_THE SIBERIAN CHURCH._
The Russian Church.--Geographical area.--History, doctrines,
schisms.--Ecclesiastical divisions of Siberia.--Church
committees.--Russian Church services.--Picture-worship.--
Vestments.--Liturgy.--Ordination.--Baptism.--Marriage.--Minor
services.
It will be expected, of course, in a journey from the Urals to the
Pacific, that something should be said of the Siberian Church, to treat
of which is to treat of the Russian Church in Siberia. Wherever the
Russians carry their arms, there, like the Romans, they carry their
creed; and consequently all along the great Siberian highways, where
the Russians dwell, they have their ecclesiastical system as in Europe.
I shall therefore speak generally of things concerning the Greek
Church, whether in Russia or Siberia, and illustrate them by what I
have seen.
Our knowledge of the Russian Church comes to us chiefly from two
sources: from the pens of ecclesiastical authors, and from the writings
of modern travellers. From the latter, it is not too much to say that
the Russians and their religion often receive a scant measure of
justice, not to add misrepresentation; for when the British tourist
looks upon the gorgeous and elaborate ritual of an Eastern Church,
sees the picture-worship of the people, their kissing of relics, and
invocation of saints, he is reminded of like things in the Churches of
Italy and Spain, and he not unfrequently condemns both East and West
as superstitious and corrupt alike. Such a charge, however, is far too
sweeping, and betrays a lack of knowledge of many points which, if
more generally known, would certainly bring English Churchmen nearer,
at least in sympathy, with members of the Church in Russia. On the
other hand, the writings of ecclesiastical authors are usually so
technical as to fail in bringing before us what the traveller sees as
the everyday religious life of a people. It is desirable to avoid these
two extremes, and to distinguish between the recognized standards of a
Church’s teaching, and the correspondence therewith, or otherwise, of
the daily lives of its members.[1]
I do not propose to enter here upon the history,[2] doctrines,[3] or
schisms[4] of the Russian Church, but proceed to observe that, for
ecclesiastical purposes, Siberia is divided into six dioceses, presided
over by 7 bishops. It contains 1,515 churches and 1,509 clergy; 14
monasteries containing 147 monks, and 4 nunneries containing 62 nuns.
Russian dioceses are subdivided into rural deaneries, each consisting
of a circle of from ten to thirty parishes, some of which, in Siberia,
must be very extensive, though not necessarily populous. A priest near
Tobolsk, however, told me that he had 5,000 parishioners; another
at Kansk, near Irkutsk, had 2,000, widely scattered; whilst on the
Siberian coast of the Pacific, Nikolaefsk and Vladivostock, towns of
3,000 and 5,000 inhabitants respectively, form only one parish each.
Every _selo_ or town of a certain grade has a church; and in some of
the _derevni_, or villages, churches and small chapels, or oratories,
are built, in which latter, services, other than the liturgy or holy
communion, may be performed. The churches and vestments are furnished
and kept in repair by parochial committees, of not less than five
persons, elected annually, who, on retiring from office, are called
“church elders.” They visit every house in the parish, and determine
what proportion of the expenses should be paid by each householder.
There would seem to be no difficulty in raising the necessary funds;
and I must add that I was agreeably surprised in Siberia to see how
well and how clean the churches were kept, even in the remotest and
most out-of-the-way places.[5]
We had several opportunities, in passing through Siberia, of attending
the Church services. Picture-worship is an almost universal attendant
of Russian devotion--more so, if possible, than in Roman countries;
and the Russian Church has found it necessary to issue many warnings
against the perils of idolatry.[6]
Another prominent feature of “orthodox” worship is the plentiful use
of lighted candles bought at the church entrance. In one church in
Petersburg, and that not the largest, I was told that money is taken
yearly for candles up to 10,000 roubles--say £1,000.
The vestments of the priests and bishops are gorgeous in the extreme. A
metropolitan’s “_sakkos_” is shown at Moscow, which is said to weigh 50
pounds, by reason of the pearls and gems with which it is embellished.
At the Troitza monastery are fifteen dresses for the Archimandrite, one
of which, for the mere making, cost the Empress Elizabeth £600, the
robe itself being valued at £11,000. This monastery is said to possess
amongst its treasures two bushels of pearls, and, from what I have
twice seen there, I am inclined to add an estimated _pint_ of diamonds,
to say nothing of emeralds, rubies, and sapphires innumerable!
