The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-06-14
RUSSIAN PILGRIMS.


London Globe.
When the SHOWS of the winter melt in
Russia and the woods are fragrant with
violets and the ice in great masses floats
down the rivers to the sea, the peasant
who is on the threshold of old age. tired
of long inactiOn, comes forth from his
izba and looks abroad. Strange thoughts
have been stirring in him for several
months, recollections of a VOW that he
once made, that if heaven willed, he would
one day worship in certain monastery.
and there venerate the relics of its saints.
For many long year it seemed as if this
vow would never be fulfilled, for there was
work to be done in the village, of which
he could in no way rid himself, and still
more pressing was the burden of a numer-
Gus family that could not be left. But now
the children have grown up and can fend
for thmselves and the father and mother
are no longer of the same value to the
community as laborers. Indeed, were they
to quit the village they would not be much
missed. One way, however, remains for
them to redeem their lost position and to
entitle themselves for the rest of their
lives to the respect of all their neighbors.
1t is to go on far distant pilgrimage.
Innumerable are the sacred places in
Russia and out of Russia which the pill
grims visit. On the sterile tundraS that
end in the lonely strand where the waves
of the White sea fling their foam upon
the walls of the Solovetsky monastery; on
the quays of the Odessa, awaiting the
steamer that will carry them to Jaffa, or on
the monotonous straight roads that for
stemmed birch or sombre pine to the rest
ing place of st. Serge. near Moscow, or of
the saints who sleep in the catacombs of
Petchersk at kiev there may be seen bands
of pilgrims, staff in hand, journeying on
foot, through poverty or in accordance with
vow, TO their far off goal. The men
often wear clumsy but comfortable shoes
of plated bark; stockings fastened around
the leg with string; breeches reaching to
the knee, and wide. baggy. flowing coats
attached to the waist with a colored belt.
The women have a colored underskirt, a
short dress and bodice all in one, and
bright hued handkerchief wrapped around
the head, knapsack on the back and
gourd or kettle fastened to a girdle. But
the costumes are very various, and it would
be impossible to describe them all.
These pilgrims beg for money compare
lively rarely. They have the self-respect
and independence which BELTS people pre-
sumably so pious. Perhaps they have saved
ha to the ngh they
sleep where they can, in a monastery or
perhaps in sheds that have been erected for
them by the road. and when they wish to
drink they stop and ask for water at
PEASANTS hut, where they are respectfully
received. If they. are, short of bread the
any, for the charitable instinct of the peo-
pie in Russia is inextinguishabe. And per-
haps, too, they will render some service to
the homes that they visit. Tolstoi has de-
scribed a pilgrim to the Holy Land who
found whole family dying of starvation
and set them up again. And when Satur-
day arrives, and all good people are bound
by their religion to take BATH then men
and women will plunge into the river, re-
lgardless OF the want of bathing machines
and careless of all bathing regulations.
int 1ivaoh ln rob Of
| many weeks is the Russian pilgrim when
he sees far off, flashing against the azure
sky, the domes of the churches of the holy
| places where he is to worship. And es-
| pecially is he glad If ii be a town like Kiev
! that stands on range of wooded hills,
breaking the monotony of the endless plain.
Singing more joyous hymn, he approaches
~eagerly, for he knows that there is food
and lodging assured him at his destination.
| At Jerusalem there is an immense convent
| built supported by the Russian govern
| ment, which is well aware of what the pill
| grims do to increase Russian influence and
| her reputation in the Holy Land. At Solo
| tiers that serve as resting place. At the
Lavra of Petchersk, the oldest of Russian
| monasteries, there has been a house for the
| poor since the eleventh century. Some of
| the pilgrims are accommodated in rooms
| that resemble well kept haylofts. and each
one hasSa locker. where he may sit during
| the day and sleep at night. There is a hos
| pital there, too, with eighty beds, and
| special wing for those whose ailments are
| not of a serious description. And for three
| days pilgrims are lodged and boarded free,
| and many are allowed to come and go just
| as they will.
But the pilgrims have come to worship,
| not to eat and sleep, and 1t Is inside the
churches that they seen to the best
| advantage. There these poor people, who
| have lived in village for over half a CEN
| fury, may feast their eyes as long as they
| will on the glitterng iconastass and on
| the goldeR drapery of the images. bright
with topaz and diamond: emerald and
| their sins, ard here, when the great bell
summons them ere dawn, they congregate
and stand hour after hour, awaiting the
| communion. For the Russian peasant
| with all his virtues, is positive in spirit
| to the last degree. and would not be sat
| isfied if he had not to overcome all sorts