Show I di T1Y MARRY IN RUSSIA Weddings in Russia are very expensive expen-sive the father of the bride often spending his lifelong savings for his daughters dowry and marriage festivities festivi-ties notwithstanding that In many provinces the wedding conductor and orldcsmen often bear a portion of the expense Russian marriages are not made In heaven but on tho opot by gobetweens who are In many cases godparents Tho matter of tho dowry etc being arranged the young people arc consulted and If I there Is any strenuous objection on either side the negotiations frequently fall through ibut as a rule children and particularly particu-larly girls are too well brought up to set up direct opposition the will of their parents Short engagements are the rule and the wedding follows hard upon the betrothal be-trothal whlch Is almost as sacred and binding as the marriage ceremony Nearly all marry young girls at the ngo oC 16 and young men at IS Up to the day of her marriage the Russian jieasant girl wears her long thick hair plaited In One braid down her back On her wedding morn It Is either cut short or divided Into two braids and wound around her head l over this the molhcrlnlaw puts a small red cap which ties behind and Is the badge of her new condition The entire week previous to the Wedding wed-ding Is given over to festivities In both families In some parts of the country the brldc room eleel Is allowed to spend as much time as he likes with Ills betrothed going to her house nearly every day and icmalnlng until it Is time to cloec the house at night Usually the bride and her friends who come one afternoon a eek to help 1 make the entire trousseau and woo betide be-tide her If any mistake Is made for nothing Is so certain to bring misery and unhappiness in her new life as to have any of the stitches unpicked The bridegroom presents the wedding costume A brides dowry consists besides be-sides her wardrobe in quantities of household linen kitchen utensils silver tea and dinner service carpets curtains cur-tains etc Irn wife die without chil I dreu the greater portion of the dowry may be claimed by her family Very flew wedding presents are given i May is an unlucky month for weddings wed-dings and they never take place on Tuesdays or Thursdays because the one Is the eve of the day on which Christ was sold and the other the eve of Friday when ho was cruclllecl Saturday Sat-urday Is also tabooed because It Is the eve of the Holy Sabbath During the week previous to the wedding wed-ding the bride goes about In a most dolorous manner weeping and wailing In stentorian tones and entreating her relatives to break the engagement and not send her away Into nlnnd of strangers even though she be going no farther than the next street The last evening before the wedding all her girl friends come to take leave of 3ier There Is a very pretty ceremony attached to this evening which maybe may-be tho one from which the custom oC making gifts to the bridesmaids was derived The bride brings out a parcel par-cel which she opens and discloses all the ribbons flowers etc which she has heretofore worn on her hair these she distributes among her friends each being considered a souvenir of good lucki when there are not enough to go around they are cut In two or three pieces t Marriages always take place In the church the guests gathered around a temporary altar In the center decorated deco-rated with flowers As the Russian churches have no scats this Is very I convenient S The attendants are all men who hold the brides gloves wlicn she temoves them to eschnnse rings carry home for her tho piece of red carpet upon which she knelt to receive the nuptial benediction distribute money to the poor In her name make a collection for the mutilclanu and one of them always al-ways dances the first quadrille with her The grooms best man goes with him to the church and then makes haste to fetch the bride She being piepared to leave the house falls on her knees before her parents and begs them to forgive whatever offenses she may have committed against them They ralni her up kiss her and otTer her bread and salt as typifying the necessities of life When she leaves they do not close the door behfnd her which Indicates Indi-cates that their house is still her home At a stated point In the ceremony two golden crowns are held above the heads ot bride and groom by the attendants at-tendants these arc thrice exchanged at the command of the priest and It Is very funny to see whut desperate efforts ef-forts the men mnke to keep the crowns from touching the brides head which would bo a sign of very bad luck Indeed In-deed Whichever touches the red carpet car-pet first when the pair kneel will have the upper hand in nil mutters during their married life Having exchanged rings the priest clasps their hnncls and lends them three times around the altar l al-tar In token of the Trinity the brid5 and groom and all the others bearing lighted candles decorated with ribbon There Is a superstition that the one whose taper Is burned the slower will outlive the other The candles nr supposed to have reference to the lamps which the virgins carried when they went forth to meet the bridegroom Matthew v 10 They drink win out of the same glass ns a sign that they will share the cup of eternal life The ceremony concluded the bride Is taken to the home of h husband where she Is met and welcomed by his parents He then asks the wife to remove re-move his boots telling her there Is I a purse In one and a whip In the other and that she must take her choice If she first finds the purse she Is very happy but If she chances to take off the one containing the whip she is apt to reqelve a blow from lu SometLmes the bride strikes her husband with the boot after having taken It off as a protest against the idea of her Inferiority Inferi-ority implied In the act In some provinces the father gives his daughter u blow with the whip on her wedding morn and then hands It over to the new husband saying it I Is now his privilege to use It In another part of Russia the bride has ready on her bridal day a whip whIch she has herself her-self made and which she gives Into her husband hands telling him at the same time she hopes he will reprimand and punish her when she needs It Anciently In some portions of Russia Rus-sia tho bride was crowned with a garland gar-land of wormwood which typified tho bitterness the married slate frequently fre-quently now the priest sprinkles on her head a handful of hops with the wish that she may be as healthy as that plant Sometimes an official of the church clad In a rough goatskin cloak accompanies the bridal pair lo their home praying lhat they may have as many years as there are hairs in his coat Divorce is unknown In Russia The laws forbid a fourth marriage mar-riage of widow or widower a third Is1 considered somewhat Improper and demands de-mands a penance of live years exclusion exclu-sion from holy communion while even for a second marriage two years penance pen-ance must be done Philadelphia Inquirer In-quirer |