Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-07-18
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society
CT TREASURES

CHURCH TREASURES
Requisition of church valuables
ty the Soviet government, reported
in dispatches iron Russia, raises a
question as to the wealth of the
Var'tIs religious institutions of tho
Wc:Id
Since the dawn of history peo-
| pie have been lavish with their gifts
Tor religious purposes. whether they
wcrshipped idols or an unseen God"
says a bulletin from he Washing
ton. L.. c. headquarters Of the Ma
tional Geographic Society.
The result is hat in all ages
! treasure, usually in the form of gold
and silver and precious stones. has
flowed to temples and churches,
menasteries and other religious in
situations. In am period and IN
most parts of the world. then. OK
ceIt during recent decades in the
West. a considerable part of the
LIQUID wealth of the world has been
in ecclesiastical hands. Only the
treasures of Temporal, princes sur
EaSseG those of the religious institu-
tons. and in some instances, as in
Tibet. the monasteries and fem pies
Held practically all TIE country's
treasure.
Old and New Religions Use Gold
Psychologists find hat the pagan
temples of civilizations dead for
thousands of years were ornament
ed with a wealth of precious metals.
Indian temples of several faiths have
had their rich treasures and their
ornaments of gold ard silver for
centuries; and they have made use
as well of a glittering array of dia-
monds rubies, sapphires and other
Jewels. Many an ide' today. from
the dim interiors of Indian temples,
looks out through eyes of great
lustrous, precious stones, and wears
other gems that might ransom an
emperor.
christianity had to fight for its
lie Tor the first three hund1 ed
years OF its existence. and its rites
were carried on in the simplicity
that secrecy made necessary. But
WIN Its ofiicial recognition came the
tendencies which had marked MIST
or the openly accepted religions
which had gone before: toward the
making of gifts to churches by de-
Vout followers and powerful patrons,
and toward the use of more elapo-
rate n costly paraphernalia in the
services. Constantine, first Chris
tan Emperor of Rome, lavisned
gifts on st. Peters church in Rome /
and on Sancta Sophia in his new |
capital, Constantinople, He thus mad |
a hand in enriching the two most
famous and once the two richest, |
churches in Christendom.
Church Treasures Often Looted
THE marked enrichment of Chris
tlan churches began in earnest in
Italy and the East in the fifth and
sixth centuries inc spread in early
medieval times to France and other
western countries. No only did the
churches accumulate geld chalices,
ratens, candelabra and other small
objects, but many had large screens
of gold and silver. as well as fcits
and statues. To a few of he
churches affairs of solid gold were
presented, but later church regula-
tons prescribed stone and wood as
the only permissible materials for
affairs. Precious stones also came
into use to ornament images of the
saints or as gifts to them. Thus the
Sacred Baby of the Church of Ara
Coeli in Rome has been given over
q space of many years a wealth of
jewels.
THE accumulation of treasure by
temples and churches and monas-
teries has not been unbroken. Tine
and time again these convenient
ohC'N Va NAO SLoiiSo IaN0 bGSll
seized by conquerors. Pagans have
looted the shrine of other pagans
Mohammedans looted Roman
churches, including St. Peters in
SAC, and the churches in CONSTANT
nople in 1883. Sancto Sophia, af.er
the break between the Western and
Eastern churches. was sacked by
Western Christians during the
Fourth Crusade and church vessels
were taken or destroyed in many
cases at the time of the Reforma-
ton.
Russian Churches Richest
Russian church treasures have
been among the richest in existence
in late years. When Russ enVoys
were sent out by the then semi-clv-
ilized state in 9S7 to choose a ma
tional religion, they were most I'M
pressed by the wealth and ric..
beauty of the services at Sancla
Sophia. Since that time Russian
churches have been marked by their
wealth OF ornamentation. Screens,
reliquaries n c%anopies of precious
metals were to be found in all of
the well-to-do churches. In some
of the richer institutions whole walls
OF sanctuaries were of silver and
some floors were Of jasper. Numer-
Gus icons were studded with jewels
n some were almost completely
stones. Some of the pals used were
covered with various precious
practically small rugs OF gems.
Probably the wcaltniest of all re-
ligious institutions III Russia was the
Lavra or super-monastery at Kiev.
Before the world war it had an an
nual income of half a million dol
lars and a we'll stocked treasury
The second most important instltu-
ton, the Lavra of st. Sergius, near
Moscow. had treasure with a pre-
War value of about s32E, 900, 900. At
the Cathedral of St. Isaacs. st.
Petersburg, there was more than a
ton of silver IN the form of ecclesi-
~astical vessels, and in addition much
gold"