IN THE HOLY LAND

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3846, 16 December 1936, Page 21 (Supplement)

IN THE HOLY LAND

Christmas in Bethlehem.

(By

David J. Martin.

“ Jerusalem next ! ” cried the guide. That morning the ship had dropped anchor in the palm-fringed Bay of Acre. From Haifa, on the slopes of Carmel, we had crossed the fertile Plain of Sharon, passed the Vale of Sorek, where David slew Goliath, and Zorah, where Samson was born, and now we were near the Holy City. Jerusalem, the lodestone'which for many centuries had drawn pilgrims of three great faiths—the “ foundation of peace ” whose streets, times, innumerable, had run rivers of blood, caught us off balance. We left the train to find ourselves ( in a modern railway station, from which silent motors sped us to passable hotels. On three sides of the old city the “ New Jerusalem ” which is springing up is kept at a respectful distance by the valleys which bound the city and which aided its defence in other days, but on the north side there is no barrier. That first afternoon, as we plodded through muddy streets in a thin drizzle of rain and gazed at the dreary grey walls, it seemed hardly worth while to have traversed one-third of the globe’s circumference for this. How far removed from the mental picture we had drawn ! But we were to see it under more pleasing conditions, and as our acquaintance grew so did our appreciation. The present wails of the city are comparatively modern, dating back to 1542, though the foundations, in part, are of Solomon’s time. Let us descend and pass through one or two narrow streets to the Wailing Wall, believed by the Jews to be a remnant of the wall of Solomon’s Temple. Here, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays, the ascetic and reactionary element of the Jews come to bewail the departed glory of their city and temple. Not far from the Temple area we leave by St. Stephen’s Gate, or “ The Gate of Our Lady Mary.” Taking the path through it over the brook Kedron,. it is but a short distance to the Garden of Gethsemane, on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. Surprisingly tiny, the garden is almost less in area than the huge Franciscan Basilica which overshadows it. Here are eight, olive trees of tremendous age, whose roots may have been groping for nourishment when Christ walked in the garden. Returning to the road, a gentle slope leads to the summit of the Mount of Olives. Across the Kedron the city spreads in a great panorama, dominated in the foreground by the Dome of the Rock and Temple area, which take up half the east wall. Jerusalem’s skyline is characterised not by commerce, but by religion. Jerusalem and Bethlehem are connected by an excellent paved road, and on Christmas Day we motored to the Church of the Nativity, whose door is only four feet high, in order,

it is said, to keep cattle from entering; and having seen the traditional site of the manger, it was only a few steps up the hillside to a clear'outlook over the valley to a spot where “There were . . . shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock,” on the day of Christ’s birth. As the late afternoon sun mellowed the view I realised that this was one of the most pleasing mental pictures which I would take home from Palestine. On Christmas Eve a special service was held in the Church of the Nativity. While shepherds watched their flocks by night, even as they did 1936 years before, midnight Mass was celebrated. On that eve peace and goodwill actually do reign among the various sects of the church. The Latin patriarch went from Jerusalem on Christmas Eve and was met two miles outside of Bethlehem by the entire population and many others, some garbed as in Biblical times. After Mass, the patriarch, followed by the entire congregation, bore aloft in his hands an image of the - Infant Jesus, which was carried through the basilica and placed in the manger in the corner of the grotto, on the traditional spot where the new-born Babe lay on His bed of straw. During the processional shepherds repeated the scene of adoration, in imitation of those who, directed by the angels, came to adore the Messiah. In Jerusalem, as we descend from generalities to particulars, perplexing difficulties and contradictions increase, but whatever may be our attitude towards the traditional sacred rites, no visit to the Holy City can be complete without, entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, for sixteen centuries venerated by millions in all parts of the world. Of no beauty architecturally, it has been described as not so much a church as a sacred exposition building. Gathered under its roof are almost all the places mentioned in the Bible which, by any stretch of the imagination, could be located in Jerusalem. Among many others are the grave of Adam; the stone on which Christ’s body was placed to be anointed for burial; the spot where the Roman soldiers cast lots for His garments; where Christ was crowned with thorns, scourged, and nailed to the Cross. Most revered of all is the Holy Sepulchre itself, in a tiny chapel twenty-six feet long, for whose possession much blood has flowed. Many golden lamps hang from the ceiling and make the air very oppressive. The stone on which Christ’s body is said to have been laid is covered with marble, Xvorn smooth as glass by the kisses of millions. Still under the roof, we climb flights of steps to Calvary, where the actual hole in which the Cross was placed is shown. From the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, with a little difficulty one can enter the Via Dolorosa, accepted by many as the poigi nant way of the Cross.