登陆注册
5382300000127

第127章 CHAPTER XIX(4)

The Consistorial Council, which has in the theory of ecclesiastical procedure a very imposing appearance, is in reality the bishop's chancellerie, and its members are little more than secretaries, whose chief object is to make themselves agreeable to their superior. And it must be confessed that, so long as they remain what they are, the less power they possess the better it will be for those who have the misfortune to be under their jurisdiction.

The higher dignitaries have at least larger aims and a certain consciousness of the dignity of their position; but the lower officials, who have no such healthy restraints and receive ridiculously small salaries, grossly misuse the little authority which they possess, and habitually pilfer and extort in the most shameless manner. The Consistories are, in fact, what the public offices were in the time of Nicholas I.

The higher ecclesiastical administration has always been in the hands of the monks, or "Black Clergy," as they are commonly termed, who form a large and influential class. The monks who first settled in Russia were, like those who first visited north-western Europe, men of the earnest, ascetic, missionary type. Filled with zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of souls, they took little or no thought for the morrow, and devoutly believed that their Heavenly Father, without whose knowledge no sparrow falls to the ground, would provide for their humble wants. Poor, clad in rags, eating the most simple fare, and ever ready to share what they had with any one poorer than themselves, they performed faithfully and earnestly the work which their Master had given them to do. But this ideal of monastic life soon gave way in Russia, as in the West, to practices less simple and austere. By the liberal donations and bequests of the faithful the monasteries became rich in gold, in silver, in precious stones, and above all in land and serfs. Troitsa, for instance, possessed at one time 120,000 serfs and a proportionate amount of land, and it is said that at the beginning of the eighteenth century more than a fourth of the entire population had fallen under the jurisdiction of the Church.

Many of the monasteries engaged in commerce, and the monks were, if we may credit Fletcher, who visited Russia in 1588, the most intelligent merchants of the country.

During the eighteenth century the Church lands were secularised, and the serfs of the Church became serfs of the State. This was a severe blow for the monasteries, but it did not prove fatal, as many people predicted. Some monasteries were abolished and others were reduced to extreme poverty, but many survived and prospered.

These could no longer possess serfs, but they had still three sources of revenue: a limited amount of real property, Government subsidies, and the voluntary offerings of the faithful. At present there are about 500 monastic establishments, and the great majority of them, though not wealthy, have revenues more than sufficient to satisfy all the requirements of an ascetic life.

Thus in Russia, as in Western Europe, the history of monastic institutions is composed of three chapters, which may be briefly entitled: asceticism and missionary enterprise; wealth, luxury, and corruption; secularisation of property and decline. But between Eastern and Western monasticism there is at least one marked difference. The monasticism of the West made at various epochs of its history a vigorous, spontaneous effort at self-regeneration, which found expression in the foundation of separate Orders, each of which proposed to itself some special aim--some special sphere of usefulness. In Russia we find no similar phenomenon. Here the monasteries never deviated from the rules of St. Basil, which restrict the members to religious ceremonies, prayer, and contemplation. From time to time a solitary individual raised his voice against the prevailing abuses, or retired from his monastery to spend the remainder of his days in ascetic solitude; but neither in the monastic population as a whole, nor in any particular monastery, do we find at any time a spontaneous, vigorous movement towards reform. During the last two hundred years reforms have certainly been effected, but they have all been the work of the civil power, and in the realisation of them the monks have shown little more than the virtue of resignation. Here, as elsewhere, we have evidence of that inertness, apathy, and want of spontaneous vigour which form one of the most characteristic traits of Russian national life. In this, as in other departments of national activity, the spring of action has lain not in the people, but in the Government.

It is only fair to the monks to state that in their dislike to progress and change of every kind they merely reflect the traditional spirit of the Church to which they belong. The Russian Church, like the Eastern Orthodox Church generally, is essentially conservative. Anything in the nature of a religious revival is foreign to her traditions and character. Quieta non movere is her fundamental principle of conduct. She prides herself as being above terrestrial influences.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 呼啸山庄

    呼啸山庄

    本书的作者是英国十九世纪著名诗人和小说家艾米莉·勃朗特(EmilyBronte,l818一l848)。这位女作家在世界上仅仅度过了三十年便默默无闻地离开了人间。应该说,她首先是个诗人,写过一些极为深沉的抒情诗,包括叙事诗和短诗,有的已被选入英国十九世纪及二十世纪中二十二位**流的诗人的诗选内。然而她**的一部小说本书却奠定了她在英国文学史以及世界文学史上的地位。
  • 盛世嫡女:一品皇后不可欺

