Religious Traditions
The five-tier iconostasis of the Old Believers chapel in Varnja, built in 1903, shows Old Believer symbolism in action. Zoja Kutkina, age 77, is in charge of leading the weekly services, an unusual situation in the normally male-dominated hierarchy of the Old Believers church. She assumed the role when the last local preceptor–akin to a priest or minister–died in the late 1980s.
Services are sung by Zoja or another church leader from the book of elaborately wrought text―most of the parishioners cannot read the ancient Slavonic script. The manuscript is illustrated with dots that tell how long to carry a note, whether to sing high or low, and when to “vibrate” and when to be silent.
The majority of Varnja’s parishioners are women. Last summer the Old Believers hosted fellow members of the faith from Lithuania, Vilnius and Kaunas who came to learn about Old Believers life in Estonia.
As a woman, Zoja is unable to conduct four of the church’s main ceremonies–baptism, confession, weddings and reading the gospel. In nearby Kasepää there is a male elder of the parish who can perform the sacraments. His summer was busy with many baptisms–conducted in the waters of Lake Peipsi during the warmer months. These baptisms include not only those born into the faith but converts―there is a new generation of adult Estonians who are attracted to the Old Believer traditions and values.
“The Old Believers will gladly accept someone who has not been part of a religion to become a member, someone just has to be willing to come to services, pay five euros annually and participate in the divine life,” said Zoja.
