Princess Urusova responded in the same way to the same question put to her.
The confessor's sisters were arrested. Morozova was not even allowed to say goodbye to her beloved son. The pale and frightened son could only bow to his mother from afar).
The heretics, who cannot tolerate your jealousy and love for God, eat you at night, bind you with iron chains, and throw you into the cellar for languor (from the canon to the venerable martyr).
, depicted in Surikov’s painting So, at the end of November 1671, the great Russian confessor of the Orthodox faith began the way of the cross, which lasted about four years and was filled with all kinds of sorrows and hardships. Chained like serious criminals and separated from each other, the sisters initially languished in Moscow monastery dungeons. Without a shadow of regret about her former greatness and power, the nun Theodora met this severe test: she kissed her chains and thanked God, saying that He had vouchsafed her to wear the “Pavlovian bonds.”
It’s not surprising that twenty years and one summer have tormented me,” wrote the Hieromartyr Archpriest Avvakum, praising her strong faith and courage, “I am called by God to shake off the burden of sin; and behold, a beggar man, inferior and foolish, from a selfless man, I have no clothes and gold and silver... But it’s amazing to think about your honesty: your family, - Boris Ivanovich Morozov was an uncle to this king, and a nurturer, and a breadwinner, he was sick of him and he grieved more than his soul, having no peace day and night; but in opposition, he betrayed his own nephew, Gleb Ivanovich Morozov, with disgrace and anger to a vain death - your son and my light.
Soon a new, most cruel grief for a loving mother befell her: she learned of the death of her only, still very young son, who, shocked by his mother’s arrest, became very ill, went to bed and never got out of it.
And he ordered people to take care of Ivan Glebovich; The boy fell into illness due to much sadness. And she came to him with her doctors, and so healed him, as if in a few short days he was consigned to the grave. And I will die for Ivan.
A priest of Nikonian, who was also evil and annoyed the saint, was sent to tell Theodora the death of her son, quoting from Psalm 108 the verbs spoken about Judas. The wicked man without a tunic was attributed to the blessed one, supposedly for this reason, having turned away from their faith, to come to God’s punishment, and to rely on her empty house, and not have a living one. The wise wise woman does not pay attention to this; Having seen the death of his beloved son, he was offended by the nobles and fell to the ground before the image of God with a touching voice, crying, sobbing, saying: “Woe is me, my child, for the apostate has destroyed you!” And they remained for many hours, not rising from the earth, singing funeral songs about their son, just as others heard them weep with pity.
In Soviet times, the building of the former Borovsky district school. In the foreground is a memorial cross on the site of the ruined grave of noblewoman Morozova. Image source – mu-pankratov.livejournal.com
The Tsar rejoiced at Ivanov’s death, as if he could think freely without a son, he would torture a mother. Not exactly this, but also her two brothers, Theodore and Alexei, Ovago - to Chuguev, Ovago - to Rybnoye, supposedly to the voivodeship, and even more so sent [sent away] to prison. Theodore became so rich in his power that he even lived through a thousand rubles of his own. Behold, the king acted out of great malice against the blessed one, thinking that no hand would come from anywhere, helping them in those great sorrows, but God was with them.
After Ivanov’s death, squander all your property; Fatherland, herds, horses were distributed to the bolyars, and all things - gold and silver, and pearls, and other precious stones - were ordered to sell everything (life).
Peter Ossovsky / Fragment of the triptych Archpriest Avvakum – Boyarina Morozova However, even this blow could not break the courageous soul of Saint Theodora: having received consolation from her spiritual father, she completely surrendered to the will of God, becoming likened in spiritual feat to the sacrifice of the forefather Abraham and the patience of Saint Job the Long-Suffering.
Grieving over the illness of your only begotten son, you did not choose him over Christ, like the thirsty enemy, for you cried out with Job, the Lord gave, the Lord took away (from the canon of the venerable martyr).
Patriarch Pitirim prepared the next test for the sisters. In the dead of night, during the next interrogation at the Chudov Monastery, he reminded them of the nobility of their origin and tempted them with earthly blessings in the hope that, having endured so much suffering, they would finally prefer a rich and quiet life for themselves. But the Monk Theodora sharply and without hesitation removed his hand from her when he intended to forcibly perform his rite of anointing with consecrated oil on her. With the same firmness, her sister stood up for interrogation, as well as the third confessor - the wife of the Streltsy colonel Marya Danilova. Unable to bear the public shame, the patriarch flew into a terrible rage: on his orders, the martyr was knocked down and, on iron chains, dragged away with inhuman malice and cruelty.
Hearing this, the patriarch and not enduring much shame, became very angry and cried out in great grief: “O fiend of vipers! Enemy daughter, sufferer [servant]!” And he returned from her, roaring like a bear, shouting, calling: “Bring me down, drag me mercilessly!” And as I drag the dog’s neck by the neck, get it out of here! She is a daughter of the enemy, a sufferer, she has nothing else to live for! In the morning the sufferer in the trumpet [i.e. e. to the fire]!”
And at the command of the patriarch, he threw her down, as if to crush her head, and sternly dragging her along the lapel, as if expecting her to break her neck in two with an iron collar, and rip her head off her shoulders. And the tit, drawn to her from the stairs, considered all degrees to be her head. And I brought it on the same logs to the Pechersk courtyard at nine o’clock at night.
(The suffering of the prisoners worried all of Moscow and even more glorified the rightness and greatness of the old faith. The Tsar and the Patriarch decided at all costs to force the persistent sufferers to accept the new faith. Boyarina Morozova and Princess Urusova were subjected to cruel torture. At night they were brought to the Yamskaya courtyard, where there was a dungeon. Another confessor for the old faith was brought here - Marya Danilova, the wife of a Streltsy colonel. In the room reserved for torture, there were whips, whips, pincers hanging on the walls, in the corner there was a brazier, weights... There were also executioners in leather aprons) .
It is terrible not to see the Venerable Theodora rise on the rack, and her limbs break, her veins and skin stretch, and she cries out: blessed is God our father (from the canon to the venerable martyr).
(They first tortured Marya Danilova: they stripped her and lifted her to “shake her”. This is a cruel, painful torture. The hands are tied from behind and the unfortunate victim is lifted by them to the crossbars on the ceiling. The hands jump out of the joints, the bones crack. Healthy men could not stand this “ shaking." But the martyr Marya endured it without a cry, without a single groan. Morozova encouraged her: “Be patient for the Lord’s sake. Christ endured even more.”
Following Danilova, Princess Urusova was also strung up on the rack. She also bravely withstood this inhuman torture. Morozov was ordered to be kept on the rack longer. She was not silent, but, hanging on the rack, denounced the “crafty retreat” of the Nikonians. The straps with which she was hung dug into her body and wore it down to the veins. But the invincible sufferer patiently endured this torment. The women, exhausted and unconscious, were taken off their hind legs. But the torture did not end there. Exhausted women with twisted arms were brought to the fire and terrified by burning them, then a frozen block was placed on their chests. Danilov was also beaten with whips in two turns, first on the ridge, then on the stomach. It was a terrible sight. Morozova reproached the cruel tormentors: “Is this Christianity to torture a person like that?” But the martyrs defeated the executioners: they did not betray the holy faith and did not convert to Nikonianism. No amount of torment could break their devotion to Christ and the Church).
