Chicago Inter-Ocean
From Pulpit and Press by Mary Baker Eddy
Page 23
[Daily Inter-Ocean, Chicago, December 31, 1894]
MARY BAKER EDDY
COMPLETION OF THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST, BOSTON
— “OUR PRAYER IN STONE” — DESCRIPTION OF THE MOST
UNIQUE STRUCTURE IN ANY CITY — A BEAUTIFUL TEMPLE
AND ITS FURNISHINGS — MRS. EDDY’S WORK AND HER INFLUENCE
Boston, Mass., December 28. — Special Correspond-
9 ence. — The “great awakening” of the time of Jonathan
Edwards has been paralleled during the last decade by a
wave of idealism that has swept over the country, manif-
12 esting itself under several different aspects and under
various names, but each having the common identity of
spiritual demand. This movement, under the guise of
15 Christian Science, and ingenuously calling out a closer
inquiry into Oriental philosophy, prefigures itself to us
as one of the most potent factors in the social evolution
18 of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. History
shows the curious fact that the closing years of every cen-
tury are years of more intense life, manifested in unrest
21 or in aspiration, and scholars of special research, like
Prof. Max Muller, assert that the end of a cycle, as is the
latter part of the present century, is marked by peculiar
24 intimations of man’s immortal life.
Page 24
1 The completion of the first Christian Science church
erected in Boston strikes a keynote of definite attention.
3 This church is in the fashionable Back Bay, between
Commonwealth and Huntington Avenues. It is one of
the most beautiful, and is certainly the most unique struc-
6 ture in any city. The First Church of Christ, Scientist,
as it is officially called, is termed by its Founder, “Our
prayer in stone.” It is located at the intersection of Nor-
9 way and Falmouth Streets, on a triangular plot of ground,
the design a Romanesque tower with a circular front and
an octagonal form, accented by stone porticos and turreted
12 corners. On the front is a marble tablet, with the follow-
ing inscription carved in bold relief: —
“The First Church of Christ, Scientist, erected Anno
15 Domini 1894. A testimonial to our beloved teacher,
the Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder
of Christian Science; author of “Science and Health
18 with Key to the Scriptures;” president of the Massa-
chusetts Metaphysical College, and the first pastor of
this denomination.”
21 THE CHURCH EDIFICE
The church is built of Concord granite in light gray,
with trimmings of the pink granite of New Hampshire,
24 Mrs. Eddy’s native State. The architecture is Romanesque
throughout. The tower is one hundred and twenty feet in
height and twenty-one and one half feet square. The en-
27 trances are of marble, with doors of antique oak richly
carved. The windows of stained glass are very rich in
Page 25
1 pictorial effect. The lighting and cooling of the church —
for cooling is a recognized feature as well as heating —
3 are done by electricity, and the heat generated by two
large boilers in the basement is distributed by the four
systems with motor electric power. The partitions are
6 of iron; the floors of marble in mosaic work, and the
edifice is therefore as literally fire-proof as is conceivable.
The principal features are the auditorium, seating eleven
9 hundred people and capable of holding fifteen hundred;
the “Mother’s Room,” designed for the exclusive use of
Mrs. Eddy; the “directors’ room,” and the vestry. The
12 girders are all of iron, the roof is of terra cotta tiles, the
galleries are in plaster relief, the window frames are of
iron, coated with plaster; the staircases are of iron, with
15 marble stairs of rose pink, and marble approaches.
The vestibule is a fitting entrance to this magnificent
temple. In the ceiling is a sunburst with a seven-pointed
18 star, which illuminates it. From this are the entrances
leading to the auditorium, the “Mother’s Room,” and
the directors’ room.
21 The auditorium is seated with pews of curly birch, up-
holstered in old rose plush. The floor is in white Italian
mosaic, with frieze of the old rose, and the wainscoting
24 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
27 illuminated texts from the Bible and from Mrs. Eddy’s
“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” im-
panelled. A sunburst in the centre of the ceiling takes
30 the place of chandeliers. There is a disc of cut glass in
Page 26
1 decorative designs, covering one hundred and forty-four
electric lights in the form of a star, which is twenty-one
3 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.
6 The organ and choir gallery is spacious and rich beyond
the power of words to depict. The platform — corre-
sponding to the chancel of an Episcopal church — is a
9 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
12 lamps, eight feet in height. The great organ comes from
Detroit. It is one of vast compass, with AEolian attach-
ment, and cost eleven thousand dollars. It is the gift of
15 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
18 perfect tone.
