EX LIBRIS
IVOR PARROTT
FROM-THE- LIBRARYOF
TRINITYCOLLEGETORDNTO
THE RELIGION
OF RUSSIA
CHISWICK PRESS
The woodcuts in this book were specially engraved for
the S.S.P.P. by Mr. W. M. R. Quick.
CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION, PETROGRAD
See page 64.
Woodcut engraved by W. M. R. Quick.
HE RELIGION OF
RUSSIA. A STUDY
OF THE ORTHODOX
CHURCH IN RUSSIA,
FROM THE POINT OF
VIEW OF THE CHURCH
IN ENGLAND. BY G. B. H.
BISHOP, VICAR OF C ARDINGTON, SALOP,
AND AN HON. DIOCESAN SECRETARY ftf
LECTURER FOR THE ANGLICAN AND
EASTERN ASSOCIATION. DEDICATED BY
PERMISSION TO THE RIGHT REVEREND
FATHER IN GOD, ARTHUR FOLET,
LORD BISHOP OF LONDON, PRESIDENT
OF THE AFORENAMED ASSOCIATION
Loquere
Filiis
Israel
ut
prqfi-
ciscantur
LONDON: THE SOCIETY OF SS. PETER
AND PAUL, 32 GEORGE ST., HANOVER
SQUARE, AND 302 REGENT ST., W. 1915
122946
JAN 8 198?
THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK
PAGE
INTRODUCTION ....... i
HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH .... 4
PUBLIC WORSHIP
(1) Ornaments of Church and Ministers . 14
(2) The Liturgy and Divine Office . . .20
FAITH AND PRACTICE ...... 26
THE HIERARCHY ....... 37
THE LAITY ........ 45
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS ...... 55
FOREIGN RELATIONS ....... 67
INTER-COMMUNION ....... 74
APPENDICES
A. Russian Orthodox Missions . . . -83
B. The Central Portion of the Anaphora^ or Canon
of the Mass 85
C. The Council of Florence, 1438-9 . . .88
INDEX . . . . . . . . . 91
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
TO FACE
PAGE
CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION, PETROGRAD. Frontispiece
THE LAST MOMENTS OF S. PHILIP i
THE HEART OF RUSSIA ...... 8
THE PATRIARCH NIKHON AND THE TSAR ALEXIS . 12
THE USPENSKY SOBOR, Moscow . . . . .14
THE LITURGICAL VESTMENTS . . . . .18
A MODERN IKONOSTAS ...... 22
THE GREAT ENTRANCE DURING THE HOLY LITURGY . 22
A FINE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY IKONOSTAS . . -3
THE CELEBRATED IKON OF OUR LADY OF KAZAN . 36
THE TROITSKY LAVRA . . . . . .41
Two OLD PEASANTS OF THE UKRAINE. . . .46
TCHOUTOVKA :
The Old Wooden Church 52
The Ornaments of the Altar . . . 52
Father Johann ....... 56
The Village Altar 56
THE MONASTERY OF LOUBNY . . . . -59
A MODERN IKONOSTAS IN THE CHURCH OF S. SAVIOUR,
Moscow ........ 68
TCHOUTOVKA :
Girls dancing on the Feast of S. Boris . . 73
Peasants resting at mid-day . . . -73
Vll
THE LAST MOMENTS OF S. PHILIP, METROPOLITAN OF
MOSCOW (c. 1568). See page 12.
Woodcut engraved by W. M. R. Quick. After the painting
by Novoskoltzeff.
THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
INTRODUCTION
THE Russian nation has been frequently described
as the most religious in Christendom. Whether the
statement be in all respects true or not, there can
be no doubt that in no other country do the people
give a more whole-hearted allegiance to the Catholic Church
of Christ in its local embodiment. The Orthodox Church
in Russia is not merely national in the technical sense of
being the sole historic representative in that land of the one
Apostolic Church, but it is also national because it enshrines
the deepest convictions of an overwhelming majority of the
Russian people.
It is a striking testimony to our insularity in religious
matters that so few of us know anything of the greatest
national church in the world. The average intelligent
Christian in these islands surmises that the religion of
Russia is Greek Church, a term which is vaguely asso
ciated in his mind with venerable bearded priests, nasal
chanting, gorgeous churches, and elaborate ceremonial. Of
the history, dogma, and present condition of Russian Ortho
doxy he knows absolutely nothing.
At the present time, when the exigencies of international
politics have resulted in an alliance between Great Britain
and Russia, it is more important than ever that efforts
B
2 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
should be made on both sides to acquire a better under
standing of our respective religious positions. It is not too
much to say that we have a great deal to learn from each
other.
The Russians are essentially a race of country folk.
They have comparatively few large towns, and these are so
far artificial in character that, but for the churches, a visitor
could hardly believe himself to be in a Slav country. This
is notably the case with Petrograd. By a stroke of the pen
the Tsar can indeed translate the German name of his capital
into Russ ; but the only way to nationalize the city itself
would be to raze it to the ground and build a village among
the ruins. It is not surprising, therefore, that town life
generally spoils a Russian, for he is not in his proper
environment ; and it follows from this that those who desire
to know the real Russia must seek her not in the large
towns, but in the more congenial surroundings of the country
side. It was my good fortune in 1911, when a layman, to
spend five months in a remote district of" Little Russia the
Blessed," about one thousand miles distant from Petrograd.
In so short a time it was possible to gain only a superficial
knowledge of the people and their national institutions, but
even a superficial knowledge of Russia is more than most of
us possess, and it is with the desire to interest others in a
most fascinating subject that I have collected the following
impressions of the Church in Russia, recently contributed,
by request, to the Scottish Chronicle. If it be true that
he who would form a just opinion in any matter must
approach it with as much sympathy and as little prejudice
as possible, then I claim that nobody is better qualified to
estimate Russian Orthodoxy at its proper value than an
INTRODUCTION 3
English Churchman. To a Roman Catholic the Orthodox
Church is schismatic, an unnatural rebel against the Holy
See ; in Protestant eyes she is a decadent mummy, swathed
in the musty wrappings of a Byzantine creed and ceremonial ;
but a thoughtful Anglican discovers that beneath her strange
outward aspect there is life, devotion, and a steady adherence
to many great truths which he values for himself, and for
which he believes the Church of England also stands.
Accordingly he is able in a unique degree to understand
and appreciate the religion of Russia. From such a point of
view this little book has been written.
One thing more. For the sake of clearness I have spoken
of the various subdivisions of Catholic Christendom as
churches or communions ; but the use of these terms must not
be taken to indicate adherence to the " branch theory," or
indeed to any other theory which seems to acquiesce in our
unhappy divisions. Christ founded but one Church, one
Communion, and there can be no other. It is an unhappy
fact that within the one Church human infirmity has erected
barriers which effectually limit our vision and hinder our
work. There is no duty more pressing than to labour for
their removal. That this book may accomplish a little to
that end is my earnest desire.
4|l 4|t 4ft v v 41
For much valuable advice and criticism my best thanks
are due to Mr. W. J. Birkbeck, the best English authority
on the religion of Russia. I have also to thank the Reverend
H. J. Fynes-Clinton, General Secretary of the Anglican and
Eastern Association, for the loan of seven photographs here
reproduced.
I
HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH
IN order to appreciate the present position of the Church in
Russia it will be helpful to recall briefly some familiar points
in the early history of Christianity.
Most people will agree that our Lord founded a Church,
within the fold of which all his followers, without excep
tion, were to be gathered. To this Church he committed
for all time the supreme task of bearing authoritative wit
ness to the Truth. Moreover before his ascension Christ
instituted a hierarchy in the persons of the Apostles, whom
he commissioned to rule and guide the Church as his
representatives. It was from the first a necessary duty of
every faithful Christian to continue in the Apostles' doftrine
and fellowship.
DEVOLUTION OF THE MINISTRY
At first the Christian society was small and compact, but
in the course of a few years congregations were established
in towns and villages over an area too wide for regular
apostolic ministrations. In consequence the Apostles, by an
exercise of the authority they had received from Christ,
instituted the lesser orders of deacons and presbyters or priests, 1
1 It would perhaps be more accurate to say that the Apostles admitted
the deacons and priests to a share in their own functions. Of course the
apostolate included from the first all the other ministerial offices.
4
HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH 5
of whom some were permanently stationed in each com
munity as its pastors and teachers. For a time the Apostles
exercised a general supervision over these clergy and their
congregations, but as the Church expanded and their own
numbers decreased, it became evident that a third order of
ministers was required to assist and later to succeed them in
this work of supervision. Such men as Timothy and Titus
were chosen from among the presbyters, and were further
commissioned to rule the Church of God, to set in order the
things that are wanting, and to appoint presbyters in every city,
to teach, exhort, and reprove with all authority. The title of
bishop, which at first had been more loosely used, soon became
restricted to this order.
SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES
With us it is a commonplace that the Apostles delegated
to their successors the bishops such part of their office and
authority as was permanently necessary for the right govern
ance of the Church. In every well-established centre the
local Christians were guided and controlled by their bishop,
acting with the advice of his presbyters. The functions of
the bishop did not end, however, with the oversight of his
flock and the provision of a succession of properly ordained
pastors. He was also the link between his diocese and the
rest of Catholic Christendom. 1 To be in fellowship with
the local bishop was to be within the fold of the Universal
Church.
1 The earliest known use of the term Catholic Church is found in the
epistles of S. Ignatius, the second Bishop of Antioch, who was martyred in
A.D. 107.
6 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
Theoretically all bishops were equal in authority, but
in the course of time those who ruled in great cities, or
whose sees were apostolic foundations, attained an eminence
superior to that of the rest in dignity and influence. Such
were the bishops of Rome in Western Christendom, and
the bishops of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and
Jerusalem in the East. To the occupants of these five sees
was accorded the title of patriarch, and their spheres of
influence taken together were roughly co-terminous with
Christendom.
THE SCHISM
With the passage of time, differences of temperament
and an unworthy rivalry among the leading patriarchs led
to an increasing estrangement between East and West. Con
troversies arose which provided ample pretext for a serious
quarrel. The visible unity of the Catholic Church was at
stake, but unhappily the leaders on both sides were not in
the right frame of mind to deal with the questions in dis
pute. On 1 6 July 1054, the open rupture took place.
Roman legates laid a bull of excommunication upon the
altar of the Cathedral of S. Sophia at Constantinople. The
Patriarch Michael Cerularius replied in like strain, and the
outward unity of the Catholic Church was destroyed. The
Patriarchs of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch supported
their brother of Constantinople against the Patriarch of
Rome. From that time onwards each half of Christendom
proceeded to adt as though the other did not exist. The
Roman Church is not more rigid and uncompromising than
the Church in the East in claiming to be the whole Catholic
Church of Christ.
HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH 7
BIRTH OF RUSSIAN CHRISTIANITY
It was during the incidents which led to the unhappy
breach of 1054 that Christianity in its Eastern form was
introduced into Russia. Only in its infancy, therefore, was
the Russian Church in communion with Western Christen
dom. As in our own land, many legends have gathered
round the earliest missions to the Russian people, but we
will confine ourselves to definite historical facts. Towards
the close of the tenth century there reigned at Kieffa prince
named Vladimir, a descendant of the Northman Rurik. His
grandmother Olga had been converted to Christianity, but
he himself was a heathen, " a ferocious prince, as much
distinguished by his zeal for the rude idolatry of his country
men as for his savage crimes." Becoming dissatisfied with his
pagan faith, and having heard of the splendour of Christian
worship at Constantinople, Vladimir sent an embassy to visit
the famous metropolis and return with a report upon the
religion of its people. The visitors were quite overpowered
by what they saw in the great Cathedral of S. Sophia, 1 and
returned with a favourable verdict. " When we stood in
the temple," they said, " we did not know where we were,
for there is nothing else like it on earth; there in truth
God has his dwelling among men. . . . We can no longer
abide in heathenism." Vladimir was favourably impressed,
and shortly afterwards, when concluding peace with the
Eastern Emperor Basil, he accepted Christianity on marrying
Basil's sister, Anne. On his return home Vladimir gave
orders for the wholesale conversion of his people and
1 The altar was of solid gold ornamented with splendid gems. The screen
was adorned with plates of gold and with costly marbles and mosaics.
8 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
thousands of them were baptized in the Dnyepr at Kieff,
which city thus became the cradle of Russian Christianity.
Bishops and priests were sent from Constantinople to instruct
the new converts, and in the more civilized districts the
Faith spread rapidly. The missioners were fortunate in
having the Psalms, the greater part of the New Testament,
and the Liturgy l already translated into the language of
their people, a factor which contributed largely to the
success of their efforts.
ITS EXPANSION
For about three hundred years the work of consolida
tion and expansion proceeded, and during this period the
Russian Christians looked to the archbishops of Kieff for
leadership and governance. In 1325, however, the Grand
Prince Ivan I, with the strong approval of the aged Arch
bishop Peter, Metropolitan of Kieff, established his capital
at Moscow, which thereafter became both the civil and
religious centre of the Slav tribes, now gradually uniting
under one leader against the menace of the Tatar hordes.
Moscow, " the city of innumerable churches, of everlasting
bells, of endless processions, of palace and church combined,
of tombs and thrones, and relics and treasures," has ever
since been the Holy City of Russia, round which have
gathered all the noblest aspirations of the Russian people.
If Petrograd has become the head of the nation, Moscow
remains its heart. From the neighbouring 2 monastery of
1 Liturgy: /'.*., the Communion Service, Eucharistic Office, or Mass,
exclusively.
8 "Neighbouring" as Russians count distance. It is nearly fifty miles
away.
bO u
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.s j=
^O u
-a -e -Q
c o 'C
H
rt
S C^
^ ^ rt
,a
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'Is
HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH -9
the Holy Trinity came the inspiration which sent forth the
Grand Prince Dmitri to the battle of the Don, where the
dreaded Tatars, so long masters of Russia, received the
crushing defeat which checked for a time their domina
tion. In 1472 it was the Archbishop Bassian who almost
drove the disheartened Grand Prince Ivan III to that last
advance, when the Tatars fled before the Russian arms.
" Dost thou fear death ? Thou too must die as well others ;
death is the lot of all, man, beast, and bird alike ; none
avoid it. Give these warriors into my hand, and, old as I
am, I will not spare myself, nor turn my back upon the
Tatars." England owes much to her Church, but Russia
owes yet more, her very existence. Nor was the Church
lacking in the second great crisis of 1606-1613, when the
victorious Poles were masters of Moscow itself and the
Roman Mass was celebrated in its principal cathedral.
When all seemed lost, it was the same great monastery,
half church half fortress, which resisted and eventually
drove back the Poles. Moscow was re-captured ; again the
Church had saved the people. Small wonder that to this
day the Troitsky Monastery is thronged with pilgrims
that the Tsar never goes to Moscow without paying a visit
to the great shrine of patriotism and religion.
AUTONOMY
During these stirring times a notable change had taken
place within the Russian Church. For four and a half
centuries it had been subject to the patriarchs of Con
stantinople, who had always been consulted in the appoint
ment of its higher officers. With the increasing growth
and importance of the National Church, it was felt that a
io THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
greater measure of independence was desirable, and this
aspiration was ultimately sanctioned by the Greek patriarchs,
whose prestige was dimmed in consequence of the Ottoman
capture of Constantinople. In 1448, for the first time, a
new metropolitan of Moscow was appointed without con
sulting the distant patriarch, and in 1589, with the assent
of all four Eastern patriarchs, the primate of Moscow was
given a rank and title equal to their own. He was hailed
by Orthodox Christendom as supplying the place of the
patriarch of Rome, who was held to have been rightly
thrust out of the Catholic Church on account of his heresy
and schism. The impropriety of calling the independent
national Church of Russia after the land whence came its
first bishops is obvious. The Russian Church is just as
much Greek as that of the United States is Scottish or
English.
