Kultura religijna i duchowa starowierców okręgu suwalsko-sejneńskiego w drugiej połowie XX wieku

ENAccording to Tadeusz Korzon, before the first partition of Poland about one hundred thousand Old Believers (Old Ritualists) lived in Poland. In 1947, in the north-east part of the country, there were only one thousand five hundred people of this denomination. At that time only the village of Wodzilki had a population almost totally made up of Old Believers. It should be noted that registers of Old Ritualists were never complete, which was associated with Old Testament Zoja Jaroszewicz-Pieresławcew religious prohibitions. In the post-war years, there was also an increase in mixed marriages and avoidance of paying church contributions. This meant that such people were not taken into account during censuses of Old Orthodox Believers. The religious life of Old Ritualists centres around the church where all the faithful gather in prayers led by their spiritual guide - the ‘nastavnik’. The continued isolation of Old Believers from majority groups is caused by reasons of doctrine and dogma. Sadly, today it is difficult for Old Ritualists to keep to all their religious requirements. Fewer and fewer people are fluent readers of Church Slavonic. It is very worth noting that among young educated young Old Believers there is a movement to uphold Old Rus traditions resulting from religiousness.