THE “MOTHER’S ROOM”
The “Mother’s Room” is approached by an entrance of
21 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
24 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
27 hangs an Athenian lamp over two hundred years old,
which will be kept always burning day and night.(1) Lead-
(1) At Mrs. Eddy’s request the lamp was not kept burning.
Page 27
1 ing off the “Mother’s Room” are toilet apartments, with
full-length French mirrors and every convenience.
3 The directors’ room is very beautiful in marble ap-
proaches and rich carving, and off this is a vault for the
safe preservation of papers.
6 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.
9 There are no “memorial” windows; the entire church is a
testimonial, not a memorial — a point that the members
strongly insist upon.
12 In the auditorium are two rose windows — one repre-
senting the heavenly city which “cometh down from God
out of heaven,” with six small windows beneath, emblem-
15 atic 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
18 of victory, and others with lamps, typical of Science and
Health.
Another great window tells its pictorial story of the four
21 Marys — the mother of Jesus, Mary anointing the head of
Jesus, Mary washing the feet of Jesus, Mary at the resur-
rection; and the woman spoken of in the Apocalypse,
24 chapter 12, God-crowned.
One more window in the auditorium represents the
raising of Lazarus.
27 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
30 interest. A large bay window, composed of three separate
Page 28
1 panels, is designed to be wholly typical of the work of Mrs.
Eddy. The central panel represents her in solitude and
3 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,
6 and other panels are decorated with emblematic designs,
with the legends, “Heal the Sick,” “Raise the Dead,”
“Cleanse the Lepers,” and “Cast out Demons.”
9 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
12 of the land — a gift from Mrs. Eddy — which is valued
at some forty thousand dollars.
THE ORDER OF SERVICE
15 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
18 “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” in per-
haps equal measure to its use of the Bible. The reading
is from the two alternately; the singing is from a compila-
21 tion called the “Christian Science Hymnal,” but its songs
are for the most part those devotional hymns from Herbert,
Faber, Robertson, Wesley, Bowring, and other recog-
24 nized devotional poets, with selections from Whittier and
Lowell, as are found in the hymn-books of the Unitarian
churches. For the past year or two Judge Hanna, for-
27 merly of Chicago, has filled the office of pastor to the
church in this city, which held its meetings in Chickering
Page 29
1 Hall, and later in Copley Hall, in the new Grundmann
Studio Building on Copley Square. Preceding Judge
3 Hanna were Rev. D. A. Easton and Rev. L. P. Norcross,
both of whom had formerly been Congregational clergy-
men. The organizer and first pastor of the church here
6 was Mrs. Eddy herself, of whose work I shall venture to
speak, a little later, in this article.
Last Sunday I gave myself the pleasure of attending the
9 service held in Copley Hall. The spacious apartment was
thronged with a congregation whose remarkable earnest-
ness impressed the observer. There was no straggling
12 of late-comers. Before the appointed hour every seat in the
hall was filled and a large number of chairs pressed into
service for the overflowing throng. The music was spirited,
15 and the selections from the Bible and from Science and
Health were finely read by Judge Hanna. Then came his
sermon, which dealt directly with the command of Christ
18 to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast
out demons.” In his admirable discourse Judge Hanna
said that while all these injunctions could, under certain
21 conditions, be interpreted and fulfilled literally, the
special lesson was to be taken spiritually — to cleanse the
leprosy of sin, to cast out the demons of evil thought.
24 The discourse was able, and helpful in its suggestive
interpretation.
THE CHURCH MEMBERS
27 Later I was told that almost the entire congregation was
composed of persons who had either been themselves, or
Page 30
1 had seen members of their own families, healed by Chris-
tian Science treatment; and I was further told that once
3 when a Boston clergyman remonstrated with Judge Hanna
for enticing a separate congregation rather than offering
their strength to unite with churches already established —
6 I was told he replied that the Christian Science Church did
not recruit itself from other churches, but from the grave-
yards! The church numbers now four thousand members;
9 but this estimate, as I understand, is not limited to the
Boston adherents, but includes those all over the country.
The ceremonial of uniting is to sign a brief “confession of
12 faith,” written by Mrs. Eddy, and to unite in communion,
which is not celebrated by outward symbols of bread and
wine, but by uniting in silent prayer.
