Pulpit and Press | Page 8

Mary Baker Eddy
birch, upholstered in old rose plush. The floor is in white Italian mosaic, with frieze of the old rose, and the wainscoting repeats the same tints. The base and cap are of pink Tennessee marble. On the walls are bracketed oxidized silver lamps of Roman design, and there are frequent illuminated texts from the Bible and from Mrs. Eddy's "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" impanelled. A sunburst in the centre of the ceiling takes the place of chandeliers. There is a disc of cut glass in decorative designs, covering one hundred and forty-four electric lights in the form of a star, which is twenty-one inches from point to point, the centre being of pure white light, and each ray under prisms which reflect the rainbow tints. The galleries are richly panelled in relief work. The organ and choir gallery is spacious and rich beyond the power of words to depict. The platform--corresponding to the chancel of an Episcopal church--is a mosaic work, with richly carved seats following the sweep of its curve, with a lamp stand of the Renaissance period on either end, bearing six richly wrought oxidized silver lamps, eight feet in height. The great organ comes from Detroit. It is one of vast compass, with ?olian attachment, and cost eleven thousand dollars. It is the gift of a single individual--a votive offering of gratitude for the healing of the wife of the donor.
The chime of bells includes fifteen, of fine range and perfect tone.
THE "MOTHER'S ROOM"
The "Mother's Room" is approached by an entrance of Italian marble, and over the door, in large golden letters on a marble tablet, is the word "Love." In this room the mosaic marble floor of white has a Romanesque border and is decorated with sprays of fig leaves bearing fruit. The room is toned in pale green with relief in old rose. The mantel is of onyx and gold. Before the great bay window hangs an Athenian lamp over two hundred years old, which will be kept always burning day and night. Leading off the "Mother's Room" are toilet apartments, with full-length French mirrors and every convenience.
The directors' room is very beautiful in marble approaches and rich carving, and off this is a vault for the safe preservation of papers.
The vestry seats eight hundred people, and opening from it are three large class-rooms and the pastor's study.
The windows are a remarkable feature of this temple. There are no "memorial" windows; the entire church is a testimonial, not a memorial--a point that the members strongly insist upon.
In the auditorium are two rose windows--one representing the heavenly city which "cometh down from God out of heaven," with six small windows beneath, emblematic of the six water-pots referred to in John ii. 6. The other rose window represents the raising of the daughter of Jairus. Beneath are two small windows bearing palms of victory, and others with lamps, typical of Science and Health.
Another great window tells its pictorial story of the four Marys--the mother of Jesus, Mary anointing the head of Jesus, Mary washing the feet of Jesus, Mary at the resurrection; and the woman spoken of in the Apocalypse, chapter 12, God-crowned.
One more window in the auditorium represents the raising of Lazarus.
In the gallery are windows representing John on the Isle of Patmos, and others of pictorial significance. In the "Mother's Room" the windows are of still more unique interest. A large bay window, composed of three separate panels, is designed to be wholly typical of the work of Mrs. Eddy. The central panel represents her in solitude and meditation, searching the Scriptures by the light of a single candle, while the star of Bethlehem shines down from above. Above this is a panel containing the Christian Science seal, and other panels are decorated with emblematic designs, with the legends, "Heal the Sick," "Raise the Dead," "Cleanse the Lepers," and "Cast out Demons."
The cross and the crown and the star are presented in appropriate decorative effect. The cost of this church is two hundred and twenty-one thousand dollars, exclusive of the land--a gift from Mrs. Eddy--which is valued at some forty thousand dollars.
THE ORDER OF SERVICE
The order of service in the Christian Science Church does not differ widely from that of any other sect, save that its service includes the use of Mrs. Eddy's book, entitled "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," in perhaps equal measure to its use of the Bible. The reading is from the two alternately; the singing is from a compilation called the "Christian Science Hymnal," but its songs are for the most part those devotional hymns from Herbert, Faber, Robertson, Wesley, Bowring, and other recognized devotional poets, with selections from Whittier and Lowell, as are found in the hymn-books of the Unitarian churches. For the
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