    盛世嫡女:一品皇后不可欺

    大晋深宫,多少人心算尽,只为君王一顾。初见漫雪纷纷,她一舞名动,他一见钟情。再见美人入怀,他眼底波澜,她朝暮有幸。红墙内外,楼阁深重,都说人心难测,可人心又如何?她言笑晏晏,叹山河入梦,不过阖手繁华,覆掌枯骨。人间不老,怅然离魂,皆知帝王无端,可无端亦有端,他眸色深深,簪桃花入袖,只想盼那人一回首。--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 皇后不称职:朕的霸道女人

    皇后不称职:朕的霸道女人

    光溜溜的穿越,有木有搞错!虽然自己的男人跟那种人跑了但也不至于光溜溜的穿越到另一个男人的床上吧!美男美男不准过来!敢过来偶就!….…错乱的时空;错乱的国家;错乱的感情,当一切秘密随之解开的时候,我是不是也该离开?
  • 名人传记丛书:爱迪生

    名人传记丛书:爱迪生

    名人传记丛书——爱迪生——造福全人类的“发明大王”:“立足课本,超越课堂”,以提高中小学生的综合素质为目的,让中小学生从课内受益到课外,是一生的良师益友。
  • 杨尚昆谈新中国若干历史问题

    杨尚昆谈新中国若干历史问题

    2007年是杨尚昆同志百年诞辰,中共中央党史研究室和中央电视台为此几次来向我了解杨尚昆的一些情况。之后,应中央党史研究室资料征集办公室之邀,陆续将杨尚昆同志在撰写回忆录期间有关回忆录第二册的谈话内容整理成文,在《百年潮》和《中共党史资料》杂志上陆续发表,受到广大读者的关注。2008年秋,在杨尚昆同志逝世十周年之际,又以一篇拙文《怀念杨尚昆》回顾了他光辉的一生,缅怀伟人,激励自己。现由四川人民出版社将这些文稿汇编成《杨尚昆谈新中国若干历史问题》出版。为了保持内容的完整性,根据出版社的要求,特将经杨尚昆生前审定、以杨尚昆名义公开发表的《高饶事件》一并放入《杨尚昆谈新中国若干历史问题》。
  • 海贼之血旗纵横

    海贼之血旗纵横

    看着系统解锁的游戏,再看看敌人,洛克就不明白为啥子要站队打架,我不要当海贼,也不要当海军,我就要在作死的边缘疯狂试探!不爽啊!吃我一记天碍震星!纯萌新,各位大佬不要抱太大希望,欢迎指点!但是请保持文明用语,涉及的游戏有刺客信条系列、lol、火影忍者究极风暴系列,量子破碎、龙珠、守望先锋。
  • 仓央嘉措诗传

    仓央嘉措诗传

    所谓四大皆空,业已被仓央嘉措的诗歌一句一句地清算完毕。很多人都翻译过仓央嘉措的诗歌,一览无遗之际,译者从未敞开胸襟妄加臧否,只是在融会贯通之后别开生面。对于读者而言,那就仁者智者各随其便了。
  • 淡定小傻妃:王爷,有种就休我

    淡定小傻妃:王爷,有种就休我

    什么?!当朝有权有势、风华绝代的王爷,竟然使计娶了众所周知的傻小姐?天下多少女子想嫁给他,这……有违常理……咦?一个傻瓜怎么脾气刁钻古怪?在闹得王府鸡犬不宁后,又跑到一旁乐悠悠地瞧戏,一副事不关已高高挂起的样子?!这,怎么回事…
  • 战族传说(1)

    战族传说(1)

    洪荒岁月,涿鹿一战,战神蚩尤虽亡,却留下不灭魔志,战族子民重承魔志,隐匿于武林之外,成为超越武林的隐世武门,只待五星逆行之时乘时而作,东山再起。岁星、荧惑、填星、太白、辰星五星逆行之日终至,千古战意随着时光的轮回而再现武林,一位神的传人,一位魔的后人,在经过无数次武林纷争后慢慢崛起江湖,而世间的种种魔缘机遇终究将两人铸成了左右武林的盖世高手。
  • 安得长者言

    安得长者言

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。