Page:Russian Church and Russian Dissent.djvu/162

Rh the Russian Church no first communion, properly so called; infants are admitted to the holy table, in accordance with the practice of the primitive Church. There is no long preliminary preparation for this initiation to the body of the elect, filling the youthful mind with religious awe and reverence, and which, among Catholics, and many Protestant sects, marks the event as one ever to be remembered. Religion thus becomes a less important element of early education, and loses much of its practical influence on afterlife.

The sacrament of the holy chrism replaces confirmation, but it does not correspond to the similar ceremony of the Catholic Church; always following the custom of the early Christians, it is, by Russians, conferred immediately after baptism, and may be administered by a priest, not necessarily by the bishop.

Auricular confession exists, and in Russia, as among Catholics, the inviolability of its secret is protected by law, save in cases of political conspiracies. It is, however, held in very different estimation, and practised in a different manner; it is shorter and more general, less explicit, less exacting, and less frequent; it is restricted to sins of a grave and serious nature, without entering into matters of thought or conscience, or the minute specific detail of daily life; it is free from the inquisitorial, suggestive, often repugnant, investigation into personal and family affairs by the priest, and is, to a far less degree, an instrument of power and authority for the clergy. A few general questions, and the stereotype reply, "I am a sinner," comprise all that is usually necessary for absolution; there is no confessional or privacy; the priest and the penitent stand face to face, generally, but not always, separated from the congregation.