Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-12-09
RUSSIA A'SROYALBABY
GETTING READY FOR A BIG TIME AT
 THE CHRISTENING.

THE CHRISTENING.
 The Whole Empire Will Be En Fete-The
 Elaborate Preparations Account of
 the Ceremony Great Festivities Attend
 Ing Royal Birth.
 If all goes well, there will be royal christening at St. Petersburg before long, and tiny bit of humanity will be the cause of national jnbilation from one end of the vast Russian empire to the other While some of this merrymaking will not be altogether voluntary none of the subjects of the ezar cares to at tract tho attenHQn of the police by fail ing to make sdSne sort of show of fes tivity during the period of national joy.
 For months past the young czarina and the ladies of her court have been preparing for the elaborate ceremonies which always surround the birth of royal baby ill Russia. Of all these eere monies the most magnificent and i'm. posing is the christening according to the ritual of tho Greek church. The christening always takes place as soon J its general health will permit.
 At the christening the child is carried iIl the arms of it's eodmother to the church or chapel Royalty and nobility. glittering ill brilliant uniforms and gala toilets. fill the body of the church and stand grouped around the font. The priests wear magnificent robes embroid cred with gold crosses, and sacred ban ners are b0rne before them. Two dea cons carry t portrait of Christ and the Virgin Mary.
 The godfathers give the high priest nine wax candles, which are lighted and fastened across the font. The priest incenses the godfathers and godmothers and consecrates the water with many ceremonies Then a procession is formed round tho font by those taking part in the ceremony, each one bearing light ed wax taper. The name of the child is given i'll writing to the priest, who put8 the paper on an image which he holds on the child 8 breast, meanwhile saying prayer.
 When the priest asks if the child for sakes the devil and his works the god parents turn their backs to the font to show their horror and aversion to the question and answer Yes :" They again face the font, and the priest takea the child, which is quite naked, and holding 1t by tho head so his thumb and finger stop the ears, dips it three times in the water, pronouncing the words, ''I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. "
 The cross, which has been given by the godfather, tho child is under obliga- tions to wear all it's life. If this cross be not found upon the child at death, the priest says to the godparents, the child may not have Christian burial, even though be be the son of a hundred kings. A particular saint is also assign ed to the child, whose image he E charged to cherish with special devotion.
 Holy oil, or chrism, which is used al royal baptisms, coronations aud eonse cration of churches, is prepared witt elaborate ceremony. There is a copper vase, overlaid with pearl and called ala , baster, in which is kept the original oi sent from Constantinople when Chris
 tianity was introduced into Russia. few drops arc taken to prepare tn, chrism and are replaced with other oil so the quantity never decreases. Wine
 roses, lavender, balsams and spices ar
 mixed with the oil.
 Forty days after the birth of the ehilt l it's mother, the empress, is "churched, and the infant is received visibly int
 Christ's church by the giving of it's frs
 sacrament, When the royal gates ar
 opened during mass, the deacon appele - with the chalice. The baby is eaIl a Q to the steps, and the priest, coming for ward, puts q drop of wine into it's mout :. with spoon, saying, fThe servant c
 God communicates ill the name of til
 Father, tho Son and tho Holy Ghost ; 2 There Is no ceremony eorrespondin Q to confirmation i'll the Russian church 2 but the child continues to receive tn ' sacrament from it's baptism twice - year, at Easter and on it's saints day n until it is years old, when it is brough i to the confession on Good Friday.
 The social functions attendant upon
 birth in the royal family are very elat . crate. They last several days. All tn Q riches and magnifieenee of the court an l nobility are displayed. At night the il ? luminations transform the capitals : Lamps are removed from the stree : posts, and in their places shine illumi a hated stars and circles. All house fronts roofs and chimneys are outlined wit z lights The trees are full of festoons 0 . Chinese lanterns, and from every linn , hang globes of glass in red yellow, blu :. and green, each formed and hung so a
 to resemble fruit The houses of the no bility look like fairy palaces. The gar
 dens are ablaae with light, and every
 where appear the burning monogram
 of the emperor and empress.
 On the day the child dons its frs
 shoes the ezarina gives 800 or 400 pair to be distributed among the poor chil
 dren of St. Petersburg These are or
 dinary shoes, of oaurse, not a bit lik
 the royal babys, which arc of whit
 leather, embroidered with gold. -Ney
 York World.
 RsfosaI EUt4h a c4ri1,,, 4o T4