Three days after the torment, the king sent the head of the Streltsy to Theodora, saying: “Righteous Mother Feodosia Prokopievna! You are the second Catherine the Martyr! I pray to you, listen to my advice. I want to honor you first. Give me such decency for the sake of people that it’s not for nothing that I took you: don’t cross yourself with three fingers, but showing your hand, apply it to those three fingers! Mother of righteous Feodosia Prokopievna! You are the second Catherine the Martyr! Listen, I will send my royal captana [cart] and my argamaks for you, and many bolyars will come and carry you on their heads. Listen, righteous mother, I myself, king, bow with my head, do this!”
Having seen and heard this, Theodore said to the envoy: “What are you doing, man? Why do you worship us a lot? Stop, listen, as soon as I start talking. Even the sovereign speaks these words about me - beyond my dignity. I am a sinner and have not been worthy of the dignity of Catherine, the great martyr. The other thing is to put it on my tripartite constitution - not exactly this, but save me, the Son of God, no matter when I think about this about the seal of the Antichrist. But behold, be aware that the imam will never do this, preserved with the help of Christ! But even if I don’t do this, he commands me to be led to my house with honor, then I, carrying bolyars on my heads, will cry out, as if I were baptized according to the ancient tradition of the holy fathers! And he honors me with his captana and argamaks - truly this is great for me, since all this was gone by: she rode in captans and in carriages, on argamaks and bakhmats! I consider this great, and truly wonderful, even if God grants me the honor of His name being burned by fire to be in the chimney prepared for you in the Swamp: this is glorious to me, since I have never enjoyed this honor, and I wish to receive such a gift from Christ " This is the holy order, keep your head (life) silent.
(The tsar had a council on what to do with Morozova and Urusova. (This was at the end of 1674). Some suggested burning them at the stake. But the proposal to send them to prison triumphed. They were sent to Borovsk (Kaluga province) and thrown into an earthen prison - damp, cold, without light, in which rats and insects lived. But then they were imprisoned in an even worse prison - straight into a deep suffocating hole, where not a single ray of light penetrated. Here they did not know when it was day or night . They tormented them with hunger: when they gave five or six crackers, but then they did not give water, and when they gave water, then they did not give crackers. Life in such a prison was unthinkable. The martyred sisters died a slow death).
And in such great need, Saint Eudokia patiently suffered, thanking God, for two months and half, and reposed on the 11th day of September. And her death was tearful.
When she is exhausted from the great famine and it is impossible for her to pray without standing, neither to wear a cap nor to sit on a chair, to lie down. And they sat on the vegetables, made prayers from their lips, but they didn’t have the ladders, that is, the rosary - and that was taken away by the tormentors. And the martyrs tied fifty knots of rags and along those knots, like a heavenly ladder, both - during breaks - sent up prayers to God. When I saw Evdokiya deliberately [severely] exhausted, he said to the great Theodora: “Mistress mother and sister! I am exhausted and I think that I am approaching death, let me go to my Master, for his love I loved this need. I pray to you, madam, according to the Christian law, - let us not remain outside the church tradition, - give me a drink, and if you weigh it, say it, madam, and if I am with you, then I will say it myself.” And so they both served the funeral service, and the martyr above the martyr in the dark dungeon sang the canon, and the prisoner above the prisoner shed tears, one reclining in a cap and groaning, and the other standing in a cap and sobbing. And so the blessed princess Evdokia gave up her spirit in the hands of the Lord in the month of September on the 11th day (life).
Another great confessor, Archpriest Avvakum, also admired the patience and firmness of the sisters. Unashamedly strict in his expressions towards his spiritual daughter, when she was at the height of a brilliant secular position, he now warmly praised her exploits, encouraging and consoling in a written message, which he managed to convey from distant Pustozersk: (“Oh Saint Theodora and blessed Eudokia, martyrs and confessors of Christ, workers of the grapes of Christ! Who will not be surprised and who will not glorify patience and courage higher against the machinations of enemies and destroyers of the church"). His special story “A lamentable word about the three confessors” is also widely known, completely dedicated to the suffering feat of the Borovsk martyrs.
Even though neither the light, nor the voice, nor the air was lowered, in that stinking prison, filled with decay, tormented by hunger, you died a martyr (from the canon of the Venerable Martyr).
Saint Theodora did not long outlive her sister, who was replaced as her prisoner by Marya Danilova. The New Believers then made another unsuccessful attempt at “exhortation”: a certain monastery elder was sent to prison, but he himself, shedding tears, was horrified at the sight of their gloomy dungeon. The passion-bearer remained unshakable to the end. One day, feeling very exhausted, she called one of the archers to her, begging him for mercy.
Therefore, the blessed Theodora became extremely exhausted and called one of the soldiers and said to him: “Servant of Christ! Do you have a father and mother alive or have they passed away? And if they are alive, let us pray for them and for you; Even if we die, we will remember them. Have mercy, servant of Christ! I am terribly exhausted from hunger and hungry for food, have mercy on me, give me a little roll.” He said: “No, madam, I’m afraid.” And the martyr’s verb: “And you don’t have any bread.” And he said: “I don’t dare.” And again the martyr: “There aren’t enough crackers yet.” And the verb: “I dare not.” And Theodore’s verb: “Don’t you dare? Otherwise, bring me an apple or a cucumber.” And the verb: “I dare not.” And the blessed verb: “Good, child, blessed is our God, who is so willing! And even if this, as you said, is impossible, I pray you, create your last love: cover this wretched body of mine with Rogozin, and place it inseparably near my dear sister and fellow sufferer.”
Place of the grave of St. martyrs in the center of Borovsk in a photo from 1909 On November 2, 1675, the holy martyr and confessor Theodora reposed in the eternal monastery. Marya Danilova also died in December. The nuns Melania and Justina, close in life and sharing the sorrows of persecution with the Monk Theodora, were burned at the stake. Thus, “by fire and sword”, the ungodly “Nikon’s ideas” were introduced into Rus', splitting the Russian people and destroying tens and hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, whose martyrdom now serves as a high example for us to establish in true faith and piety.
in memory of the martyrs for Orthodoxy. The Russian land boasts about you, the Church of God is adorned with you, for in it you prosper like a fragrant flower, and pray like a precious stone (canon to the venerable martyr).
St. prpmch. Theodore
(Boyaryna Morozova)
I
The days of yore are long gone:
Silver and gold, honor and dignity,
The firewood was replaced with chains
Boyar festive captan.
To the trial and debate about faith
The wife appeared valiantly,
In the evil host of bishops,
In a crowd of enemies - all alone.