The third patriarch of Moscow was Philaret, who had
been archbishop of Rostoff. With his accession there ensued
a situation probably unparalleled in history, for the reigning
Tsar Michael Romanoff was none other than the new
Patriarch's son. The old royal house of Rurik was extinct ;
the nobility had failed to agree upon any of the numerous
aspirants for the throne ; a national assembly met, and
Michael was elected Tsar. For some years the Patriarch
and his imperial son ruled the destinies of Russia side by
side, and the dynasty thus established continues to the
present day.
THE RISE OF DISSENT
We have now to consider the rise of dissent in Russia,
and here one is struck by the complete contrast between
HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH 1 1
Russian religious history and that of England. While in
England the principal cause of dissent was the refusal of the
English reformers to advance beyond a certain point lest
they should destroy the Catholic character of the Church
of England, in Russia dissent arose because men objected to
any reforms whatsoever. Large bodies of Christians left the
Church because the text of the Liturgy was compared with
the standard text and carefully revised, because the spelling
of the sacred Name of our Lord was corrected, because
(horrible to relate !) the sign of the Cross was made with
the wrong number of ringers. These alterations, together
with such innovations among the laity as smoking, and
shaving the beard, disturbed the more ignorant Russians to
an alarming degree. We shall check our disposition to smile
at such a ridiculous state of things when we remember
how difficult it is in many of our own parishes for a priest
to effect quite small improvements in the conduct of public
worship. Preposterous as the tenets of the Russian dissenters
undoubtedly are, they are held to-day by about eleven
millions of uneducated persons. This seems an immense
number, but it is only a small fraction of the population.
Generally speaking the dissenting bodies are treated with
considerable leniency, but there are some odd sects like the
Skoptsi (self-mutilators), Dietoubitsi (child-slayers), and
Dushilshchiki (suffocators) , which are a menace to society,
and are quite properly excluded from toleration by the
State. The reforms already mentioned took place under
the Patriarch Nikhon (1652-67), and they helped ultimately
to bring about his fall. His work was taken up afresh by
Peter the Great (1689-1725), the founder of modern
Russia, who did much to further the cause of education,
12 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
foster morality (in others), and restrict the undue increase
of monasteries and monastic property.
ABOLITION OF THE PATRIARCHATE
Peter was opposed by the Patriarch Adrian, and on
the death of the latter, about 1700, he determined to
abolish the patriarchal office. For nearly twenty years he
kept the see of Moscow vacant, and then established in
place of the patriarch a committee called the Holy Govern
ing Synod. This Synod still rules the Russian Church, and
is regarded as exercising the authority of the patriarchs.
There are eight or nine members, all of them ecclesiastics.
With them is associated a layman, the Tsar's procurator,
who has considerable influence. If ever there was a country
where the Church is regarded as a branch of the Civil
Service it is Russia. On several occasions Russians have
accused the Church in England of submitting to the undue
interference of the State in religious affairs. It is, however,
quite certain that we should not tolerate for one moment
nowadays such a degree of State bondage as that to which
they not unwillingly submit. Indeed there has never been
any really serious conflict between the ecclesiastical and
secular authorities if we except the personal quarrel between
the Patriarch Nikhon and the courtiers of the Tsar Alexis.
Even S. Philip, the only canonized metropolitan of Moscow
(I568 1 ), suffered death for his public protest against the
savage crimes of Ivan the Terrible and not for opposing his
lawful authority. " Where would my faith be if I kept
silence? " he cried. " Here we are offering up the bloodless
sacrifice to the Lord, while behind the altar flows the inno-
1 See woodcut facing page I.
THE PATRIARCH NIKHON AND THE TSAR ALEXIS
At the Shrine of S. Philip in the Cathedral of the Assumption
at Moscow. Fiom a painting by Litovchenko
HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH 13
cent blood of Christian men." The brave old man was at
once arrested, and in a little while had gained the martyr's
crown.
In modern times the charge of inertia and " museum
religion " which critics have often brought against the
Eastern Church is becoming increasingly unjust so far as its
largest section is concerned. Considerable missionary 1 activity
has been displayed of late, and at home there are signs of
advance all along the line. The extreme religious con
servatism of the peasant doubtless exerts a check upon rapid
improvement. Their superstition is very considerable, but
let us remember that mixed up with much that is childish
and superstitious, there is usually in the heart of the Russian
peasant a very genuine loyalty to the Church and her Divine
Head.
1 See Appendix A.
II
PUBLIC WORSHIP
(i) ORNAMENTS OF CHURCH AND MINISTERS
BEFORE proceeding to describe the celebration of the
Holy Mysteries, it may be well to explain the interior
arrangements of an Orthodox church, which differ greatly
from those with which we are familiar. To begin with,
one notices that a Russian church is much smaller than one
of corresponding importance in this country. The reason
for this is that the normal attitude of an Orthodox Christian
during public worship is standing ; consequently he takes
up less room than a Western, who requires space for sitting
and kneeling. The churches gain much in dignity from
the absence of rows of chairs and pews, but they do so at
the expense of the Faithful, for the services are extremely
long and fatiguing.
THE IKONOSTAS AND NAVE
To the Western, however, the most interesting features
in a Russian church are the close screening of the altar and
the absence of a chancel. To use familiar phraseology, the
building consists of nave and sanctuary, separated by a large
and massive screen, called the ikonostas (Greek,
1 There would appear to be no authority for the usual English spelling of
this word ikonostasis.
14
THE USPENSKY SOBOR, MOSCOW
The Patriarchal Cathedral of the Assumption.
This church was built in 1474-9, and is the scene
of the Imperial Coronations. Here, too, lie the
bodies of the patriarchs.
PUBLIC WORSHIP 15
This extends across the whole width of the sanctuary, and
reaches almost to the roof. Where all is gorgeous, the
screen stands out as the most splendidly decorated part of
the church. In a wealthy parish it is frequently constructed
of marble, inset with large gold and silver ikons. As the
word implies, every ikonostas is ornamented with the ikons
or sacred pictures which play such an important part in
Russian religious life. Usually there are numerous small
ikons, and either four or six large ones, according to the
size of the screen. The principal ikons always number
among them representations of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin
Mother, and the patron saint of the church. They are fre
quently decorated with jewels of considerable value. The
screen is pierced by three openings, of which the central
one is the most important, giving access to the altar which
stands immediately behind it. This entrance is closed by
a double gate known as the royal doors, behind which
hangs a red or purple veil. At certain stages of the Liturgy
these doors are closed, and the veil is drawn. Of the
two other entrances to the sanctuary that on the left is the
more important, as it is through this door that the clergy
make their two ceremonial entrances to the body of the
church during the Liturgy. The right-hand door simply
provides access to the vestry.
Before the screen is a low narrow dais, upon which the
deacon and members of the choir stand. Sometimes, how
ever, the choir is concealed from view elsewhere. In country
churches the choir, consisting of both sexes, frequently
occupies a gallery at the back of the church. The surplice
is quite unknown in Orthodox countries, and as a general
rule choristers wear simply their ordinary clothes in church.
1 6 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
In a few great cathedrals, however, they may be seen vested
in robes not unlike those worn by the choir in our own
chapels-royal. The singing is, of course, quite unaccom
panied, and is often very beautiful and impressive. Instru
mental music is as unknown as it used to be amongst the
Scottish Presbyterians. To conclude our description of the
body of the church it only remains to say that the walls and
pillars are usually inset with ikons so that the whole place
glows with colour, atoning thereby for the severity of its
outline.
THE SANCTUARY
We now turn to the sanctuary. The whole space within
the screen is called the altar, the altar proper being termed
the throne, or sometimes the holy table, as in the Book
of Common Prayer. The east end of the sanctuary is divided
into three recesses facing the three doors of the ikonostas.
The large central recess, which faces the holy table and
the royal gates, contains the bishop's chair, with six more
on either side for his attendant clergy. Thus the bishop
is Christ's representative, and the clergy the successors of
the Apostles. In the left hand recess, which faces the north
door of the screen, stands the table of the prothesis, upon
which the elements are " set out " beforehand for the cele
bration of the Liturgy. In the tiny village church at
Tchoutovka, where I stayed for some months, the table of
the prothesis was represented by a large corner bracket with
a canopy. The right hand recess in the sanctuary, facing
the south door of the screen, serves as a vestry, and requires
no further description.
PUBLIC WORSHIP .17
THE ALTAR
The altar proper is, of course, the most conspicuous
ornament of the sanctuary, and differs in many ways from
our own. It is a large cube of hard wood, marble, or even
of silver-gilt, covered with various cloths. The most im
portant of these is the antiminsion^ a square of silk or fine
linen, corresponding in some respects to our corporal. It is
specially consecrated, and must contain a relic. If need be,
it can be spread for the celebration of the Holy Liturgy,
where there is no altar, for example, on board ship. The
other principal ornaments of the altar are the book of
gospels, the cross, and the pyx, which contains the reserved
Sacrament for the sick. Between the altar and the royal
gates lies a strip of carpet, upon which no layman is per
mitted to step. There are tapers on the altar, and several
tall lights are grouped around it as a rule. Behind the
altar one often finds a representation of the Jewish seven-
branched candlestick.
THE SACRED VESTMENTS
The vestments of the clergy are very beautiful and
dignified, and though of rather a different pattern, are for
the most part identical with the Eucharistic vestments with
which we are familiar. All three orders of the clergy wear
alb and stole. The latter ornament, however, in the case of
bishops and priests, is sewn together from the neck down
wards, so that it forms a single broad band reaching nearly
to the feet. Over the alb and other minor ornaments a priest
wears a felon or chasuble, cut away in front but very long
c
1 8 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
behind. A bishop dispenses with the chasuble, even at Mass,
wearing instead the sakkos, a kind of dalmatic made of some
rich and handsome material. Originally the sakkos was worn
only by patriarchs, but in the course of time it was adopted
by metropolitans and archbishops. Not until the eighteenth
century did its use become general among the Russian
bishops. At solemn services other than the Liturgy bishops
are vested in the mantija^ a flowing garment not unlike the
Western cope. Other emblems of dignity restricted to the
episcopate are the pastoral staff 1 and the omophorion^ an
Eastern form of the pallium. The crown-shaped mitre is
worn not only by bishops but also by archimandrites or
abbots, and occasionally by certain dignitaries called arch-
priests. Vestments may be of any colour, as the Orthodox
Church has no rule in the matter. At the same service one
may see the different clergy wearing robes of white, gold,
green, and purple, according to the resources of the sacristan.
Incense is used at all services. " This use of incense," says
an Orthodox catechist, " shows the faithful that just as the
incense is always burning in the fire of the censer, and
ascends with sweet odours upwards, so in the same way
ought their prayers to be kindled and inflamed unceasingly
by the fire in their hearts of faith, hope, and love towards
God, and that these prayers should ascend fragrant and
acceptable before the Throne of the Divine Majesty."
A GREAT CATHEDRAL
In Russia the title of sobor or cathedral is not restricted
to the church in which the bishop has his seat. Thus in
1 I should have mentioned that the staff is also used by abbots and abbesses.
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PUBLIC WORSHIP 19
Petrograd one finds the cathedrals of S. Isaak, of Our Lady
of Kazan, of SS. Peter and Paul, and so on. As a matter of
fact, S. Isaak's is the cathedral proper of the capital, and the
others are what we should call collegiate churches.
S. Isaak's is a massive building in the Renaissance style,
constructed entirely of granite and marble. Its vast dome
is covered with plates of gold, which prepare one for the
magnificence of the interior. The ikonostas is specially
remarkable for its beauty. The royal gates in the centre
are of bronze, plated with gold, and together they weigh
about a ton. On either side of the gates is a pillar of lapis
lazuli, deep blue in colour ; the pair were erected at a cost
of thirty thousand pounds. The screen itself is of Italian
marble, and has embedded in it eight tall pillars of green
malachite set upon bronze bases. Between them are six huge
ikons worked in mosaic. Those near the royal gates are
of Italian workmanship, which is of finer grain than the
Russian. They represent on one side the Virgin Mother
with the Holy Child, and on the other the Saviour. The
other four ikons are of S. Katharine, S. Alexander Nevsky,
Isaak the Patron Saint, and S. Nicolai the Bishop. In the
sanctuary there is a large square altar of silver-gilt, which is
covered with cloth of gold. Behind the altar stands a model
of the church also of silver-gilt, weighing nearly two hun
dred-weight. This is the tabernacle for the reserved Sacra
ment. The sanctuary is lighted by an enormous stained-
glass window of German workmanship, the only stained
window I remember seeing in a Russian church. It repre
sents our Lord, and is said to be worth ten thousand pounds.
At night the window is illuminated from the exterior, so
that worshippers are able to see it as well as by daylight.
20 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
Beneath this window stands a somewhat unpretentious
marble chair, the cathedra or episcopal throne of the metro
politan of Petrograd and Ladoga. Immediately within the
screen, on either side of the altar, are the seats of the metro
politans of Moscow and Kieff, and from these, arranged in
choir, extend those of other Russian bishops. On my first
visit to S. Isaak's these seats were not in position, so I con
jectured that on the latter occasion the Holy Synod l was in
session. In the nave of the church, standing before the
screen, are various ikons and reliquaries of some interest. In
one of these ikons is set a diamond the size of a large pigeon's
egg. This splendid gem is surrounded by smaller diamonds
which are themselves of great value.
The cathedral is of considerable height, and from the
top of the dome one can distinguish objects twenty miles
distant. The four principal entrances are closed by enormous
bronze doors, with representations in high relief of the lives
of the saints. Each pair of doors weighs twelve hundred
poods, that is to say nearly twenty-two tons.
This brief description of the Russian S. Paul's will serve
to convey some idea of the splendour of the Orthodox
churches.
(2) THE LITURGY AND DIVINE OFFICE
Having now obtained some idea of the setting of public
worship, we proceed to consider the Divine Liturgy or Mass
itself. It should be assumed that the office of Sext is nearing
completion. The priest leaves the sanctuary and, standing
before the screen, salutes the principal ikons. He then
1 The Synod meets in a palace near the cathedral.
PUBLIC WORSHIP 21
returns to the sanctuary and puts on the sacred vestments,
afterwards proceeding to the table of the prothesis to pre
pare the vessels and elements for the Sacrifice.
This preparation is an integral part of the service,
abounding in beautiful symbolism, of which the following
is an example. Having set apart the required portion of the
bread (which is called the Lamb), the priest pierces it with
a small lancet and then fills the chalice saying, " And one of
the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith
there came out blood and water." The ceremonies of the
preparation being ended, the public part of the Liturgy
begins. As this is extremely intricate and lengthy, it would
perhaps be well to give only a rough analysis here, with the
two great divisions clearly marked.
(A) LITURGY OF THE CATECHUMENS
I. Benediction and Litany of Peace: Psalms: Little
Litany, etc.
II. The LESSER ENTRANCE. Taperers, followed by the
deacon bearing the Gospels, and by the priest, come
forth from the north door of the screen, and after
prayers before the royal gates pass through again
into the sanctuary. The choir sings a liturgical
hymn.
III. The ponomar (reader) chants the Epistle, and the
dyakon (deacon) the Gospel for the day.
IV. Great Litany of Supplications: Litanies for the De
parted, and for the Catechumens or adult candidates
for Baptism. (The catechumens used to depart at
this point. There are, of course, none nowadays.)
22 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
(B) LITURGY OF THE FAITHFUL
I. Little Litanies: The Cherubic Hymn, during which
the altar, prothesis, and ikons on the screen are
censed.
