The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-07-26


poor and rich. peasants and those Of the
middle classes and numerous children.
walked along outside to what the at.
traction might be. It was a picture of the
Virgin looking out Of gold clothes in a gold
frame so propped up on a table that Il
stood upright. The picture was about four
feet square.
The clothes were carved out of gold plate,
only the face hands and feet being painted.
On each side OF the picture was police
man. and behind II were several longhaired
caps.
There Was a contribution box in front $
OF It.
PEASANTS REMOVED THEIR
HATS AND BOWED Low.
Tho worshipers were admitted to tbs
painting one at time. and as they came
each took OF his hat and bowed low
He then knelt upon the cobblestone street
and crossed himself. then kissed the hands
of the picture again and again ard went
on his way making the sign Of the cross
Many were women and some had babies In
their arms.
The women would kiss the hands of the
Virgin and then have Their children kiss
them. There were old men, who barred their
heads and knelt and young boys and girls
who did the same.
All were terribly IN earnest. and tbs scene
was too serious a one to cause a smile
After kissing each dropped a coin in the
contribution box and passed on to the
priest to buy a candle to be burned before
the picture in the church later on. and
each took a drink Of holy water from a cup
handed by the priest, giving q contribution
he did so.
stood some time and watched the scena
The driver Of every cart that passed raised
his hat and in the finest Of the carriages
the occupants took of their hats and
crossed thnselves end prayed.
The poorest and meanest here arc not
ashamed to pray in public.
They show more respect to their religion
than We do to ours. and whether II be
true or not. II Is worthy Of respect for the
respect they pay to IT.
We Americans are so far away from the
Greek Church that We have little idea Of
Its numbers
It Is one Of the greatest churches Of the
world. SURPRISING any other IN Christen-
dom. outside the Roman Catholic. II all
the Christians on earth were gathered to-
gether. ono in every i've would belong to
this church.
There are 100000 Greek Christians In
the world. and altogether less than 1A.ooo.-
900 Protestants.
The Roman Catholics number 10000. 900.
the Mohammedans III. oo.ooo. the Hindoos
$1,000. 900 and the Confucionists 2Ss. 10000.
There are about 14s. o0o. 900 Buddhists a.
100000 Taoists, chiefly Chinese, and 100000
Shintooists. all Japanese.
Tho bulk OF the Greek Church Is Russian
1t has in this country alone more than H.
100000 members out Of its IS. loo. 900; In other
words, four-ffths Of all the people of Eu-
ropean Russia belong to It
The Greek Catholic Church differs from
the Roman Catholic Church in that 1t de-
MES the supremacy Of tho Pope and allows
all Its members to read and study the Scrip
t,,ra ty, he tNy a1A ali ~, al
lowing the priests to marry.
In the Roman Catholic Church . priest
must DO single; In tho Greek Catholic
Church every candidate for the priesthood
must be married. but II he becomes = priest
and his wife dies he cannot marry again
He Is then expected to 80 into q monaS-
terv for the rest Of his life.
There arc two classes Of the oiergy. the
blacks and the whites; the blacks arc the
monks and the whites are the priests. The
Bishops are always selected from the black
clergy. and they have higher social stand
ing than the ordinary priest
The monks in tie monasteries spsnd most
of their time in fasting and prayer.
They do not have any special work and
The priesthood Is recruited from the sons
of priests, and priests usually marry
priests daughters
The clergy is by no means 20 respected
as ours, and many Of its members are L.
norant and supersttousL
Tho Gear is at the head Of the Grascs-
Russian Church.
He governs It through the Holy Synod.
which meets at St Petersburg.
He appoints every officer Of the church
and can transfer and dismiss In many cases.
In reality, however. he does but little a.
to church government, leaving everything
to the Procurator Of the Holy Synod.
This man is tho famous Pobodonotsen.
who for fifty years has been one Of the
leaders of the Intellectual End religious Life
of Russia.
He is now rs years old. but he still dirsots
the synod and Its priesthood. He has re-
markable ability. great scholarship and un-
swerving honesty.
He Is the son Of . professor Of Russian
literature In the University Of Moscow, was
educated under his father and had q num-
Der Of prominent .Ysitions before he rose to
be the head Of the church
He claims to be liberal and to allow lib
erty Of conscience throughout Russia, but
this Is frequently denied and his Holiness
is charged with fanaticism.
However that may be. there are a vast
number Of Russians who do not belong to
the Greek Church
There are in all moro than u. 900 Ro-
man Catholics, almost 100000 Protestants,
about H.00o, 900 Mohammedans and 900
Jews.
The Greek priests. however, are the doni-
nant religious force In most parts Of the
Empire. and the people follow them.
FRANK G. CARPENTER
Copyright. 1903. by F. O. Carpenter.