PRIESTESS SENIAVINA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 80, 29 August 1914, Page 6

PRIESTESS SENIAVINA.

PEASANT WOMAN HK.aii OF ■ WOMEN PiilJOalh.

Holy- Russia (writes the Moscow carI resiroudctti, oi an Ajmurican. wiper) n a s jiiound a new .paUi lo lio.iuets in tho j shapo oi. ia<Jy priests. Jfo-rty-odd iimnujik I women, dressed iil sheepskins aud umiad I Wlt « apostolic stave®, are tramping :.<jr , eastern provinces calling on peasant sinl new to ooiiiie and be saved, ana warnin» ; the piuttoroiw niipeiuient that they via ' inevitably do Imsi, Though tile eiiief ot l these Vigorous womea n»w site in I Ekaterinburg gaol preaching, to unrej sponsive wails, the cause goes 'bravely on; and now Procurator of Uie Holy . .Synod Sabk«r, though he Bates mo<ilei tut), is about to round a woman's theological college at Kieif m order that women may fit themselves to ■pi each the tnio tenets ot mother church The movement began lost sumioier at | Pcustnoye, near Nazimovsk. a town on j the Yenesei 'Riven Tho priest of Postnoye was drowned during- a fishim*. excursion, and left behind a 'wittaved spouse, '.Matirioiia, and- an equally widowed churoh. It was' hard to find, a I successor. Pogtnoye is not famous for learning; of ninety aduit males only seventeen can. read, and of the -nine who can write most acquired their accomplishment during, terms- of. penal sern•;'*ute. Ko when- good diocesan Bishop lnnokenti chose for a successor to tlie drowned priest, the successor would.; not- go. iie said, thftt the drowned priest hiid Ibaen' i'our times beaten, by ihos obstreperous - flock and that 'he had gone fishing and got drowned because his parishioners 'kept him on starvation allowance.

WIDOW CONDUCTS SKRViUES. bo for three months Postnoye Ohuivli was desolate and Postnoy«j's natives ,relapsed into sin. Then 'Widow Matri- 1 ona. Came to the rescue. The iron shield,, wiiiich ia 'beaten a«j a substituitu for 'bell ringing, suddenly boomed 'forth, and wihen. the, villagers came to church , they found lAlatwona 'installed as priestess. fcShe wore a gold cloth "ri&i" and looked—wore it not'ior the absence of a beard—as good a panson as her 'husband. In holy Russia, much lesa in unholy Siberia, these things make a stir. The i'ostnoye ilock would ordinarily have thrown their felt toots .at a lady preadßer, but they were go tired at l)eing •three months sermonless, and likewise so amazed and flabbergasted that they listmaa peacefully to Alatriona's pious words and went 'home in peace. They ..were so ,edrlied that the usual Sunday drinking 'bout with, fiery "monopolka.' passed off wituout a figfii't, and so -VlyJtnona remained priestess of Bostnoye. This event caused a great scandttl, for .Russians do not 'believe iu »ex equality in religion. Only certain Jiercftical sects, which are now extinct, reI cognised women as priests. The aged i and 'holy women, who as "prayers" I (bogomolki) and "--creamers" (fclikis-. sin) wander about 'the country are much respected, but their .piety concerns themselves alone, and i.n Russian however penitent, would consent to be saved by thjir ministrations, ne'e event of Postnoye changed all this. Peasants of several neighbouring villages installed women priests', the village of Nizhni-ln&revo deposed its own drunken priest, lloVaiski, and put a woman 111 !lns ,place. Ilovaiski;entei'ed the church during service and mode a scene with hi& supplanter. The villagers put him out. He appealed to ieneseisk Consistory, whidhi reported to 4St Petersburg; and! St. Petersburg proposed to intervene. lief we it had time to take measures 'tihe movranent in favor of women priests made tremendous pro - gress, particularly in West Siberia and along 'the Itusso-Stberian. frontier; and it would take more'tihan the efforts of | the Profflirajtor of tthe fc?ynod Mahler to loot it out.

' CAUSE SPIUDADS RAPiDLY. j' The main cause of the spread is the j propaganda carried 011 by the Itrst toj.niau priest in European .Russia, Beniaviira, a dealer in fTuits and vegetables in 'the town of J'emi. tfeniavina is a first j' oouoin of the Siberian priestess Matri- | ona, and in tlwit way ghe got drawn into the movement. This, Seniavina, though nhe barely ltnows how ito write, is _ 110 ordinary woman; She lias surprising! talents for preaching, apostolic earnestness, a rairawkaMe command of /' the rugged dialect spoken in, the Ui'als, '• and a smattering of medical knowledge got from 11 or father, wno was "Fel'dsriher" at a military hospital, j Thus- equipped, Hemavina started to ; reform ttio world, and she made great j progress until she fell into a trap set >by iier cneni'iea. Seniavina started to preach in a wooden clutrdli, little more U>un a lwit, on Ilea' husband's farm. "Bie peasants Hocked to iitear her, and the local churches were deserted. Trouble began, for what may ibe done t'eely >n the far YeiMsei district is not possible under official eyes in JSuropean .Russia. The .police dostnl fcuniavana'i church, a-iwl arrested luvr. Sie 'was tried 'by the Peim Assism (karot for "arrogating >to herself priestly dignity"; and was acquitted. It was a penal leffenec. said the Court, for an unordaimtd- person to preach in a dlroreh of' the Orthodox faith; but there is nothing to prevent any ona who Biakei no pretensions preaching in 'his or her own dluirch. beuiovina wan released.