II. The GREAT ENTRANCE. Taperers, the deacon (sup
porting the paten against his forehead and bearing
veil and censer), and the priest (bearing the pre
pared chalice), again issue and re-enter as before,
placing the vessels on the altar.
III. Litany of the Offertory (with the royal gates closed
and the veil drawn).
IV. Litany of Supplications : the Kiss of Peace.
V. Nicene Creed (royal doors open).
VI. The ANAPHORA 1 or CANON (with the doors again
closed) .
(a) Sursum Cor da and Preface.
(b) San&us and Benediftus gut venit.
(c) Recital of the Institution of the Eucharist.
(d) Memorial offering of the bread and wine. (The
Anamnesis) .
(e) Invocation of the Holy Spirit upon the Elements.
(f) Oblation of the Body and Blood of Christ, with
intercessions.
(g) Litany of the Anaphora,
(h) Pater Noster.
(/) Elevation of the Host.
(j) Fraction of the Host and commixture in the Chalice.
(/) Communion of the priest and laity (if any desire) in
both kinds by intinclion.
1 See Appendix B.
A MODERN IKGNOSTAS
A Le&ern stands before the Royal Gates
THE GREAT ENTRANCE DURING THE HOLY
LITURGY
PUBLIC WORSHIP 23
VII. Post-communion hymn: Litany of Thanksgiving.
VIII. Dismissal with Blessing.
The above is an analysis of the liturgy of S. John
Chrysostom, the one in normal use. Scottish Churchmen
will observe an almost exacl parallel between the Canon of
the Orthodox Liturgy and that of their own national Order.
The Russian sloujebnik or missal contains two other
liturgies, those of S. Basil and of the Presandlified. The
Liturgy of S. Basil, which is the earliest, and the source
whence the others were derived, is only used on the Sun
days in Lent (excluding Palm Sunday) and on some four or
five other occasions. The Liturgy of the Presanclified is
read on Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent. As its name
implies, the reserved Sacrament is used throughout this
service, consequently there is no consecration. In Holy
Week the Mass of the Presanctified is celebrated on the
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but on Good Friday
there is no mass of any kind whatsoever. On days in Lent
when there is neither a celebration of the Holy Liturgy,
nor even communion with the Presan6lified, a brief service
known as the Typika is held. It consists of portions of the
Liturgy without consecration or communion, and is liturgic-
ally the same as the Ante-Communion Service or "Table
Prayers," such as are frequently used on Good Friday and
Easter Even. A similar service is still held at Milan on these
days, and used to be frequent in Latin Christendom when for
some reason or another the consecration of the Eucharist
was not permitted or thought undesirable. Among our
selves this rite was grievously abused for a long time by
being held on certain Sundays when nothing ought to have
24 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
hindered the consecration of the Eucharist. In the East
the Liturgy is still regarded as an act of thanksgiving ot
such a festal type that it is considered unsuitable for the
stricter fasting days. The language of the Divine Liturgy
is Slavonic, an archaic form of Russ, and one of the finest
liturgical languages in existence.
The Liturgy is always celebrated with music, incense,
and full ceremonial, low Mass being regarded as an irreverent
Roman innovation. A priest may not celebrate more than
once, nor may an altar be used more than once, on the same
day.
The people are extremely devout in church. Their
usual posture, even for the act of communion, is standing,
but at other solemn moments they kneel or prostrate them
selves. They are expected to know the service by heart,
and in consequence prayer-books are not used. The Liturgy
is not celebrated daily except in large town churches, but
saints' day celebrations are extremely frequent. Sacramental
Confession and fasting are indispensable preliminaries to
Communion. Only the most devout communicate every
month, but infants often receive more frequently.
It is hardly necessary to say that the Choir Offices, im
portant as they are, do not bulk so largely in Orthodox
eyes as they do in our own. In an Orthodox catechism,
quoted earlier, only two pages are devoted to them, while
nearly nineteen are taken up in describing the Liturgy.
There are seven services which comprise the Divine
Office, namely : (i) Matins, (ii) Lauds with Prime, (iii)
Terce, (iv) Sext, (v) None, (vi) Vespers and (vii) Compline.
For the convenience of the Faithful, these seven services
are divided into three groups. The first group, consisting
PUBLIC WORSHIP 25
of Matins and Lauds with Prime, is recited in the early
morning; the second, consisting of Terce and Sext, precedes
the Liturgy; and the remaining offices are said in the even
ing. This grouping and continuous recitation of several
services is no novelty in the West. As is well known, our
own offices for Morning and Evening Prayer are combina
tions of several pre-reformation services. Morning Prayer
contains elements derived from the old offices of Matins,
Lauds, and Prime ; Evening Prayer is a similar compilation
from Evensong, or Vespers, and Compline. The Russian
services, like our own, chiefly consist of psalms, verses, and
prayers, but are ordinarily without the long leftions from
Holy Scripture with which we are familiar. They are
extremely lengthy and complicated. The long-drawn
rhetorical prayers and anthems are the natural expression of
the poetical Eastern temperament, and contrast strongly
with the brief concise collects of the more prosaic and
business-like West.
1C
Ill
FAITH AND PRACTICE
WE have now to consider the theological position of the
Russian Church. It is hardly necessary to say that the
Nicene Creed is accepted without reserve, in its proper and
ancient sense, as the authorized summary of the Christian
Religion. There is, indeed, no Filioque clause, that is to
say, the words " and the Son " are not added to the words
" proceeding from the Father" in the clause relating to the
Holy Spirit, a phrase to which all Easterns take exception
as being both an irregular addition to the Creed, and also
patient of a heretical interpretation ; but when " Filioque "
is explained to be equivalent to " Per Filium" they are
satisfied that our doctrine is orthodox, although they still
strongly object to the interpolation. At a recent conference
in Petrograd between an English theologian and a number
of Russian divines, the chairman (the Bishop of Kholm)
authorized the statement, that " though the Russians and
the English differ in the wording of their respective form
ulas, yet the Conference had, after hearing explanations,
concluded that the two Churches are agreed as to the sub
stance of the teaching concerning the Eternal Procession of
the Holy Ghost." We are safe, then, in stating that the
" Filioque " is not an insuperable bar to inter-communion.
26
FAITH AND PRACTICE 27
CLAIM TO REPRESENT THE WHOLE CHURCH
Turning from the general statements of the Creed to
their practical application, we are confronted with the im
portant claim that " the Orthodox Churches throughout the
East and North alone now form the One Holy Catholic and
Apostolic Church of Christ, the pillar and ground of the
Truth." This statement is quoted from a pronouncement
made in 1895 by the Greek Patriarch in reply to an en
cyclical letter from Pope Leo XIII, and may be taken as an
authoritative statement of Orthodox conviction. Such a
claim, seriously made, is of course a great convenience in
dealing with internal affairs. It is also a grave hindrance in
negotiating with other religious bodies. When you believe
that each item in your religious system has the august sanc
tion of the Universal Church, you cannot treat the smallest
part of it as an open question, admitting of an alternative
solution. With the most charitable motives in the world you
can only say, " This is the way. Walk ye in it." That is
why all advances towards the Roman Church are fore
doomed to failure so long as Rome remains as she is. She
can never really be party to a policy of mutual explanations
and concessions. She is always a judge extending clemency
to a delinquent.
PRACTICAL MODIFICATION
Theoretically the Orthodox Communion is in the same
position, but in practice it is somewhat less rigid and un
compromising. This is no doubt due to the fadt that, unlike
the modern Roman Church, Orthodox Christendom is from
one point of view a federation of independent national
28 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
churches, which, although united in fundamentals are not
necessarily agreed in every ecclesiastical detail. For example,
the Russian Church is in communion with the Bulgarian
Exarchate, which at Constantinople is regarded as schismatic.
It is noteworthy that since the Schism of 1054, the Easterns,
in spite of their exclusiveness, have never claimed oecumenical
rank for any of their later councils. I believe that they
regard a general council as impossible since the " falling
away " of the West. This is illogical, but a hopeful sign.
Both among Russians and Greeks one finds men of hard and
narrow outlook, but in Russia at any rate there are a much
greater number who are slow to condemn those who differ
from them. It would be well for us if all in our ranks were
as charitable as they.
THE SACRAMENTS
The whole Orthodox Communion claims, not without
some justification, to preserve the doctrine and practice of
the Undivided Church. It accepts Seven General Councils
and Seven Sacraments. It appeals both to Holy Scripture
and to Tradition, but is perhaps insufficiently alive to the
fact that traditions can and do sometimes vary, and them
selves require to be tested from time to time. In the Longer
Catechism of the Russian Church a Sacrament is defined as
" a holy act through which grace, or in other words, the
saving power of God, works mysteriously upon man." The
function of each sacrament is thus briefly stated : " In Bap
tism man is mysteriously born to a spiritual life. In Unction
with Chrism (/.*., Confirmation) he receives a grace of
spiritual growth and strength. In the Communion he is
spiritually fed. In Penance he is healed of spiritual diseases,
FAITH AND PRACTICE 29
that is, of sin. In Orders he receives grace spiritually to
regenerate, feed, and nurture others, by doctrine and Sacra
ments. In Matrimony he receives a grace sanctifying the
married life, and the natural procreation and nurture of
children. In Unction with oil he has medicine even for
bodily diseases, in that he is healed of spiritual."
BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION
Orthodox doctrine with regard to Baptism and Con
firmation differs in no important respect from that of the
West, but there are differences in the mode of administra
tion. In the case of Baptism the child is completely im
mersed three times in the font. For centuries the Easterns
denied the validity of Western Baptism, but they do so no
longer, thanks to the Russians, who first refused to condemn
Baptism by affusion, and then induced the other Orthodox
Churches to follow their example.
Confirmation, which takes the form of anointing with
chrism, follows immediately upon Baptism. It is administered
by the parish priest, but the oil must have been previously
blessed by the bishop. It is admitted, however, that Con
firmation by the laying-on of a bishop's hands with prayer is
permissible as an alternative mode. The only really serious
difference between East and West with respect to Confirma
tion consists in our divergent views as to the permanence of
the gift bestowed. Western Christendom numbers the rite
among those sacraments which confer character , and forbids
its repetition. The Orthodox Church, on the contrary, holds
that the grace of Confirmation may be extinguished by
heresy or schism, and repeats its administration when the
offending party returns to the unity of the Church.
3 o THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
THE EUCHARIST
It is taught that in the Eucharist " the believer, under
the forms of bread and wine, partakes of the very Body and
Blood of Christ, to everlasting life," language which can be
paralleled from our own formularies. The word transub-
stantiation is authoritatively used by Easterns, but many
Russian theologians disapprove of it and maintain that their
own corresponding term, presushchestvlenie, excludes " the
coarse metaphysics of the schoolmen." The representative
theologian KhomiakofF, writing of the attitude of the Russian
Church in this matter, says : " She does not reje<5t the word
* Transubstantiation ' ; but she does not assign to it that
material meaning which is assigned to it by the teachers of
the Churches which have fallen away."
It is held that the consecration is effected not by the
recital of the Words of Institution, but by the invocation of
the Holy Spirit which comes later in the Canon and is
worded thus : Send down thy Holy Spirit upon us and upon
these gifts set forth , and make this Bread the precious Body of
thy Christ, and what is in this Cup the precious Blood of thy
Christ, changing them by thy Holy Spirit.
The Eucharist is also the Christian Sacrifice wherein
the Holy Gifts are offered to God as the memorial of the
Sacrifice of Calvary. Strictly speaking there is but one
sacrifice, for both on the Cross and on the Christian altar
the same High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, offers the
same oblation of his Body and Blood for the sins of the
whole world ; yet the mode of offering is different, for on
the Cross Christ offered himself visibly, suffering pain and
death, while in the Eucharistic Sacrifice he offers himself
o
z
I
> '
Pi X
h
FAITH AND PRACTICE 31
invisibly through the agency of his ministers without the
shedding of blood.
Those who are present at the Holy Liturgy without
communicating have their share in its benefits by faith
and prayer, and by the commemoration of Christ's death and
passion.
The Blessed Sacrament is reserved upon the altar for the sole
purpose of communicating the sick and dying, but, strangely
enough, no notice is taken of it when it is not being used
for that end. I remember a Russian priest who was explain
ing to me the ornaments of his altar taking the pyx into his
hand and opening it to show me the contents. I told him
that no Anglican priest would dream of exhibiting the Holy
Things in that way, but he simply replied, " You are going
to be a priest, and in Russia we have a rule that every priest
must be ready to help another; so I show you our arrange
ments." Orthodox tradition knows nothing of extra-liturgical
devotions before the Blessed Sacrament. It is held to be
most improper to use the Holy Gifts for any purpose not
specified by our Lord.
Throughout the Orthodox Church leavened bread is
used in the Liturgy. The Western use of unleavened bread
for this purpose is one of the practices which the more
pedantic Easterns vigorously condemn. With the single
exception of the Armenian all the schismatic Oriental
Churches agree with the Orthodox custom in this matter.
HOLY ORDERS
The Orthodox Church knows no other doclrine of the
Christian ministry than that implied by the term apostolical
succession. The commission bestowed by Christ upon the
32 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
Apostles was by them transmitted to their successors the
bishops, who in their own generation provide not only for
the continuation of their own office but also for the succes
sion of the lesser orders of ministers. To the bishops alone
belongs the power of ordination, which is exercised by the
laying-on of hands with appropriate prayer in the Sacrament
of Holy Orders.
Emphasis is laid on the representative character of the
ministry. A priest is simply the local organ of the Uni
versal Church, and thus his personal character and intellectual
attainments do not affect the validity of his ministrations.
If, however, he should offend against the unity of the Church
either by way of heresy or schism he ceases to represent the
Church, and the grace of priesthood becomes extinct in him.
Accordingly it is open to a rigorous Eastern to maintain
that the Orthodox Church alone possesses a valid ministry
and valid sacraments ; but as a matter of fact this claim is
not pressed. The only point deserving special attention is
that the Easterns deny the indelibility of Holy Orders.
There have been instances of the re-ordination by them of
Western priests, both Roman and Anglican, who have been
received into the Orthodox Communion, but such instances
are not likely to recur. The validity of Roman ordinations
is now admitted, and the only hindrance to the acknow
ledgment of our own is the lack of an authoritative state
ment of our position in the matter. They are willing to
take us at our own valuation.
THE POWER OF ABSOLUTION
With regard to the Sacrament of Penance, it is clearly
taught that God alone is the source of all forgiveness, but
FAITH AND PRACTICE 33
that such forgiveness is normally bestowed through the
channel of priestly absolution, pronounced after private con
fession. The Greek absolution is couched in the following
terms: "May God, who pardoned David, through the
prophet Nathan, when he confessed his sins . . . may that
same God, through me a sinner, pardon ^ thee everything
in this world, and cause thee to stand uncondemned before
his awful Throne." The Russian rite, after a prayer for the
penitent, contains the following absolution : " May our Lord
and God, Jesus Christ, through the grace and compassion of
his exceeding Love, forgive thee my son N. all thy trans
gressions ; and I, an unworthy priest, by the power that is
given unto me by him, forgive %4 and absolve thee from
all thy sins in the Name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost. Amen." Here again we note a fairly close
resemblance to the absolutions provided in the Prayer-
book Order for the Visitation of the Sick^ and the Roman
Ritual.
HOLY MATRIMONY
Probably the most unsatisfactory feature of Russian
religion is the lax attitude of the Orthodox Church with
respect to the Sacrament of Marriage. On the whole Western
Christendom has consistently taught that marriage is indis
soluble except by death, and this is undoubtedly the true
Christian tradition. Whatever Easterns may say on this
point, their practice is to permit divorce and re-marriage,
not once only, but several times if so desired. Unfaithful
ness to the marriage bond, an incurable disease, insanity,
and desertion are among the grounds for which divorce
may be allowed. It is fair to add that the ecclesiastical
D
34 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
courts require the most conclusive evidence before an appeal
is granted. The fact remains, however, that divorce and re
marriage are permitted.
