Show TWO CURISIMAS DAYS I IN BETULEIEM I THE VIA DOLROSA When I left Paris In Octob ISSG it as to g to Paetine there to come Into personal contact with pesonal contct wit those spot saacUfied by thc presence of the Say lor when he trod the earth I went to Jerusalem and saw that V1L Dolors along which he made his v aS way towards Calvary I saw c r itself and all the sacred spots Ih tie neighborhoodS Gethsemane and Its garden Bethany and Its tomb But I reserved for Christmas my visit to Bethlehem that ltte spot destined to Immortality because of the birth of th t Savior within its confines On he day before Christmas befor Christas aceorn acom paJied by the rench consul I depasted depae from Jerusalem toward Bethlehem resolved re-solved to see that place and its sanci fed grotto on the anniversary of the tle very nigh Jesus the Christ first frt oPened his e e upon the world which he ha come to save But alas for the emotions which fled my being I could no have chosen a more unfortunate time As we were on our way I noticed notced great crowds of people of every nation on the face of the globe hurrying in the sme direction anxiously eagerly as if they feared to miss some part of a exhibition Ye arrived in par hem and through the influence of the consul were permitted to pas the night in the very grotto in which the Christ was bon I AT THE SAVIORS BIRTHPLACE To my surprise and horror I found a I seting mass of men and women surging surg-ing around the place t ing to push I eab other aside and seethey knew not what 1 was infinitely shocked for i I seemed to me that these thousands seme tese I lacked all reverence for this the hOIj est plae on earth to a believing Chris tin I had hoped burying myself in I lecton pon the wondrous nativity rt pas the night in prayer and mei tqLio I hardly dar to de more than I pep at the place in which the virgin had borne the worlds remerbu tos people this mob appeared to lace all sense and sentiment I wondered how much they understood how deeply they leerenced the Savior I was glad 1 whn the night was past I would have i made my eap at once had it been i possible to pass through the curious pushing jostling crowd I determine ncer to come to Bethlehem when it was being s polluted The next year 1S7 I again pass Christmas Eve in Palestine but It was 1n the convent near Jerusalem and there was deep sentiment and holy rev rence Never ca I forget the sermon preached in the chapel br a tuly deVout de-Vout pries of him whom he glorified What a inspiration in the very sell on hich the preacher stood What other subject could he choose but that of the Christ How his voice tuche every heart as with extended finger l sLid A stones throw from here he vas burled A little further on he was crucified Through that city he waked to his death Just over the his he was taken prisoner after his agony in the garden and in that direction pointing toward Bethlehem he frt saw the light IN THE VIRGINS STEPS The holy pleasure of visiting Bethlehem Bethle-hem under proper conditions 1 enjoyed a short time after my first unpleasant sxprienee I folowed the paTh whlclf les from Nazareth to that town to which Mary and Joseph had come at that critical time in their career I is a naik of three das fro one town to Th other but it is worth Far more than tIle fatigue whiel must b endure to r fel tat one is waking in the very footsteps of the virgin Hethleen or Bethlehem is also known by the Hebrew name of Euthrala These words men the House of Bread and the land or country I was Indeed to be a House of Brew in a great and iriual sense afteF the bIrth of the Savior there The Arabs give i another name resembling the first for they call i BaitLahen or the House of Meat The town Itself dates from most remote antcult Moses sea of it in the x Vth chapter of GeaSsis in connection with l the birth c Benjamin whIch took place he tells u when his parents ha but a little way t come through Et rath which is the same as Bethlehem Rachel dying immediately fenvai s When Palestine was con < uered ty 5oshua Bethlehem lIke Jerusalem 5osIma BethlehpmIe Jerusaem was inhabited by the idolatrous Caaanie md in the dIvision of the conauered districts it fell to the lot of the tribes of uda Thelttiatlon of Bethlehem Is inded Thcituaton e most heaQtfuJ Built on the crest of the mountains of udea about tO leagues to th sputh of Jerusalem t form is that of a crescent one end of which is marked by the Wells of David the other by the Grottos of the Nativ i Between the two hors of the crescent stretches a fertile valley the WadrelXarubeh The descent of thisvaley is very steep and resembles a circus with low parallel walls whJ h keep te cat from sliding down and have the for of tier on tier of seats i I This valley presents a charming aD I pearance clothed as it is witan abundant abun-dant vegetation in which vines fig olive arid almond trees abound I The view trm the to of the ascent is b un1edon the north b1 the hill of MarE1a and on the wet by the Mountains 01 the Desert where St John dwelt on the east BeitSahour rises from the little hill where Ruth I gleaned the ea ot gin in the fields of Bon while beyond ca be seen the several stony his called the Wider 1 ness Stll further to the eat the f 2 roek ofMount Moab stretch along like a wall th base of whIch is bathed by I the watets of the Dead sea On the i south Mount Herodion forms a reg i j I r lam cone on the summit of which a few ruins indicate the site of the castle of Herod I was here tat the tetrarch Interred crusaders was interre and later the crusaers raised defensive work hence its more modern appellation of the Hill of the Pranks WHERE CHRIST WAS BORN The Grottos of the Nativity are a series of natural caves extending for a considerable distnce in the mountains moun-tains forming chamber connected with each other As a matter of fact shepherds watchIng their flocks from the his avail themselves of these shelters in cold or bad weather and It was in them that Mar and osenI finding no place in the caravansary decided ta take refuge The particular place indicate by tradton as the exact birthplace of the Christ is situated in the lower pat of one of these caves reached by two slopes now converted into flights of stone steDS Between the two sets of steDs is a slight deression which tradition indicates indi-cates as the spot to whIch Mary retired when the divine child was born I was only after the birth that she carried crrIed him