The service of the Orthodox Eastern Church is always performed in the native language, and consists of prayers, scripture-readings, a sermon, which is, however, generally only a simple explanation or commentary on chapters from the Holy Bible, and in chaunting hymns. The priests, as I have previously mentioned, wear robes differing but very little from those worn by the priesthood of the Church of Rome. It is customary to separate the sexes during the service; the galleries being devoted exclusively to the reception of the females, and the body of the Church to the males. Only the aged are allowed seats, of which there are very few, and the young men are forced to stand.
At the commencement of the service, the officiating priest traverses the church, scattering incense from a censer. During Lent, strict observers of the law abstain from all animal food, even from eggs, milk, butter, and cheese, and they further fast from night till noon. At this period they also abstain from the use of all spirituous or vinous fluids. At all seasons of the year it is customary to practise abstinence on Wednesdays and Fridays. The sacrament is usually administered twice a month. It consists of leavened bread and wine mixed together, and is administered by the officiating clergyman with a spoon, the formula used on this solemn occasion being nearly the same as that employed in the English Church.
I have mentioned the existence of dissenters from the Orthodox Eastern Church in Syria. They are called Greek Roman Catholics, and have existed rather more than one hundred and fifty years. The founder of this sect was a priest named Karolus, who had been elected patriarch of Antioch, or, as the functionary is called, patriarch of Damascus.
The election was, however, not ratified by the head patriarch of Constantinople on account of the doctrines held by the new patriarch on the subject of the Holy Spirit. Karolus maintained, in contradiction to the established doctrine of the Orthodox Eastern Church, that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son, as is asserted by the Roman Catholic Church. On a closer inquiry into the religious tenets of the elect of Damascus, it was discovered that his opinions were heretical also on other points, for he was found to entertain a very favourable bias towards the doctrine of purgatory, and also of works of supererogation. In consequence, the patriarch of Constantinople dispatched to Damascus a more trustworthy follower to fill the vacant post.
