Page:The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany.djvu/106

78 The seating capacity of the temple is five thousand, and in order that all might participate in the dedication, six services, identical in character, were held during the morning, afternoon, and evening.

The worshippers saw an imposing structure of gray stone with a massive dome rising to a height of two hundred and twenty-four feet and visible from every quarter of the city. The multitude passed through the twelve entrances beneath a series of arches in the several façades. They looked upon an interior done in soft gray with decorative carvings peculiarly rich and impressive. The seating is accomplished in a semi-circular sweep of mahogany pews and in triple galleries.

The offertory taken at the beginning of the services found every basket piled high with bank-notes, everybody contributing, and none proffering small change.

At the close of the Lesson-Sermon, and in accordance with the custom of the Christian Science church, the entire congregation knelt in silent communion, followed by the audible repetition of the Lord's Prayer. One of the remarkable features of the services was the congregation singing in perfect unison. The acoustic properties of the temple, in spite of its vast interior, were found to be perfect.

No mere words can convey the peculiar impressiveness of the half past twelve service; the little children, awed by the grandeur of the great room in which they were seated, drinking in every word of the exercises and apparently understanding all they heard, joining with their shrill