UNCTION OF THE SICK
The Sacrament of Holy Unction (S. James v, 14-15) is
administered to the sick for both bodily and spiritual heal
ing. Contrary to Western custom the oil is consecrated not
by a bishop, but by the priests who are assembled for the
anointing. As a general rule there is only one priest to bless
the oil and administer the Sacrament. Any person who is
seriously ill is regarded as a fitting recipient. He need not
be in articulo mortis.
PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD
We turn to the important and highly controversial
subject of the Communion of Saints. With regard to the
Faithful Departed, it is interesting to observe that the
Russians entirely reject the doftrina Romanensium respecting
Purgatory. " The souls of the righteous are in light and
rest with a foretaste of eternal happiness . . . They may be
aided towards the attainment of a blessed resurrection by
prayers offered in their behalf, especially such as are offered
in union with the oblation of the Bloodless Sacrifice of
the Body and Blood of Christ." The author of the
Greater Catechism, the Metropolitan Philaret, wrote,
*' There is no such thing as Purgatory, in which souls have
to pass through fiery torments in order to prepare them for
blessedness .... There is no need of any other kind of
purification when ' the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us
from all sin.' ' It should not be deduced from this quota-
FAITH AND PRACTICE 35
tion that the Russian Church rejects all ideas of purification
and progress after death. She denies, however, that the
Departed undergo penal sufferings as a satisfaffion for sins
committed on earth.
THE SAINTS
Invocation of Saints is practised throughout the Ortho
dox Communion, but with important qualifications. It is
taught that the Saints themselves are only saved by grace,
and therefore we cannot be helped by their merits but only
by their prayers. Further, the Saints, and even Blessed
Mary herself, are prayed for in the Liturgy. The Com
munion of Saints is a reality to the Russian. He is united
with them in spirit, separated only in body. He asks them
to pray for him as simply and naturally as we desire each
other's prayers, for the Saints are his personal friends. Nor
is this invocation confined solely to canonized saints. In just
the same way a little child commends itself to the loving
intercessions of its departed mother. Surely there is some
thing in this beautiful and comforting practice which its
opponents have not yet realized. One often wonders what
some of our people mean when they solemnly affirm their
belief in the Communion of Saints.
For the " all-holy, spotless, most highly blessed and
glorious Lady the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary " our
orthodox brethren have a great devotion. In addressing
her with the object of obtaining the benefit of her prayers
they use language which, it must be admitted, sounds
extravagant, to say the least, in Western ears. Here again,
however, one must make allowance for the poetical Eastern
temperament, for no instructed Orthodox Christian would
36 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
dream of seriously ascribing to Mary any office or preroga
tive which belongs properly to her Divine Son.
THE USE OF IKONS
We conclude this necessarily brief statement of Orthodox
doctrine with some observations on the use of ikons or
sacred pictures. 1 It is much too readily assumed by those
who know little of the Eastern temperament that the out
ward marks of reverence and respect paid to these repre
sentations are practically indistinguishable from idolatry.
Ignorance and superstition in this respect can indeed be dis
covered among them, but no exception can be taken by
any broad-minded person to the authoritative teaching of
the Russian Church on the point. It is plainly stated that
the use of ikons would be idolatrous " if we were to make
gods of them, but it is not in the least contrary to the
Second Commandment to honour ikons as sacred representa
tions, and to use them for the religious remembrance of
God's work, and of his Saints ; for, when thus used, ikons
are books, written with the form of persons or things in
stead of letters."
1 The use of statues is forbidden, but carvings in high relief are common.
Mil G
XB
THE CELEBRATED IKON OF OUR LADY OF KAZAN"
From a copy in gold and enamel in the author's possession
P. 36.
IV
THE HIERARCHY
AMONG the most interesting types to be seen in Russia are
the parish priests. In consequence of some old laws, now
obsolete, the ministry has tended to become an hereditary
profession, and even to-day probably the majority of candi
dates for Holy Orders are the sons of priests or deacons.
The rest are almost exclusively drawn from the poorer
classes. As a result, the Russian clergy often know by
experience the hardships and temptations of the poor, and
consequently their ministrations are the more sympathetic.
I was told, with how much truth I cannot say, that the
peasantry would not appreciate a priesthood recruited from
the higher walks of society. On the other hand, the clergy
are largely out of touch with the Intelligentsia or educated
classes, among whom a shallow agnosticism is fairly common.
Yet these peasant priests of Russia are by no means devoid
of refinement. Descended, as a rule, from a long line of
priests, they exhibit greater intelligence, superior morals,
and even a more distinguished appearance than do their
social equals among the laity. While it would be untrue to
say that scandals do not occur, still the great majority of
them live respectable and useful lives. Preaching is rare,
but the clergy are able to exert a beneficent influence by
means of the Confessional, by reading instructive books to
their people, and by that close personal touch derived from
37
38 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
living a clean and simple life under the same conditions as
the peasants themselves.
POVERTY OF THE CLERGY
Many evils arise from the fact that the clergy are so poorly
paid. Usually a country living is endowed with a piece of
arable land which the priest either cultivates himself or
lets to a neighbouring farmer. It is rare, however, that his
income is enough to live upon, and in consequence he is
obliged to exact payment for all private ministrations.
Where such a system is in vogue the possibility of serious
abuse is obvious unless the clergy are men of high moral
character. Apostolic poverty is doubtless an excellent
condition of life if a priest is unmarried, but when he has
family responsibilities it tends to destroy that independence
which is necessary if he is to do his duty with courage and
impartiality.
A MARRIED PRIESTHOOD
All parish priests and deacons must be married men. It
is sometimes stated that when a clergyman's wife dies, he
must resign his living and enter a monastery. This rule,
however, if rule it be, is certainly not rigorously enforced.
The only restriction invariably binding on a priest or deacon
under such conditions is that he may not re-marry. He
must be " the husband of one wife," and he must have
married that one before his ordination. In consequence,
one of the first duties of a seminarist who has completed
his course is to find a wife. Should he fail in this, the
bishop will find one for him from the family of some
deceased clergyman. It is said that these clerical marriages
THE HIERARCHY 39
are amongst the happiest in Russia. A married priest may,
of course, become rector of an important church, but he
cannot rise above the rank of a blagotchinny or rural dean,
for all the higher offices in the Church are filled by the
" black " or monastic clergy, who are, of course, celibates.
There have been instances, however, of the elevation of a
widower to the episcopate.
TRAINING OF THE CLERGY
There is a widespread impression among us that the
Russian priests are badly trained and instructed. This is
certainly untrue, at any rate so far as their professional
training is concerned. The course of instruction provided
in a Russian seminary would bear very favourable com
parison with that given in the majority of our theological
colleges. What is often lacking in a Russian priest is rather
that general education which we esteem so necessary before
a student goes on to specialize in some particular branch of
knowledge.
Seminaries admit pupils between the ages of fourteen
and sixteen for a course of study lasting about six years.
The most promising students can pass on to a Spiritual
Academy ', a sort of ecclesiastical university where the instruc
tion given is of a very high order. On leaving the
Academy, a student is either certified to be matriculated, a
candidate, or a magistrant. To become a magistrant it is
necessary for him to submit a thesis, and to be prepared to
discuss the subject with his examiners.
If a seminarist on leaving college is too young for
Holy Orders, he sometimes works in a parish as ponomar
or reader until he has reached the canonical age. He is
40 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
then appointed to a benefice, and is ordained deacon and
priest with only a few days' interval between the successive
promotions. If, however, he intends to become a monk, he
goes straight from college to the monastery. In the
Orthodox Communion the Order of Deacons is regarded as
a permanent vocation and not as a mere temporary ap
prenticeship for the priesthood, though, as a matter of
regularity, every aspirant to the higher order must first be
ordained deacon. Only the very poorest parishes are with
out a dydkon^ for his participation in the Divine Liturgy is
essential if it is to be properly rendered. In this way the
Orthodox Church utilizes the services of men who lack the
special gifts required for the priesthood, and yet are desirous
of serving God in the sacred ministry.
THE MONASTIC ORDERS
The rich variety of religious orders existing in Western
Christendom finds no parallel in the Orthodox Church,
where there is but one, the contemplative order of S. Basil.
An active order for women is now in existence, but this
is only an experiment and so far lacks official authoriza
tion. The Russian monasteries have often proved themselves
in the past to be glowing centres of devotion and patriotism.
It is said that nowadays the flame burns more dimly, but
of this I am not able to judge, having visited so few.
There are three 1 Lavri, or greater monasteries, of which
the metropolitans of Moscow, Kieff, and Petrograd are
the abbots, ruling their houses by a namyestnik or prior,
as did the prince-bishops of Durham in the Middle Ages.
1 I am informed that there is now a fourth lavra at Pochaeff in Volynia.
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THE HIERARCHY 41
The Troitsky or Trinity Lavra in the neighbourhood of
Moscow is the most famous of these. I referred to this
monastery and its glorious past in the chapter dealing with
the religious history of Russia. Thousands of pilgrims from
all parts of Russia visit its glittering shrines every year. It
is the national sanctuary.
ORGANIZATION
Owing to the centralization of authority in the Holy
Synod, a Russian bishop has nothing like the independence
of our own Fathers in God. He is more like a government
official, administering his diocese like a civil governor, with
the assistance of his consistory court, a body composed of
monks, secular clergy, and laymen. The secretary is a lay
man who has a great deal of power. Responsible to this
court are the rural deans, who in turn supervise the parochial
clergy in their districts. It is worthy of remark that the
title of archbishop is a purely honorary one, conferred in
recognition of good service. A bishop receives the distinc
tion without necessarily vacating his see or extending his
jurisdiction. He remains just as he was before except for
the greater dignity of his style. The higher title of metro-
politan is also purely honorary, for the provincial system as
we know it does not exist in Russia. There are three metro
politans, those of Petrograd, Kieff, and Moscow. These
prelates, together with five or six others, constitute the Holy
Synod. The Tsar is represented at its meetings by a lay
procurator, who has a great deal more power than is good
for the Church. He cannot interfere in purely spiritual
matters, 1 but he can direct ecclesiastical policy into channels
1 Such interference would probably cost the Tsar his throne.
42 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
favoured by the State. It is said that much harm has been
done by this means in the past. The Synod owes its exist
ence, as we have seen, to an arbitrary act of the civil power
in Russia, but its authority is acknowledged not only by
the Russians but also by the four Eastern patriarchs. Un
happily some of the other Orthodox states, Greece for
example, have followed the Russian model. The restoration
of the patriarchate is much to be desired, and is not alto
gether beyond the bounds of possibility.
CLERICAL TYPES
To conclude this part of our subject, I venture to sum
marize some sketches of Russian priests given by Professor
Pares in his interesting and impartial study J of the national
institutions. These outlines are all the more valuable as
the professor writes from a purely non-ecclesiastical stand
point.
Town priests. A. is a rural dean, a quiet, able man,
intelligent, interested in social reform, a temperance worker
and an optimist. B. is rector of a poor town parish, a
grave, simple man, not very hopeful in his estimate of
popular morality and religion, but doing his best to improve
matters. C. is a man of considerable intelligence, who
deplores the poverty of the clergy and the inequalities of
clerical stipends. He considers that the servile attitude of
the poorer priests to their flocks should receive official
attention, and that each poor parish should be linked to a
richer one. He has a poor opinion of the Government's
temperance reforms (this was in 1905), but considers
honesty among peasants to be improving.
1 " Russia and Reform," by Bernard Pares.
THE HIERARCHY 43
Country priests. D. is " like a great bear," big, kind,
awkward; he welcomes the spread of education, which is
much needed. E. is a priest of the more ignorant type,
inclined to be argumentative, but he considers that education
is working wonders among the peasants, and is sufficiently
courageous to express disapproval of the procurator, of the
Holy Synod. F. is alert and enthusiastic, full of hope for
the future of Russia. In his opinion the position of the
clergy is improving. " He discusses the possibility of an
understanding with the English Church. In dogma there
is hardly any difference, except the Filioque . . . Of course,
all questions of ceremony must be settled separately by each
branch of the Universal Church." He advocates more
technical schools and country factories. G. is a simple and
kindly old man, interested in the daily lives of his people.
He reads to them a good deal, especially the Gospel,
" because that is the foundation of everything," and gives
ledlures with lantern illustrations. He considers education
and enterprise to be advancing everywhere. H. is " a jolly
man with twinkling eyes, who talks very freely." He con
siders that the peasants are improving in most directions,
though illegitimate births are more frequent. Pilgrimages
are on the increase.
Monks. y. is an elderly archimandrite, big and power
ful. He has no difficulty in believing popular legends. Once
he wore chains for a year, but his superior made him leave
them off, as " they cut into his shoulders and he fainted in
church." In his opinion, the monastic life is less rigorous
than it used to be. K. is an ordinary monk, " singularly
gentle and simple." He is absolutely ignorant of life in the
world. He finds plenty of work in the monastery, prayers,
44
THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
cleaning churches, carpentry, the painting of ikons, and
so on.
Those superior persons who love to inform us that
priests (especially foreign priests) are invariably opposed to
the progress of education and enlightenment may find some
thing to surprise them in these little sketches of typical
Russian ecclesiastics. As for the higher clergy we have the
following testimony 1 from Bishop Herbert Bury, who
supervises the Anglican chaplaincies in North and Central
Europe. " My experience of the archbishops and bishops of
the Russian Church is that they are real saints. There is no
other name that befits them."
It would seem, then, that the Russian clergy will bear
favourable comparison with those in other lands usually
considered to be more enlightened.
1 Speech delivered at Church House, Westminster, 22 October, 1914.
THE LAITY
To Western Europeans Russia is a land of enigmas; and
perhaps the greatest enigma of all is the Russian peasant.
Many of his own race do not understand him. How,
then, shall we? Our knowledge of him is gained from
the narratives of supercilious tourists, or the grotesque
sketches of popular novelists. And it is not of the real
peasant that we read in these works. He has suffered many
things. He will not bare his heart to every passer-by. Only
to those whom he can trust will he reveal his true character,
his real thoughts. That is why Mr. Stephen Graham l has
shown us a new type of Russian peasant, a type of which we
had never dreamt before. But it is not a new type in reality.
It is the peasant as he is, and Mr. Graham has succeeded in
piercing the veil because he loves the Russian people, and
the people know it. Their portraits, as he paints them, are
singularly attractive, and absolutely convincing. Under
these pictures can be written " Their sins, which are many,
are forgiven them ; for they loved much."
THE PEASANT AS HE is
We who have spent a few months, a few years, perhaps,
in Russia bring home many tales of theft, drunkenness, and
1 See particularly his remarkable and beautiful book, "With the Russian
Pilgrims to Jerusalem."
45
46 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
lust. Our tales are probably true, but our inference is not.
We have not lived with the people, but in hotels, flats, or
great country houses. We never came into contact with
them except in the newspapers, and newspapers thrive on
the abnormal. They do not describe for us the patient
endurance, the simple kindly life of the average peasant. It
is as if a Russian should form his impression of England
from the police court narratives in our daily press, as, indeed,
many of them do. Let us then frankly acknowledge that
we do not know this people, and turn to Mr. Graham for
guidance. These are human beings whom he describes,
men and women who are like big children, with all the
faults and all the graces of children. Undoubtedly they are
self-willed, undisciplined, credulous, not knowing when
they have had enough to eat and drink, and yet, with
all this, warm-hearted, generous, a great rough family of
brothers and sisters. If we regard them from an educated
twentieth century standpoint, we shall be doing them an
injustice. They are just emerging from the Middle Ages.
