| Show 0 ee 81 peasants bathe bothe in the i i sacred waters i of 0 f t the he jordan ja r don 1 K e tha the traveler in the holy land will witness few alg hl 1 which will interest him more than that of the russian pilgrims at the annual epiphany ceremonies on the banka banks of the river jordan A week before the festival itself crowds of these slav peas pea ants sinta are seen trudging alone along the jericho road read with every imaginable kind of haversack haier sack and carryall carry all on their backs some of the pilgrims are old and weatherworn weather worn others young and cheerful while it few by ale sleep p and fatigue are lying prone along the roadside but somehow the whole lot and old manage to reaca the banks of the river in gued time for the ceremony they spend the night perhaps in the ruit run elan stan hospice at jericho where they simply huddle together like a flock of sheep before dawn tho the rooms are empty and the whole crowd has gathered on the tha bank bafik where greek priests who will presently drive a roost lucrative trade await them the principal articles lold are branches of trees from various sacred spots stones from the mountain of temptation hard by plants from the wilderness and rosaries with olive stones for beads to whatever religious value Is claimed for these articles the russian peasants implicitly give credence and chev willingly pay their money to obtain wain them chem during the hours immediately preceding the ceremony the crowd Is occupied in prayer and silent devotion to many pilgrims tua this occasion Is one of the greatest life can bring namely to be permitted not only to visit the jordan but actually to bathe in its it sacred waters suddenly chant ing Is heard board and the crowd quickly opens to let a proc procession eston of purple clad ecclesiastics pass to the water then the pilgrims close lu fr again and station themselves along the banks eager and watchful and no reverently a jeweled cross 13 1 laid by the th patriarch on the of the stream to bless it 16 and no sooner does the sacred symbol touch the water than a dive Is made into it by the enthusiastic crowd which splashes and prays and wallows and dips altogether a strange scene such 1 Is the baptism and the longer it lasts the greater the merit the pil grim will enjoy all dripping with water each shroud Is now wrung out and stowed away to serve as the cere cloth when the pilgrimage of life la Is over and the body Is ii ready tor for the grave aa a the traveler rides away the next day to jerusalem he lie will see these childlike peasants bedraggled with mud muo andl fatigued by constant sleeplessness plodding along toward the holy city chanting and singing as they go and leaning on their sticks of reed but there Is now a smile on their faces and joy in their hearts for have they not bathed in the waters of the jordan london traveler |