She has iron chains on her,
But the word is strong in the mouth,
With an insinuating, playful smile
The patriarch tortured her soul:
- Why, oh mother Theodora,
You neglect the royal command,
Be humble and be there soon
You will gain all mercy again.
Why did you love chains?
Dungeons stink, people are rubbish,
Remember the honor in which you were born,
Chambers of painted mansions.
You had a meal with the king,
She was great in wives,
And now, what has become of you?
You sit in the dust, in shackles!
We’ll anoint your forehead now,
So that the proud mind is enlightened, -
So speaking, he went important
And I wanted to raise my hand.
- No, stop, don’t you dare, don’t touch me,
I don't need your shrines!
Go your own way,
And I have only one way!
The chain rattles, oil spills,
The proud patriarch is put to shame,
The smile mask has disappeared,
The animal spirit burns in the eyes:
- Oh, so you, sufferer, viper!
So take it, enemy daughter! –
He orders to knock him down, throw him on the ground,
Dragging out the door with chains.
The head of it on all stages
Knocks for the amusement of evil judges,
The collar became an iron loop,
It tears the neck and cuts it in half.
But she is ready to endure everything,
I am ready to suffer with faith,
Go to Golgotha on the harsh path,
Without turning back.
2.
At night, in frosty winter,
They took three prisoners to a secret house:
The executioner and the menacing servant sat
He held the blade, heated it with fire.
“Is it you now, Theodora?”
The judge said, “I see here,”
For the sake of stubbornness and discord
You have trampled both shame and honor!
I'm waiting, think, make a choice,
Until I raised it to “shaking”, -
He nodded his head at her rack,
He scolded and flattered and begged.
– Leave your empty speeches, –
What glory is there in the vanity of earth,
When the Savior himself, taking the cross on his shoulders,
He humbled His image into the image of a slave!
And how the Jews crucified him,
So now you are torturing us! –
She denounced them with strong words,
Not afraid of fire with a vice.
He pulled a tight collar around his wrists,
The hand breaks, cracks,
He reproaches heresy even on the “shaking”
He does not spare the body for the soul.
They were taken from the fire to the snow
They tormented and tormented all night:
They tortured me with scum, beat me with a whip,
But they returned in shame.
- Oh mother, my light Theodora,
Ekaterina on business!
Please listen to my word
Go, like everyone else, to prayer in the temple.
My boys will come to you
They will carry you in the royal captan,
In silver and gold, bright glory
And they will call me mistress.
I ask you one thing - add a pinch!
And so appear to the people,
To quench all these disputes,
And pray to yourself, at least somehow.
“Iron bonds are more beautiful to me than gold!” –
Theodora sends his answer, -
- And I will be glad only for that honor,
To burn in the log house for Christ!
3.
Suffocation, thirst in a tight hole -
Death by starvation instead of fire,
The heavenly light is hidden by the earth,
Indistinguishable from night to day.
Tormented and tormented by fierce hunger,
It was the turn of extreme suffering,
They throw strength to Theodore,
The flesh languishes and sleep cannot come.
- Have mercy on me, give me a curl,
I'm so exhausted at heart! –
Calls the Sagittarius in silent crying,
But he shakes his head.
- Bring me some bread...
- I don’t know where I can get some bread...
- So at least a cracker, at least some crumbs!..
- I don’t dare, madam, to give it to you!
– Cucumber, apple – can’t you?
“And I would be glad, but the fear is stronger.”
- It’s good, child, it’s God’s will,
Praise be to Christ for building this way!
Then I ask one more thing:
If I die, don’t separate me from my sister,
How we suffered together in grief,
So let us settle into peace.
Heed the last prayer, warrior,
I washed her shirt to death,
Wondering in my soul about free passion
Brad was watered with tears...
...The grave was viciously guarded,
So that they don’t burn lamps at the funeral service,
And the stars only twinkled above her
Yes, the village trees were blooming.
But it’s time for the feat to open up,
There is a chapel and a cross,
They go to bow with love
And honor the feat of martyrs.
***
1. Holy martyr. Avvakum “Letter to F.P. Morozova and Princess Urusova” (1672).
2. F. E. Melnikov “History of the Russian Church from the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich to the destruction of the Solovetsky Monastery” pp. 362-363.
3. Holy martyr. Habakkuk “A lamentable word about the three confessors” (1676).
4. F. E. Melnikov “History of the Russian Church from the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich to the destruction of the Solovetsky Monastery” p. 363.
5. Holy martyr. Avvakum “Letters and messages to the boyar F. P. Morozova (1669).
6. Holy martyr. Avvakum “Letters and messages to the boyar F. P. Morozova (1669).
7. F. E. Melnikov “History of the Russian Church from the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich to the destruction of the Solovetsky Monastery” pp. 364-365.
8. F. E. Melnikov “History of the Russian Church from the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich to the destruction of the Solovetsky Monastery” pp. 366-367.
9. F. E. Melnikov “History of the Russian Church from the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich to the destruction of the Solovetsky Monastery” p. 367.
10. F. E. Melnikov “History of the Russian Church from the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich to the destruction of the Solovetsky Monastery” p. 368.
11. Holy martyr. Avvakum “Letter to F.P. Morozova and Princess Urusova” (1672).
12. Verse of the Old Believer nun of Libya (Russkaya Tavra village)
Related material:
Along the Cross Procession Vereya-Borovsk
Photos and story from a 2013 participant.
The first impressions of the participants in the Vereya-Borovsk procession, heard in the Rogozhskaya refectory upon their return in 2013.
Electronic version of the book “Boyaryna Morozova” by the author Kirill Kozhurin from the series Life of Remarkable People.
Boyarina Morozova Feodosia Prokopyevna (born May 21 (31), 1632 - death November 2 (12, 1675) - supreme palace noblewoman. She was arrested for her adherence to the “old faith”, exiled to the Pafnutievo-Borovsky Monastery and imprisoned in the monastery prison, where she died of starvation.
What is known about Feodosia Prokopyevna
The image of the noblewoman Morozova in the national memory is connected with the painting by V. Surikov, beloved by the people. Even the writer V. Garshin, having seen the artist’s painting 100 years ago at an exhibition, predicted that descendants would not be able to “imagine Feodosia Prokopyevna otherwise than how she is depicted in the painting.” It is difficult for a contemporary to be impartial, but we understand that Garshin, as it turned out, was a good prophet. Many people imagine the noblewoman Morozova as a stern, elderly woman, as in the picture, who fanatically raised her hand in a double-fingered motion. Well, Surikov knew history well and, in the main, did not go against the truth, but he needed the details of fiction for the sake of symbolic generalizations.
Boyarina Morozova was not old - look at the dates of her life. The noblewoman was arrested 4 years before her death, then she was not even forty, but the people’s memory could only capture the martyr for the idea as having lived, wise and alien to any frivolity.