It is not Russia's fault that her children are backward, any
more than it is Britain's virtue to have a large navy. The
institutions of both countries are conditioned by their geo
graphy. Before we pass sentence on Russia let us bear in
mind the difficulties of a vast territory with a small sea
coast, and with few large towns and hundreds of thousands
of remote country villages, with suspicious and unsym
pathetic neighbours, a land peopled from West to East by
many different tribes Teuton, Slav, and Mongol and by
combinations of all three, with a climate of violent extremes,
and imperfect means of communication. Let us ask our
selves what we can in fairness expecl: from this country and
TWO OLD PEASANTS OF THE UKRAINE
i 1 . 46.
THE RELIGION OF THE PEOPLE 47
its people. The answer is not doubtful ; yet there are those
who abuse the Russian people for being only a little more
sober, a little less ignorant, than were our great-grandfathers.
We, who as a nation have almost forgotten the name of
God until we require something at his hands, we decry the
Russian peasant to whom religion is the salt of life because
he does not always a<5t up to his profession but he makes
no profession. He knows that he is a sinner, ignorant, weak,
and sorely tried, and he knows that God is merciful. So he
goes to Confession and the Liturgy for his needs, he reads
the Gospels (translated for him into dozens of dialects and
tongues), and in his declining years he goes on pilgrimage
to the Holy Land, enduring great hardships on the way, to
trace the Via Dolorosa, and bedew with his tears the " Life-
giving Tomb."
Intemperance is the great national failing. Partly to
fortify their ill-nourished bodies against the intense winter
cold, and partly to escape from the monotony of their sur
roundings, the peasants consume large quantities of vodka,
a fiery and injurious spirit made from the potato. The
decision of the Tsar to abolish for ever the State sale of
vodka, which was a Government monopoly, may be ex
pected to achieve much in liberating the moujiks from the
curse of intemperance, and those other evils which inevitably
follow in its train.
THE REALISM OF RUSSIAN RELIGION
The facts of the Christian Revelation are far more
real to the peasants than they are to us. This is due, I think,
to two things. In the first place, the simplicity of their
48 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
outlook on life, coupled with the gift of a vivid imagina
tion, enables them to accept without reserve what they
are taught by priests as simple as themselves. And, secondly,
this realism is the outcome of instruction imparted through
the eye. The universal use of ikons in church and home
results in an almost first-hand acquaintance, so to speak,
with New Testament events. These events are present
experience, not past history. Moreover, the Christian in
stitutions are clearly distinguished from their official guar
dians. A priest may sometimes be inefficient or unworthy
of respecl, but since he is only regarded as a mouth-piece,
a sort of machine for administering the Sacraments, his
inefficiency does not affect the reverence with which his
flock regards the Church, her faith and praclice. The laity,
too, are guardians of religion, and if necessary they will
forcibly compel a priest to do his duty. There is, however,
a drawback to this zeal. It will be rather a hindrance to
reform, for the more ignorant people regard every minute
detail even of their ceremonial, every word of the Liturgy,
as of Divine origin and appointment. We have seen that
a great schism was caused when the Patriarch Nikhon made
some slight reforms in these respedts.
THE INTELLIGENTSIA
And yet in many ways reform is necessary if the educated
classes are to be held by the Church. These have devoured
the works of the great French and German philosophers.
They know all the arguments against Christianity, but very
little of the evidence in its favour. At present the efforts
made to retain their allegiance are totally inadequate. When
a man's fundamental religious ideas are in the melting pot
THE RELIGION OF THE PEOPLE 49
it is no argument to remind him of the teaching office of
the Church. He must first be convinced that the Church
ought to exist. There is, then, a great need of apologetic
framed to meet modern difficulties. It remains to be seen
whether this will be forthcoming. One thing, however, is
certain. The religious instinct is firmly implanted in the
heart of every true Russian, and sooner or later it bears
fruit. Even those who profess to believe nothing are usually
more than ready to discuss religion. It is said that this
atheism is in very many cases only due to the eager desire
of the Intelligentsia to appear as Western and up-to-date as
possible, and that many of those who adopt this attitude
continue to practise their religious duties in private. At
any rate the great fasts of the Church are still observed
with much strictness in all grades of society. I would like
to quote here the words of a distinguished writer upon
Russian subjects, and one, moreover, who as a Roman
Catholic, adopts an antagonistic attitude towards the Or
thodox Church. After a rehearsal of its defects, he 1 says :
" Apart from all this, religion in Russia, as I have tried to
point out, whether believed or not, will always remain a
part of patriotism ; and as long as there is a Russian nation,
there will be a Russian religion at the core of it." To its
people Russia will always be Holy Russia, and woe to the
invader who profanes its altars and desecrates its sacred soil !
In the hour of danger all politics and pose are banished,
and it is a nation in arms which marches with the watch
word of " Tsar, Church, and People."
1 The Hon. Maurice Baring, in " The Russian People."
50 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
CHURCH GOING
I have already described the technicalities of public
worship. It remains to say something of the spirit pervading
the worshippers. As preaching is so rare, a Russian has no
misapprehension as to the purpose for which he goes to
church. He does not go to sit and listen, but to stand and
pray ; he is there not so much to get something from God as
to give something to God, the homage of his whole being.
In a word, he understands the meaning of worship as our
own people, for the most part, do not. A remarkable char
acteristic of the peasant is his capacity for sustained worship.
The services are exceedingly long and wearying, yet it is
said of him that the more they are prolonged the more
his devotion increases. This devotion finds an outlet in
frequent prostrations, crossings, and salutations to the sacred
ikons. Commenting upon this demonstrative piety, the
Abbe Gustave Morel, 1 who was a close student of Russian
religion, writes : " After having considered all this exag
gerated, I am beginning to regret the necessity which forces
me to maintain a more complete reserve. One feels that all
these gestures do good to the soul ; the religion of the
ignorant moujik is worth more than that of the Protestant
scholar, who professes to worship God in the spirit only."
PATRONAL FESTIVALS IN TOWN AND COUNTRY
The services are almost everywhere well attended,
though the clergy lament the influence of town life in this
and other respects upon the peasants. I give, however, my
impressions of two important festivals, one in Petrograd and
1 Cf. " L'AbW Gustave Morel," translated by E. J. Dredge.
THE RELIGION OF THE PEOPLE 51
the other in our little village of Tchoutovka. On both occa
sions the churches concerned were observing their patronal
festivals. Let me begin with the service at the Kazansky
Cathedral, one of the most popular churches in the capital.
The exterior of this stately building, with its noble
colonnade of one hundred and thirty-six pillars, suggests
the basilica of S. Peter at Rome. The interior is well
lighted and almost Western in appearance. The great
ikonostas is of solid silver, and extends right across the
church from wall to wall. Inset are some splendid golden
ikons adorned with priceless gems. On the eve of the feast
I found the church crowded to suffocation for what would
correspond to First Evensong. Leaving religious considera
tions on one side this service was remarkable as an example
of solemn pageantry. The gleaming ikonostas half veiled
with the clouds of incense, the stately mien and rich
vestures of the officiating prelates, the glorious singing of
the choir, all these things expressed the prodigality of
Russian devotion. As for the congregation, probably no
where else in Europe could one behold a more heterogeneous
gathering of human beings engaged in common worship.
Tightly wedged together stood shop assistants and military
officers in full uniform, artisans and princes, children and
adults, all craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the
great golden ikons ablaze with diamonds and tapers. At
intervals I felt myself touched on the shoulder, and on
turning received a taper with the request to pass it on to
the shrine. Sometimes instead of the taper it was a few
kopecks with which to purchase one on behalf of a
worshipper at the rear of the church. The heat was
intense and the atmosphere insupportable, but everyone was
52 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
in a good humour. It took me at least twenty minutes to
squeeze through to the exit when I wished to leave. On
the next day, the festival itself, people had taken up their
position in the church as early as six o'clock in the morning,
and it was hopeless to attempt to enter. At the close of the
service, however, when the great congregation poured into
the street, one would have thought an imperial reception to
have just terminated, such were the numbers of splendid
carriages and gorgeous officials issuing from the precincts.
Of a much humbler character was our village festival.
The most distinguished ecclesiastic present was Batushka
Nikolai, a former rector of the parish. The little old
wooden church boasted no silver screen, no jewelled ikons ;
but it may be that the simple hearts of our peasants in the
Ukraine held a treasure richer far than these. When I
reached the church, the service had already commenced.
From the dais reserved for our party from the " Big House "
I could command a good view of all that was going on.
Around us was a solid mass of humanity, of which only
heads and shoulders could be seen. The royal doors were
open, and inside were three or four priests and deacons per
forming the ceremonies of the Liturgy. Batushka Nikolai,
wearing a chasuble of cloth-of-silver, was the celebrant, and
his clear tenor voice could be clearly heard chanting the
prayers. To the front of us stood the wives of the visiting
clergy. Matushka 1 Varvara Vasilievna, overcome with emo
tion, embraced Matushka Marfa Ivanovna, and both crossed
themselves several times. Everyone was very devout, very
interested, and very happy even the people thronging the
1 Matuskka: Little Mother: a title of respeft given to a clergyman's
wife.
TCHOUTOVKA
THE OLD WOODEN CHURCH
THE ORN 7 AMENTS OF '1 HE ALTAR
f. 52.
THE RELIGION OF THE PEOPLE 53
steps outside, though they could see nothing of the service.
At the close of the Liturgy, the clergy with crosses, banners,
and incense, went singing in procession three times round
the outside of the church, followed by practically the whole
congregation. During the last circuit prayers were said
before the three chief entrances, and then, not having
prayed enough, the people went inside again to kiss the
" Life-giving Cross " and the ikons.
PILGRIMAGES
Russia is pre-eminently the land of pilgrimage, and this
outline of popular religion would be incomplete without
some account of one of its most touching features. Which
of us has not at some time or other felt in his heart the
desire to pray at the holy places in Jerusalem ? It is hard to
reconcile this longing with our modern ideas about religion.
We know that on earth we can never be nearer to Jesus than
when he comes to dwell in our hearts in the most holy
Sacrament of the Altar. We know that in Jerusalem itself,
swarming with hucksters and tourists, he is only a dim
memory, that cold-blooded investigators challenge the
authenticity of most of the holy sites : and yet the longing
remains, for the heart refuses to be ruled by logic. We can
to some extent, then, understand the Russian peasant's love
of pilgrimage. For a more complete appreciation of his
motives we must go to a Russian writer. 1 " The pilgrim's
ideal," he tells us, " is a sweet feeling of the heart in prayer.
Follow his life from birth and you will find that these sweet
feelings began in the village church when he was a child.
1 V. N. Khitroff; a quotation in Mr. Graham's book mentioned above.
54
THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
Ordinary life dulled them, caused their repetition to be in
frequent, and he began, without knowing why perhaps, to
visit neighbouring monasteries. There he caught his sweet
vision again. But the ordinary things of life defeated him
again, and even at the monasteries he felt seldom. So he
went further afield. He went to far shrines, to Solovetsk, to
S. Seraphim. He left home and went from village to village,
and from monastery to monastery, ever further and further
till he reached the holiest place on earth the Holy City,
and Golgotha, where the redemption of mankind was accom
plished. Further on the earth there was no-whither ; it
seemed that the soul had found what it wished though it
had not. Satisfied for the time he returns to his native land,
but again in a little while appears once more the uncon
querable wish to go to that place where were experienced
such sweet minutes. In that, it seems to me, is contained
the psychology of the Russian pilgrimage."
VI
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS
FROM my diary I sele6l a few narratives which will serve to
illustrate and vivify what has already been written. The
following extract is a little sketch of our parish priest, a
broad-minded and earnest man about thirty-five years of
age. Very soon after my arrival in his parish he came to
call on me, and with the help of another Russian friend we
had a long conversation. He was much interested in the
Church of England, and asked me many intelligent questions
about the training of our clergy. Could they marry, and
were they regarded with respect? What were our churches
like? And our music? To the best of my ability I played
and sang to him some typical hymns, including some set to
plainsong melodies. It was a little disappointing to find that
he preferred tunes of the slum mission type rather than the
severer ecclesiastical music. The former he thought " very
Russian." Batushka Johann, like most of his brethren, was
a good musician, and had an excellent tenor voice. He
could play four or five instruments, including the violin and
piano, and promised to arrange a concert for me when I
returned his call. On the day fixed for this event I went to
the Church School, where he was living during the erection
of a new parsonage, and here I met his young wife and
little daughter. After we had exchanged greetings the
concert began. The orchestra consisted of the two school-
55
56 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
masters, who played the balalaika (a Russian guitar), the
Matushka, who played the violin, her brother and sister,
who played mandolines, and the priest himself, who pre
sided at a small harmonium. There was quite a long pro
gramme, during which the Batushka played several other
instruments. Practically all the music was Russian; there
were sad but beautiful folk-songs, stirring marches, gay and
tuneful dance music, and finally, as a very great compliment
to me, the programme terminated with " God save the
King," which had been specially learnt for the occasion.
During the performance I glanced round the room,
which was spotlessly clean and neat. The floor was painted,
and covered here and there with grass mats. On the walls
hung large coloured portraits of the Tsar and Tsaritsa, with
a gorgeous picture of their coronation. The furniture con
sisted of a large plain table, with several chairs and stools,
a low couch, another small table which served as the
Batushka's desk, and in the corner of the room a small
shrine, covered with ikons and books of devotion ; here, too,
were several of the little smooth loaves of leavened bread,
stamped with religious characters, which the Eastern Church
uses for the Holy Communion. A small triangular piece is
scooped out of each little loaf, and the remainder is pre
sented as a mark of honour to the principal person present
at the service. Father Johann was always extremely glad to
see me at his church, and wrote a special note on one
occasion in which he thanked " the much respected English
man " for coming to the service, and apologized for the
singing of the choir, which, however, was considerably
better than that of the average village choir in England.
His eagerness to meet my wishes in every way was on one
D
C
ac
o
H
S ^
< h
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS 57
occasion a source of great embarrassment to me. I happened
to be passing the church just as a funeral procession headed
by cross-bearer and bannerers was setting out for the ceme
tery. Thinking myself unnoticed I prepared to photograph
the scene, when to my horror Batushka Johann called a halt
and the whole party, including the mourners, posed for
their portraits with the corpse in the centre !
A PEASANT WEDDING
The following is an account of a wedding scene at
Oosman, in the Government of Tamboff. The favourite
day for marriages in this district is O6lober the first, the fete
day of the province. On this occasion (1911) seventeen
couples were united, three pairs at a time. The brides wore
brightly coloured frocks, consisting of red petticoats and
wide-sleeved bodices of orange yellow silk, decorated with
red and green trimmings. Round their necks were rows
and rows of large coloured beads. Their heads were crowned
with flowers or with a fantastic kokoshnik (tiara) and a
small veil. Their hair was parted in the middle, tied back
and left loose until after the service. The bridegrooms wore
rough leathern coats, mostly dyed black, ornamented with
coloured stitching and edged with white fur. Their hair,
according to custom, was well greased, and without a ruffle.
Bride and bridegroom alike wore a large coloured handker
chief fastened by one corner to the wrist. The godparents
took the place of the parents, standing behind the couples
and occasionally giving a furtive lick and smoothe down to
a refractory lock. A portable altar covered with faded cloth-
of-gold was placed in the centre of the church, and the
couples, holding lighted tapers in their right hands, stood
58 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
close by with stolid and expressionless faces. After some
prayers, the priest required them to express their willing
ness to marry, and then presented them with a cup of wine
from which each couple drank, in token that they would
share in like manner the joys and sorrows in store for them.
