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”, - spoke about Morozova spiritual guide Archpriest Avvakum. 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. - There they write 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 found in late XIX 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 - for the artist, the drama is as exciting as the conflict 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.
 ARTIST
1848
- Born in Krasnoyarsk into a Cossack family. |
In the photo: painting by V. I. Surikov “Boyaryna Morozova”.
Gleb Ivanovich Morozov, a noble boyar close to the court of Mikhail Fedorovich, and then Alexei Mikhailovich. He is known, however, not for his court career and not for the fact that he was known as one of richest people in the Russian kingdom, but because after the death of his first wife he married the 17-year-old beauty Feodosia Sokovnina, who went down in Russian history under the name noblewoman Morozova.
There were many women who bore the Morozov surname in the centuries-old history of the family. But historically it was assigned to Theodosia Prokofievna, the famous schismatic, spiritual daughter of Archpriest Avvakum, noblewoman Morozova, who became the heroine of the famous painting by artist Vasily Surikov.
Boyarina Morozova in family life
The family life of Gleb Ivanovich Morozov with his first wife Avdotya Alekseevna could be called happy - they lived in perfect harmony for thirty years - if not for one sad circumstance: they had no children. That's why, when young noblewoman Morozova gave birth to a son, Gleb Ivanovich was incredibly happy. His beloved brother Boris, who had accumulated a considerable fortune, also had no children; Gleb Ivanovich himself was by no means a poor man, so the newborn Ivan Morozov became the richest heir from infancy.
Real luxury reigned in the Morozov family. And not only in their Moscow house, but also in estates near Moscow, which was perceived by contemporaries with surprise and distrust. In those days, boyar estates had only economic purposes; it was not customary to decorate and improve them.
For the first time, he broke the ancient tradition: having visited Europe and seen luxurious country estates, primarily Polish, he built his Izmailovo estates near Moscow and, the latter was called the eighth wonder of the world by foreign guests.
Advisor to Alexei Mikhailovich, who was his “uncle” and mentor in childhood, also arranged his own with pomp, where he invited the tsar himself. Gleb Morozov, who also participated in foreign campaigns as part of the royal retinue and had seen enough of the estates of Polish magnates, followed his brother’s example. In the village of Zyuzino, according to surviving evidence, peacocks and peahens walked around the manor's courtyard, and the noblewoman Morozova rode out in a silver carriage drawn by six thoroughbred horses, accompanied by hundreds of servants.
Widow
Boyarina Morozova and Archpriest Avvakum
Boyarina Morozova shared her worries and sorrows with her longtime friend, mentor and spiritual father - Archpriest Avvakum, well-known representative Old Believers, who did not accept church reform, for which he was subsequently exiled and executed. Boyarina Morozova completely shared his views and also suffered and accepted martyrdom for her faith.
He was deliberately strict with his spiritual daughter, although in the depths of his soul he loved her, happily stayed in her large hospitable house and called her “a cheerful and amiable wife.” Feodosia Prokopyevna remained a young widow - she was only thirty years old, and nothing human was alien to her. She wore a hair shirt to get rid of temptations, but this did not always help, and the archpriest wrote to her in response to complaints: “Stupid, crazy, ugly, gouge out your eyes with a shuttle!” He also reproached his spiritual daughter for stinginess, having learned that she had donated eight rubles to the church - a considerable amount in those days, when everything was calculated in pennies and half-rubles, but Avvakum knew about the gold and jewelry hidden by the noblewoman from the authorities: “Alms flow from you like a small drop from the depths of the sea, and then with a reservation”, he writes angrily.
Thanks to the correspondence preserved in ancient literary monuments, we can more clearly imagine the character of the noblewoman Morozova - she was not at all a religious fanatic, as legend often portrays her, but an ordinary woman and mother, taking care of her son and the household, with her weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages.
Opal
The virtues of Feodosia Prokopyevna include, first of all, strength of spirit - despite the habit of living in luxury, she voluntarily renounced all earthly goods, “shook off the dust” of wealth and became equal to ordinary people, secretly becoming a nun under the name of Theodora.
