FIRST CHRISTMAS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 305, 26 December 1928, Page 7

FIRST CHRISTMAS.

DEVOUT PILGRIMS.

Picturesque Ceremony In Holy Land.

ALL NATIONS PAY HOMAGE.

(Australian Press Assn.—United Service.) .$ y,-- (Received 11 a.m.) ■TERUSALEM, December 2.5. Christian pilgrims from as far afield as China and Japan joined to-day in a picturesque ceremonial as the grotto which, according to tradition, was the stable of the village inn where our Saviour was born. The procession, which was headed by the Latin Patriarch, and an escort o? Palestine Mounted Police, was composed of hundreds of clergy and natives in robes of bright colours. It formed up ai mid-day in Jerusalem, near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and then moved off by way of the Jaffa Gate, towards Bethlehem, which is six miles away on the Hebron Road.

The throng was accompanied by many well-dressed, well-to-do Europeans, some of whom were obviously onlookers, but others Mere devout worshippers.

The road passes over the Plain of Eephaim, the scene of historic contests with the Philistines, then ascends the

rising ground near the Convent of Elias, whence the traveller gets his first view of Bethlehem, which crowns a ridge in the distance. A little further on the procession passed another famous spot, the tomb of Rachel. •

The weather was more like an English spring . day. than, .the . December of° the Christmas card artist. Out of a cloudless sky the sun glinted on the jewels in the Patriarch's mitre, and on the polished accoutrements of the escort.

Arrived at the Church of the Nativity the people of the procession made their way iu turn to the grotto, which is underneath the Church, and is reached by narrow, steps. On the marble altar built over the manger gleamed the large silver star round which runs the motto in Latin, "Here Christ Was Born." No daylight reaches the spot, but there arc dozens of silver lamps, many of them almost priceless, and for to-day's ceremony hundreds of twinkling candles were &et round the sacred place.

Up to midnight pilgrims continued to make their way to the grotto, and then ihey all assembled in the Church of St. Catherine, where another procession was formed and carried an image of the infant Saviour down to the grotto, where; it was laid on the place where theinanger is believed to have been, aii-I there it will remain until Epiphany. The Protestants ljegan the observance of the holiest day in the Christian ye.ir by a watch in the bright moonlight in the Shepherds' Field, situated not far from Bthlehcm—the spot where tradition says the shepherds watched their flocks by night, and the appeared with the tidings that transformed th<> world. After watching during the night the worshippers gathered in the courtyard adjoining the Grotto and sang carols. U.S. BEATS ALL RECORDS BOUNTEOUS CHRISTMAS. (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) (Received 12 noon.) WASHINGTON, December 25. Having performed their annual custom of pressing an electric button on Christmas Eve to light the capital's Christmas tree, President and Mrs. Coolidge departed to-day for Eapelo Island, off the Georgia Coast, where they will spend the Christmas and New Year holidays. Mr. Herbert Hoover passed Christmas aboard the battleship Utah, which is rearing the equator on the voyage home from South America. The crew joined with the President-elect in singing carols on the quarter-deck. Meantime New York reports a bountiful Christmas mail in which records were broken. Stores report tremendous s-ales, some managers estimating that this year has found the greatest buying in the historv of their stores. New York Post Office reports that 141.000.000 pieces of mail were handled, which the greatest Christmas mail ever handled in New York City. ITALY'S ROYALTY. QUIET CELEBRATION. (Australian and N'.Z. Press Association.) (.Received 11 .a.m.) HOME, December 23. The Italian Royal Family celebrated Christinas quietly in the Villa Savoia, near Rome, and according to custom hundreds of children in the asylums and in the city received toys as a Christmas gift from the Queen. The Pope officiated at Mass in the private chapel, and gave communion to a number of his relatives. Signor Mussolini and liis family cclebrated the day at his residence in the city, and was joined later by members of' the Italian Naval League. POLITICIANS REST. BRIAND AS SANTA CLAUS. PARIS, December 25. As the result of a decision of the French Senate not to complete the work on the Budget, its prominent members were able to spend the holiday at their estates and elsewhere.

The Foreign Minister, M. Briand, went to Cocherel and acted as Santa Claus for the children of the town, according to custom. M. Poincaire, M. Leygues and M. Painleve went to their estates, and M. Clemenceau motored to the tomb of his friend, the artist, Claude Money, on which he placed flowers.