After some more prayers, the priest gave them the marriage
crowns, which were placed on their heads. Then joining
their hands they were led round the altar three times by the
priest. Until the third round there was yet time for either
party to withdraw. More prayers were then said, and finally
the newly wedded pairs, having formally embraced, retired
to the vestry where some ancient non-religious customs had
yet to be observed. Among these the chief was the dressing
of each bride's hair. The godmother separated it into plaits,
using only her fingers, and after carefully smoothing every
hair into position wound them about the bride's head. After
marriage it is a great disgrace for a woman to be seen dress
ing her hair, or even to wear it in a long plait ; but no un
married peasant woman, however elderly, may abandon the
single plait. It is etiquette for a bride to display great
sorrow on leaving her father's home, and doubtless her cries
are often not altogether artificial, for she knows that her
future life will probably be a round of drudgery and toil.
A MONASTERY NEAR LOUBNY IN POLTAVA
In the neighbourhood of Loubny on a well-wooded
eminence stands the large Monastery of the Ascension,
which is well worth a visit. We drove there one day in a
droshky or hired carriage, and spent a very interesting after
noon. The road is very hilly and circuitous, and is often
thronged with pilgrims, a particularly numerous class in
D
C
h
en
w
ac
h
-
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS 59
Russia. The monastery is described as of the second class,
and dates from 1620. It was formerly extremely wealthy,
and probably is so to-day, though the present monks
lament the glories of the past. At the top of a steep road
stands a large free hostelry for pilgrims. The monastic
buildings, which are very extensive, are on the left-hand
side of the road. Ascending a flight of wooden steps
we passed through a wide archway, over which is a tall
white bell-tower. A short avenue, paved with large stones,
leads straight towards the great church, which is almost
surrounded with the other monastic buildings. The church
is not specially remarkable, except perhaps in that the
ikonostas is more gaudy than usual. The royal gates in
this screen are of solid beaten silver, and there are several
tall standard candlesticks and exceptionally large sanctuary
lamps of the same precious metal. But of all the treasures
in the building, that of which the monks are most proud is
the body of S. Afanase in its great silver shrine. This
Athanasius was a patriarch of Constantinople, who, in 1647,
retired to the monastery to end his days in peace. We
were shown in the grounds the ancient tree beneath which
the holy man used to sit reading and meditating upon the
Scriptures. Here one day he was found dead, and his body
was carried into the church and there buried, clad in the
patriarchal vestments. Many years later, when the present
shrine was built, the body was exhumed, and discovered to
be as whole and incorrupt as at his death, and in the same
state it certainly remains, from whatever cause, to this day.
On our return to the church, a small glass window in the
shrine was opened so that those of us who felt inclined
might kiss that part of the robes which covers his hand.
60 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
The body is still in a sitting posture, just as it was dis
covered under the tree two hundred and fifty years ago.
The saint has a reputation for working miracles, and all
sorts of medals, crosses, and ikons are sold at cost price by
the monks to the pilgrims who seek the saint's blessing.
For a sum equal to a shilling I bought a small ikon of the
saint, and several beautifully carved little wooden crucifixes
made by some of the monks.
One of my Russian companions had a brief conversation
with a lay brother who was cleaning the church. He in
formed us that there are at present about one hundred and
thirty monks and novices in the establishment, of whom
a very large percentage are laymen. They are of all ages,
the youngest being mere boys. I saw one of these last
climbing a tree to look at a bird's nest.
THE ALEXANDRO-NEVSKAYA LAVRA, PETROGRAD
This vast monastery was founded by Peter the Great in
1710 as a fitting shrine for the warrior saint, Alexander
Nevsky, Prince of Novgorod. The quadrangle is several
acres in area, and is surrounded with buildings, including
the principal and the lesser churches, a large and valuable
library, and a theological college. As I entered the great
church a service had just terminated, but a dozen or two
of worshippers remained behind with an old monk, who
led their devotions before the silver shrine of S. Alexander.
A monk of the Eastern Church wears a black cassock and
a sort of brimless top hat with a black veil hanging down
behind. Otherwise his habit appears to be no different
from that of the ordinary clergy.
It was in this church that the four Anglican bishops
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS 61
who visited Russia in 1912 were invited to witness the
consecration of a bishop according to the Orthodox rite.
The following account of the ceremony, which lasted four
hours, appeared in a contemporary English newspaper :
" Two metropolitans and eight other bishops took part,
magnificently vested in cope and mitre. Perhaps the two
most impressive features of the service were the ceremony
of presenting the new bishop at the close with his pastoral
staff, and the ordination by him of a deacon immediately
on his own consecration as bishop. In all the ordination
rites of the Russian Church provision is made that the
newly ordained deacon, priest, or bishop, as the case may
be, shall then and there in the face of the congregation
proceed to exercise his new prerogative. The only trace of
this in our own Ordinal is the reading of the Gospel by the
new deacon."
It should be mentioned that the Lavra possesses a
famous cemetery, where some of Russia's greatest men lie
buried. Of them all, perhaps the best known in England
is Tchaikovsky, the musician. On the morning of my visit
a military funeral was in progress. Half a battalion of in
fantry was drawn up in the yard. Within one of the
smaller churches lay the body of the deceased soldier,
evidently an officer of high rank. The coffin was still open
(as appears to be the usual custom), and was surrounded
with flowers and lights. At the head and foot, and on
either side, stood four priests, and on the right the
mourners, each holding a lighted taper. One of the clergy
with a sonorous bass voice intoned the prayers on a remark
ably deep note. As he finished, a concealed male-voice
choir commenced a most beautiful hymn, but so softly that
62 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
at first it was hardly audible. 1 In all Holy Russia, the land
par excellence of choral singing, the chant as I heard it
might perhaps somewhere have been equalled : it could not
have been surpassed. At the close of the office, the
mourners handed their tapers to attendants, and mounted
the bier to look their last on the departed, most of them
blessing the body with the sign of the Cross. Then came
several loud blows of a hammer as the lid was placed upon
the coffin, an unpleasant and disturbing feature of the
service, and the cortege proceeded to the place of burial. I
noticed that the vestments of the clergy were not black as
in the west, but golden or white, as also were all the other
equipments of the funeral.
A CONVENT IN PETROGRAD
Near the Moscow Gates of Petrograd stands the Novo-
Devichi Monastir, a large convent, which I was enabled to
visit by the kind offices of an English lady resident in
Petrograd. The nuns are well known for the excellence
of their ecclesiastical craftsmanship, which includes the
painting of ikons, and it was to see them thus engaged that
we went to the convent. Unfortunately this was impossible,
as it was the Feast of the Kazan Mother of God and the
work-rooms were closed. We were admitted to the church
of the convent, where a place was found for us in a small
railed enclosure. Thirty or forty nuns were standing motion
less in prayer in various parts of the building. Their habit
was similar to that of the monks we saw at the Lavra, even
in respect to the strange head-dress. Now and then one of
1 Cf. English Hymnal, 744, as a specimen of Russian hymns for the
Departed.
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS 63
them passed noiselessly up to the Kazan ikon, and after triple
prostration and many crossings kissed the ikon, and then
returned to her place. Meanwhile the church was filling
with fresh arrivals, both of nuns and of lady visitors, and
finally the Igumenya or prioress entered, accompanied by
two sisters bearing lighted tapers. The nuns then took
their places two and two for procession, and began to
sing a psalm to a simple chant as they moved out of the
church. They were followed by the taperers and the
Igumenya, who carried the ikon of the feast. We passed
round the quadrangle, in the centre of which a fine new
church was nearing completion, and entered a temporary
chapel, where stood row upon row of young novices in
plain, close-fitting dress and puritan caps of black straw.
Each novice wore her hair in a long single plait. When
the chapel was filled a priest appeared and began the office.
The deacon's part was undertaken by a tall, pale nun, who
read interminable prayers or lessons in a deep, strong voice,
very like a man's. At long intervals the community sang
responses in four parts very beautifully. Finding the un
intelligible service rather wearisome, we left after about
half an hour. Outside there was a pandemonium of bells
of all sizes and descriptions, the harsh vibrating boom of
the largest mingling with the gay rhythmic jangle of the
smaller ones. A long tram ride brought us back to the
heart of the city. On the way an incident occurred which
illustrated the kindliness and generosity of the average
Russian. A poor woman with a babe in her arms was asked
for her fare, and on searching for her purse discovered that
it had been stolen, together with the whole of her scanty
earnings. She burst into a torrent of weeping, for this sum
64 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
was all she had to support her family. At once nearly every
one in the car produced his purse and made her a small
present, so that in the end she had more than she had lost.
Some of those who helped her were nearly as poor as she.
THE CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION
Perhaps the most gorgeous building in Petrograd is the
Church of the Resurrection. 1 Its exterior is ornamented
with wonderful mosaics, and with cupolas of bronze, and of
white, blue, and green enamel. Within, every inch of the
walls and pillars glows with soft colours. On all sides
mosaics depict venerable saints and ecclesiastics. There are
numerous ikons studded with jewels, and the ikonostas is
of Italian marble enriched with jasper and topaz. At the
west end of the building, a baldachino or canopy of solid
jasper, supported by four pillars of the same stone, is hung
about with silver lamps. One looks to see what precious
obje6l it overhangs only two or three square yards of
dusty cobble stones, but they are stones which have been
splashed with imperial blood. This is the spot where
Alexander II., the Tsar-Liberator, was assassinated on
March 13, 1881. One of the most enlightened of Russian
emperors, he did much to improve the lot of his suffering
people, but he was unable to accept the programme of the
Nihilists, and he paid for his refusal with his life. The
Church of the Resurrection is his memorial, and a splendid
monument it is. One evening when passing along the
Nevsky Prospekt, I heard its great bell vibrating through
the damp atmosphere, and turned down by the canal bank
to see the interior by artificial light. It presented a truly
1 See Frontispiece.
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS 65
magnificent appearance. The ikonostas was well lighted,
and the jasper gates were opened, for a service was in
progress. One could see the beautiful mosaics of the
eastern wall from floor to towering roof. The prevailing
tints were rose and old gold. A venerable priest and his
attendant deacon, both of them wearing vestments of shim
mering cloth-of-gold, were within the screen censing the
altar, which was lighted by the large seven-branched candle
stick. A concealed male-voice choir chanted with perfect
expression the exquisite harmonies of an Orthodox hymn,
while the old priest, descending into the body of the
church, passed from shrine to shrine to offer prayer and
incense at each.
THE DUST OF KINGS
The Church and Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul were
built by Peter the Great. The church, which has been
the burial place of the Russian Tsars since his time, exceeds
in sombre magnificence any of the other buildings I
visited. Within, to the right of the screen, are the tombs of
Peter the Great and the two Catherines. In the body of
the church lies all that is mortal of Alexander III. For
the most part the tombs are altar-shaped, and composed of
white marble. A brass cross is inlaid along the surface of
each, together with a plate bearing the name of the illus
trious dead. On some tombs are set small imperial crowns
resting upon cushions, the whole worked in solid brass and
containing tiny lamps fed with holy oil. In the gloom
of the great building the effect of this decoration is very
striking. An annexe has in recent years been added to this
church, and here the lesser royalties are now interred. The
F
66
THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
walls of the church are hung with silver wreaths, and some
sanctuary lamps of beautiful enamel-work hang before the
sacred pictures. It is a shrine worthy to receive the ashes
of Peter the Great, the Reformer and Autocrat of All the
Russias.
VII
FOREIGN RELATIONS
WE have already noted the Greek origin of the Church in
Russia, its early subordination to the patriarchs of Con
stantinople, and its emancipation, claimed in 1448 and
finally ratified in 1589. We have now to consider what
may be termed the foreign policy of this great national church,
dealing in the first place with its attitude towards the parent
see. There are few more pathetic spectacles in the modern
ecclesiastical world than the once illustrious patriarchate of
Constantinople. Historically the second see of Christendom,
formerly rivalling that of Rome in power and majesty, it
has shrunk almost to the dimensions of a petty archbishopric
since the Ottoman Turks occupied south-eastern Europe. 1
The present Patriarch, Germanos, whose distant prede
cessors could claim even more adherents than could the
Roman bishop, presides over less than 150,000 Orthodox
Christians in Turkey, together with the Greek communities
along the coast of Asia Minor. From the various national
churches formerly within the jurisdiction of his see he
receives nothing more than deference and respecl:, and even
this purely honorary distinction is sometimes imperilled by
the Pan-Hellenist intrigues of his advisers. We may say then
that the Russian Church is in partnership on practically
equal terms with the Oecumenical Patriarchate, balancing
1 The Turks stormed Constantinople on 29 May, 1453.
67
68 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
with its immense size and importance the ancient prestige
of its ally. It is a fascinating speculation to forecast the
ecclesiastical results of a Russian occupation of Con
stantinople.
The Russian Church is also in full communion with
the other three Eastern patriarchates of Antioch, Alex
andria, and Jerusalem, with the national Churches of Greece,
Serbia, Bulgaria, Roumania, Montenegro, and Cyprus, and
with the Orthodox Churches in Hungary and the Bukovina.
This group constitutes the Orthodox Communion. The
Russians, are, of course, more numerous and influential
than all the rest put together, a fact of the highest import
ance when we remember their more liberal temper and
deeper spirituality.
It should be borne in mind, however, that this inter
communion does not preclude the various provincial
churches from developing along their own lines within
reasonable limits. More than once the Russians have acted
with considerable independence, and particularly we may
note their attitude towards the important Council of Jeru
salem, sometimes known as the Synod of Bethlehem, which
met in 1672. The acts of this synod have been pithily
described as " legislation in a temper." In consequence of
the heresy taught by the Greek patriarch Cyril Lukar, the
Easterns were acutely conscious of the fact that their boasted
orthodoxy was compromised in the eyes of the West. The
Synod met to vindicate their faith. In order to disarm
hostile criticism its pronouncements were couched in
Roman phraseology, and to some extent embodied ideas
which had hitherto been confined to Western Christendom.
When the decrees of the Synod were received in Russia,
MODERN IKONOSTAS
In the Church of S. Saviour, Moscow
p. 63.
FOREIGN RELATIONS 69
such expressions as were open to objection on this account
were either omitted from the Russian version or else de
liberately modified. In this way the Russians guarded
themselves against accepting supposed materialistic concep
tions of Purgatory and the Mass.
ATTITUDE TOWARDS ROME
In spite of a certain unwilling respect for the Roman
Communion, the attitude of the Orthodox Church towards
Latin Christendom is one of decided hostility. It rejects as
pernicious novelties the papal claims to infallibility and
universal supremacy, though in happier circumstances it
would not refuse to the Pope his ancient position as first
among the patriarchs. The conception of an absolute
ecclesiastical monarchy is entirely alien to Orthodox ideas,
and could never be accepted by Easterns without stultifying
their whole position. They believe that the Holy Spirit
dwells in the whole body of the Church, guiding it as a
united whole into all truth. Hence their appeal to the
witness of the early undivided Church in defence of their
tenets.
Other doctrines rejected by them, wholly or in part, are
the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, the Treasury of
Merit, Indulgences, and the penal sufferings of the Holy
Souls in Purgatory: but a catalogue of such differences
would not adequately explain the causes of disunion. The
truth is that there is a wide difference between the Roman
and Eastern temperaments. Rome is monarchical, practical,
logical, precise; the Easterns are oligarchical, ultra-con
servative, poetical, loth to define. We can picture how
different the later history of Christendom might have been
7 o THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
if unity had been maintained, and had East and West in
virtue of that unity corrected each other's failings and
augmented the common virtues. As a matter of history
the centrifugal tendencies in each communion have had
free play since the schism. The intrusion of Latin prelates
with Eastern titles into Orthodox spheres of jurisdiction has
greatly increased the antipathy between the two bodies.