The Church services are of a monastic character, long and tedious, read
in Sclavonic, “which is to the modern Russian,” it is said, “about what
the language of Chaucer is to us”; so that, what with its ancient form
and the rapidity with which the ecclesiastical language is read, it is
practically unintelligible to many of the people. From time to time
in the services commemorations are made of the Virgin and saints; and
prayers are offered to them, blessings are asked of God through their
intercessions, and the response, _Gospodi Pomilui_, “Lord, have mercy!”
is uttered thirty, forty, fifty times or more, almost at a breath.
No instrumental music is allowed in the Russian Church; but the singing
in large cathedrals, such as St. Isaac’s at Petersburg (where they have
30 choristers dressed in blue and gold tunics), is exceedingly grand.
I do not remember to have heard elsewhere such extraordinary harmony.
The basses descended to depths almost abyssmal, and the trebles soared
to and were sustained at a height perfectly marvellous, whilst other
voices were so profusely blended that I can compare the effect of
the whole to nothing better than to an exquisite colored window. The
hymn called “The Cherubim,” with music by Bortnyanski, I heard sung
at Petersburg and Kasan; and at the latter place was not surprised to
see tears falling from the eyes of a peasant woman near me, for my own
were uncommonly moist. I made bold to approach and look over the music
of one of the choristers, thereby alarming the Monk director, who,
mistaking my interest, said afterwards he thought I had perchance come
from the Imperial choir to take away some of his best voices.
The ritual and services of the Russian Church are contained in twenty
volumes folio. The greatest part of the service varies every day in the
year except in the Liturgy, where the greater part is fixed.[7]
As we passed through Kasan we happened to see the ordination of a
priest and a deacon, which was interesting. Holy orders are regarded by
the Russian Church as a sacrament or mystery, but are not indelible.
If, for instance, a widower priest wishes to marry again, he can do
so by resigning his priest’s orders and taking some inferior place
among the minor orders, or by giving up his ecclesiastical profession
altogether. They have five orders, namely, bishop, priest, deacon,
sub-deacon, and reader; and the episcopal dignitaries consist of
metropolitans, archbishops, and bishops, some of which latter are
suffragans.[8]
The services connected with baptism in the Russian Church were formerly
very numerous, though now they are frequently more or less combined;[9]
one principal difference in _practice_ between the Greek and English
Churches being that the former _always_ baptizes by immersion. The
child is usually named after one of the saints in the Russian calendar,
the yearly recurrence of whose festival constitutes the person’s
“name’s-day.” This is observed in Russia more than the “birth-day,”
which practice has the advantage that if the Christian name of a
friend is familiar, one always knows when to congratulate him.
Marriage is counted one of the sacraments or mysteries of the Greek
Church, but virginity is taught to be better than wedlock. Priests are
commanded, under pain of degradation, not to join in wedlock persons
of unsuitable ages, nor those ignorant of the essential articles of
the faith, and in no case without due notice given. The Russian Church
fixes the age of majority for the bridegroom at twenty-one, or, by
permission of parents, as early as eighteen, and sixteen for the bride;
it frowns on second and third marriages, and forbids fourth marriages
altogether.[10]
There are yet other services, such as the so-called sacrament of
penance, which closely resembles, but differs in two important respects
from, that of the Church of Rome.[11]
And, again, the Russian sacrament of unction differs in more than one
respect from the Roman.[12]
For the benediction of water there are two offices: the lesser, which
is used whenever consecrated water is required, and the greater, which
is performed at the Epiphany, in memory of the baptism of Christ, and
is carried out with great ceremony. Another office in the Russian
Church is that of “Orthodox Sunday,” which is in form somewhat similar
to the English “Commination Service,” and in which anathemas are
pronounced against those who impugn various articles of the Russian
faith. Yet another service is “the Office of the Holy Unction,” that
is, for preparing the chrism,[13] and there are other occasional and
curious services, such as for the consecration of a church; for an
icon or picture; washing the feet on Thursday in Holy Week; prayers on
laying the first stone of a house; for seed time; longer offices to
be used in drought, earthquake, plague, incursion of barbarians, for
children when they commence their education, and many more; but I think
that on this head I have said enough.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In connection with this subject, we constantly meet with the
terms “Eastern Church,” “Greek Church,” and “Russian Church.” Let
us distinguish between them. If on a map of Europe a line be drawn
from the White Sea southwards to Petersburg, thence along the western
border of Russia to Cracow, then along the eastern and southern
frontier of Austria to the Adriatic, this line will roughly divide
Christendom between the Churches of the East and of the West. Eastern
Christendom is sometimes divided into three main groups of Churches,
the _first_ group being the Chaldean, the Armenian, the Syrian, the
Egyptian, and the Georgian Churches. The second is the _Greek_ Church,
whose members, speaking the Greek language, are found as far south
as the desert of Mount Sinai, through all the coasts and islands in
the Levant and the Archipelago, and whose centre is Constantinople.