Why did the glory of the noblewoman Morozova cross centuries? Why, among thousands of sufferers for the faith, was this woman destined to become a symbol of the schismatics’ struggle against the “Nikonians”?
On the artist’s canvas, Feodosia Prokopyevna addresses the Moscow crowd, the common people - a wanderer with a staff, an old beggar woman, a holy fool, and all those who actually represented the social stratum of fighters against new rituals. However, Morozova was not an ordinary disobedient woman. The Miracle Monastery, where she was taken, was located in the Kremlin. It is not known whether the tsar watched from the palace passages as the people saw off his favorite, as she proclaimed anathema to the “wicked,” but there is no doubt that the thought of Morozova haunted him and gave him no rest.
Painting by V. Surikov “Boyaryna Morozova”
Morozov family
The noblewoman stood too close to the throne, knew the tsar too well, and besides this, the Morozov family was one of the most noble. There were less than ten such high-ranking families in Russia; at least the Romanovs, to whom Alexei Mikhailovich belonged, had no more rights to the throne than any of the Morozovs. One can guess to what extent the tsar felt uncomfortable when giving the order to arrest the noblewoman. However, there were other things to worry about.
The Morozov brothers, Boris and Gleb, were relatives of the Tsar's father Mikhail and in their youth served as bedsitters for the elder Romanov, this was an exceptional position at court. When 17-year-old Alexei was crowned king in 1645, Boris Morozov became his closest adviser. It was the boyar who chose Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya’s wife for the sovereign and played the first role at the wedding - he was with the sovereign “in his father’s place.” Ten days later, Boris Morozov, a widower and already an elderly man, married the Tsarina’s sister Anna for a second marriage and became the Tsar’s brother-in-law.
From his exceptional position he was able to extract everything he could. And if a good fortune for a gentleman of that era was considered to be the ownership of 300 peasant households, then Morozov had more than 7,000 of them. Unheard of wealth!
The career of Gleb Ivanovich, a very ordinary man, completely depended on the success of his brother. The younger Morozov married the unborn 17-year-old beauty Feodosia Sokovnina, who was very friendly with the queen. Boris Ivanovich died without leaving heirs, and all of his huge fortune went to his younger brother, who also died soon, making his widow and the youth Ivan Glebovich the richest people in the Russian state.
1) Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov
2) Boyarina Morozova visits Archpriest Avvakum
The life of noblewoman Morozova
Boyar Morozova was surrounded not just by wealth, but by luxury. Contemporaries recalled that she rode in a gilded carriage, which was drawn by 6-12 best horses, and about 300 servants ran behind. On Morozov’s Zyuzino estate, a huge garden was laid out where peacocks walked. Considering all this - Morozova’s successful marriage, luxurious life, personal friendship with the royal family - one can understand Archpriest Avvakum, who saw something absolutely exceptional in the fact that Theodosia Prokopyevna renounced “earthly glory.” The noblewoman in fact became an ardent opponent of church reforms. The temperament of a public figure raged within her, and she was able to fully realize herself by defending the old faith.
The house of a rich and influential noblewoman turned into the headquarters of opponents of innovations, critics of amendments to church books, the leader of the schismatics came here and lived for a long time, receiving shelter and protection. All day long Morozova received wanderers, holy fools, priests expelled from monasteries, creating a kind of opposition party to the royal court. The noblewoman herself and her sister Princess Evdokia Urusova were blindly devoted to Avvakum and listened to the fiery preacher in everything.
But it would be wrong to assume that noblewoman Morozova was a fanatic and a “blue stocking.” Even Avvakum noticed that she had a cheerful and friendly character. When her old husband died, she was only 30 years old. The widow “tormented” her body with hair shirt, but hair shirt did not always help to pacify the flesh. Avvakum in his letters advised his pupil to gouge out her eyes in order to get rid of the temptation of love.
The archpriest also accused the noblewoman of stinginess in relation to their common cause, but, most likely, it was not just stinginess, but the thriftiness of the mistress. Morozova selflessly loved her only son Ivan and wanted to transfer to him all Morozov’s wealth safe and sound. The noblewoman's letters to the disgraced archpriest, in addition to discussions about faith, are filled with purely feminine complaints about her people, discussions about a suitable bride for her son. In a word, Feodosia Prokopyevna, possessing enviable strength of character, had very human weaknesses, which, of course, makes her asceticism even more significant.
The noblewoman, being a close friend of the sovereign's wife, had a strong influence on her. Maria Ilyinichna, of course, did not oppose her husband’s reforms of the church, but in her soul she still sympathized with the rituals of her parents and listened to the whispers of Feodosia Prokopyevna. Alexei Mikhailovich hardly liked it, but the tsar, who loved his wife, did not allow attacks against the noblewoman, although the latter became increasingly intolerant of innovations and openly supported the tsar’s enemies.
1669 - the queen died. For another two years, Alexey Mikhailovich was afraid to touch the rebellious noblewoman. Apparently, there was sadness for his untimely departed wife, but most of all the sovereign was wary of the indignation of the old boyar families, who could see in the encroachment on Theodosia Prokopyevna a precedent for reprisals against high-ranking families. Meanwhile, Morozoav took monastic vows and began to be called nun Theodora, which, of course, strengthened her fanaticism and “standing up for the faith.” And when in 1671, the tsar, finally consoled, played a wedding with Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, noblewoman Morozova did not want to come to the palace, citing illness, which Alexei Mikhailovich considered an insult and neglect.
Torture of the noblewoman Morozova - drawing by V. Perov
Arrest
It was then that the sovereign recalled all the past grievances to the boyar Morozova; Apparently, it was also affected by the fact that the king, like a mere mortal, did not like the friend of his beloved wife and, like any man, was jealous of her. The autocrat unleashed all his despotic power on the rebellious noblewoman.
On the night of November 14, 1671, Morozova was escorted in chains to the Chudov Monastery, where they began to persuade her to take communion according to the new rite, but Elder Theodora answered firmly: “I will not take communion!” After torture, he and his sister were sent away from Moscow to the Pechersky Monastery. There, the conditions of the prisoners were relatively tolerable. At least the noblewoman could maintain communication with her friends. Servants could visit her and bring her food and clothing.
Archpriest Avvakum continued to pass on instructions to his spiritual daughter. And she just needed warm, compassionate support - the noblewoman’s only, dearly beloved son died. The grief was also increased by the fact that she could not say goodbye to him, and what was it like for her, nun Theodora, to find out that her son was given communion and buried according to new “unholy” rites.
The new Patriarch Pitirim of Novgorod, who sympathized with the supporters of Avvakum, turned to the autocrat with a request to release Morozova and her sister. In addition to considerations of humanity, there was also a share of political intent in this proposal: the imprisonment of the boyar, her sister and their friend Maria Danilova, who was firm in her faith, made a strong impression on the Russian people, and their release would rather attract to a new ritual than deterrence. But the sovereign, not cruel by nature, this time turned out to be adamant. The version again suggests itself that he was burning with some kind of personal resentment towards Morozova, or perhaps he felt awkward in front of Feodosia Prokopyevna because of his marriage to the young beauty Naryshkina and wanted to forget about the past. However, why guess?..