Another cause of ill feeling is the mortification with which
the Easterns have witnessed the aggrandisement of the
great apostolic see of the West, while their own leading
patriarchate has dwindled to comparative insignificance
under Mohammedan rule. And finally they cannot forget
the barbarous conduct: of the Western Crusaders who in
1204 sacked Constantinople, then a Christian city, murdered
the Byzantine emperor, and placed a Latin patriarch l on the
throne of S. John Chrysostom. It requires extraordinary
faith to believe that the two largest sections of Christendom
will be again united, but more than once efforts have been
made towards the attainment of that end. The most notable
of these was the Council of Florence (sometimes termed of
Ferrara) which met in 1438-9. The Council was attended
by delegates from the East, upon whom the strongest
pressure was imposed by their emperor in the hope that he
would receive military assistance against the Turks in return
for an acknowledgement of the papal supremacy. The
Orthodox envoys, cajoled, bribed, and threatened by friend
and foe, conceded most of the Roman contentions, 2 and the
1 It is an apt commentary on the mediaeval attitude towards the Roman
claims that the Latin patriarchs of Constantinople at once began to intrigue
for the aggrandizement of their see at the expense of the Papacy.
8 See Appendix C.
FOREIGN RELATIONS 71
agreement was ultimately repudiated by the East as a betrayal
of Orthodox principles.
ATTITUDE TOWARDS PROTESTANTISM
Protestantism, by which is understood excessive indi
vidualism in religion, the denial of the teaching office of the
Church, and the depreciation or rejection of the Sacraments,
is regarded by the Orthodox Church as a mutilated form of
Christianity which cannot be justified either from Holy
Scripture or from the practice of the early Church. It is a
complete novelty devised at the Reformation, and the
Roman Church is reproached for causing it by her extra
vagant claims and mediaeval corruptions.
RELATIONS WITH THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION
For many years it has been understood by the Easterns
that the Church of England and her sister churches stand
on a very different footing from that of the Protestant
bodies, but little more than this is known of us except by a
comparatively small band of scholars. Latterly the growing
intercourse between Great Britain and Russia has led to a
revival of mutual interest in the two national churches. I
use the word " revival " because, as the late Bishop John
Wordsworth reminded us, " ever since the beginning of the
seventeenth century, when we must date the establishment
of direcl: intercourse between the reformed Church of
England and the Eastern Patriarchates, there has been a
constant and a pleasant sense of brotherhood engendered in
the converse of intelligent men, quite irrespective of the
common ties of Church policy, or agreement on doctrines
72 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
and practices, which must be the more formal elements or
any alliance."
The story of this intercourse is too long to recount here,
but it has culminated in the formation of two societies, one
in Russia and the other in England, which work syste
matically and in co-operation for the restoration of inter
communion. The English society, 1 which is, of course, an
unofficial organization, has a large and growing membership,
and its activity is considerable. It is very important to note
that the Russian society has the official approval of the Holy
Governing Synod (dated January 1912), without which,
indeed, it would not be permitted to exist. Among its
honorary members are the Archbishops of Canterbury and
York, the Bishop of London, six Russian archbishops, and,
until his death later in 1912, the Metropolitan Anthony of
Petrograd. The programme of the Russian society includes
an annual course of lectures by some eminent English theo
logian, and the translation into Russ of important English
theological documents.
Formerly our interest in the Eastern Orthodox Church
sprang from a purely devotional motive, the earnest desire
to fulfil our Lord's prayer that all his servants might be one.
Of late years, however, this interest has been intensified by
the situation in America and the colonies, where large com
munities of Orthodox immigrants have settled among our
own people, frequently without either churches or priests
to shepherd them. It was plainly necessary that steps should
be taken to meet their needs, and already much has been
done in that direction by the local Anglican bishops and
clergy. Numerous instances could be given of this charit-
1 The Anglican and Eastern Association.
TCHOUTOVKA
GIRLS DANCING ON THE FEAST OF S. BORIS
PEASANTS RESTING AT MID-DAY
FOREIGN RELATIONS 73
able care for our Eastern brethren, which is generally
undertaken with the approval of their own ecclesiastical
authorities. Thus, we are told of a Canadian priest specially
charged with the care of a Russian community in Nova
Scotia, for whom he celebrates the Orthodox Liturgy every
Sunday in the absence of a priest of their own rite. In the
parish of the Advent, Philadelphia, where the original
inhabitants have been completely replaced by Slav and
Armenian immigrants, the Anglican re6lor provides Sunday
masses for each section of his parishioners, using the proper
national rite in each instance. In Madagascar and in parts
of South Africa where there are Greek settlers, it is cus
tomary for them, with the approval of their patriarch, to
seek the ministrations 1 of our priests in those districts. These
are but typical instances of what is taking place in many
parts of the New World.
In Orthodox countries there are English chaplaincies in
most of the large towns, so that at present there are few of
our people who are in need of like care. It is extremely
probable, however, that the number of British subjects in
the Russian Empire will greatly increase in the future.
The urgent necessity of coming to some definite understand
ing with the Orthodox authorities with regard to all these
cases is sufficiently obvious. Equally obvious is the unfor
tunate fa<5t that neither we nor they are at present in a
position to do so.
1 Not only Baptism, but also Confession and Holy Communion.
VIII
INTER-COMMUNION
ALL thoughtful Anglicans will sympathize, at any rate in
principle, with those who are working for the restoration of
communion with the Orthodox East, but experience has
shown it to be necessary to state what sort of understanding
is desired. There are those who jump at the conclusion that
the Byzantine Liturgy and ceremonial are to be foisted on
our staid British congregations, or else that pious Orthodox
are to be edified with the Book of Common Prayer and the
XXXIX Articles. Such notions are, of course, preposterous.
It is indeed certain that we shall be asked to state authorita
tively what is the meaning of sundry ambiguous phrases in
our formularies. It is quite probable that we shall be asked
to remedy the dislocations in the English Liturgy. But an
attempt to impose uniformity of rite and ceremony could
only end in disaster. Such an attempt will not be made.
Again, since the object desired is the fulfilment of our
Lord's prayer for unity among his followers, it is plain that
inter-communion with the East, when it is achieved, must
not be regarded as an opportunity for attacking the Roman
Church. Having healed one wound in the Body of Christ,
we shall not desire to make more grievous another, and that
the worst. We shall rather rejoice that in many respects the
way will be clearer for advance towards that more complete
unity for which every devout Christian is bound to pray.
74
INTER-COMMUNION 75
Our gaze is directed eastward at present because in that
quarter lies the greatest promise of success. We believe
that in spite of all hindrances success will crown our efforts,
because they are in accordance with the Divine Purpose, but
it would be foolish to minimize these hindrances. Let us
consider what they are.
We have to admit that the greatest obstacle to inter
communion is our own unsatisfactory condition. This can
best be illustrated by the following extract taken from a
letter which I received in 1912 from a Greek archpriest.
He writes : " Unfortunately it is not the question of
Anglican Orders that separates us, my friend. This could
be settled easily. It is the need of unity in your own faith.
The Anglican Church is proud of being comprehensive
like Noah's Ark. In it every colour of belief can be found.
Still, all these colours and subdivisions are sheltered under
the name ' Anglican Church ' ; but the Truth is One. The
Anglican Church has either to bring her parties into agree
ment, and be united in herself, or else give us her High
Church fraction to deal with alone."
Some of us would do well seriously to consider these
words. It will be noted that the validity of Anglican Orders
presents no grave difficulty. The great obstacle to reunion is
that indiscriminate comprehensiveness so often proclaimed to be
the glory of the Anglican Communion^ the very characteristic
which we have been told is to assist us so greatly in working
for Christian unity. No doubt there is a reasonable com
prehensiveness, but we do not possess it. A church which
could include such diverse individuals as (let us say) Father
Stanton and Bishop John Wordsworth is worthy of respect,
for beneath their superficial differences were certain great
76 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
principles to which both men faithfully adhered : another
denomination which counted among its adherents, Dean
Stanley and Bishop Ryle of Liverpool, of whom the same
could be said, would be equally consistent: but how can
one defend a church which acknowledges all four types as
her legitimate offspring? A house divided against itself
cannot stand, and a society which cannot issue a clear state
ment of its principles has no justification for its existence.
When the Church of England has decided what she stands
for she will be in a better position to mediate in a divided
Christendom. It is neither possible nor desirable that the
united Christendom for which we pray should be a gigantic
reproduction of the Anglican Communion with its faltering
witness and its internecine strife. The Church exists to
bear witness to the truth, not to provide facilities for theo
logical discussion.
It is of no avail that some of us point out that our
formularies are patient of a Catholic interpretation. What
our Orthodox brethren desire is to be officially assured that
the Catholic interpretation alone is accurate. When this is
done reunion will be in sight. At present it is beyond the
horizon. I should like to emphasize the facl that the validity
of Anglican Orders is not a sewous difficulty. Although no
final official pronouncement has been made by the Orthodox
hierarchy on this subject, it is safe to say that their best
historians and divines regard the Roman allegations as not
proven. In other words they are satisfied that Barlow was a
bishop ; that he consecrated Archbishop Parker in Lambeth
Palace Chapel on 17 December 1559, using a sufficient rite
in so doing ; and that as a matter of history the ministerial
succession from the apostles has been in consequence pre-
INTER-COMMUNION
77
served by us to this day. Why then do they hesitate to say
so ? Because they are unwilling to consider this matter
apart from the rest. Let my Greek correspondent speak
once more. " An official acknowledgement of your Orders
by our Church means that she sanctions the most extreme
Protestant views of the Low and Broad Churches (sic) from
whom the High Church is inseparable." The Easterns
have a theory, unknown in the West, that even when Orders
are administered by a competent minister with proper form
and matter, they may nevertheless be invalid if those con
cerned hold heretical opinions. They are waiting, therefore,
to see whether the Church in England will succeed or not
in purging herself from the " extreme Protestant views "
with which many of her children are infected. If this is
done, the formal recognition of Anglican Orders will follow
as a matter of course. This point of view may be incom
prehensible to us, but it is that of men who wish us well,
and desire to draw closer to us. We should bear it in mind.
OBSTACLES ON THE ORTHODOX SIDE
It has already been said that the restoration of com
munion with the Easterns could not be permitted to make
us Orientals. We should continue to worship, believe, and
practise our religion as Catholics of the West. Herein lies
the possibility of further difficulties, for by allying themselves
with us the Orthodox will have to lay aside some of their
weapons against Rome, and this the more bigoted among
them will probably be unwilling to do. We have to deal
with others besides the comparatively broad-minded Russians.
Again, if we have to produce evidence of our orthodoxy,
it is only right that the Easterns should be asked to explain
78 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
their extremely unsatisfactory attitude with regard to the
indissolubility of Marriage. They will not find it a simple
matter.
Once more, the exaggerated nationalism of the Orthodox
Christians is a constant menace to the preservation of unity
among themselves. Each of the national churches, especially
in the Balkan peninsula, is so completely identified with the
ideals and temperament of its members that even when a
purely political dispute arises it can only maintain eccle
siastical peace with the greatest difficulty. The expulsion
of the Turks from Europe will probably result in some
permanent settlement of boundaries, both secular and re
ligious, as a result of which we may hope that racial
animosities and intrigues may cease to endanger the unity
of the Church in those turbulent districts.
It is plain, then, that on the Orthodox side also there
are serious obstacles in the way of a united movement
towards communion with us. Many years must elapse
before all these difficulties are smoothed away. To some
they may appear insuperable, but let us remember that
there is much to encourage us.
We shall recall that the visible unity of Christendom is
the revealed will of our Lord. " Neither for these only do I
pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word^
that they all may be one^ even as thou^ Father, art in me and I
in thee^ that they may be also in us; that the world may believe
that thou didst send me " (S. John xviii, v. 20, R.V.) : and
again, " They shall be oneflock^ one shepherd" (S. John x, v. 16).
It is possible for sinful man to hinder for a while the fulfil
ment of the Divine Purpose. It is not possible that he
should be able to thwart it altogether. The Holy Spirit
INTER-COMMUNION 79
still works patiently for this end, and the firstfruits of his
work may be seen in the almost universal desire to terminate
the miserable divisions of Christendom. In every denomina
tion there are men who are praying, studying, working for
Unity in co-operation with God, and their number steadily
increases. It is treason to anticipate failure.
Among ourselves the steady progress of the Catholic
Revival gives ground for hope. The idol of indiscriminate
comprehensiveness has already been shaken upon its pedestal
by the Kikuyu Conference and its sequel. It may be that ere
long it will lie shattered before the Ark of Truth. With
special reference to the Eastern Church, we recall with deep
thankfulness the action taken by the Lambeth Conference
of 1908.
" This Conference is of opinion that it should be the recognized
practice of the Churches of our Communion ( i ) at all times to
baptize children of members of any Church of the Orthodox
Eastern Communion in cases of emergency ^ provided that there is
a clear understanding that baptism should not be again admin
istered to those so baptized; (2) at all times to admit members of
any Church of the Orthodox Eastern Communion to communicate
in our churches when they are deprived of the ministrations of a
priest of their own Communion^ provided that (a) they are at that
time admissible to Communion in their own Churches^ and (b) are
not under any disqualification so far as our own rules of discipline
are concerned" (Resolution 62.)
This charitable offer has been accepted in many parts
of the world, as we have already seen. It cannot but be
productive of good results.
In Russia the official approval of the supreme ecclesiastical
authority has been given to the society previously mentioned
8o THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
whose objects are "(a) to cultivate feelings of mutual good
will, mutual understanding, and to promote closer touch
between the members of the Orthodox and Anglican
Churches ; (6) to sustain and encourage action tending to
re-union of the Anglican Church with the Orthodox." 1
In Palestine there has been of late an immense improve
ment in our relations with the Orthodox hierarchy, which
were formerly the reverse of cordial. A great deal of offence
had been given by the schismatic action of the Church Mis
sionary Society's agents, who openly endeavoured to " con
vert " the native Orthodox Christians from their proper
ecclesiastical allegiance. The appointment, in 1887, of the
late Bishop G. F. Popham Blyth as our representative in
the Holy City marked the beginning of a new era, for
the Bishop devoted all his energies to the suppression of
proselytism and the establishment of better relations with
the Orthodox prelates. It would be difficult to exaggerate
the value of his work in this direction, which gained for
him and for the Anglican Communion the respect and
esteem of his neighbours. On at least five occasions since
1901, the Bishop's patient tact and devotion enabled him to
prevent the secession of large numbers of Syrians from the
Orthodox Church to the English congregations in Palestine.
At all times he upheld the true Catholic position of the
Church he represented, so that the Easterns " now regard
the English Church as a Church^ and not, as before, merely
a Protestant sect with a most unfortunate appetite for
proselytizing." 2 Throughout his episcopate, which ended in
1 The cautious wording of the second objedl should be noted.
8 A quotation given in the Annual Report (1914) of the Anglican and
Eastern Association.
INTER-COMMUNION 8 1
1914, Bishop Blyth was hampered by the opposition of the
Church Missionary Society, but there is good reason to hope
that his successor, who is pledged to continue his policy
towards the Orthodox Church, will be able to count on the
Society's adherence.
There is, then, much to encourage us in the great task
we have set ourselves to accomplish with God's help. We
desire to break down the walls of partition which human
sin has set up within the One Fold of Christ. We require
much patience, earnest prayer, wider charity, above all deeper
penitence for our own shortcomings if we are to succeed;
but no effort is too great for such an end. The mystical
Body of Christ, which is his Church, is still nailed to the
Cross, its functions impeded, its vitality lowered. The nails
of ignorance and prejudice must be removed that East and
West may meet. The Body must be healed with the sweet
spices of love and clothed with the white robe of holiness,
for the restoration of Christian unity will be the Church's
resurrection to a new life.