15 The “confession of faith” includes the declaration that
the Scriptures are the guide to eternal Life; that there is a
Supreme Being, and His Son, and the Holy Ghost, and
18 that man is made in His image. It affirms the atonement;
it recognizes Jesus as the teacher and guide to salvation;
the forgiveness of sin by God, and affirms the power of
21 Truth over error, and the need of living faith at the
moment to realize the possibilities of the divine Life.
The entire membership of Christian Scientists throughout
24 the world now exceeds two hundred thousand people. The
church in Boston was organized by Mrs. Eddy, and the
first meeting held on April 12, 1879. It opened with
27 twenty-six members, and within fifteen years it has grown
to its present impressive proportions, and has now its own
magnificent church building, costing over two hundred
30 housand dollars, and entirely paid for when its consecra-
Page 31
1 tion service on January 6 shall be celebrated. This is
certainly a very remarkable retrospect.
3 Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of this denomina-
tion and Discoverer of Christian Science, as they term her
work in affirming the present application of the principles
6 asserted by Jesus, is a most interesting personality. At
the risk of colloquialism, I am tempted to “begin at the
beginning” of my own knowledge of Mrs. Eddy, and take,
9 as the point of departure, my first meeting with her and
the subsequent development of some degree of familiarity
with the work of her life which that meeting inaugurated
12 for me.
MRS. EDDY
It was during some year in the early ’80’s that I became
15 aware — from that close contact with public feeling result-
ing from editorial work in daily journalism — that the
Boston atmosphere was largely thrilled and pervaded by a
18 new and increasing interest in the dominance of mind over
matter, and that the central figure in all this agitation was
Mrs. Eddy. To a note which I wrote her, begging the
21 favor of an interview for press use, she most kindly replied,
naming an evening on which she would receive me. At
the hour named I rang the bell at a spacious house on
24 Columbus Avenue, and I was hardly more than seated be-
fore Mrs. Eddy entered the room. She impressed me as
singularly graceful and winning in bearing and manner,
27 and with great claim to personal beauty. Her figure was
tall, slender, and as flexible in movement as that of a Del-
Page 32
1 sarte disciple; her face, framed in dark hair and lighted
by luminous blue eyes, had the transparency and rose-flush
3 of tint so often seen in New England, and she was magnetic,
earnest, impassioned. No photographs can do the least
justice to Mrs. Eddy, as her beautiful complexion and
6 changeful expression cannot thus be reproduced. At once
one would perceive that she had the temperament to domi-
nate, to lead, to control, not by any crude self-assertion, but
9 a spiritual animus. Of course such a personality, with the
wonderful tumult in the air that her large and enthusiastic
following excited, fascinated the imagination. What had
12 she originated? I mentally questioned this modern St.
Catherine, who was dominating her followers like any ab-
bess of old. She told me the story of her life, so far as out-
15 ward events may translate those inner experiences which
alone are significant.
Mary Baker was the daughter of Mark and Abigail
18 (Ambrose) Baker, and was born in Concord, N. H., some-
where in the early decade of 1820-’30. At the time I met
her she must have been some sixty years of age, yet she had
21 the coloring and the elastic bearing of a woman of thirty,
and this, she told me, was due to the principles of Chris-
tian Science. On her father’s side Mrs. Eddy came from
24 Scotch and English ancestry, and Hannah More was a
relative of her grandmother. Deacon Ambrose, her mater-
nal grandfather, was known as a “godly man,” and her
27 mother was a religious enthusiast, a saintly and consecrated
character. One of her brothers, Albert Baker, graduated
at Dartmouth and achieved eminence as a lawyer.
Page 33
1 MRS. EDDY AS A CHILD
As a child Mary Baker saw visions and dreamed dreams.
3 When eight years of age she began, like Jeanne d’Arc, to
hear “voices,” and for a year she heard her name called
distinctly, and would often run to her mother questioning
6 if she were wanted. One night the mother related to her
the story of Samuel, and bade her, if she heard the voice
again to reply as he did: “Speak, Lord, for Thy servant
9 heareth.” The call came, but the little maid was afraid
and did not reply. This caused her tears of remorse and
she prayed for forgiveness, and promised to reply if the call
12 came again. It came, and she answered as her mother had
bidden her, and after that it ceased.
