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Prof. I. V. Neprask 89
State. The condition of the rural clergy was really tragical. Being
separated from the people because of their office as agents of grace,
yet not being able to minister to their spiritual needs, because of il-
literacy, they very often fell into drunkenness. The "Hundred Article
Council" admitted: "The priests and the readers in the churches were
always drunken and talked very unseemly, without any fear of being
reprimanded." "At times the priests fight one another in their
churches." About the monasteries the council writes: "In all of them
drunkenness prevails, among the superiors, the monks and the paro-
chial priests." "Women and girls were often found in the cells. The
priests are very negligent in their duties, holding services once in
several weeks and at times once in months; and even then, only in a
case of a baptism, wedding or funeral, being interested more in the in-
come than in the spiritual welfare of their flocks."
Peter and the Orthodox Church
Peter the Great brought a fresh stream of western culture into
Russia. The period of his reign should have marked the beginning of
a new epoch in the life of the Russian clergy, but recent years have
shown that no change occurred.
Every living thought was suppressed with a fear similar to that
of a man who hesitates to repair his old house for fear that it may
crumble altogether. When we pointed to the spiritual decay of the
church, the loyal friends of Greek Catholicism answered: "The Ortho-
dox Church is enslaved by the government; if she were free then you
would see her glory. The revolution has liberated the church from
the burdensome and harmful guardianship of the state and we have
seen the now free church not in her glory, but in her state of complete
helplessness. There were almost no priests who would openly step out
with the Gospel in their hands to lead men in new Russia in a new way.
The convention of the clergy which met in Moscow last year, upon
which the eyes and the hopes of all Russia were centered, dishonored
itself forever and proved a disappointment to those who looked to it
for guidance. Again the old discussion about places and speculations
continued. The main topic of discussion was what form of clothing
the clergy should wear, as the old garbs were being ridiculed by many.
I remember the expression of disappointment on the faces of men who
in those days read the newspapers, with eagerness, hoping to find
information about the activities of those who, as they believed, were
able to direct the life of the nation into new and right channels.
II
Now, allow me to call your attention to another phase of the subject.
Everything I have said thus far was with reference to the clergy and
the oflBcial representatives of the Greek Orthodox Church.
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