Her followers, mostly men (women remain faithful to the men priests), carried her enthusiiiwtically out of Court, and 'Scnivina 'ißsgaii a soul-saving torn 1 , and before last Christmas had induced forty-three women of fairly good education to ibeeomie priests. Seniavina d«*claaws that she lias a divine vocation. The official church, -she says, is ruined by priestly intemperance and by the marriage of priests, and it must tie redeemed by women, who will take an oath never to (touch liquor and not to marry.

Llil'T HUSI'AND TO PREACH. Wrtmi'ii priests wlvo are already married must leave their husbands. Seniuvina provwl ilier jseal bv 100-Ting her own husband. She net up (house in a small lmt n?!ir Perm, and all last winter this house was the headquarters of ithu volutin priest flotation. A congress of adherents of the -movement was held at Christum,h. At first tho propagandists were hampered for want of fundi*, but after tlve cure by Scniavina of the son of the Baku Tartar millionaire, Agi-iftusoupoil', m«nev came in plentifully. Yousoupolf's son for tluve years suffered frown -hip tuberculosis. 'Doctors declared that lie- wis i incurable, 'Humor (readied l'nku t'hat peasant woancn in I'nntt were efTectiiu* miraculous cures, andi Agi-Vousoupoll'. though Moslem liimself, sent his son 1« l>c cured. AftoT three weeks the s&n was 'brougiiit took in perfect (health. SiKilii is uio story. Yousoupofl gave Seniavina a tbij» su.ui of money. Sentavina devot'jd it oil to the crwe, and continued to make liov own living by Bel liner fruit in Perm mark?'" place. . This self-denial increased her reputation. Trouble tigttin 'hrewid curing 'to . tho hostility of the regular clergy. Seniavina fell into a trap. The priests of the teal ('hurea of the Ann.mrcfotion invited her (to "jii-siify her tn.itli" ill j.lieir church. Hen'iaviiia consent'. 1 '!. fsiie . delivered' a long address, -ill' wliiuh she repeated her jissaulit upon the official church and announced tiiat-; i>hc . J^ul

orders from l heaven to bring, alboat a reforms. A fanatical peasant lu't the church in a tage, returned with a. paving :8to«<; and Swirled it at Seniavma's head. A scene resulted.

,1-i.toe stone (thrower was Jet g*i roe,, tout Seniavina was again arrested and lodged in. Perm gaol on a. Charge of bhisiihemy, brawling in church and incitement to u.soUecience. iLaiter she was Iccught 'to hkau'rini)iirg and there ahe remains, ino other women preaoheTß have been left in peace, and they are «>>id to: be conducting a vigorous campaign oil over the Urals. Aiso from Voronezh and PodolUi at lfcb.fi other endi of the empiiTe come stories »f women priests, one of whom was beaten nearly to deatir by a mob. • BEYOND PEASANT GLASS. V

The woman priest movement has sk-' gun to extern! beyond the peasant class, •where it originated. It a uttracting young -women from the "m- --, telligome." tinti'l lately nearly all girts 01 this class were revolutionary and I atheistical,, tout , during, tilie past tfciree .-'years there'has been a strong reaction. The religious Move sliqwb itself both in lay and clerical world,: ln-tiie.-iay, wor'iii the students of Ki#' Uttivcisity and of the Moscow , medical, legal -awl other ; courses,,-diave. demanded that there shall .be theological; courses,- with -right .to -women 1 to preach. In.lire religi-cais world the movement Iras aifevted tie convents. St. Petersburg (Synod is strongly opposed to this movwnient, Jjwt tacnot suppress at. It fears to -incm: the eitruity <>i women, Who ore Ahe bctrt HimjHjrier.-i of the cburah. At a synod council mooting held last month, M. Matvoyetl, n provincial , consistory mrmiiber, occurred that in many provinces women are almost the vnly {supporters of tho ehuMti, at least among the peasants. The peasant men .are mostly: hostile or indifferent. On .the basis of -this the synod decided that the movement lor women ■ priests unjust bo treated with" caution 'and that trie vital point is not whether women pre.ich or no. but that i• they do preach it hliail 'be in orthodox spirit, fcfo far the v. Mm® prcaehws arc nearly oil sclidsinaties. v DREADS JvKW DW:i'I!ISK.

The Synod in 'particular dwwlte their docferroe of celibacy for priests, for although ißh'e higher, or "Black" clergy themselves t .c not marry, celibacy tor the secular clergy is regarded as specifically lloman catholic, and OiMiolicitgn , is, the only rival whicn the Oreek orthodox ■-ihuirch dreads. In order to cheek such [heresies women are to !>e encouraged. The Synod .will not allow tliem to tbe ordained, but it is willing for them to receive .geological. education. This ia a marked advance. Tie present ,plan it. to found in Ivieff and some otlier towns theological courses fov ■w'cqien, winch will develop into full theological «eimoa.ries.

■ju. Seveirin, a Khairfcoll' merchant of means, hag ciiWcd £-2(M>OO on condition ■that tiic Synod allows w<w»en to lie ordained. Ho says that tie prestige of the male clergy'has fallen hopclessSy low among ttyo peasants and working class, and that -if the dvusreh is to be saved that can only -bo by women. His own daughter, who it* a 'ftoattor, 'hail specially studied tiheology and preaching in order, Bays M, Several, that in her cliaaitaMe woifc among tilic peasants she 'may be ftlile "to combat ilou'bt. strengthen gdotl resolutions f.nd fortify t'hc dying."