Nature and Art, March 1, 1867.] 
CEREMONIES OF THE GREEK CHURCH. 
73 
hands, and with the crowns still over their heads, 
the priest slowly leads them three times round the 
altar. This part of the ceremony is understood to 
typify that the pair are thus to walk together 
through life, and the Divine Presence along with 
them, which is here typified by the priest, as the 
representative of God ; the mystical three times is 
symbolical of the Holy Trinity. While this is 
doing, the choir are singing, “ Exalt, O Isaiah, for 
a virgin has conceived and brought forth a son, 
Emmanuel, God and man ; the East is His name ; 
Him do we magnify, and call the Virgin blessed.” 
The two ai’e now bound as one in the ties of holy 
matrimony. The priest takes off the bridegroom’s 
crown, saying, “ Be thou exalted, O bridegroom, 
like unto Abraham, and blessed like unto Isaac, and 
multiplied like unto Jacob. Walk in peace, and 
do all according to the commandments of God.” 
Taking the bride’s crown he says, “And thou, 0 
bride, be thou exalted like unto Sarah, and rejoice 
like unto Rebecca, and multiply like unto Rachel ; 
rejoice with thy husband, and keep the ways of 
the law ; and the blessing of God be with thee.” A 
couple of prayers then follow, after which the couple 
kiss each other three times, and the ceremony may 
be said to be ended. 
In the Greek Church some of the clergy are 
married and some are monks, but a monk cannot 
celebrate the ceremony of marriage ; it is only a 
married priest who can do so. For this reason the 
Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, who is a monk, 
could not officiate. 
Dr. Clarke, in his “ Travels,” gives such a graphic 
account of the funeral of Prince Galitzin, that it 
may be taken as a fair description of the burial 
ceremonies. 
“ On the 28tli of May, we again saw Plato * in great 
pomp, at the burial of Prince Galitzin, in Moscow. This 
ceremony was performed in a small church near the 
Mareschal Bridge. The body was laid in a superb crimson 
coffin, richly embossed with silver, and placed beneath the 
dome of the church. Upon a throne, raised at the head of 
the coffin, stood the Archbishop, who read the service. On 
each side were ranged the inferior clergy, clothed, as usual, 
in the most costly robes, bearing in their hands wax tapers 
and burning incense. This ceremony began at ten in the 
morning. Having- obtained admission to the church, we 
placed ourselves among the spectators, immediately behind 
his Eminence. The chanting had a solemn and sublime 
effect ; it seemed as if choristers were placed in the upper 
part of the dome, and this perhaps was really the case. The 
words uttered were only a repetition of ‘ Lord, have mercy 
upon us ! ’ or, in Russian, ‘ Ghospodi pomilui ! ’ When the 
Archbishop turned to give his benediction to all the people, 
he observed us, and added, in Latin, ‘ Pax vobiscum ! ’ to 
the astonishment of the Russians ; who, not comprehending 
the new words introduced into the service, muttered among- 
themselves. Incense was then offered to the pictures and 
to the people ; and, this ceremony ended, the Archbishop 
read aloud a declaration, purporting that the deceased had 
died in the true faith, that he had repented of his errors, 
and that his sins were absolved. Then turning to us, as 
the paper was placed in the coffin, he said again in Latin, 
‘ This is what all you foreigners call the passport ; and you 
* Plato was the name of the Metropolitan of Moscow at 
that time, in 1800. 
relate, in your books of travels, that we believe no soul can 
go to heaven without it. Now, I wish you to understand 
what it really is ; and to explain to your countrymen, upon 
| my authority, that it is nothing more than a declaration or 
certificate concerning the death of the deceased.’ Then 
laughing, he added, ‘ I suppose you commit all this to paper : 
and some future day, perhaps, I shall see an engraving of 
this ceremony, with an old archbishop giving a dead man 
his passport to St. Peter.’ 
“ The lid of the coffin being now removed, the body of 
the prince was exposed to view ; and all the relatives, the 
servants, the slaves, and the other attendants, began the 
Ululation, accoi-ding- to the custom of the country. Each 
person, walking round the corpse, made prostration before 
it, and kissed the lips of the deceased. The venerable 
figure of an old slave presented a most affecting spectacle. 
He threw himself flat upon the pavement, with a desperate 
degree of violence, and, being quite stunned by the blow, 
remained a few seconds insensible ; afterwards, his loud 
lamentations were heard, and we saw him tearing off and 
scattering his white hairs. He had, according to the custom 
in Russia, received his liberty upon the death of the Prince, 
but choosing rather to consign himself for the remainder of 
his days to a convent, he retired for ever from the world, 
saying, ‘ Since his dear old master was dead, there was no 
one living who cared for him.’ 
“A plate was handed about, containing boiled rice and 
raisins — a ceremony we are unable to explain. The face of 
the deceased was then covered with linen, and the Archbishop 
poured consecrated oil, and threw a white powder, probably 
lime, several times upon it, pronouncing some words in the 
Russian language ; these he afterwards repeated aloud in 
Latin, ! Dust thou art ; and unto dust thou art returned.’ 
The lid of the coffin was then replaced, and after a requiem, 
‘ Sweet as from blest voices,’ a procession began from the 
church to a convent in the vicinity of the city, where the 
body was to be interred. There was nothing solemn in this 
part of the ceremony. It began by the slaves of the de- 
ceased on foot, all of whom were in mourning. After the 
slaves followed the priests, bearing tapers ; then was borne 
the body, on a common drosky, the whip of the driver 
being bound with crape ; afterwards proceeded a line of 
carriages, of the miserable order before described. But, 
instead of the slow movement usually characteristic of 
funeral processions, the priest and the people ran as fast as 
they could, and the body was jolted along in a very in- 
decorous manner. Far behind the last rumbling vehicle 
were seen persons running, quite out of breath, and unable 
to keep up with their companions.” — Clarice's Travels, 
vol. i.,c. ix. 
In the present day, funeral processions are 
managed with more decorum ; a special vehicle is 
used for the coffin ; a decorated pall is thrown 
over it; and every person in the street takes off 
his hat to it as it passes. 
Such are the three great events of life — birth, 
marriage, and death — and the ceremonies of the 
Greek Church connected with them. 
The illustration represents the ancient vase which 
brought the “ chrism ” from Constantinople, and the 
figure is that of Philarete, the Metropolitan of 
Moscow. There are four Metropolitans in Russia, 
and the oldest is, by right of seniority, the spiritual 
head of the Church. Philarete at present enjoys 
that honour ; he is 83 years of age ; although weak 
in body from age, yet he is in the perfect use of his 
mind, and has a very bright, genial expression of 
face. The Prince of Wales, during his late sojourn 
at Moscow, visited this venerable prelate, and the 
dress shown in the illustration was that worn on 
the occasion. 
