THE CHAPEL AT THE END OF THE HALL IN WHICH THE COUNCIL SITS IN MOSCOW The central figure is Tikhon, the Metropolitan of Moscow, who was elected President of the Sobor and later chosen Patriarch of all Russia. MULTITUDES IN THE PROCESSION OF THE PARISHES ON ST. NICHOLAS' DAY IN THE RED SQUARE IN MOSCOW, MAY, 1918 The Bolsheviks know that their aims can be realized only on the ruins of the faith. The day had purposely been declared by the government to be a work day, but thousands came walking under the banner of the cross to the sound of Easter hymns. the chapel, sit the Patriarch, the Metropolitan, the Archbishops and Bishops, the lay vice-presidents, and the secretaries. In the center sits Tikhon, the Patriarch, President of the Sobor. At his right is the Metropolitan of Novgorod, and just behind him Argafangle, the Metropolitan of Yaroslav, who, by the way, is the Russian Honorary President of the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Churches Union. At the Patriarch's left are the Metropolitan of Kharkov and the Metropolitan of Kherson, and behind Kharkov are the Metropolitan of the Caucasus and the Metropolitan of Vladimir. They are all wearing the white cowl to distinguish them from the archbishops and bishops. Opposite, facing the prelates, sit the other members of the Council. Speeches are made, not from the floor, but from a rostrum, on the left-hand side of the hall, facing the Assembly. The Council Chamber itself is on the second floor of the building. The entrance hall below is the lobby of the Council, where members walk and talk together, often arm in arm, in animated discussion, and where laymen pause reverently to receive the blessing of Patriarch or Metropolitan. Some of the bishops wear the Cross of St. George for valor on the field. In receiving the blessing a Russian opens his hands and puts them together and the prelate lays his hand in the open hands to be kissed after the blessing. THE SANEST AND MOST DEMOCRATIC The Patriarch, accompanied by a single footman, drives daily to the Sobor from his palace in an unpretentious carriage drawn by two black horses. He is often seen giving his blessing from the carriage window as he passes through the street, and there is generally a crowd of people pressing forward to receive his blessing at the door of the Council House. The arrival of the Patriarch at the Sobor at II o'clock in the morning marks the opening of the session. The Assembly rises as he enters, "Many Years" is sung, and the House comes to order. Although there are perhaps no conspicuously outstanding and dominant figures in the assembly, it reaches as a whole the highest level of the Russian mind. Here sit men from all districts. It is an all-Russian assembly. There are many strong personalities and many men marked by singularly beautiful and consecrated devotion to their task; nor is there evidence of a desire on the part of any one to dominate, least of all on the part of the Patriarch. I heard no uncommonly stirring speechmakers, but a good deal of clear, cogent statement. It is because there is nothing noisy or spectacular about the Council that it evokes profound respect as the sanest and most democratic, as well as the most spiritual, body of men now assembled in Russia. In contrast to the picture Titian has left us of the Council of Trent, all the sittings are open to the public. So republican is the Sobor in its character that visitors who happened to be present when these photographs were taken were requested not to leave the hall. I have had the advantage of knowing the Patriarch and many members of the Sobor and acquiring, in intimate relationships, a knowledge of their hopes for Russia. The election of the Patriarch is the first act of constitutional Russia. It has a precedent in the history of the Russian Church. Although not foreseen by the canons, a similar example may be cited in the election of the Apostle Matthias, of which we read in the Acts. This manner of election answers to Russian ideals, and powerfully contributed to the joyful acknowledgment of the Most Holy Patriarch Tikhon as the person indicated by the will of God. THE NEW PATRIARCH FORMERLY LIVED IN AMERICA The man chosen to this high and responsible service is 54 years of age. In the world he was called Vasili Ivanovich Bellavin. He was born in the town of Toropetz, in the Government of Pskov, where his father was a priest. He was educated in the Church school of his native town, and later in the Ecclesiastical Academy of Petrograd. On leaving the Academy he was appointed master of dogmatic and moral theology in the Seminary of Pskov. In the capacity of teacher, he knew how to interest his pupils by his excellent method of instruction. In 1891, while carrying on this work, he became a monk. During the next year, 1892, he was named Inspector, and soon after Rector, of the Seminary of Kholm. In 1897, on being consecrated Bishop, he was elevated to the See of Lyublin, and in 1898, it is interesting for Americans to recall, he was translated to the North American diocese. In America he won universal respect and took an active part in the organization of the Russian Church in North America. It was in his time that the Episcopal See was transferred from San Francisco to New York. From America he was translated to Yaroslav in 1907. The people of Yaroslav fully appreciated the goodness of their Bishop and elected him an honorary citizen of the town. After his translation to the See of Vilna (also in 1907) Bishop Tikhon, in his generosity, made many gifts to various charitable institutions. He remained in Vilna until 1917, when he was called to Moscow. Wherever in the Province of God he has exercised his episcopate, Bishop Tikhon has proved to be exceptional in his simplicity, wide benevolence, and purely Christian character. A gentle, strong, learned man, he has written little. He has been rather a practical church worker, an accessible leader. He compares with the Patriarch Philip, murdered under John the Terrible, and with Cranmer in England. It is therefore a great consolation for the Russian Church that, in these hard years of the life of the people, such a prelate should have appeared at the head of the government of the Church. THE PATRIARCH'S WAY CARPETED WITH GOLDEN FLOWERS The consecration of the Patriarch in the Kremlin was the first free act of the Church there after the fierce artillery fire of the Bolsheviks upon the Holy Places. At the door of the Chudov Monastery, on St. Alexis' day of this year, a little group of the faithful were waiting for the coming of the Patriarch to say the Liturgy. In place of the usual carpet spread for his entrance to a church, some one, just before he came, simply scattered dandelions in flower from the fields. In the sunlight the broken steps suddenly became paved with gold and malachite. A delighted smile touched the face of the Patriarch, and one seemed to see in his anxious eyes a belief that in these spring flowers in the midst of all Russia's woe grew the symbol of new life for the Holy Church. When the question of the Patriarchate had been settled, the Council proceeded to organize a system of Church adminisstration, ordering that periodical councils should be held in the future. The An important matter decided by the Sobor before its Easter adjournment was the reorganization of parishes. Sobor restored to the parish much of the independence which it had enjoyed in ancient times, but which had been lost in the growth of bureaucratic centralization. The Sobor was also obliged to provide answers to many social problems. The Sobor and the Patriarch addressed epistles to the clergy, the people, and the army, to strengthen their spirit against the growth of pernicious influences from without, poisoning the life of the nation. The actions of the revolutionary government, directed against the position and rights of the Church, met with the Sobor's resistance. The latter body protested against the confiscation of the parish primary schools and the schools which prepared for the priesthood; against the abolition of Scripture study in all schools, and against the abolition of Church rights of property. The measures just mentioned, as contrary to the proclaimed principle of separation of Church and State, were considered by the Sobor as being acts of tyranny against the Church. However, it was the Patriarch, and not the Sobor, who played the most important part in the general movement for the defense of Church rights. His fearless epistles, addressed to the people, explaining the true significance of the measures adopted against the Church by the present rulers of the country, call upon the people to defend their faith and excommunicate the authors of the persecution. The Sobor upheld the Patriarch's authority as a representative of the Church in its relations with the outside world. |