A RUSSIAN CHURCH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 195, 22 December 1876, Page 13

A RUSSIAN CHURCH.

(From Correspondent of ' Irish Times.') Most Parisians know that their city possesses a Russian Church but comparatively few have ever seen it, or know where it is. The Church of St. .Alexander Newski is remote from the chief points around which the life of the metropolis centres. A good walker W °". J^ ethree garters of an hour to reach it from the Boulevard Montmartrej while to pay it a visit from the Latin Quarter, one must be either extremely devout or an enthusiastic pedestrian. It is situated in the Rue Daru, off the Rue de Faubourg St. Honore, close to its western extremity. Once a year, on the feast of Alexander Newski, the quiet little street puts on an unwonted air of grandeur. An hour before noon, elegant equipages begin to arrive, officers in full uniform, diplomats in court dress, and ladies in grande toilette alight and ascend the flight of steps leading to the portico of the church. Till near one o'clock the passers-by hear the subdued strains of sacred music, and gain glimpses of the soft light ot lustres shedding a yellow glow on the twilight dimness of the interior. Then the congregation streams but, the waiting coachmen drive up in turn to the church front, and in a short while the Oae Daru resumes its ordinary physiognomy. On Monday last this annual ceremony, intended at once to honoi St. Alexander, to celebrate the Czar's birthday, and to commemorate the foundation of the church fifteen years ago, attracted most of the notabilities of the Russian colony in Paris. Thinking that a descripllO?l lO ?L o -n the service "would be of interest to your readers, I repaired to the Rue Daru at a tolerably early hour. At the time I arrived the ceremony had not begun, nor was it to begin for some twenty minutes, yet there was no standing room in the edifice. The meaning of the last expression will be better understood when I add that there are no chairs in St. Alexander's and that everyone stands who is not obliged by age or infirmity to be seated. Notwithstaning the economy of space resulting from this arrangement many were obliged to stand in the vestibule; and even the steps outside the door were thronged with worshippers before the conclusion of the service. I secured a pretty good place eventually and was enabled to follow most of the ceremony. Before entering I had a good look at the exterior of the building, which is quite an architectural exotic. The body may be styled cruciform, though the limbs of the cross are so short and wide as to make it look like a square with indented corners. Over the centre of the edifice rises what is neither a spire nor a dome, but something between the two; a high cone in fact, with sliced sides, resting on a rinoof slender columns linked by small arches. Surrounding this tower or spire are four facsimiles of itself on a much smaller'scale All are richly gilt and support pear-shaped ornaments of burnished copper, with chains pendent from the upper or smaller extremity The fac,ade and portico are Byzantine, the latter being elaborately sculptured and gilt. On the whole the effect is gaudy to a European eye— especially in sunshine— though it is not difficult to conceive a state of the atmosphere in which St. Alexander's mi»ht serve to enliven the minds of the people in its neighborhood. The interior strongly recalls impressions derived from one's readin» about Mohammedan ecclesiastical architecture. Everywhere, in all scales of magnitude, are arches composed of segments of three eccentric circles— l don't remember the technical name— slender profusely-colored columns, rich masses of gilding, elaborate and beautiful carvings. Right in front of the entrance is the sanctuary, -which is divided from the nave by a carved wooden partition gilt and painted in designs emblematic of the Old and New Testament, the Holy Trinity, etc. Among the figures, which were brilliantly colored, but scarcely too much so for the light in which they were placed, are those of the Saviour and Virgin ; St Alexander Newski, St. Nicholas, the Emperor Constantine, Moses, David, St. John the Baptist, and St. Vladimir, Grand Prince of Kiew, who established Christianity in Russia. Much cannot be said for these paintings from the point of view of general artistic effect, but the details are undoubtedly worked out with great elaboration, and the harmony of color is well preserved. Inside this partition is the sanctuary, to which access is given by three doors. Through one of these I could see the altar, over which was suspended a seven-limbed lustre. Round this altar three of the ministrants frequently moved in the course of a service strikinelv resembling the Roman Catholic High Mass, The arch-priest, M

Prilajaieff, generally faced the congregation. A sfcrano-e feature in the ceremony deserves notice. Bepeatedly during the Mass one " of the assistant priests closed the door? of the sanctuary, and thus all view of the altar was shut out from those occupying the nave for several minutes at a time, M. Prilajaieff and his B as>sistants were attired in copes and dalmatics (a species of tunic) of cloth of gold, and wore tall violet velvet caps, somewhat like the bonnet worn by French Magistrates. Incense was profusely employed during nearly the entire service, and at its close the atmosphere was stifling. Indeed, a young lady fainted while benediction was going on, and had to be taken to a. neighboring apothecary's. A Te Deam succeeded the Mass. This was sung by a choir of children of both seres — the priests leading — to a harmonium accompaniment. I would estimate the number of persons present at about 600, mostly belonging, as was easy to gather from the brilliant toilettes of the ladies and tlxe decorated buttonholes of the men, to the upper strata of Russian, society.