South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-03-07

grad, where. ever since the town was
founded by Peter the Great the
Russian aristocracy sought its burial
place. is the monastery Of ST. Alex
ander Nevsky. OF which the Metro
politan OF Petrograd was abbot. one /
finds there the tomb of ST. Alexan- /
der. which Is the object OF the spe- /
cial veneration Of the inhabitants Of I
the capital. and which consists Of a /
large coffin. or rather sarcOphagus. I
standing between four pillars which
are made Of solid silver. Silver in
general. is very much in evidence in
all Russian churches. and in the
Kazan for instance. Of which I have
just now spoken, the communion
rail. which divides the altar from
the main body of the building. is al
so entirely constructed of silver. and
was offered 10 the Holy Virgin by
the Cossack troops after the defeat
OF Napoleon in 1912. Tradition says
that this silver was melted by them
from the French during their IA
nous retreat from Moscow.
4 Memorial Chapel.
one of the most splendid church
es in Petrograd, though quite mod
ern one. is the large chapel which
was built upon the spot where Alex
ander ii met his death at the hand
Of the nihilists. The whole of Rus
STA contributed toward its construc-
zion, and il is today one Of the won
ders OF the country. Millions have
been spent in its erection, one lamp
alone. which was the gift of a few
rich merchants Of Moscow, having
cost $4,000 rubles.
Talking Of Moscow reminds me
that il is there, i'm that ancient city
OF the old cars and patriarchs that
most of the treasures of the Ortlo-
dox church were religiously kept and
worshipped In the cathedral Of the
| Assumption. where the cars were
/ crowned, one saw such a wealth of
diamonds. pearls and precious
stones. that the eye was literally
dazzled by their brilliancy. I'm the
/ old sacristy Of the patriarchs its
custodian gravely showed TO the
visitor the gold and silver robes
| that these digniidries of the church
used 10 wear. one of which was COW
cred with a pearl embroidery that
reproduced the text of the Nicaean
I creed, upon which the whole doc
/ trine Of orthodoxy is built
I This treasure, however, seemed
3 but a small one in comparison with
the numerous riches that were pre-
served in the Troytsky monastery.
near Moscow. one Of the most sacred
spots In the whole of Russia and
place that is closely linked with its
history. 1t was thence that the ia
nous Dmytry DOnskoy started to
encounter the Tartar armies. after
having craved the blessing OF ST.
/ Sergius, who was then about Of that
famous convent Later on the
Poles besieged IL, and it was within
the walls of Troytsa, as it is famil-
iarly called, the Peter the Great es-
capped when his life was threatened
by his sister, the Regent Sophy If
one is To believe popular rumor. the
wealth of this monastery amounted
TO more than 100000 rubles, TO
which were continually added be-
fore the revolution the gifts which
were poured upon il by the faithful
orthodox who came TO worship the
holy relics contained in its many
churches.
II would not be possible to enum-
crate all the converts and shrines
which are venerated or famous in
Russia. / will, therefore. merely
mention the convent Of Petchersk.
in Kieff. which is considered one of
the oldest in the country, and the
Iwersky chapel in Moscow. the lat
ter being the object of the special
devotion Of the merchants of that
city. who have endowed il with
many treasures