THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



383 



Holy Martyr, Patriarch Hermogen, is 

 covered with fragments of stone and rub- 

 bish. 



This is the church built by Fioraventi 

 of Bologna, in which the Tsars were 

 crowned and in which the earlier Patri- 

 archs were laid to rest. It is the precious 

 reliquary of Russia's rich inheritance of 

 the treasure of the ancient Eastern 

 Church. 



THE MARVELOUS EASTER SERVICE 



In the days before the suppression of 

 the Patriarchate by Peter the Great (see 

 page 390), on Good Friday — or, as the 

 Russians say, Great Friday — the Patri- 

 arch, in humble imitation of our Lord's 

 entry into Jerusalem, rode on an ass from 

 the Church of Blessed Basil, across the 

 mosaic of fluttering doves, through the 

 Gate of the Saviour, up to the Kremlin, 

 but this year the new Patriarch, Tikhon, 

 was forbidden entrance in the ancient 

 way. Indeed, it was late on Easter Eve 

 before His Holiness knew with certainty 

 that he should be allowed to celebrate in 

 his own Cathedral on the morrow. 



In spite of the desecration, amid the 

 ikon-clouds of steadfast witnesses to the. 

 faith, the Patriarch officiated at Easter. 



There, on Easter Eve, for two hours 

 before midnight, one hears the Acts of 

 the Holy Apostles read. Meanwhile the 

 lamps and candles, lighted one by one, 

 swim like planets into our ken. The 

 church swings in the shadows like a huge 

 censer. 



Then the gates of the sanctuary open 

 and, in the vestments of royal purple, 

 Patriarch, bishops, and priests, with silver 

 and crystal crosses, like a torrent, flood 

 the church with song: "Christ is risen!" 

 they exclaim. "He is risen, indeed !" the 

 people make answer. 



The jeweled Gospels are thundered in 

 different languages from the four corners 

 of the church to ail the earth. In the 

 orchestra of voices the festival bell of the 

 tower of John the Great companions the 

 mighty voice Of the archdeacon, Rosov, 

 the Chaliapine of the Russian Church. 



A HOLY MONASTERY OUTRAGED 



It is all a vision of the forms and color 

 of the Imperial Byzantine Court, in which 



the Church on earth pays her most splen- 

 did homage to Heaven. 



A dreadful impression is produced by 

 the present appearance of the Chudov 

 Monastery, the "Wonder-working Mon- 

 astery." The facade of the south side 

 has been pierced by six heavy shells. In 

 the rose-red walls are deep breaks and 

 cracks and holes from 5 to 7 feet in di- 

 ameter (see page 384). 



Two shells broke through the wall of 

 the Metropolitan's apartments, in which 

 a member of the Council, Benjamin, 

 Metropolitan of Petrograd, was staying. 

 Inside the rooms there is complete de- 

 struction. Fragments of furniture are 

 mingled with heaps of stone and rubbish. 



In one room a shell pierced the im- 

 mense, thick wall near a window and de- 

 stroyed it as far as an ikon of the Mother 

 of God which stood near, but the ikon 

 and the glass over it and the lamp hang- 

 ing before it were uninjured. The church 

 in the monastery, where the relics of St.. 

 Alexis rest, did not suffer ; only the win- 

 dows were broken. The relics of St. 

 Alexis had been carried to the catacombs 

 church at the beginning of the firing. 



There, beneath the low vaults, the 

 Metropolitan, Benjamin ; Archbishop Mi- 

 chael, of Grodno ; the Prior, of the Chu- 

 dov Monastery ; Bishop Arsenius, the 

 Elder Alexis, of the Zosimov Hermitage, 

 and all the brethren offered their prayers 

 day and night, under the unceasing rattle 

 of the guns which shook the walls of the 

 church. 



GERMAN INVECTIVES MAR CHURCH WALES 



In the Church of St. Nicholas, in the 

 belfry of the tower of Ivan the Great, a 

 shell crashed through a window and de- 

 stroyed the east wall of the interior of 

 the Sanctuary. The large, magnificent 

 old Book of the Gospels, which was 

 placed against the ruined wall, was 

 thrown to the floor near the Altar. The 

 front cover was torn off, and the precious 

 ikons of the Resurrection of Christ ancl 

 of the Evangelists adorning the book 

 were broken and thrown about ; many 

 leaves were torn and crushed. 



The Altar of Oblation was broken and 

 the service books torn. All over the 

 Sanctuary bricks were scattered about, 

 with splinters of shells and various eccle- 