APPENDIX A
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX MISSIONS
WE have recently been told by the Bishop of Oxford that the Russian
is "an exceedingly efficient missionary church." In view of the
general impression to the contrary it would be well to produce some
evidence in support of the Bishop's statement. The following facts
are gathered from a little book with the above title, written by Father
Eugene Smirnoff, chaplain of the Russian Embassy in London.
It appears that contemporary with the Catholic Revival in Eng
land there has been a remarkable growth of missionary activity in
Russia. As a counterblast to Mohammedan proselytizing in the
Asiatic provinces of the Empire, a devoted band of priests volun
teered for service in Siberia, where their truly apostolic labours met
with considerable success. So much interest was aroused at home
that in 1870 the Orthodox Missionary Society was founded by the
Metropolitan Innocent of Moscow, who himself had laboured with
brilliant success in the Far East for forty-four years before his
elevation. The Society, which has considerable administrative powers,
is governed by a central committee at Moscow, and has some fifty
sub-committees in various large towns of Russia, charged with the
duties of fostering enthusiasm and collecting funds for the Society's
objects.
Some idea of the magnitude of its task may be gathered from the
fact that there are about twenty millions of non-Christians among
the Tsar's subjects, the majority of whom are Mohammedans. These
are scattered sparsely over an enormous expanse of territory. The
nomadic habits of the Siberian tribes, the endless diversities of race,
custom and language, together with aggressive Mohammedan oppo
sition, combine to present a problem of extraordinary difficulty and
83
8 4
THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
complexity. These questions receive serious and scientific study.
The centre of this branch of the work is Kazan, whence, also, more
than one and a half millions of translations of the Holy Scriptures
and of the Liturgy have been issued in some twenty different lan
guages, ranging from Arabic and Persian to Tatar and Ostiak-
Samoyede. The work of translation is not the least of the difficulties.
Most of the tribes have neither grammar nor alphabet. Others have
two distinct dialects, the literary and the vernacular. Some tribes
have no words to express the ideas of love and judgment. There are
even some who have no word either for bread or body. In spite of
all these hindrances the number of converts averages about four
thousand each year.
In addition to the Siberian missions there is the very efficient
Orthodox Church in Japan, now practically autonomous, and also a
smaller mission in Northern China.
It will be seen, therefore, that the charge of apathy in spreading
the Faith so frequently levelled against the Orthodox Church is not
in accordance with fact.
-flu
1C
g XC
APPENDIX B
THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE ANAPHORA, OR CANON OF THE
MASS
LITURGY OF S. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
After the Sursum Corda, Preface, Santtus, and the Benediftus qui
venit, the Priest continues in a low voice:
O Lord thou Lover of mankind, we also with these blessed
powers cry aloud and say, Holy art thou and All-holy, thou and
thine Only-begotten Son and thy Holy Spirit. Holy and All-holy
art thou and great is the majesty of thy glory: Who didst so love
thy world as to give thine Only-begotten Son that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Who having come and having fulfilled the whole law for us, in
the night wherein he was betrayed, or rather gave himself up for
the life of the world, took bread into his holy, stainless, and un-
defiled hands, and having given thanks he blessed, hallowed, and
broke it, and gave it to his holy disciples and apostles saying (aloud}
Take, eat : this is my Body which is broken for you for
the remission of sins.
'The Choir: Amen.
'The Priest continues in a low voice: Likewise after supper he
took the cup saying (aloud) Drink ye all of this: This is my
Blood of the New Testament which is shed for you and
for many for the remission of sins.
'The Choir: Amen.
The Priest, privately : Wherefore remembering this saving pre
cept and all that has been done for us, the Cross, the Tomb, the
85
86 THE RELIGION OF RUSSIA
Resurrection on the third day, the Ascension into Heaven, the
Session on the right hand, and the second and glorious coming again
(aloud) We offer unto thee thine own of thine own in
behalf of all and for all.
The Choir: We hymn thee, we praise thee, we give thanks to
thee, O Lord, and make our supplications unto thee, O our God.
The Priest, in a low voice: And we offer unto thee this reason
able and bloodless sacrifice, and pray, beseech, and supplicate thee
Send down thy Holy Ghost upon us and upon these gifts
set forth
Here are interposed acJs of penitence and -praise p , at the close of which
the "Deacon says: Bless, Master, the holy bread.
The Priest continues privately : And make this bread j-fc ^ )J<
the precious Body of thy Christ
The Deacon: Amen. Bless, Master, the holy cup.
The Priest: And what is in this cup the precious Blood
of thy Christ
The Deacon: Amen. Master, give the blessing.
The Priest: Changing them by thy Holy Spirit,
The Deacon: Amen, Amen, Amen.
All prostrate themselves in adoration.
The Priest: That they may be to those that partake for the
restoring of the soul, the forgiveness of sins, the fellowship of the
Holy Ghost, the fulfilment of the kingdom of Heaven, for con
fidence towards thee, and not for judgment or condemnation.
Moreover we offer unto thee this reasonable service on behalf
of those departed in the faith, our ancestors, fathers, patriarchs,
prophets, apostles, preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors, virgins,
and every just soul made perfect in the faith, (aloud) especially the
most holy, stainless, highly blessed and glorious Lady, the Mother
of God and Ever-Virgin Mary,
The Choir sing a hymn in honour of the Mother of God.
The Priest continues in a low voice: For Saint John the Prophet,
Forerunner and Baptist, the holy, glorious, and illustrious Apostles,
for Saint N. whese memory also we celebrate, and for all thy saints,
APPENDIX B 87
through whose prayers, O God, look favourably upon us. And
remember all those who have departed this life in the nope of resur-
redlion to life eternal, and give them rest where the light of thy
Countenance shines upon them.
He goes on to pray for the living.
Note. The sentences printed in italics should not be regarded as rubrics.
They are my own insertions intended to simplify the Canon, which is otherwise
extremely complicated and difficult to follow.
APPENDIX C
THE COUNCIL OF FLORENCE, 1438-9
THE last of the three reunion councils met at Ferrara in 1438, but
was later removed to Florence in consequence of an epidemic.
Neither the Pope nor the Eastern prelates really had in view the
interests of Christendom. Each party merely desired to gain such
advantages from reunion as would meet its own immediate needs.
For some years past the Western Church had been scandalized
by the abuses of the papal court, and had resolved on reform. The
Pope was declared to be subject to the authority of general councils,
an assertion which struck at the heart of the Roman autocracy. This
claim was naturally repudiated by Pope Eugene IV, who sought to
strengthen his position against the reforming Council of Basle by
securing the adherence of the Church in the East.
Meanwhile the very existence of the Byzantine Empire was
being threatened by the Turks under Murad II. The Emperor, in
his extremity, sought military help from the West, and in return
was prepared to acknowledge the Pope's jurisdiction over the Eastern
Church. Under these circumstances the Council assembled at Fer
rara, but the Orthodox delegates showed such unwillingness to admit
the papal claims that the discussion lasted for fifteen months. Ulti
mately they submitted to pressure, and some sort of compromise was
effected, as a result of which the schism was healed, at least on the
surface. The Eastern delegates acknowledged that " the Pope is the
Sovereign Pontiff, the Vicar of Christ, Shepherd and Teacher of all
Christians, to guide and rule the whole Church of God, though
without prejudice to the rights and privileges of the other Patriarchs."
This concession is really of small significance when one realizes
how the Greeks would define " the rights and privileges of the
other Patriarchs." The union which ensued was a fiasco almost from
88
APPENDIX C 89
the first. The Pope was unable to send adequate military assistance,
and on May 29, 1453, Sultan Mohammed II stormed Constantinople
at the head of 200,000 troops. The Emperor Constantine Palaio-
logos died fighting bravely outside the walls of the city, and with
him fell the great empire of the East. Naturally the Orthodox
Christians considered that the Pope had taken advantage of their
necessities to extort concessions from them, and had then declined
to fulfil his own obligations. They proceeded to repudiate formally
the Council of Florence, and so terminated the artificial union which
had existed since 1439.
nw
c
X-B
<G
INDEX
Absolution, Forms of, 33.
Academy, Spiritual, 39.
Afanase, Shrine of S., 59.
Alb, 17.
Alexander II, 64.
Altar, 14, 15, 1 6, 17, 19, 22, 24, 30.
Anamnesis, 22, 85.
Anaphora^ 22, 85.
Anglican Church, Relations with, 3,
7 1 -
and Eastern Association, 72.
Orders, 32, 76.
Antiminsion^ 17.
Apostolical Succession, 5, 16, 31, 76.
Archbishop, 41.
Archimandrite, 18, 43.
Baptism, 28, 29.
Basil, Liturgy of S., 23.
Order of S., 40.
Basle, Council of, 88.
Bassian, Archbishop, 9.
Bethlehem, Synod of. See Jerusalem.
Bishops, Origin of, 5.
Functions of, 5, 32.
Russian, 18, 41, 44.
Blyth, Bishop, 80.
Bread, Eucharistic, 31, 56.
Canon of Liturgy, 22, 85.
Catechism, 28.
Catechumens, 21.
Cathedral, 18.
9*
Ceremonial, 24, 48, 51, 65.
Chasuble, 17, 52.
Choir, 15, 16, 56, 6l, 65.
Church, the Universal, 3, 4, 5, 69,
7*-
attendance, 24, 50.
Clergy, Russian, 15, 1 8, 37, 40, 41,
42, 44, 48, 53.
Colonies, British, 72.
Colours, Liturgical, 18.
Communion, Frequency of, 24.
the Orthodox, 28, 68, 79.
of Saints, 34.
Comprehensiveness, Anglican, 75.
Confession, Sacramental, 24, 33, 37.
Confirmation, 28, 29.
Consistory Courts, 41.
Constantinople, 7, 8, 28, 89.
Patriarchs of, 6, 9, 10, 67.
Convent in Petrograd, 62.
Corporal, 17.
Cross, altar, 17.
Crusaders, 70.
Dalmatic, 18.
Deacons, Origin of, 4.
Russian, 15, 40.
Dead, Prayers for, 21, 34, 86.
Dissent, 10, n.
Divine Office, 24, 25,
Divorce, 33.
Doctrine, Orthodox, 26.
Doors, Royal. See Gates.
9 2
INDEX
Education, 43.
Educated classes, 48.
Empire, Byzantine, 70, 89.
Entrance, Lesser, 21.
Great, 22.
Epiklesis. See Invocation of Holy
Spirit.
Episcopate. See Bishops.
Epistle, 21.
Eucharist, 28, 30, 31.
Eugene IV, Pope, 88.
Exclusiyeness, 6, 27.
Fasting, 49.
Communion, 24.
Festivals, Patronal, 50.
Filioque^ 26, 43.
Florence-Ferrara, Council of, 70, 88.
Foreign Relations, 67-78.
Gates, Royal, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22,52,
59-
Graham, Mr. Stephen, 45.
Gospel, 17, 21,43,47, 84.
Hierarchy, Christian, 4.
Russian, 37-44.
Home, a priest's, 56.
Ikonostas, 14, 15, 16, 19, 21, 65.
Ikons, 1 5, 16, 20, 22, 36, 44, 50, 53,
56, 60, 62, 64.
Immaculate Conception, 69.
Incense, 18, 22, 23.
Intelligentsia^ 37, 48.
Intemperance, 42, 47.
Intercommunion, 26, 74, 81.
Invocation of Holy Spirit, 22, 30, 86.
of Saints, 35.
Jerusalem, Council of, 68.
Patriarchate of, 68, 80.
Kazan, 84.
Cathedral, Petrograd, 19, 51.
Ikon of, 36, 63.
Khitroff, 53.
Khomiakofi, 30.
Kieff, 8, 20.
Kikuyu, 79.
Lambeth Conference, 79.
Lavra, Nevsky, 40.
Troitsky, 9, 41.
Lights, Altar, 17.
Little Russia, 2, 16, 51, 53.
Liturgy, the Divine, 8, n, 15, 16,
20, 40, 47, 48, 52, 73, 8 4-
Liturgy, Analysis of, S. J. C., 21-23.
of S. Basil, 23.
Canon of, S. J. C., 85.
of S. John Chrysostom, 20.
of Presan 6tified, 23.
Loubny, Monastery near, 58.
Lukar, Patriarch Cyril, 68.
ijay 1 8.
Marriage, 29, 33, 57, 78.
Mary, the Blessed Virgin, 35, 86.
Metropolitan, 41.
Michael Cerularius, Patriarch, 6.
Romanoff, Tsar, i o.
Ministry. See Hierarchy.
Missions, Russian, 13, 83.
Mitre, 18.
Monks, 40, 59, 60.
Moscow, 8, 83.
Patriarchs of, 10, 12, 20, 42.
National Churches, i, 9, 28, 78.
INDEX
93
Nevsky Lavra, 60.
Nicene Creed, 22, 26.
Nikhon, Patriarch, n, 48.
Noncommunicating Attendance, 31,
Omophorion, 18.
Orders, Holy, 29, 31, 6l, 77,
Organization, 41.
Oxford, Bishop of, 83.
Palestine, C.M.S. in, 80.
Pallium, 1 8.
Papal claims, 69, 88.
Pastoral staff, 18.
Patriarchs, Origin of, 6.
Peasants, 13, 37, 45.
Penance, Sacrament of, 28, 32.
Peter the Great, II, 12, 65.
Petrograd, 2, 8, 19, 20, 51.
Philaret, Patriarch, 16.
Metropolitan, 34.
Philip the Martyr, 12, 13.
Pilgrims, 41, 53, 58.
Polish invasion, 9.
Ponomar, 39.
Preaching, 37.
Presan&ified, Lit. of, 23.
Priesthood, Origin, 4.
Functions, 32.
Russian, 37, 42, 48, 53.
Procurator of Holy Synod, 12, 41.
Progress, 13, 42.
Protestantism, 3, 50, 71.
Prothesis, 1 6, 21, 22.
Purgatory, 34, 69.
Pyx, 17, 19.
Reader, 21.
Relations, Foreign, 67-73.
Relics, 17, 20, 59.
Reservation, 17, 19, 31.
Resurrection, Church of, 64.
Reunion Societies, 72, 79.
Roman Church, 3, 10, 69, 77.
Romanoff Dynasty, 10.
Rural Dean, 39, 42.
Russian Church, Origin of, 7, 8.
Expansion, 8, 9.
Autonomy, 9, 10.
Adivity, 13, 42, 83.
Sacraments, Do6lrine of, 28.
Sacrifice. See Eucharist.
SaMos, 1 8.
Sandluary, 14, 16, 20.
Schism, 6, 28.
Screen. See Ikonostas.
Secular power, 12, 41.
Sext, 20, 25.
Siberia, 83.
S. Isaak's, Petrograd, 19.
Slavonic, 24.
Smirnoff, the Archpriest, 83.
SS. Peter and Paul, Petrograd, 19, 65.
S. Sophia, 6, 7.
Statues, 36.
Stole, 17.
Surplice, 15.
Synod, Holy Governing, 12, 20, 41,
72.
Tapers, 21, 22, 62.
Tatars, 8, 9, 84.
Tchoutovka, 16, 51, 53.
Temperament, Eastern, 25, 35, 69.
Theology, Orthodox. See Doctrine.
Town life, 2, 50.
Transubstantiation, 30.
Troitsky Lavra, 9, 41.
94
Turks, 10, 67, 70, 78, 88.
Typika, 23.
Ukraine. See Little Russia.
Un&ion of Sick, 29, 34.
Unity, 6, 32, 70, 74, 78, 81.
INDEX
Vestments, 17, 1 8, 21, 65.
Vladimir, Grand Prince, 7.
Wordsworth, Bishop, 71, 75,
Worship, 24, 50.
BISHOP
THE RELIGION OF
RUSSIA
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