HISTORY OF THE PRIESTISTS 43
ally, with the apocalyptic prophecies on the advent of Antichrist.
According to the Apocalypse the power of Antichrist was to con-
tinue on earth for two and a half years, i. e., from 1666 to 1669, when
the end of the world would begin: the sun would be eclipsed, the
stars fall from the sky, the earth be burned up, and on the Day of
Judgment the last trumpet blown by the Archangel would summon
together the righteous and the unrighteous. In anticipation of these
calamities there appeared many phenomena, of which we have
only the information concerning the region of Nizhny Novgorod.
In the autumn of 1668 the fields were neglected, no one ploughed
or sowed, and at the beginning of the fateful year 1669 the huts too
were abandoned. Assembling in crowds people prayed, fasted, con-
fessed their sins to each other, partook of the Holy Sacrament, and
being prepared awaited with awe the Archangel's trumpet call.
According to an ancient superstition the end of the world was
to come at midnight; and so at nightfall the zealots of ancient
piety, arraying themselves in white shirts and shrouds, lay down
in coffins hollowed from the trunks of trees, and awaited the
trumpet call.
However, night after night went by and a long, terrible year
elapsed with its horrors and fears proving vain, for the world re-
mained unchanged and Nikonianism was forever triumphant.
As the last moment approached the rumors among .the Old
Ritualists about Antichrist became increasingly more varied and
stirring. Some advanced the idea that having already come "spirit-
ually" a "sensuous" Antichrist was not to be expected, but Deacon
Fedor, Schism's most learned leader, had no difficulty in proving
that the Scriptures spoke exactly of a "sensuous" Antichrist. While
these debates were in progress, the year 1669 came to an end. Among
the optimists the recently banished Avvakum felt renewed hope in
the victory for the righteous cause, the reestablishment of true faith
in the true church, while the pessimists, like Brother Abraham,
again revised the books and prophecies and discovered a mistake
in the old chronology. Abraham pointed out that the Boo^ of Faith
counted the years from the nativity of Jesus Christ, but that Satan
was enchained for a thousand years on the day of Christ's resurrec-
tion, and from this moment and not that of the Saviour's birth
should the day of the world's end be calculated. Accordingly the