WHAT THE RUSSIANS WORSHIP.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 196, 19 August 1899, Page 5 (Supplement)

WHAT THE RUSSIANS WORSHIP.

To Western Europeans, Russian religious ceremonies appear to be steeped in superstition and idolatrous in the extreme; unless the aesthetic sense be awakened by the gorgeous ritual of colour and song of the Russo-Greek Church, all the bowing, crossing, and kissing of holy images which takes place must seem so much child's play to the astonished outsider.

The chief symbol of this church, which claims to be "the one unchanged and unchangeable "Bride of Christ," is the Ikon, or holy image, which may be met with anywhere and everywhere. This strange sacred picture is (says the "Sketch") a distinctly primitive-looking production, Byzantine in style, painted in dull colours on wooden panels, vague in outline, but curiously fascinating in its angularity and aloofness. To enhance its beauties, which might otherwise be considered too severe, it is more or less covered with metal plaques, which vary greatly, and run up the scale from gilded tin to jewelled gold.

Sometimes

THE VIRGIN'S HALO

( only is of metal, or it may be the robe of St. Nicholas or any other saint considered worthy of figuring on the lkonostasis. But the miracle-working Ikon is sumptuously clothed in gold and jewels, the face alone being visible: and perhaps one foot may bo bare, in order to leave a convenient spot for the worshippers to kiss, for worshippers —In a fine frenzy of religions ecstasy —have been known to kiss away the precious jewels, which, being holy, apparently melted in the process. The piety of the Russian peasant is a universally acknowledged fact, and so well have the priests understood this that everything has been done to encourage him in the way he should go. The Ikon represents the Almighty; therefore Ikons abound—the churches are crowded with them; in fact, the ikonostasis, or screen, which divides the body of the church from the altar, is entirely covered with these holy images. They are to be found in every room in every house, in little wayside chapels in town and country, and during the autumn months they may be met with wandering along the rough, dusty roads, sauntering from village to village in the care of long-haired, dirty monks (cleanliness being considered ungodly), until the fall of the first' snow, when they return to their own particular monastery or church by train—a more comfortable but less holy way of travelling. The Wandering Ikon is a painting of the Virgin Mary, with metal halo and frame, I gold and silver necklaces, crosses, and amuI let. In its journeyings it had gathered toI gether a curious collection of headkerchiefo i (a special feature in the Russian peasant woman's costume), homespun linen and towels, all of which were hung over the rail placed in front, of the image for that purpose. It is a very ordinary thing for the peasants <i TO PRESENT THEIR OFFERINGS IN KIND, money being a rare commodity with the majority.The villages through which the Ikon is to pass are decked out In holiday attire. In front of each log hut there is a table with a white cloth, and on this a big loaf of black bread and salt-cellar full of salt await tho arrival of the wanderer. I The priest who officiates on these occasions |is robed in his white gown, and murmurs unintelligible prayers as he wends his way from hut to hut, sprinkling each one with holy oil, while the inhabitants bow repeatedly, throw back their heads, and make the sign of the cross three times running, then i kneel down and touch the ground with their | heads, in token of humiliation, after which j they rise to kiss the cross which the priest | holds in his right hand. The priest and his j attendant monks in the meantime keep an I eye on the bread and salt, which is swept off the tables by the latter, who also vigorously rattle tin money-boxes as a gentle reminder to those whose homes have been blessed that even blessjngs can never be had for nothing.