Sofontiy was a fugitive Solovki monk of the late 17th century and one of the first founders of Old Believer sketes on the Kerzhenets. In 1677 he founded a skete dedicated to the Holy Spirit in the forests of the Nizhny Novgorod Zavolzhye. The Sofontiyevo concord (soglasie) takes its name from him — one of the largest priestly (popovtsy) currents of Kerzhenets Old Belief.[1]
The skete and the concord
Old Believer sketes in the Kerzhenets forests began to take shape in the early 1660s: monks, priests, and laypeople who had not accepted Patriarch Nikon's liturgical reform fled here from persecution by the authorities. Among the first residents were people of the most varied origins — from simple peasants to natives of noble families and the clergy.[2] Sofontiy, according to tradition, came from the Solovetsky Monastery, whose defenders (the "Solovki siege") became some of the first Kerzhenets skete dwellers.[2]
The skete dedicated to the Holy Spirit, founded by Sofontiy in 1677, gave rise to a separate current — the Sofontiyevo concord. It belonged to the priestly (popovtsy) branch of Old Belief, which accepted "fugitive" priests of the Orthodox Church. According to the census of 1719–1720, the number of adherents of this concord in the Nizhny Novgorod Zavolzhye was 1,238 people — more than for any other Kerzhenets concord of that time.[2]
Remembrance
Sofontiy's grave was located on the territory of the Kerzhenets sketes and was placed under state protection.[1] His name was preserved in the name of the concord for several decades — in sources from the early 18th century it consistently appears as "Sofontiyeva concord."[2]
Sources
- pravenc.ru — KERZHENETS (archive)
- radilov.ru — The First Kerzhenets Old Believer Sketes. — Volga Crossroads