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Show CELEBRATION IN GREEK COUNTRIES Intense Fervor and Devotion Shown in Easter CeremoniesPlaces Ceremo-niesPlaces of Pilgrimage Pil-grimage Numerous. IN flll tho Greek orthodox countries Ruasla, Koumania, Greece, Bulgaria, Servia, Montenegro, and a large part of Austria-Hungary EaBter Is colo brated with great fervor nnd devotion. Tho Easter kiss is a well-known incident inci-dent of these colobrutions. A curious story is told of Czar Nicholas II and the Easter kiss. On leaviug his apart ments ono Easter morning he kissed the guard outside with the usual salutation, salu-tation, "Christ is risen," to which tho response 1b, "Ho is truly risen." Out the man answered, coolly, "Ho is not risen." The emperor was aghast, and shouted, furiously, "He is risen I" Dut tho man, with tho utmost composure, repeated hta denial. Ho was a Jew! Only the emperor's sonso of humor saved htm. Russia, as tho premier Greek Orthodox Ortho-dox nation, is very much In evidence in tho Holy Land, and of lato years has asserted her supremacy in tho Christendom Chris-tendom of tho Orient in many ways not only by generous contributions in magnificent buildings and financially, but also politically In strengthening the position of the Greok church. Especially Es-pecially at EaBter it is Interesting to observe tho contrasta which tako on a certaiu political hue between Latins, Greeks, Protestants and Gregorlans (Armenians). Protestant religious activity In Jerusalem, Je-rusalem, which at ono tlmo wus largo-ly largo-ly English, has of late years been much Btrengtbcned by tho influx of German colonists, especially Suablans, Away from the ecclesiastical ceremonial cere-monial tho pilgrim In Easter time sooks tho traditional places where our Lord spent his last days and nights. Of these Gethsemano is the principal goal, and here tho difference in creed among the many virltors is obliterated by an earnest and quiet devotion which 1b unexpectedly freo from tho emotional. Another figure has a prominent placo in Easter celebrations in Jerusalem; Jeru-salem; that of Moses, whoso liberation libera-tion of tho Jewish people from the yoke of Egypt is commemorated in tho ancient Hebrew paschal feast. But It Is not tho Passover celobrated by the various Jewish colonies of Palestine the older Spanish-speaking, the Turk-speaking Turk-speaking peoplo from Bokhara and other central Asiatic regions, tho Arabic-speaking Jews from Yemen, and tho Polish, Russian and German Jowa of Yiddish tongue. It is not the Jewish Jew-ish Passover that is tho most remarkable remark-able celebration In honor of the groat leader and the Exodus. There la a vory little known Mohammedan Moham-medan colebration which, though no longer so general as formerly, is still a most Interesting one. To the Mohammedan, Mo-hammedan, it' must be remembered, Jerusalem Is a holy city, like Mecca nd Medina, and thero is a saying among Arabs, "Syria is tho blessed wuntry, Palestine the holy land, and Jerusalem, tho holy city, is the holy of holies." Tho tradition is that Ommi Selma, wife of tho prophet, heard these words ono day from Mohammed, "Ho who makes tho pilgrimage from Jerusalem to Mecca will obtain forgiveness of sins, post and future, and will earn paradise." There is a pilgrimage at Easter timo which does not go quite as far from Jerusalem as Mecca, but whoso goal is tho burial place of Moses Nebl Musa between the city and tho Dead sea. Although, according to Christian and Hebrew belief, tho Lord burled Moses, and his grave is hidden from posterity, tho Mohammedans regard a certain ruined sanctuary, some three or four hours' distance from Jerusalem, Jerusa-lem, as covering tho remains of the prophet. In cosmopolitan charm Easter in Constantinople almost equals that in Jerusalem. Tho capital of tho Turkish Turk-ish empire is, of course, in itself highly cosmopolitan, and there la no other city in the world whero so many languages lan-guages aro heard in tho streets, not by foreigners but by tho variegated native population. Tho background hero Is not Jewish and Mohammedan, as in Jerusalem, but Mohammedan and Christian, with a strong tinge of Spanish Span-ish Jowry. Of the native Christians tho Greeks predominate, but there has always been a very numerous Armenian element ele-ment in Constantinople. The magnificent magnifi-cent Greek Orthodox ceremonial well reflects tho towering strength of that church in the Levant, which for centuries, centu-ries, under the absolute rulo of tho Ottoman sultans, acted in tho capacity of imperial overseer of tho Christian peoples under Turkish sway. Until tho comparatively recent rise of tho Balkan nationalities Roumanian, Servian, Ser-vian, Bulgarian, Montenegrin Greok was tho language of all cultured peoplo of orthodox faith outside of Russia and Austria-Hungary. And Greek intellectual, intellec-tual, social and political control through tho unifying power of the Greek church was more complete un dor Ottoman rulo than it had been under un-der tho Byzantine emperors. Recent events havo onco moro shown tho force of the people of Greek speech. Through the breaking away of the Bulgarian church and the erection erec-tion of a Bulgarian exarchate, Greek in religion, but Bulgarian in speech' and political alms, it had been temporarily tempo-rarily weakened. |