This is the only living representative of the once powerful Church of
Constantine, called the “Orthodox Imperial Church.” The _third_ group
of Eastern Churches consists partly of the Sclavonic peoples, found in
the provinces of the Lower Danube, Bulgaria, Servia, Wallachia, and
Moldavia; and partly, and much more largely, of the Sclavonic people
of Russia. The Russian Church, therefore, is an offshoot of the Greek
Church of Constantinople, once the centre of Eastern Christianity,
which Greek Church, by reason of its former Imperial grandeur,
sometimes gives its name to the other Oriental communions.
[2] _See_ Appendix A.
[3] _See_ Appendix B.
[4] _See_ Appendix C.
[5] Besides this parish church committee, there was formerly, and may
be now in some instances, in large towns, a “directory,” consisting of
about four members. In each diocese there is a “consistory,” of from
five to seven members, presided over by the bishop, the whole being
under the synod. Appeals, therefore, lie from the directories (where
they exist) to the consistory, from the consistory to the bishop, and
from the bishop to the synod. The synod, which has equal civil rank
with the senate, and the ecclesiastical rank of a patriarch, consists
of bishops and priests, whose nomination, appointment, and length of
membership depend on the will of the Sovereign. There sits also with
them a lay procurator, who is the crown representative, and who has a
_veto_ which can be reversed only by appeal to the Emperor.
[6] The “orthodox” Church draws a nice distinction between the
unlawfulness of using in church an image proper, and the lawfulness
of using the same image if carved on a flat surface; but the ordinary
observer, who beholds people in an Eastern Church bowing down before
graven images and likenesses of things that are in heaven and in earth,
must find it exceedingly difficult to determine where reverence ends
and idolatry begins.
[7] This Liturgy (which in the Greek Church always means the office for
the Holy Communion, and is the ordinary morning service) is divided
into three parts, namely, “the offering,” during which the bread and
wine are offered by the people, and prepared by the priest; “the
liturgy of the catechumens,” during which the Epistle and Gospel are
read; and “the liturgy of the faithful,” during which the elements
are administered. The priest and deacon receive the bread and wine
separately, as with us; the laity receive bread and wine mixed
together from a spoon, and standing; whilst to infants wine only is
administered, for fear of ejection. The priest receives daily, the
devout quarterly or oftener, and every one by _law_ yearly.
[8] Each of the five orders has a separate ordination. At the
ordination of a _reader_, he is clothed with a vestment called a
_sticharion_; and the bishop among other things says to him, “Son, ...
it is your duty daily to study the Holy Scriptures, and to endeavour
to make such proficiency therein that those who hear you may receive
edification.” A _sub-deacon_, on ordination, wears an _orarion_, like
an English stole, girded crosswise over his shoulders. The bishop
puts a towel also on the left shoulder of the newly ordained, and
delivers him a basin and ewer, in which the bishop washes his hands.
A _deacon_, when ordained, kisses the four corners of the holy table,
the bishop’s hands and shoulder, and the part of his garment called the
_epigonation_. He kneels on his right knee, lays his hands crosswise on
the holy table, and puts his forehead between his hands. The bishop’s
_omophorion_, or pall, is placed on his head, the stole on his left
shoulder, and he is presented with sleeves or cuffs, and a fan with
which to fan the sacramental elements. When ordained _priest_, the
stole is exchanged for a similar vestment, called an _epitrachelion_,
and there are also added a _phelonion_ and a girdle.
