Holy City Pilgrims

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 546, 26 December 1928, Page 9

Holy City Pilgrims

PICTURESQUE PROCESSION GOES FROM JERUSALEM TO BETHLEHEM Watch of the Shepherds (United P.A. —By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. Press Associationi) (United Service) Reed. 9.45 a.m. JERUSALEM.. Tuesday. TOURISTS and Christian pilgrims from as far afield as * China and Japan joined to-day in a picturesque ceremonial around the grotto which, according to tradition, served as the stable for the village hostel wherein the Saviour was born 1,928 years ago.

The procession, headed by the Latin Patriarch and an escort of Palestine mounted police, was composed of hundreds of clergy and natives in brightlycoloured robes. It formed at mid-day in Jerusalem and proceeded from the Jaffa gate to Bethlehem. Many well dressed well-to-do Europeans accompanied the throng, some as onlookers and some as devout worshippers at this annual glorification of the birth of Christ. The weather was more like an English spring day than the December of Christmas card artists. The sky was cloudless, the sun glinted on the jewels in the Patriarch’s mitre and the accoutrements of the guards. The ground was ablaze with huge silver stars. Hundreds of twinkling candles were around the site of the manger, which is now marked by a marble monument built over the grotto in the Church of the Nativity. Into and around this moved the throng. The observance continued till midnight, when the worshippers reassembled in the Church of St, Catherine, adjoining the Basilica, and .formed a procession to the grotto, where the image of the infant Saviour was laid in the place of the manger where it will be kept until Epiphany. Protestants commenced the observance of the holiest day in Christendom by a watch in bright moonlight in the shepherds’ field which is situated east of the road to Bethlehem. They spent the night under the clear stars, and sang carols in the courtyard adjoining the grotto. COOLIDGE DEPARTS AN ISLAND HOLIDAY HOOVER STILL AT SEA f Australian a ltd N.Z. Press Association) Reed. 10.44 a.m. WASHINGTON. To-day. Having complied with the annual custom and pressed the electric button on Christmas Eve, lighting the capital’s Christmas tree, President Coolidge and Mrs. Coolidge departed to-day for Eapelo Island. off the Georgia Coast, where he will spend the Christmas and New Year holidays. Mr. H. C. Hoover, the Presidentelect, passed Christmas aboard the battleship Utah, which is nearing the Equator on ner voyage home. The crew joined the President-elect in singing carols on the quarterdeck. In the meantime, New York has reported a bountiful Christmas. Mail records were broken; stores reported tremendous sales, some managers estimating that this year found the greatest buying in the history of their stores.

The New York Post Office reported that 141,000,000 pieces of mail were handled, which is the greatest Christmas mail ever handled In New York City. AID FOR WELSH MINERS A HAPPIER CHRISTMAS FOOD AND CLOTHES GIVEN Times Cable . LONDON, Monday. South Wales is having a brighter Christmas than it had dared to hope for. Thousands of miners and their families will remember with gratitude the 1928 Yuletide as a result of the work undertaken by many agencies to alleviate their miseries.

From the Lord Mayor’s Fund £45,000 has been sent to . South Wales to be expendid chiefly on footwear and warm garments for mothers and children. Arrangements are also being made for loans to meet the cost of maternity cases. A Cardiff stockbroker gave £ 500 to provide Christmas dinners for children, and flour and vegetables have been widely distributed among the miners’ households. The Miners’ Federation alone has handled 26,100 parcels, containing gifts from all parts of Britain, in the last three weeks. The Young Men’s Christian Association is giving special attention to the clothing of young miners, and is securing employment for them in England and overseas. JOYS AND SORROWS THE POPE AND CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO CARDINALS {Australian and N.Z. Press Association) HOME, Monday. Pope Pius, replying to-day to the Christmas greetings of the 26 cardinals who are resident in Rome, said two things caused him great rejoicing, although there were two other things which caused him great distress. He rejoiced at the progress made by King George, whose life now appeared to be out of danger, and at the disappearance of the threat of war between Bolivia and Paraguay. But he was distressed at what he described as “the persecution of the Church” in Mexico and Russia.

CHRISTMAS AT ROME KING, POPE AND DUCE (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) Reed. 9.4 a.m. ROME, Tuesday. The Italian Royal Family celebrated Christmas quietly in the Villa Savoia, near Rome, and according to custom, hundreds of children in the asylums in the city received toys as a Christmas gift from the Queen. The Pope officiated at mass in his private chapel, and gave Communion to a number of his relatives. -Signor Mussolini and his family celebrated the day at their residence in the city, and were joined later by members of the Italian Naval League. BRIAND AS SANTA CLAUS SENATE CEASES WORK (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) Reed. 9.4 a.m. PARIS, Tuesday. As a result of the decision of the French Senate not to complete the work on the Budget, its prominent members were able to spend the holiday on their estates and elsewhere. The Foreign Minister, M. Briand, went to Cocherel, and acted as Santa Claus for the children of the town. M. Poincare, M. Leygues, and M. Painleve went to their estates. M. Clemenceau motored to the tomb of his friend, the artist, Claude Money, upon which he placed flowers. LONDON UNDER RAIN USUAL GOOD SPIRITS NO SNOW THIS YEAR (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) Reed. 9.5 a.m. LONDON. Tuesday. London celebrated the holiday with its usual spirits. Despite the drizzling rain on Christmas Eve, many people crowded into Piccadilly and the Strand, and the night clubs did a rushing business. The stores remained open especially late for the benefit of those who left their purchases until the last minute, in view of the seriousness of the King’s illness. Warm winds have ushered in a green Christmas and there is no sign of snow anywhere in the British Isles, even Scotland being free from snow. SYDNEY’S HOLIDAY GREAT EXODUS FROM CITY SYDNEY, Tuesday. The weather was gloriously fine for the holiday, with a forecast for a continuance of good weather, with moderate temperatures. There has been a great exodus of city people for mountain or seaside resorts. Shopkeepers report a record amount of business, which is a happy ending for a year in which business men had many anxieties owing to the dullness of trade.