their mite upon the altar. The holy images and wonderworking Madonnas are carried to the homes of the sick and infirm; Our Lady of Iberia, most revered of all, has horses and carriages kept for her service, and, it is said, brings in to her chapel at Moscow $50,000 a year. At stated periods, these sacred images are borne through the neighboring villages in solemn processions, and reap rich harvests from the contributions of the faithful, who eagerly vie for the honor of their visit. As, in the olden time, great princes and lords were wont to don the monkish garb at the approach of death, so now all Russians wish to be buried near the tomb of some one of the saints of the Church, and the privilege of reposing in ground hallowed by their near presence is made a prolific source of income to the convents or churches which possess some holy man's remains.
For women there are fewer retreats than for men, and, by published statistics, there would appear to be fewer nuns than monks; the official lists, however, do not give the total number of females within convent avails, as they include only those who, over forty years of age, have taken the veil. In point of fact, these institutions have more inmates than the monasteries; they are open to novices, and to lay sisters of any age; many young girls and women seek shelter within them, and remain there permanently, without consummating the act which would separate them definitively from the world, free, at any moment, to re-enter society, but generally content to pass their days in voluntary seclusion. An entirely different conception of monastic institutions, and of monastic life, whether for monks or nuns, prevails in Russia from that in Catholic countries. Charity, benevolence, or missionary enterprise are not the essential features, although they may be incident to the life.
