The Orthodox Church has a precious and sacred treasure in its many beautiful ancient rites

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In the woods of southern Missouri, conservative American families have been embracing an ancient form of Russian Orthodox Christianity, which much of the world hasn’t seen in nearly 400 years — The Old Ritual.

From the 900s until the 1600s, it was the standard form of Orthodox Christian worship throughout Russia. But in the late 1600s, the Tsar and the Patriarch pushed through some unpopular changes, introducing a number of modifications that had been made in Greece, thereby alienating a significant portion of the Russian church.

They changed the way they made the sign of the cross, they changed the type of church singing, they shortened the services, and made a number of other changes besides. For the next couple hundred years, only the new ritual was formally permitted in Russia.

But across Russia and even across the world, many thousands of people remained quite partial to the old ritual — the ancient form of the Orthodox liturgy that had been practiced by their fathers. In 1799, Tsar-Martyr Paul I called for readmitting the old ritual in Russia, and after many fits and starts, the Russian Church eventually came to accept both forms of worship. Today, the majority of Russian churches practice the new ritual, but some churches practice the old ritual, and they are accepted on an equal footing with the others. For a helpful overview of this tumultuous time in the history of the Russian Church, read Russia, Ritual, and Reform by Paul Meyendorff.

A devout group of Orthodox Christian families in southern Missouri have warmly embraced the old-ritual form of ancient Russian Orthodox Christianity. Their mission is named for the Ascension of Christ, and is a sister community to the Church of the Nativity of Christ, a canonical Orthodox Church practicing the Liturgical services in the Old Ritual of the Russian Orthodox Church. They are under the Jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

The men in this church community have strong relationships, mutually building one another up for the sake of purity and leadership within the body of Christ. They get together regularly for Orthodox Christian teaching and fellowship.

As old ritualists, they are known for their strict adherence to the practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as it existed prior to the late 1600s. Some of the many differences in the rites which have been explosive in the past are: the making of the sign of the Cross, the number of loaves used at the Eucharist, unison vs. harmony singing, the shape of the bishop’s staff, the number of prostrations and bows to be made during the services, the manner of icon-painting, the singing of Alleluia, and many others. Additionally, Old Ritualists have preserved an ancient form of singing, known as Znamenny Chant, that continues to draw the attention of other Orthodox Christians, as well as scholars and historians.

They realize that although the rites of the Church express its dogmas and are not to be treated lightly, the rites themselves are a means to an end, not dogmas in themselves, and the exact same dogma can be expressed in many ways. Although they love and cherish the old rites of the Russian Church, they do not reject those who practice the new ones, and others in turn have shown much interest and respect for the older customs. The misunderstandings and persecutions of former years have now been replaced with a realization that the Orthodox Church has a precious and sacred treasure in its many beautiful ancient rites.

This community has been diligently working to build a prayer chapel, the hopeful site of their future church building. It is located on the farm of Steven and Emilia Mitchell. The building had been a cabin that had been abandoned and the Ozark woods had grown up around it.

For the past couple years the community has been clearing out the woods, gutting the building, and beginning to rebuild. They are nearly done with the basic inside construction and will shortly be starting the finishing process. It is really exciting to see the prayer chapel come together. It is a quiet, and warm location to worship the Triune God.

Here are some of the early pictures:

After a bit of cleaning and trimming, everything started looking a lot better:

And after two years of hard work, it is looking more and more like a vibrant, active church, full of life:

When the local Orthodox families are not inside the church praying, they can often be found together, simply enjoying fellowship with one another.

To learn more about the old-ritual Russian Orthodox community in southern Missouri, check out their website: https://ascensionofchristorthodoxchurchswmo.com/

They are called the Ascension of Christ Orthodox Church, and they are a satellite community of the Church of the Nativity in Erie, PA.

This article originally appeared in Fr. Joe's Newsletter - Moving to Russia

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