These experiences, of which Catholic biographies are
15 full, and which history not infrequently emphasizes, cer-
tainly offer food for meditation. Theodore Parker related
that when he was a lad, at work in a field one day on his
18 father’s farm at Lexington, an old man with a snowy beard
suddenly appeared at his side, and walked with him as he
worked, giving him high counsel and serious thought. All
21 inquiry in the neighborhood as to whence the stranger
came or whither he went was fruitless; no one else had
seen him, and Mr. Parker always believed, so a friend has
24 told me, that his visitor was a spiritual form from another
world. It is certainly true that many and many persons,
whose life has been destined to more than ordinary achieve-
27 ment, have had experiences of voices or visions in their
early youth.
Page 34
1 At an early age Miss Baker was married to Colonel
Glover, of Charleston, S. C., who lived only a year. She
3 returned to her father’s home — in 1844 — and from that
time until 1866 no special record is to be made.
In 1866, while living in Lynn, Mass., Mrs. Eddy
6 met with a severe accident, and her case was pro-
nounced hopeless by the physicians. There came a
Sunday morning when her pastor came to bid her good-
9 by before proceeding to his morning service, as there was
no probability that she would be alive at its close. During
this time she suddenly became aware of a divine illumina-
12 tion and ministration. She requested those with her to
withdraw, and reluctantly they did so, believing her de-
lirious. Soon, to their bewilderment and fright, she walked
15 into the adjoining room, “and they thought I had died,
and that it was my apparition,” she said.
THE PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE HEALING
18 From that hour dated her conviction of the Principle of
divine healing, and that it is as true to-day as it was in the
days when Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth. “I felt
21 that the divine Spirit had wrought a miracle,” she said, in
reference to this experience. “How, I could not tell, but
later I found it to be in perfect scientific accord with the
24 divine law.” From 1866-’69 Mrs. Eddy withdrew from the
world to meditate, to pray, to search the Scriptures.
“During this time,” she said, in reply to my questions,
27 “the Bible was my only textbook. It answered my ques-
tions as to the process by which I was restored to health;
Page 35
1 it came to me with a new meaning, and suddenly I appre-
hended the spiritual meaning of the teaching of Jesus and
3 the Principle and the law involved in spiritual Science
and metaphysical healing — in a word — Christian
Science.”
6 Mrs. Eddy came to perceive that Christ’s healing was not
miraculous, but was simply a natural fulfilment of divine
law — a law as operative in the world to-day as it was
9 nineteen hundred years ago. “Divine Science is begotten
of spirituality,” she says, “since only the ‘pure in heart’
can see God.”
12 In writing of this experience, Mrs. Eddy has said: —
“I had learned that thought must be spiritualized in
order to apprehend Spirit. It must become honest, un-
15 selfish, and pure, in order to have the least understanding
of God in divine Science. The first must become last.
Our reliance upon material things must be transferred to
18 a perception of and dependence on spiritual things. For
Spirit to be supreme in demonstration, it must be supreme
in our affections, and we must be clad with divine power.
21 I had learned that Mind reconstructed the body, and that
nothing else could. All Science is a revelation.”
Through homoeopathy, too, Mrs. Eddy became con-
24 vinced of the Principle of Mind-healing, discovering that
the more attenuated the drug, the more potent was its
effects.
27 In 1877 Mrs. Glover married Dr. Asa Gilbert Eddy, of
Londonderry, Vermont, a physician who had come into
sympathy with her own views, and who was the first to
30 place “Christian Scientist” on the sign at his door. Dr.
Page 36
1 Eddy died in 1882, a year after her founding of the Meta-
physical College in Boston, in which he taught.
3 The work in the Metaphysical College lasted nine years,
and it was closed (in 1889) in the very zenith of its pros-
perity, as Mrs. Eddy felt it essential to the deeper founda-
6 tion of her religious work to retire from active contact with
the world. To this College came hundreds and hundreds
of students, from Europe as well as this country. I was
9 present at the class lectures now and then, by Mrs. Eddy’s
kind invitation, and such earnestness of attention as was
given to her morning talks by the men and women present
12 I never saw equalled.
MRS. EDDY’S PERSONALITY
On the evening that I first met Mrs. Eddy by her hos-
15 pitable courtesy, I went to her peculiarly fatigued. I came
away in a state of exhilaration and energy that made me
feel I could have walked any conceivable distance. I have
18 met Mrs. Eddy many times since then, and always with
this experience repeated.
Several years ago Mrs. Eddy removed from Columbus
21 to Commonwealth Avenue, where, just beyond Massa-
chusetts Avenue, at the entrance to the Back Bay Park,
she bought one of the most beautiful residences in Boston.