Less than a year after taking monastic vows, Archimandrite of the Chudov Monastery, and later Patriarch of Moscow Joachim, appeared in Morozova’s house by order of the tsar. He interrogated Feodosia and her sister Evdokia Urusova and initially left them under house arrest, but two days later the noblewoman Morozova was transported under guard to. It was this moment that was captured in Surikov’s immortal painting - but the artist depicted his heroine as proud, stern and irreconcilable, and yet she was characterized by suffering and doubts.
Already in prison, Morozova learned about the death of her beloved son and was so sad for him that Archpriest Avvakum again made her a suggestion in a letter: “Don’t worry about Ivan, I won’t scold him”. They tried to make a saint out of the sufferer for the faith, and the chronicler, to please the hagiographic canon, says that from the rack the disgraced noblewoman “victoriously denounced” her tormentors. However, the moment when the noblewoman began to cry and said to one of the executioners: “Is this Christianity if you torture a person?”
The martyrdom of noblewoman Morozova
After being tortured on the rack, the unfortunate noblewoman was tormented by hunger, and she cried out to her guard: “Have mercy, servant of Christ! Have mercy on me, give me a little roll!” Then she asked for at least “a little crackers”, at least an apple or a cucumber - but all in vain.
The Tsar did not want to arrange a public execution of the boyar Morozova and Evdokia Urusova, because he was afraid that the people would be on their side, and doomed the women to a slow, painful death from hunger. Even after death, they were kept in custody - for fear that the Old Believers would dig up their bodies “with great honor, like the might of holy martyrs”.
The sisters were buried secretly, without a funeral service, wrapped in matting, inside the Borovsky prison. Boyarina Morozova died on the night of November 1–2, 1675. After her death, all the untold wealth and estates of the Morozovs went to the state.
Sasha Mitrakhovich 14.11.2018 20:37
In the photo: Painting by Vasily Perov “Torture of the noblewoman Morozova”.
The fate of Feodosia Prokofyevna Sokovnina takes a sharp turn for the first time in 1649, when she, a 17-year-old girl, becomes the wife of the Tsar's bedchamber Gleb Ivanovich Morozov.
In 1653, the reforms of Patriarch Nikon began. Their essence (except for changes in church books and the order of worship) boiled down to the following innovations: the sign of the cross was prescribed to be made with three fingers, not two, the procession around the church should be carried out not in the direction of the sun, but against the sun, in some cases, bows to the ground were replaced by waist bows, the cross Not only the eight- and six-pointed one was revered, but also the four-pointed one, and the exclamation “Hallelujah” was required to be sung three times, not two.
Innovations split Russian society of that time - from the nobility to the townspeople and peasants - into two camps. The government of Alexei Mikhailovich consistently supported church reforms, and at first the repressions were directed only against the leaders of the split. A decade later, when Patriarch Nikon, after a conflict with the tsar, was deprived of his chair and removed from business, Archpriest Avvakum, one of the leaders of the schismatics, was returned to Moscow for some time and tried to win him over to the side of the official church. Avvakum refused to accept the reforms, but during this time many new eminent supporters joined the ranks of the Old Believers.
The most famous spiritual daughters of the archpriest were the sisters Feodosia Morozova and Evdokia Urusova. And at this moment the fate of the noblewoman takes a sharp turn for the second time. Morozova’s house becomes the center of the Old Believers: schismatics persecuted by the tsar come and live here secretly, a huge number of letters are sent from here in support of the “faith of the fathers,” some of which are written by the noblewoman herself.
Morozova's role as one of the leaders of schismatics and her stubborn unwillingness to submit to the reforms carried out by the tsar make her position precarious. In 1665, the king made an attempt without resorting to extreme measures, to frighten the noblewoman Theodosia, and significant land holdings remaining after the death of her husband will be confiscated from her. But after the queen's intercession most Morozova's estates were returned.
In January 1671, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich married a second time - to the young Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. Feodosia Morozova, due to her position as one of the most noble women at court, was obliged to attend the wedding. However, she deliberately avoided participating in the wedding, which was the last straw for the king.
In November 1671, noblewoman Morozova and her sister Princess Urusova were arrested. They rejected all attempts to force the sisters to accept the church reforms of Patriarch Nikon and cross themselves according to the new rules with three fingers. While in captivity, Morozova learned of the death of her only son.
