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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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 Ameri- 

 cans 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 trans- 

 ferred from San Francisco to New York. 



From America he was translated to 

 Yaroslav in 1907. The people of Ya- 

 roslav 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 191 7, when 

 he was called to Moscow. 



Wherever in the Province of God he 

 has exercised his episcopate, Bishop Tik- 

 hon 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 there- 

 fore 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 gov- 

 ernment of the Church. 



TH^ patriarch's way carpeted with 

 GOLDEN FXOWERS 



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 be- 

 came 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 adminis- 

 stration, ordering that periodical councils 

 should be held in the future. 



An important matter decided by the 

 Sobor before its Easter adjournment was 

 the reorganization of parishes. The 

 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 epis- 

 tles 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 gov- 

 ernment, directed against the position and 

 rights of the Church, met with the So- 

 bor's resistance. The latter body pro- 

 tested 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 con- 

 trary to the proclaimed principle of sepa- 

 ration of Church and State, were con- 

 sidered 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 de- 

 fense 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 coun- 

 try, 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. 