24 The interior is one of the utmost taste and luxury, and the
house is now occupied by Judge and Mrs. Hanna, who are
the editors of The Christian Science Journal, a monthly
27 publication, and to whose courtesy I am much indebted
for some of the data of this paper. “It is a pleasure to
Page 37
1 give any information for The Inter-Ocean,” remarked
Mrs. Hanna, “for it is the great daily that is so fair and so
3 just in its attitude toward all questions.”
The increasing demands of the public on Mrs. Eddy
have been, it may be, one factor in her removal to Concord,
6 N. H., where she has a beautiful residence, called Pleasant
View. Her health is excellent, and although her hair is
white, she retains in a great degree her energy and power;
9 she takes a daily walk and drives in the afternoon. She
personally attends to a vast correspondence; superin-
tends the church in Boston, and is engaged on further
12 writings on Christian Science. In every sense she is the
recognized head of the Christian Science Church. At the
same time it is her most earnest aim to eliminate the ele-
15 ment of personality from the faith. “On this point, Mrs.
Eddy feels very strongly,” said a gentleman to me on
Christmas eve, as I sat in the beautiful drawing-room,
18 where Judge and Mrs. Hanna, Miss Elsie Lincoln, the
soprano for the choir of the new church, and one or two
other friends were gathered.
21 “Mother feels very strongly,” he continued, “the danger
and the misfortune of a church depending on any one
personality. It is difficult not to centre too closely around
24 a highly gifted personality.”
THE FIRST ASSOCIATION
The first Christian Scientist Association was organized
27 on July 4, 1876, by seven persons, including Mrs. Eddy.
In April, 1879, the church was founded with twenty-six
Page 38
1 members, and its charter obtained the following June.(1)
Mrs. Eddy had preached in other parishes for five years
3 before being ordained in this church, which ceremony
took place in 1881.
The first edition of Mrs. Eddy’s book, Science and
6 Health, was issued in 1875. During these succeeding
twenty years it has been greatly revised and enlarged, and
it is now in its ninety-first edition. It consists of fourteen
9 chapters, whose titles are as follows: “Science, Theology,
Medicine,” “Physiology,” “Footsteps of Truth,” “Crea-
tion,” “Science of Being,” “Christian Science and Spirit-
12 ualism,” “Marriage,” “Animal Magnetism,” “Some
Objections Answered,” “Prayer,” “Atonement and Eu-
charist,” “Christian Science Practice,” “Teaching Chris-
15 tian Science,” “Recapitulation.” Key to the Scriptures,
Genesis, Apocalypse, and Glossary.
The Christian Scientists do not accept the belief we call
18 spiritualism. They believe those who have passed the
change of death are in so entirely different a plane of con-
sciousness that between the embodied and disembodied
21 there is no possibility of communication.
They are diametrically opposed to the philosophy of
Karma and of reincarnation, which are the tenets of
24 theosophy. They hold with strict fidelity to what they
believe to be the literal teachings of Christ.
Yet each and all these movements, however they may
27 differ among themselves, are phases of idealism and mani-
festations of a higher spirituality seeking expression.
It is good that each and all shall prosper, serving those
30 who find in one form of belief or another their best aid
(1) Steps were taken to promote the Church of Christ, Scientist, in April, May,
and June; formal organization was accomplished and the charter obtained in
August, 1879.
Page 39
1 and guidance, and that all meet on common ground in the
great essentials of love to God and love to man as a signal
3 proof of the divine origin of humanity which finds no rest
until it finds the peace of the Lord in spirituality. They
all teach that one great truth, that
6 God’s greatness flows around our incompleteness,
Round our restlessness, His rest.
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING
——————
9 I add on the following page a little poem that I con-
sider superbly sweet — from my friend, Miss Whiting,
the talented author of “The World Beautiful.” — M. B.
12 EDDY
AT THE WINDOW
[Written for the Traveller]
15 The sunset, burning low,
Throws o’er the Charles its flood of golden light.
Dimly, as in a dream, I watch the flow
18 Of waves of light.
The splendor of the sky
Repeats its glory in the river’s flow;
21 And sculptured angels, on the gray church tower,
Gaze on the world below.
Dimly, as in a dream,
24 I see the hurrying throng before me pass,
But ‘mid them all I only see one face,
Under the meadow grass.
Page 40
1 Ah, love! I only know
How thoughts of you forever cling to me:
3 I wonder how the seasons come and go
Beyond the sapphire sea?
LILIAN WHITING
6 April 15, 1888
