NUNS AND CONVENTS. 1 75 



We followed the priests and the choristers to the grave 

 of the dead girl to see the services there. The grave 

 was hidden beneath piles of flowers and wreaths, and 

 the priests swung censers over it as they led the 

 services. 



"God have mercy upon our sister's soul," wailed the 

 nuns in the same melancholy yet melodious strain. 



The poor mother and a small gathering of friends 

 stood at one end of the mound of fading flowers, and 

 wept and made signs of the Cross. The services being 

 ended, a big dish of boiled rice was produced and set 

 on the grave. Everybody ate a spoonful, and the rest 

 was scattered over the grave, 



This cemetery was the most beautifully kept and 

 interesting I had ever seen. Sister Salavioff showed 

 us over it, explaining everything. In their family life 

 the Russians are an affectionate people, and they do 

 their best to follow their departed friends into the 

 spirit world. " They think more of the dead than of the 

 living," said my companion. 



And, indeed, this convent cemetery was to me a reve- 

 lation of how far superstition and religion combined 

 may carry people in their striving to penetrate the 

 mysteries of the future life and link them with the 

 present. The ambition of every Russian is to be buried 

 in a monastery, and those who are rich enough invari- 

 ably find a resting place within this sacred boundary. 

 Rich merchants, who are, in Russia, often as igno- 

 rant and superstitious as the peasants, leave large sums 

 of money to the monasteries in return for choice burial 

 plots and future masses for the welfare of their souls. 



A grave costs from 500 to 1000 rubles for positions 