a few paces to a more commodious place more sheltered from th cold where i was possible to give the cave something of the sellblance of a room There says the legend were some animals an ox and an ass However 2T7f7 II V I j t 4 I I c tael 4fr THE ADORATION OF THE ItLAGL I that may be Mary found something there to serve the purpose of a crib In i h1ch to lay her new born child This I crib or manger a it is generally caned Is nc preserved in the Church I of Santa Maria Nagglore at Rome where it is visited and venerated by I numerous pilgrims I LOCATION PRESERVED The place rendered sacred by the birth oJ the Savior naturally ha been a goal of pigimabe to many thousands besids myself The early Christians flocked to it in crowds After the revolt I of the Jews under BarCochba the Emperor Hadrian had a temple to Ju pifer ercted 01 the Mount of 01s Cn the very scene of the ascensiI a tern pie to Venus on GOlgotha an1 on 10 Adonis aldve the Grottos of Bethenem These thiee temples remained rtandlii been what i now called BeitSahmour a word signifying The House of the Shepherds I is surprisIng at first sight that shepherds should be watching watch-ing their locks in open air at the time of the year set for the nativity for the cold must have been hiene J was no doubt to the end of December that the account in HolY Writ refer but the pastures were not vat gazIng grounds where the sheep were gathered gath-ered together in thousands from ever direction but mere local fields where I each shepherd tended his own little group of animas and there is nothIng In this to surprise anyone familiar wit the customs of the eat After the December raIns are over the gas begins to grow again and the flowers reappear The severity of the winter aries very much and some especially fine days occur even in the very heart of the cold season when the shepherds of Bethlehem would go down into the plain with their flocks as the Arabs do now in goad season The gospels tel us that when the shepherds were surprised by the angels an-gels they were abiding in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night The night was always divided into three socaled watches The shepherds changed guards every three hour during the short night of the summer and ever four hours during the longer nights of the winter In the last case the first watch epded at 10 and the second at 2 while the third lasted till daybreak The shepherds on guard gathered round the campfire while waiting their turn to rest and I must have been to those thus waiting that the angels appeared They no doubt wakened their comrades to tel them the wonderful news and afterward all went together to Bethlehem where they found and wOshiped the Holy I Child The other personages mentioned in I Scripture in connection with the birth of Jesus are the Magi MagI or sooth syer are mentiOned irtthe book of Daniel as being in the service of King ebuchadnezzar They studied astron cmy and interpreted aeams ThOse re erred to in the gospels seem to have been nt only wIse men but ling or sheiks of Chdea and its neighborhood neighbor-hood They too engaged in the study of the heavenly bodies and perhaps also wrshiped them a fact which explains the immediate attention accorded to a sign appearing in the heavens at the moment of the birth of the Messiah The color of their undergarments yellow yel-low indicated their profession THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM What was the star referred to in the sacred record There is absolutely no positive evidence 01 this point Some think i was a comet or some other similar body others are of the opinion that i was a meter resembling more or less a shooting star which trailed slowly along at a little distance from the ground so as actually to gUide the steps of the Magi TIte gospel ieemed i to not the latter interpretation when it says The star came and I ritood ilver where the young child was A star properly socle would not have indicated the spot with such pro csion Nevertheless it is clear that the significance of the sign was revealed In some way to the Magi Had the travelers exchange idea I previous to their arrival I is very probable that they had No doubt their caravans though they started from different points met beyond the Jordan on the side of the mountains of Moab Moa whence they entered the promised land still preceded by the star The word house used by the evangelists to indicate the place where the Mngi found the Messiah seems to ag sems 10 point to the conclusion that during the journey of their visitos from the east Joseph and Mar had left the cave of the nativity for a more comfortable dwelling I is impossible to convey the idea aroused in the breast of the devout Christian by the sight of Bethlehem and Its sanctified spots any better or more clearly than in the pictures in which I have tried to express my Inter pretaton of those strIng scenes as they must have taken place I by my pIcture and books I have been able to bring the Christ nearer to the minds and hearts of Christians of all lands I am more than repaid for all my labor J 3 TISSOT I I p I I I S f f r ij i l k r I J l 1 > rV < = I > r > tW w I 1 h f I > > > q e I = I > > ji I t ii v T 11ih4 f q 1vM l 1 lf t i r I i i J l J qvf ll > 11 r l I 1 > O f f J I f i I Yii r < l 11 tX j 0 1i I tJ i 9 7 l K rr1 i I h il 1r t i j 17 yi p I f 1 j l KV l f wl r i g j Vh n lfi t r I J t P 11 I ti1 i f Ls jl dJ t t W V f i < iS I I c i t J I r ldllY 1 i I f i 1 t f Ij l QJ g t J I f I t t I I a Nf I 7LI Ql1 S 11 I kI Q f t r 0 = J otIIGHrUST r < + c G HiT j V r S S T MAGI 011 iWAY TO TH M for ISO years thins providentially 1 testng Ine sites of these vneratfl sanctuarip until the time whm ut Helena mother of the Emperor Con sttdTtitte replaced them with 1aHcas in oppr of esU Christ The Basic of Bethlehem 1 still sti stnding and with the exception of the facade which is hidden by massive buildings almost intact The interior consIst of five naves divided bj rows of columns with Corinthian Corin-thian cvltal which were probably taken from the ruIns of the temple of Jerusalem doubtless the source of much of the material used in the bjt sihfcas of St Helena which were erected erect-ed in a ven short space of time Many have wondered how it was possible for the shepherds to be watch ing in the open air at the time when Christ was born The place where the shepherds were when the angels ap peared to tem is supposed to have I I |