Death of the noblewoman
Having considered the circumstances of the execution of the hated noblewoman, Alexei Mikhailovich decided that the prisoners should not be burned at the stake, because “even death is red in the world,” but ordered the Old Believers to be starved to death, throwing them into the cold pit of the Borovsky Monastery. All the property of the noblewoman Morozova was confiscated, her brothers were first exiled, and then they were also executed.
The drama of Morozova’s last days defies description. Poor women, driven to despair by hunger, asked the jailers for at least a piece of bread, but were refused. Princess Urusova was the first to die on September 11, followed by Feodosia Prokopyevna who died of exhaustion on November 1. Before her death, she found the strength to ask the jailer to wash her shirt in the river, so that, according to Russian custom, she would die in a clean shirt. Maria Danilova suffered the longest, for another whole month.
The once great Morozov family ceased to exist.
The schism changed not only the church, but also the fate of the disgraced noblewoman
In 1911, the emperor gave permission to dismantle the archive of the Secret Order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. In addition to the usual papers and denunciations for such organizations, a large volume of documents was discovered concerning the church schism, and in particular the case of the disgraced Feodosia Morozova. Her correspondence with Archpriest Avvakum, investigation reports, census of property alienated to the state after the noblewoman’s exile to Borovsk. Among the heap of half-rotted papers, one was found, which was immediately reported to the authorities. The reaction followed immediately: the analysis of documents was suspended until the highest order, the archive was classified. The letter that so alarmed the ruling dynasty concerned the personal life of Alexei Mikhailovich, who went down in Russian history under the name Quiet.
It's not allowed, lady.
On the night of November 1–2, 1675, it snowed. The walls of the three-meter-deep pit were covered in frost. The women sitting in the pit had not spoken for several days; they did not even have the strength to pray. After Evdokia’s death in September, they were fed worse and less often every day, and when they asked for bread they answered: if they are righteous, then God will give it to them!
One of the captives stirred, and the second, unable to turn her head, squinted her eyes in her direction.
I will die today, Masha...
The one called Masha did not answer anything, she just looked away.
And it’s true, you and I are not living, but suffering...
The woman began to cry. In the emaciated and broken old woman, few would recognize the stately beauty Feodosia Morozova.
She was forty-three years old.
Outlived everyone... Glebushka died, Dunyasha died, and now Vanechka is gone...
Morozova's son died before his aunt, but his mother was informed about this only now, when she was exhausted.
Suddenly Morozova perked up and, gaining strength from somewhere, stood up and shouted somewhere upward, where the guards should have been:
Hey, up there! Have mercy! Give me a roll!
Masha hissed something condemningly, but from above they answered:
It’s not allowed, lady, I’m afraid.
Then give me some bread! – Morozova did not let up, and in this demand her final determination was heard.
Not allowed.
“Good, child...” the old woman sank and somehow suddenly went limp. “Blessed be our God, so merciful.” Then go to the river and wash my shirt... I was going to die, but I need to die clean...
Morozova said her last words so quietly that even Danilova, who was nearby, could not understand them. But the guard heard, and soon a wooden pole with an iron hook at the end came down, to which Morozova attached her tough shirt, which had not been changed for several months.
Artful Bride
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was left without parents early on, and when he ascended the throne at the age of sixteen, the person closest to him was his teacher, his father’s friend, boyar Boris Morozov. Boris Ivanovich's brother Gleb was the uncle of Alexei Mikhailovich's younger brother Ivan and the tsar's commander in Novgorod, Kazan, and accompanied the tsar on military campaigns. Both brothers were quite close to the Russian throne and did not intend to leave it. In addition, the Morozov family was more noble than the Romanovs, and who knows how far their ambitions extended.
True, when the king’s brother died, Gleb’s influence declined, but even here Boris found a way to return to his previous position. Not only did he choose a high-born bride for Alexei Mikhailovich so that they would not compete, but he himself married the queen’s sister, Anna Miloslavskaya. Gleb was advised to marry the daughter of the boyar Prokopiy Sokovnin, who was close to Alexei Mikhailovich, Feodosiya. Although the Sokovnins did not have a distinguished pedigree, Procopius took part in embassy affairs and for some time was even the governor of Kaluga.
The wedding of Gleb Morozov and Feodosia Sokovnina took place in 1649. It was not particularly pompous, since the groom had already been married once, had recently become a widower, and not enough time had passed for the first marriage to be forgotten. But in order to demonstrate the seventeen-year-old beauty being introduced into the boyar’s house, the festivities lasted more than a week. One day Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich also visited the Morozovs...
Golden carriage
Surprisingly, having put on the wet shirt brought by the guard, Feodosia Prokopyevna felt happy. Soon her torment would end, and she felt time oozing away, bringing her meeting with the Lord closer. Morozova crossed herself.
Are you getting ready? – Danilova wheezed from her corner.
Yes, Mashenka, I’m getting ready.
What are you happy about?
The friend coughed, and Morozova thought she laughed. She bent over to the icy earthen floor and tried to say the usual prayer that rolled off her tongue so easily. But one after another, scenes of a past and, it seemed, long-forgotten life appeared in my head.
Parents wooed Feodosia, as usual, without asking. The time has come, and a better party than Morozov could not even be imagined. In addition, having advantageously married off the eldest daughter, one could count on good prospects for the younger children - daughter Evdokia and sons Fyodor and Alexei. Feodosia herself did not know love before marriage, but at first sight she appreciated generosity in her groom.
The boyar arrived on a gilded carriage drawn by a dozen thoroughbred horses, accompanied by more than a hundred servants. This alone made an impression - at best, the Sokovnins harnessed two horses, and in the entire house there were no more than a dozen servants. The groom's fur coat, trimmed with sable skins and lined with ermine, completely made Feodosia believe that the marriage promises to turn into an endless fairy tale.
Only Aunt Matryona, who had taken root with the Sokovnins even before Theodosia was born, after the wedding was agreed upon, walked gloomily and every now and then fell to her knees in front of the images.
Carried away by the pre-wedding bustle, the parents did not pay attention to Matrenina’s quirks, but Fedenka, as the youngest daughter was affectionately called in the family, became worried:
What's wrong with you, auntie? Can you smell trouble?
Matryona frowned and looked away. The girl hugged her and repeated:
Speak up, don't worry! I feel so good today that I’ll help you and I’ll have some leftovers for myself.
The hanger-on crossed herself and whispered:
It’s not me, the old one, who needs help, I’m worried about you, Fedenka! The white angel will turn out to be a demon, the black man will strengthen his faith!
The girl didn’t understand anything, but nodded in agreement.
Don't go, girl, get married! You will lose your son, your faith will be tested, you will be left all alone, and they will bury you in the icy ground!
What are you saying, Matryonushka?!