The tsar's henchmen proposed to burn the schismatics, but the boyars did not agree to the execution of noble prisoners. Then they began to torture them. Women were lifted on the rack and then thrown naked on the ice. The woman, exhausted by torture, reproached the executioners with tears in her eyes: “Is Christianity dead to death?”
Without breaking their commitment to the old faith, the tsar’s henchmen imprisoned Morozova in the Novodevichy Convent. All the nobility of Moscow flocked there to see with their own eyes the “strong patience” of the noblewoman. The Tsar decides to remove the Sokovnin sisters away from the capital, exiling them to Borovsk.
But even there they did not resign themselves: they continued to correspond with like-minded people, and they were often visited by famous Old Believers. In the end, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich decided to put an end to this protracted confrontation. Morozova and her sister were thrown into a pit and began to starve.
Princess Urusova held out in these unbearable conditions for two and a half months. Dying, she asked her sister to read the funeral service, and she herself served with her. “And so they both served, and the martyr above the martyr in the dark dungeon sang the canon, and the prisoner above the prisoner shed tears.”.
Urusova died first. Boyarina Morozova died after her on November 2, 1675. And she was secretly, without a funeral service, buried next to her sister. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, fearing the indignation of the Old Believers, did not allow the death of the rebellious noblewoman to be announced for three weeks. The location of the graves of the martyrs was kept secret.
Sasha Mitrakhovich 16.02.2019 13:32
4.7 (94.29%) 14 votes
15th of November according to the new style Orthodox Church remembers the death 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 narrative is crowned by the author's verse, which, in the light of the given historical facts looks like a clever decoration for the article.
I honor the blessed Theodora with love and reverence, as a saint and reverend, as a martyr and confessor, as a great servant 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 brief information, which is given by the 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 partly about the valor and courage, and graceful testimony, and patient suffering of the newly-minted martyr Bolyaryna Theodosia Prokopievna, named nun Theodora, after the name 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, Feodosia was widowed, left with only son Ivan. .
A prayer service at the chapel erected on the site of the martyrdom of the saint Boyaryna Feodosia was a little 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 eight thousand of Christianity behind her, a hundred and more slaves and slaves, closeness under the queen - 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 sophisticated 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, at the command of the Master, serve you no more, and I 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. Big influence Elder Melania, a nun, wise over the years and strong in faith, who, fleeing persecution, took refuge with a loving noblewoman, also exerted an 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 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 way of the cross of the great Russian confessor began Orthodox faith, 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 new faith. Boyarina Morozova and Princess Urusova were subjected to severe torture. At night they were brought to the Yamskaya yard, 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, I said Great Theodora: “Madam 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 if this, as you said, is impossible, I pray you, create your last love: cover my wretched body with Rogozin, and lay it inseparably near my dear sister and compassionate woman.”
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, “with 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 serves us now high example to confirmation 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 levels
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.
One of the most tragic stories of the schism of the Russian Church is connected with Borovsk - the death of the noblewoman Feodosia Prokopyevna Morozova.
We all remember Surikov’s painting - Feodosia Morozova, chained in iron, is being taken through Moscow, and she raises two fingers, as a sign that she has not renounced the old faith, does not accept the reforms of Patriarch Nikon, and is ready to go to martyrdom.
In reality, everything was not quite like that. Morozova and her sister Evdokia Urusova were taken through Moscow, but she could not raise her arm, because she was chained to stone blocks so that her arms were stretched down. Surikov couldn’t help but know this, but apparently he needed to show the unbending strength of this woman.
Below we see a modern house, on the site of which was the grave of Feodosia Morozova and Evdokia Urusova, approximately at the corner of the building closest to us.
In 1936, the Bolshevik comrades destroyed this grave, and in its place a district party committee was built. The grave was opened, the remains were taken out of it, and few people know where they are now. Apparently, the Old Believers keep this secret.
Nearby is the building of the former Borovsk gymnasium, built on the site of the prison in which these two staunch women were kept.
Feodosia Morozova and Evdokia Urusova were brought to this prison in the winter of 1673 after monstrous torture. They arrived here as living great martyrs, and the Borovets greeted them as saints.
Even though they were kept in prison, people came to them with their families, asked for blessings, brought food, prayed with them, and the high authorities considered that they were not kept strictly enough.
