Inaccuracies about Russian Orthodoxy
I checked the goofs list…it does not include anything about inaccurate depictions of Russian Orthodox people and rituals. Can we start a list?
I found three obvious ones:
1. The clergyman who eventually claims Rasputin was touched by the Mother of God is referred to as an "archbishop" by the narrator. However, he is wearing the clothes of a simple priest-monk: cassock, black klobuk (headdress consisting of a stiff hat and a veil) and pectoral cross. If he were an archbishop, he would be wearing at least his engolpions (a medallion of the mother of God called a Panagia, which is worn by all bishops and an additional one adorned with an icon of Christ)… Also, he seems to be giving a sermon during a service…if that were the case, he wouldn't be standing among the worshipers but on a prominent place in the church on an eagle rug. He would also be fully vested — for the Non-Orthodox, this means he's wearing the colorful, beautifully adorned clothes.
2. The archbishop crosses himself with two fingers, a practice outlawed by the patriarch Nikon many, many years before Rasputin was born.
3. Rasputin blesses with second on third finger extended and the remaining fingers folded back…the way a Roman Catholic priest would give a blessing. However, Russian Orthodox priests put their thumb and ring finger together and cross the second and third fingers, imitating IC-XC, a Greek abbreviation of Christ's name. Not to mention that the historical Rasputin was not a priest at all, and he did his "healing" by praying on his knees.
Another thing…does anybody know if the real Rasputin wore a cross over his clothes…like the one the Tsarina invests his fictional counterpart with? Because it is quite unusual for a Russian Orthodox man who is not a priest to wear a neck cross over his clothes.