Fedenka was seriously frightened and began to cross herself, but the old woman did not let up:
I’m telling the truth, but you don’t believe me! Not every gingerbread is sweet on the inside!
Suddenly, the hanger-on stopped short and ran out of the room, and Theodosia, wiping away her tears, noticed her mother entering.
What's happened?
The eldest Sokovnina was a strict woman and did not tolerate girlish weaknesses.
Yes, I rejoice, mother!
And if you’re happy, then go get ready! The wedding has already been scheduled.
Morozova soon forgot about the prediction of the hanger-on Theodosius and remembered about it only when it began to come true.
Royal offspring
The wedding was celebrated in Zyuzin, the Morozov estate near Moscow. Contemporaries admired the luxury of the palace - the high vaults of the halls, built in compliance with Russian traditions, were fancifully supplemented only by inlaid parquet, which was becoming fashionable in Europe. Peacocks walked proudly through the winter garden, and a separate room was reserved for the owner’s hunting trophies.
On the third day, the young king and queen arrived in Zyuzino.
Seeing him, Theodosia felt a previously unknown feeling. The blue-eyed youth with flaxen hair in a brightly embroidered caftan struck her with his beauty, and Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna seemed like a gray bird, shriveled from the frost, who, through someone’s misunderstanding, found herself in the Garden of Eden.
Alexey Mikhailovich also noticed the young noblewoman, she was brought closer to the court, and a year later the Morozovs had a son, Ivan.
Rumors that Feodosia had spoiled her son not from her husband appeared in Moscow the day after his birth. The fact is that among the gossips it has long been said that the Morozov brothers, in the pursuit of wealth, lost their masculine strength - both the eldest Boris and the younger Gleb married a second time, but neither one nor the other had children before Ivan. When the boy grew up a little, his resemblance to the second Romanov ceased to be a secret.
In 1662, almost simultaneously, first the childless Boris Ivanovich Morozov, and a little later Gleb Ivanovich, died. Twelve-year-old Ivan turned out to be the heir to all Morozov’s wealth, but before his son came of age, his mother, Feodosia Prokopyevna Morozova, was declared the administrator of the estates. Her influence at court, which had previously been considerable, increased many times over. And gossip and rumors about the ongoing relationship with the tsar were now reinforced by the fact that without his consent, the largest capital in Russia could not be concentrated in one hand. As a rule, in order to avoid this (too much wealth was a danger to power), the fortune of a childless brother was rejected in favor of the state.
Only the queen continued to believe in the pure relationship of her husband and best friend. In addition, Alexei Mikhailovich’s frequent visits to the Morozovs were easily explained by his royal concern for the fatherless Ivan and interest in Feodosia as an interlocutor. Boris Ivanovich Morozov publicly admired the intelligence and education of his daughter-in-law and considered it shameless to discuss state affairs with her. What can we say about the young tsar, who was suddenly left without his best advisers, while revolt after revolt took place in Rus'?
Three fingers
Although Alexei Mikhailovich was nicknamed the Quietest, his reign was one of the most turbulent in Rus'. The enslavement of peasants began under Ivan the Terrible, and the Code of 1649 finally approved it. Of course, riots began: the peasants refused to obey the landowners, went to the north, where the tsarist commanders could not reach them, the most freedom-loving people united in gangs and raided the landowners' estates. Never before had so many arson events occurred in the country, and the atrocities of the rebels were reminiscent of the Tatar-Mongol invasion. At the same time, both at the court, which brutally suppressed the uprising, and among the fugitive peasants, they were confident that they were doing a godly deed. And about the death of Patriarch Joseph, respected in Rus', they said: either “he was poisoned by the landowners because he stood up for the peasants,” or “the patriarch could not stand the disrespect of his masters by the common people.”
Alexey Mikhailovich well understood that in order to pacify the people, the new patriarch must be a strong man, capable of reforming the amorphous church, which had not yet provided adequate assistance to the authorities. It was then that he remembered the Novgorod Metropolitan Nikon.
Nikon (before becoming a monk - Nikita Minov) came from peasants in the Nizhny Novgorod province. Having become a priest, he came to Moscow and, while serving in one of the Moscow churches, caught the eye of the young Tsar. He liked him - young, handsome, his eyes sparkling. Nikon emanated energy that had not been seen at court for a long time, and Alexei Mikhailovich, despite the timid resistance of the old patriarch, appointed the young priest as Metropolitan of Novgorod.
When a messenger rushed to Novgorod with a royal request to take the place of the deceased patriarch, Nikon did not give consent, but went to Moscow. He understood well that the appointment of a relatively young man as patriarch would be perceived ambiguously by the people and the royal entourage. Only when Alexei Mikhailovich, in front of a large crowd of people in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, begging to accept the patriarchate, bowed at the feet of the metropolitan, Nikon (again publicly), having demanded from the tsar a promise not to interfere in church affairs, gave consent.
The sick lust for power of the new patriarch manifested itself quite quickly. Yes, he did not hide his desire to build an Orthodox Church following the example of the Catholic Church, where the power of the pope was indisputable, including for monarchs. At first, such changes suited Alexei Mikhailovich quite well - he needed the support of a strong church.
The first step of the new patriarch was to bring together the traditional Russian and Greek rites. However, the change in liturgical books and church practices that began under Nikon was perceived by most parishioners as an insult to tradition. From time immemorial, in Rus' they made the sign of themselves with two fingers - Nikon introduced three fingers, Russians during worship were accustomed to following the movement of the sun - Nikon tried to introduce the Greek custom of walking opposite, in Rus' they revered an eight-pointed cross - Nikon insisted on a four-pointed one...
In 1654, Nikon convened a church council, at which it was decided to correct church books according to Greek and ancient Slavic models. Several people, including Archpriest Avvakum, who later became famous, did not sign the decision, and two years later at a new council they were cursed and sent into exile.
The common people accepted all these innovations unequivocally: the tsar needed a new church to finally consolidate serfdom. The courtiers hated Nikon for the influence that he acquired over the young king. And only Feodosia Morozova dared to show her hostility to the patriarch.
Hungry Pride
Freezing in a wet shirt, Theodosia still tried to concentrate on prayer, but her memories did not allow her to do so.
Her cracked lips tried to form something like a smile: she did not immediately understand that the new patriarch was a black man, but she disliked Nikon from the first meeting. The one when Alyoshenka bowed at his feet. Nikon, dressed all in black (among other things, he tried to instill asceticism in the churchmen), did not give his consent immediately; he silently looked around the boyars surrounding the tsar with a victorious gaze and fixed it on her. What was he waiting for? Did you want Morozova to bow obediently and lower her eyes? But she felt offended by the tsar’s humiliation, and Theodosia measured the arrogant priest from head to toe. From then on, their struggle began, the struggle of two strong, power-hungry people. From the outside it seemed that they were fighting for the purity of the church, but Morozova knew that they were fighting for the love of the Tsar.