After this, the sufferers were moved to a pit to die of starvation. They died in it. This is a heartbreaking episode, because they sat in the hole for a very long time. Apparently, people still found a way to throw them some food.
Evdokia Urusova died before her sister, when she was informed that her husband had renounced her and, together with her children, accepted a new faith, but the children forgot her. Feodosia Prokopyevna outlived her by a month and a half. She was 44 years old.
A legend has been preserved of how the noblewoman Morozova, already dying, begged the guard to throw her at least a roll, at least a cucumber, at least an apple. And the guard answered: “Forgive me, mother, I can’t, I’m afraid.” When the women, already dead, were taken out of the pit, they were completely gray and looked like skeletons.
In 2005, a chapel in memory of noblewoman Morozova was erected in Borovsk. It took 4 years to build it using public donations only. Below, at the base of the chapel, is the tombstone of Morozova and Urusova, which their brothers once placed on their grave. But it is impossible to get to her.
When you think about the history of the schism of the Russian church, about the Nikonian reforms, about the fierce resistance of Morozova’s co-religionists, you always wonder, what did Nikon propose?
But apparently they resisted not so much the reforms themselves as the methods by which Nikon carried them out. He ordered, he did not consult with anyone, did not explain anything to anyone, but acted, and did it very cruelly.
It should be noted that a similar reform in Little Russia took place quite painlessly. And here we have horror and darkness. Well, I hope the Lord will sort it out. He knows better.
Attitude towards Feodosia Morozova and her historical role quite ambiguous. Her renunciation of all the blessings of life, of which the noblewoman had many, is called by some a feat in the name of faith, others - by fanatical adherence to religious canons. Life path rebellious noblewoman Morozova, captured Vasily Surikov on his most famous canvas, ended in tragic death. Who was she really - a holy martyr or a possessed woman?
After Nikon's reform in the 17th century, a split occurred in the church: the Old Believers refused to accept innovations. Following Archpriest Avvakum, they became schismatics and stoically endured torture and went to their death, but did not renounce their convictions. By order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, schismatics were sent into exile, thrown into earthen prisons - deep pits, or into basements with rats. The same fate awaited the noblewoman Morozova.
Feodosia Prokopyevna Morozova (nee Sokovnina), was the supreme palace noblewoman. Her father was related to the Tsar's wife Maria Ilyinichna, so Theodosia was one of the courtiers. Her husband Gleb Morozov also came from a noble family; his older brother Boris was very rich. After the death of her husband and his brother, the entire fortune passed to Feodosia. She lived in luxury, she had several estates and 8 thousand serfs at her disposal. She rode out in a carriage, accompanied by hundreds of servants.
The Tsar ordered to arrest Theodosia, taking away her estates and lands, and expel her from Moscow if she did not renounce her old faith. Boyarina Morozova refused and deliberately doomed herself to poverty, hunger and certain death. She died in an earthen prison from complete exhaustion in 1675.
Vasily Surikov depicted the moment when the noblewoman was being transported on a firewood through the streets of Moscow. The artist admired the woman who rebelled against the official church and royal power, and was so strong that no torture could break her will.
In 1887, the painting “Boyaryna Morozova” was first presented at the 15th exhibition of Peredvizhniki artists, after which P. Tretyakov bought it for his collection. The reaction to the film was mixed. Surikov was even accused of promoting a split. Only 3 people then openly spoke with a positive assessment of the work: writers Garshin and Korolenko and music critic Stasov. V. Korolenko wrote: “There is something great in a person who consciously goes to death for what she considers to be the truth. Such examples awaken in us faith in human nature, lift the soul."
Surikov knew the story of Morozova from childhood - he was familiar with schismatics, the artist’s aunt Avdotya Vasilievna leaned towards the old faith. In the first sketches, the artist endowed the noblewoman with exactly her features. But the result did not satisfy him: “No matter how I paint her face, the crowd hits. After all, how long have I been looking for him? The whole face was small. I got lost in the crowd." In the end, the Ural Old Believer served as the prototype for the heroine: “I wrote a sketch of her in kindergarten at two o’clock. And when I inserted it into the picture, it conquered everyone,” said the artist. This is exactly how everyone now imagines noblewoman Morozova.
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