Rock Island Argus., 1894-12-21
CHANTING PRIESTS.
, eeeWCE OF SONG NO HEAREH
CAN EVER FORGET.

A, Important fsrs VI s"o Ofeok Cnufch
,rr..!a-Thc Bayinc. Bull.likc Voices
=, MONKS Intoping Prayers For the Car.
=, Magnificent Tomb.
The chant of the priests voices was
,n. most striking thing that encoun-
I'D in my travels in Russia year
=, Never in any place have heard
ii, At all like it. More like the cry
-, s5.pc great animal or the moaning
aru.icul wind it seemed than hu-
,,,n t.uv-. Deep, strong, roaring, yet
80 and niciodious, il haunted me as
..uu.ic Lad ever done. This intoning,
which forms so important part of the
Crrek church in Russia, is performed
,v men who are chosen especially for
~, tremendous depth Of their voices,
:, he used in intoning alone, not sing
an Trained and cultivated into still
--,atar strength and depth, there is in
=. whole wide world no human sound
Ike it.
There are only certain parts of the
.ryico that are thus intoned, such as
"Hallrluiah," Lord have mercy
"Iord. we pray thec," ''Grant this, o
God but above all, ''Save long, O God,
,b. life of the czar" Over and over
,,,iu are these words moaned, sighed
and ruarcd. like varying wind, through
IN. arches and galleries of the splendid
,turrhcs Of the most splendid country
If the world.
There is priest in the Church of st.
s,ycur i'll Moscow who was pardoned
and brought back from Siberia solely
because OF the extraordinary depth of the
tones of his voice.
These great baying, bull-like voices
bring to their owners, it is said, a very
rood income. The last part of the serv-
ice Is always the loudest, and the last
words. in q tremendous final roar, are
always the petition to save long from
death the car. Unlike the Latin service
O. the Roman Catholic church, the COM
mon neople of Russia can understaE
much of the service Of their church, as
a part Of it is i'll modern Russian and
tie rest in old Slavonic. Thus that cry
which rings through the churches to
save the life of the cZar is understood
and felt by the humblest subject in
Russia.
Although this intoning can be heard
everywhere in the churches throughout
Russia, the best example of it is per
hlrs in the famous Alexander Nevsky
monastery in st. Petersburg. At .
o'clock every afternoon the priests cham
can be heard there, and no travele,
should miss this extraordinary spectacle
In the winter, when the higher classe
are in town, there are long lines of ele
eant conveyances ut the door, that hav,
brought the fashionable Russian devo
tees to hear the monks chant. But a
all times of the year it is resort no
only for russians, but for the stranger
from the hotels. The monastery is q
the end of the fashionable Nevsky Pros
pokt, the Fifth avenue of ST. Peters
burg. In the green inclosure there ar
many buildings connected with tn
monastery. but 1t was to the chape
whore tho monks chant the evenin
oue afternoon late in June. Far back il
The dimncss, in chanccl behind tw
altars, was q collection Of large, Drawn
men. Their long black robes, hig
black velvet caps and long flown
wells, all of black, magnified thei
height and their imposing appearance
Their boards were long. and heav
locks of hair hung like thick names O
their shoulders.
They were already chanting, whe
We entered, in those peculiar OrganliE
tones which / found the most impress
I've thing in Russia. How that stranl
volume of sound moaned and rose an
fell throughout the structurel How
walled in our ears, like q mighty wint
and always, whether loud or soft, in Il
ssddest, sweetest melody! There wei
half recitative solos, chanted first
one voice and taken up by the other
Lord have mercyr' Lord grant it!
they walled and moaned until it seen
'd as if the sound would never aga
leave my ears.
After time it ceased, and then Il
procession of towering black robt
monks came out into the body of Il
chapel, leaving but little room for
as we crowded ourselves against Il
wall. Placing themselves with the
backs toward us and their faces tOwa
the altar in semicircle, they beg;
again their chant, in q different al
much louder refrain, "God save lol
the life of the emperor" Never shall
forget that semicircle Of black mon
mental figures nor the waves of soul
that still vibrated ON the air after the
voices had ceased.
We turned away and walked acre
the green courtyard, where many ri
russians are buried. All Russians I
teem it a sacred privilege to be buri
IN tho soil surrounding o monasteI
and among those who lie here is t
novelist Turgeneff. We traversed n
merous cloisters, with now and tn
the tall, black veiled monks passing
until we reached the chapel Of Alexa
der Ncvsky, the car monk who l
buried here-buried in such tomb