The Opelousas courier., 1890-02-22
RUSSIA'S IlOLIEST CITY,
KfEv AND THE FAMOUS PETscHER-
= sKY MONASTERY.
A Remarkable Establishment Eli
closing Sixteen Churches ana I"
Vast Area of CatacOmbs.

closing Sixteen ChuFcnes ahA "
Vast Area of CatacOmbs.
Kiev, which was once designated by
the late Gar III an official ukase as the
Jerusalem of Russia, is the cradle OF the
Miscovite orthodox faith. According to
one of its most cherished traditions the
holy Apostle Andrew preached the Cos
pel there in the first century of the Chris
tian era, but it was not until 500 years
later that st. Vladimir, reigning Duke OF
Kiev. put an end to the human Sacrifices,
overthrow the heather gods, and COM
manded all his people to allow themselves
to be baptized, putting to the sword
about 5000 of his subjects who declined
to obey his orders in the matter. AL
though St. Vladimir would allow no
hesitation on the part of his people, yet
it had been a considerable time before he
had been able himself to make UP his w
mind on the question.
If Kiev is the Mecca of Russian ortho-
doxy, the famous Petschersky Monastery
is its kaaba. Founded, according to
tradition, in the ninth century by st.
Anthony, it is regarded as being without
exception the most sacred spot in all the
Empire. This remarkable establishment
is, indeed, almost a city in itself, since
within its precincts are enclosed no less
than sixteen churches and innumerable
other buildings. Below the ground are
the catacombs, where the bodies of hun
dreds of Russian saints repose in open
collins. Every year thousands, nay, tens
of thousands, of pilgrims wend their
weary way from all parts Of the Empire
toward this sanctuary 70 offer UP prayers
beside the holy remains of the above
mentioned saints: In June and July es-
p~ecially the faithful flock to Kiev, and
at such times the great monastery re-
sembles nothing so much as a big bee
hive. At one end of the enclosure is a
building containing the most gigantic
samovar of the whole world, where the
pilgrims, who always carry their W tea
with them, are provided with hot water
and glasses.
The most interesting portion of the
agglomeration of buildings contained
within the w@As of 'Petschersky" are the
catacombs, the entrance to which Is we'll
nigh impossible to obtain in consequences
of the crowd of picturesque beggars,
cripples, blind men, and vendors of more
or less spurious relics who incumber the
spot.
The catacombs extend over a vt area,
and contain no less than three title un-
derground churches and a great many
small chapels. On all sides, lighted by
the dim and melancholy glimmer of oil
lamps, are inches and cells in which the
corpses of the saints and holy men repose
in their open biers. The bodies arc
swathed in bands of linen wound round
and round them, somewhat in the style
of the Egyptian mummy. The hands are
clasped on the breast, and the face is un-
covered. At every step enc stumbles over
pilgrims PROSTATE on the ground be-
fore the collins, or bending over them to
reverently kiss the shriveled and black
ened faces and hands of the dead. Some
time ago a pilgrim who had a sick
wife at home was caught in the
act of biting off the finger of one of the
saints, meaning to carry away this strange
| relic, which he considered would suffice
to restore the patient to health. Here
and there are to be seen traces of little
windows which have been bricked up.
Heaven alone can tell of the poignant
scenes that must have been enacted VIA
in, for it is there that repose the dis
torted remains of those whose excess oil
fanaticism drove them to cause them,
selves to be bricked up alive in narrow
cells, hoping thereby to win pardon fol
their sins.
In other cells hewn in the gray rock,
measuring six feet long by six feet higf
and1sonly threA feet in width, thu
entraS& of whfA have been built up
leaving a l:eIe square opening
men whom rem some 5errlbl'
crime and r~eligf5dsa Nave induced
to consign themselves for~e remainde
of their days to these livfSaApbs
Three times a week bread and WAY
passed TO the unfortunate creatures .!
the small aperture through which the.
breathe the heavy foul air of the vault.
At the further end of the catacomb
are preserved the most treasured relics o
the monastery, in the shape of the s'thirt,
holy-oilfowing heads" which are states
to yield in amiraculous manner the sacret
oil which is used at baptisms and with tn
viaticum. These so-called heads are il
reality the skulls of some of the patrol
saints of Russia, and the sale of the fui'
in question in small bottles constitutes
great source Of revenue to the monastery
Not that the latter is d~epgAdent on an
such income, for it a knoXn as tn
wealthiest religious SNAstitu~ of tn
whole world. Its riches are simply in
ealculable, and the foreign guests VIII
visit Petschersky obtain only a faint ide
of their extent from the extraordinar
display of precious stones and preciou
metals which are lavished on the vest
ments of the clergy in their annual gran
professions from the Cathedral of ST
Sophia to the spot on the banks of tn
Dnieper where st. Vladimir was baptized
and where the mighty river is every yea
blessed afresh.-Ne,o York Times.
woshsnpfna's TStfIa Error