Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-11-19

nau salvo OF twenty one guns wa
fired from the fortress. The procession
entered the chapel in the following or
der: The fourriers (quartermasters) O
the household of the Grand Duke Con
stantine, of the Imperial household, an,
of the chamber of his Majesty the EN-
peror, two by two; the Grand Maste
and masters of ceremonies; the gentle
men of the bedchamber and the cham
berlains, two by two: the secondar,
members of the household, two by two
the court marshals, wearing the insignis
of their functions the high dignitaries
of the court, two by two.
All the persons invited, and who were
not in the chapel, entered it after the
maids of honor.
Eight o'clock struck when the process
sion came to the church. Under the
porch, the Emperor, King George and
his bride, and the Imperial family, were
received by Monsignor Isidore, the Ne
tropolitan of st. Petersburg. the mem
bers of the Holy Synod. and the clergy
of the Imperial Chapel. The Metro
politan offered the hol y water to the au.
gust personages.
The religious services then began in
that impressive manner peculiar to the
Greek rite. When the officiating pre-
late pronounced the words, 40 Lord, the
King will rejoice in thy strength" the
Emperor led the august bride and bride.
groom to the raised seats reserved for
them opposite the center of the ikonostas.
In all the Greek churches, built in the
form of cross, the tabernacle, at the
eastern end, and in which the priest only
can penetrate, is separated by a parti-
tion called the akonostas In the Impe-
rial Chapel the ikomostas, with its doors
and balustrades, is covered with precious
metals, which reflected the lights of a
thousand wax candles. Meantime, the
Grand Duke Nicholas, the eldest brother
of the bride, and the Prince Romanov-
ski Leuchtenberg, held up aroyal crown
over the head of the bride and bride.
groom.
The bride wore dress of magnif-
cent silver cloth, and over it mantle OF
crimson velvet lined with ermine
The bridegroom wore the uniform of a
Colonel of the Greek army, with the
Order of the Redeemer.
Never were young couple more ad-
mired. Prodigally gifted by nature.
possessing all accomplishments educa-
tion can bestow, yet their department
and manners were so simple and so m =
est that they enlisted all hearts in their
favor.
The Emperor, the Grand Duke Con-
stantine, the Grown Prince of Den
mark, and the other Princes, stood at
the right of the ikonostas, and the Grand
Duchess Constantine and the oszssar
Princesses at the left.
After the Evangile the prayers of the
Imperial family were read, and the Off
ciafing prelate made the following addi-
tion to those prayers "The Queen of
Hellenes, Olga Constantinovna, and her
husband" The Metropolitan begaa
the Office by intoning psalm, between
each verse of which the choristers snng
in antiphone. s.5 ..I ezi
"Glory to Thee, our God! glory be
to Thee i"
The anthem being finished. the Me-
tropolitan said: George CIaS11ano-
witch, hast thou good and unrestr ined
will and firm intention to t; k, unto thee
to wife this woman, Olga Constantinov-
ma, whom thou seest here before thee :"
King George answered in Greek, al
have, most reverend sir"
The Metropolitan continued, "Hast
thou not promised any other woman2"
The bridegroom answered, 81 have
not promised another"
Similar questions were then put to the
bride, who made identical responses, and
then the deacon asked the Metropolitan
to give the benediction, which he pro-
nounced thus Blessed be the kingdom
of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Ghost, now and forever, even unto
ages of ages" The deacon then recited
the ectiniia, :" a bidding prayer" in which
was introduced the names of the Iride
and bridegroom. At the end of the
ectinia the Metropolitan uttered an as
cription of praise to the Holy Trinity,
and Immediately afterward offered up
prayer very similar to one of those in the
English service of matrimony. When
the mention of the couple being joined
together was made the whole assemblage
crossed themselves devoutly.
After this prayer the decan approach
ed the Metropolitan with salver, on
which lay two crowns. Taking these
in his hands he made the sign of the
cross over the head of the bride, saying,
"The servant of God. Olga CONSTANT
novna, crowned for the handman of God,
George Christianovitch;" and then the
benediction was given. The prokimen-
on was then sung to the eighth tone,
thus: "Thou hast put crowns of precious
stones upon their heads; they asked life
of Thee, and Thou gavest them long
life, for Thou shalt give them the bless
ing of eternal life." The reader then
read the epistle, taken from the fifth
chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians.
Afterward came, with much incense, the
reading of the Gospel by the Metropoli-
tan. the passage chosen being from the
second chapter of st. Johns Gospel
having been read, the Metropolitan took
the bridegroom and the bride by the hand
and turned them round three times, in
allusion to the Holy Trinity, the choir
singing, "Exult, o Israel, for a virgin
hath conceived" &c. Then the marriage
was complete.
Two short prayers were afterwar7 .e-
cited, and, at the bidding of the Metro
politan, the husband and the wife kissed
each other three times. The religious
service being over, the married couple
left their places hand in hand, and went
and made their obeisance to the Empe-
ror and the Grand Duke Constanti,s,
II IL i