Black man
The tsar, at the instigation of Nikon, threw all the forces of the state into suppressing the Old Believers. The schismatics fled from cities and villages, and after them, teams of riflemen were immediately sent, who burned the Old Believer monasteries with the children and old people in them.
But as soon as Nikon left Moscow at the head of the army, Morozova’s influence on the tsar intensified. Even Archpriest Avvakum, with whom Theodosia began correspondence, asked her to humble her female flesh and pay more attention to raising her son.
Having returned one day from the “crusade” to Moscow, Nikon, having learned that Alexei Mikhailovich was again in Zyuzin with the Morozovs, decided to teach the tsar a lesson: he announced that he was resigning from the rank of patriarch, and retired to the Resurrection Monastery, which he founded. Nikon was sure that Alexey Mikhailovich would immediately come to him to persuade him to stay. However, this did not happen, and in 1658 the patriarchal throne became vacant. But only in November 1666 a church council met, which found Nikon guilty of insulting the king and falling into Latin dogmas. He was defrocked and exiled to the Belozersky Ferapontov Monastery. However, Nikon's reforms went so far that a return to the old rite was no longer possible.
But Morozova, who defeated the “black man,” did not yet understand that the church schism would also be her fate.
Royal wedding
When Nikon was sent into exile, noblewoman Morozova was one of the most well-born and wealthy women in Russia. She was happy. She had a beloved son and a loved one, the main enemy who tried to separate her from the “white angel” Alyoshenka was defeated, she was only thirty-three years old, and it seemed that life had only joys in store ahead.
But in March 1669, Tsarina Maria Miloslavskaya, who had endured her husband’s affection for her best friend, died, and soon the tsar’s marriage to the young and pretty Natalya Naryshkina was announced. Alexey Mikhailovich Morozova made it clear that from now on their relationship could not remain the same.
On January 22, 1671, the royal wedding took place. The “mountain” (palace) noblewoman Morozova also had to take part in the complex wedding ritual. She didn’t show up, and Alexey Mikhailovich didn’t want to forgive her for this. True, as the chroniclers report, he said to the boyars around him: “It’s hard for her to fight me - one of us will certainly win.”
To deal with his former mistress, the king decided to recall her friendship with Avvakum and her rejection of the new ritual, that is, what had amused him until now. To some extent, he even encouraged his friend’s opposition, believing that her rivalry with Nikon was useful for the state.
On November 16, 1671, Archimandrite Joachim of the Chudov Monastery was instructed to arrest Morozova. She was taken to the courtyard of the Pskov Pechersky Monastery on Arbat - it was bought by the Secret Order and was used as a place of detention.
However, the king had not yet given up hope for a good relationship with his long-term girlfriend. Trying to convert her to the new faith, the new patriarch had a long conversation with Morozova, the Tsar assigned teachers to his son Ivan, and Morozova was informed about this. However, after Vanechka’s unexpected death, nothing could convince Feodosia of the king’s good attitude.
The prediction of Matryona’s hanger-on kept pounding in my head: “The white angel will turn out to be a demon, the black man will strengthen the faith.” Now she knew not only the “black man”, but the “white angel”, who turned out to be Satan.
Real angel
The half-dead Danilova tied a rope around her friend’s body and pulled it up. But just before the hole it caught on something, Morozova’s hand twitched, and it seemed to Danilova that she had illuminated her with a cross.
From that day on, Masha refused to eat, fell into oblivion every now and then, and exactly a month later, on December 1, she died.
On the same day, a messenger rode to Moscow with the news of Morozova’s death. But when Alexei Mikhailovich was informed about this, it seemed to those around him that he did not even immediately remember who they were talking about.
Prince Urusov, whose wife, Morozova’s sister Evdokia Prokopyevna, had been tortured earlier, crossed himself and said loudly, so that the future chronicler could hear it:
Angel! A true angel! Absolutely does not remember evil!
True, the chronicler notes that it was not clear what kind of evil the prince had in mind - the one that was inflicted on Alexei Mikhailovich, or the one that he himself inflicted.
November 15, 1675 (new style) died Feodosia Morozova. And I bow my head and with great reverence offer up a prayer to the Lord for such a great soul, a woman, who took suffering for faith.
Reading the Life of Boyarina Morozova, I think about how I would behave in her place. And with bitterness and shame I realize that my soul is cowardly and fearful, fickle and unfaithful, prone to temptation and attached to the earthly, perishable things of this transitory world.
Feodosia Prokopyevna Sokovnina was born into the family of a royal guard. She was married to boyar Gleb Ivanovich Morozov, who was close to Tsar Alexei. Noble and fabulously rich. But the soul is looking for her The highest truth, neglecting earthly goods. After the death of her husband, she leads a monastic lifestyle, exhausting herself with fasting and wearing a hair shirt. She is jealous of the old faith of her fathers, her soul rejects the innovations of Nikon’s reform, and her favorite spiritual teacher becomes Archpriest Avvakum, persecuted and subjected to church court. The noblewoman Morozova is not afraid of being persecuted, she is not afraid of physical violence. Her unshakable faith gives her strength and courage.
When I read a poem Anna Akhmatova, then I see very clearly in my mind the picture when noblewoman Morozova is taken to prison. She shows great firmness and heroism.
But as another poet describes this historical fact, Varlam Shalamov.
Say goodbye to sleepy Moscow And with a broad two-fingered banner Icons bow before her, | From that land she will not be at peace, Rising above the enslaved crowd, This is a miracle for the new century |
I am again re-reading historical materials about the torture to which noblewoman Morozova was subjected. And my heart cries. No exhortations to accept the new rituals had any effect. And then the tormentors hung a chain around the noblewoman’s neck, put her in prison, tortured her on the rack, and beat her with whips.
Changed feasts and chambers
To the gloomy damp casemate,
Her soul is rich in faith,
She really cares more about the chambers.
In captivity, she learned about the death of her only son Ivan and cried bitterly. And then they put her in an earthen pit, where she died from complete exhaustion. These terrible events took place in the city of Borovsk.
This is how this fragile woman was treated by people who believed that they were doing it for the good, in the name of innovation and reform, believing that they were serving God in this way. At the same time, drowning out the voice of conscience, which in the quiet voice of Christ called to love one another.
And in conclusion, I will again quote an excerpt from Anna Akhmatova’s poem.
And she believes she won’t die
The idea of free prayer,
The time will come and erect,
A monument to her instead of a rack.
To depict the conflict between the individual and the state, the opposition of a black spot to the background - for Surikov, artistic tasks of equal importance. “Boyaryna Morozova” might not have existed at all if it weren’t for the crow in the winter landscape.
“...Once I saw a crow in the snow. A crow sits in the snow with one wing held back. Sits like a black spot in the snow. So I couldn’t forget this stain for many years. Then he wrote “Boyaryna Morozova”, - Vasily Surikov recalled about how the idea for the picture came about. To create “The Morning of the Streltsy Execution,” the painting that made him famous, Surikov was inspired by the interesting reflexes on his white shirt from the flame of a lit candle in daylight. The artist, whose childhood was spent in Siberia, recalled in a similar way the executioner who carried out public executions in the city square of Krasnoyarsk: “Black scaffold, red shirt - beauty!”