The consecration, however, of a _bishop_ is much more elaborate. He
is called upon to confess the Nicene Creed. He anathematizes sundry
heretics in particular, and all of them in general; confesses the
Virgin Mary to be properly and truly the mother of God; and prays
that she may be his helper, his preserver, and protectress all the
days of his life. He promises to preserve his flock from the errors
of the Latin Church; declares that he has not paid money for the
dignity about to be conferred upon him; promises not to go into other
dioceses without permission, nor to ordain more than one priest and one
deacon at the same service; further, that he will yearly, or at least
biennially, visit and inspect his flock; and among other things take
care that the homage due to God be not transferred to holy images. He
puts on his sakkos and other episcopal garments; and there is delivered
to him the _panagion_, or jewel, for the neck; _mantyas_, or ordinary
cloak; the cowl, mitre, rosary, and pastoral staff; after which he
walks to his house attended by two of the superior clergy.
[9] 1, On the day of delivery the priest goes to the house, and prays
for mother and child; 2, on the eighth day the child should be taken
to church to receive its name; and 3, on the fortieth day it should
be taken by the mother to be received into the Church, according to
the service for the reception of catechumens. In the course of this
service the priest breathes in the catechumen’s face, pronounces
three exorcisms, calls upon the catechumen or his sponsor to blow
and spit upon Satan, which he essays to do, not metaphorically, but
visibly; after which follows, 4, the administration of baptism, when
the candidate is first anointed with oil, then completely immersed
three times, then clothed by the priest with a white garment, and a
cross is suspended on the neck. Immediately after the baptism follows,
5, confirmation, or anointing of the baptized with chrism on the
forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, breast, hands, and feet, with
the words repeated each time, “The seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
Prayers are offered, an Epistle and Gospel read, and the benediction
pronounced. Eight days after, the candidate is brought again to the
church for, 6, the ablution of the chrism. The priest looses the
candidate’s clothes and girdle, and with a sponge washes the parts that
have been anointed; after which follows the last part of the service,
namely, 7, the tonsure, in which the priest cuts the hair of the newly
baptized in the form of a cross, in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
[10] The marriage service consists of two distinct offices, which are
performed at the same time. The first is called the “Betrothal,” when
rings are given and exchanged; the second is the “Coronation,” in which
the bride and bridegroom are crowned, and are thrice given wine to
drink from a common cup, and thrice led round a lectern on which lie
the Gospels. Weddings in Russia are usually celebrated in the evening,
and among the friends are persons corresponding to a godfather and
godmother, before whom, previous to coming to church, the happy pair
kneel in the house, and ask a blessing. The godfather holds in his
hand an ikon, usually of Christ, with which he makes the sign of the
cross over the head of the bridegroom, and then gives it him to be his
peculiar treasure. In old-fashioned places the godmother gives the
bride a loaf of bread, symbolical of worldly prosperity, making the
sign of the cross. The godmother also presents the bride with an ikon,
usually of the Virgin Mary; and these two ikons are carried to the
church, figure in the wedding ceremony, and are afterwards taken to the
new home, to be sacredly preserved for life, and afterwards bequeathed
to their children.
[11] Both Churches require contrition, and also confession. Confession
in both Churches begins at the age of seven years, and is a _secret_,
_periodical_, _compulsory_ acknowledgment of mortal sins to a _priest_;
but it is made less _complete_ in Russia than in Rome--has less of an
inquisitorial character; and hence Dean Stanley says, “The scandals,
the influence, the terrors of the confessional are alike unknown in
the East.” The other important difference between the two Churches is,
that subsequent exercises of piety, commonly called “penance,” when
enjoined upon the penitent in the Russian Church, are not performed as
_satisfaction_ offered to God. This, it will be seen, closes the gate
against a great deal of Roman teaching concerning the meritorious value
of good works.
[12] In the East the oil is not previously consecrated by the bishop,
but at the time, by seven priests; and, further, whereas extreme
unction is not administered by the Romans until the sick person is
beyond hope of recovery, the Russians call for the elders of the
Church, pray over him, even though the sickness be but slight, and
anoint him with oil, in the hope that he may be healed both spiritually
and bodily. The service is performed by seven priests (or at the least
three), who place a table in the church or house, on which is set a
dish with wheat, a vessel for the oil, and seven twigs with cotton tied
around, one for each of the priests, who first anoint the sick and
subsequently spread the Gospels, with their hands laid thereon, over
his head.
[13] This ointment, made of 23 ingredients, can be consecrated only
by a bishop, and in Passion Week. It boils three days, with a depth
of five fingers of wine below the oil, and priests and deacons by
turns read the Gospel day and night, without ceasing, from Monday till
Thursday.