Surikov’s painting depicts the events of November 29 (according to the present day - Note "Around the world") 1671, when Feodosia was taken away from Moscow as a prisoner.
An unknown contemporary of the heroine in “The Tale of Boyarina Morozova” says: “And she was quickly taken past Chudov (the monastery in the Kremlin, where she had previously been escorted for interrogation. - Note “Around the World”) under the royal transitions. Having stretched out his hand to his gum... and clearly depicting the shape of the finger, raising it high, he often guarded it with a cross, and often clinked the cap in the same way.”.
1. Feodosia Morozova. “Your fingers are subtle... your eyes are lightning fast”, - her spiritual mentor Archpriest Avvakum said about Morozova. Surikov first wrote the crowd, and then began to look for a suitable type for the main character. The artist tried to paint Morozov from his aunt Avdotya Vasilievna Torgoshina, who was interested in the Old Believers. But her face was lost against the background of the multicolored crowd. The search continued until one day a certain Anastasia Mikhailovna came to the Old Believers from the Urals. “In kindergarten, in two hours”, according to Surikov, he wrote a sketch from it: “And when I inserted her into the picture, she conquered everyone”.
The noblewoman, who rode around in luxurious carriages before her disgrace, is transported in a peasant sleigh so that the people can see her humiliation. The figure of Morozova - a black triangle - is not lost against the background of the motley crowd that surrounds her; she seems to split this crowd into two unequal parts: excited and sympathetic - on the right and indifferent and mocking - on the left.
2. Dual fingers. This is how the Old Believers folded their fingers when crossing themselves, while Nikon enforced three-fingeredness. It has long been customary in Rus' to make the sign of the cross with two fingers. Two fingers symbolize the unity of the dual nature of Jesus Christ - divine and human, and the bent and connected three remaining ones - the Trinity.
3. Snow. It is interesting to the painter because it changes and enriches the color of the objects on it. “Writing in the snow - everything turns out differently,- said Surikov. - They're writing in the snow with silhouettes. And in the snow everything is saturated with light. Everything is in purple and pink reflexes, just like the clothes of the noblewoman Morozova - outer, black; and a shirt in the crowd..."
4. Drovni. “There is such beauty in the firewood: in the saplings, in the elms, in the sanitation drains,- the painter admired. “And in the bends of the runners, how they sway and shine, like forged ones... After all, Russian firewood needs to be sung!..” In the alley next to Surikov’s Moscow apartment there were snowdrifts in winter, and peasant sleighs often drove there. The artist walked behind the firewood and sketched the furrows they left in the fresh snow. Surikov spent a long time searching for the distance between the sleigh and the edge of the picture that would give it dynamics and make it “go.”
5. Clothes of the noblewoman. At the end of 1670, Morozova secretly became a nun under the name of Theodora and therefore wears strict, albeit expensive, black clothes.
6. Lestovka(on the noblewoman’s hand and on the wanderer’s right). Leather Old Believer rosary in the form of steps of a ladder - a symbol of spiritual ascent, hence the name. At the same time, the ladder is closed in a ring, which means unceasing prayer. Every Christian Old Believer should have his own ladder for prayer.
7. Laughing pop. When creating characters, the painter chose the most striking types from the people. The prototype of this priest is the sexton Varsonofy Zakourtsev. Surikov recalled how, at the age of eight, he had to drive horses all night on a dangerous road, because the sexton, his traveling companion, had gotten drunk, as usual.
8. Church. Painted from the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Novaya Sloboda on Dolgorukovskaya Street in Moscow, not far from the house where Surikov lived. The stone temple was built in 1703. The building has survived to this day, but requires restoration. The outlines of the church in the painting are vague: the artist did not want it to be recognizable. Judging by the first sketches, Surikov was initially going, according to sources, to depict the Kremlin buildings in the background, but then decided to move the scene to a general Moscow street of the 17th century and focus on a heterogeneous crowd of citizens.
9. Princess Evdokia Urusova. Morozova’s own sister, under her influence, also joined the schismatics and eventually shared the fate of Feodosia in the Borovsky prison.
10. Old woman and girls. Surikov found these types in the Old Believer community at the Preobrazhenskoye cemetery. He was well known there, and women agreed to pose. “They liked that I was a Cossack and didn’t smoke”, - said the artist.
11. Wrapped scarf. A chance find by the artist still at the sketch stage. The raised edge makes it clear that the hawthorn has just bowed low to the condemned woman, to the ground, as a sign of deep respect.
12. Nun. Surikov wrote it from a friend, the daughter of a Moscow priest, who was preparing to take monastic vows.
13. Staff. Surikov saw one in the hand of an old pilgrim who was walking along the road to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. “I grabbed the watercolor and after it,- the artist recalled. - And she had already left. I shout to her: “Grandma! Grandmother! Give me the staff! And she threw away the staff - she thought I was a robber.”.
14. Wanderer. Similar types of wandering pilgrims with staves and knapsacks were also encountered at the end of the 19th century. This wanderer is Morozova’s ideological ally: he took off his hat while seeing off the condemned woman; he has the same Old Believer rosary as she does. Among the studies for this image there are self-portraits: when the artist decided to change the turn of the character’s head, the pilgrim who originally posed for him was no longer to be found.
15. Fool in chains. Sympathizing with Morozova, he baptizes her with the same schismatic double-finger and is not afraid of punishment: holy fools were not touched in Rus'. The artist found a suitable sitter at the market. A little man selling cucumbers agreed to pose in the snow wearing nothing but a canvas shirt, and the painter rubbed his chilled feet with vodka. “I gave him three rubles,- said Surikov. - It was a lot of money for him. And the first thing he hired was a reckless driver for a ruble of seventy-five kopecks. That's the kind of man he was.".
16. Icon “Our Lady of Tenderness”. Feodosia Morozova looks at her over the crowd. The rebellious noblewoman intends to answer only to heaven.
Surikov first heard about the rebellious noblewoman in childhood from his godmother Olga Durandina. In the 17th century, when Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich supported the reform of the Russian church carried out by Patriarch Nikon, Feodosia Morozova, one of the most noble and influential women at court, opposed the innovations. Her open disobedience aroused the anger of the monarch, and in the end the noblewoman was imprisoned in an underground prison in Borovsk near Kaluga, where she died of exhaustion.
The confrontation of an angular black spot with the background is for the artist a drama as exciting as the conflict of a strong personality with royal power. Conveying the play of color reflexes on clothes and faces to the author is no less important than showing the range of emotions in the crowd seeing off the convicted person. For Surikov, these creative tasks did not exist separately. “Abstraction and conventionality are the scourges of art”, he asserted.
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ARTIST
1848
- Born in Krasnoyarsk into a Cossack family. |
