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Show The Garden at Nazareth Years Have Dealt Lightly With Spot Where Mary Was for a Time Happy With Her Inbnt Son nnrav HE garden at Nazareth covers a hillside slope jjjj with flowers. It lies S under a sky so pale ti fror"- oriental heat (1 th?t its blue is deli- Y catjly tinted white. Jr 'JrW) garden, where Mnfc) Mary aQd the infant W$5E1 Jesus were happy long ago, is now little dif-ferent dif-ferent in appearance from what it was in early days. Nature cherishes her own, a jealous mother, and in these quiet hills of Galilee her hand works lovingly. loving-ly. The garden, when the dawn breaks gently, gleams with the jeweled glory of the dew. When twilight falls and the birds which, all day long have fluttered in tree and coppice are quiet, and the doves whose busy wings have fluttered whitely in the sunshine seek their nests harmoniously, it is a peaceful peace-ful place, sequestered. So few changes havo come to the life of this part of Palestine in 2,000 years that it is not hard to pierce the misty veil of time and realize as in a vision how this garden looked when Mary used to go there with her little Son, a happy mother for whom the future held no fears. Built on the sides of two hills, the town itself has a charm all its own, made up not alone of pious associations associa-tions but as well of the beauty of orchards, or-chards, cultivated fields and gardens. A3 seen from the high road which leads thither from the sea through the wide, fair plain of Esdraelon it is a friendly looking place. Its houses, red and white, stretch up to the top of the hill from the steep declivity in which the town is placed, and gardens and orchards interspersed in-terspersed add color to the scene, relieving re-lieving that bleakness of plain walls which look so bare in heat of southern south-ern sun. Though not so large as Jerusalem, smaller even than Bethlehem, the town wears an air of distinction, a cheerful atmosphere of hospitality withal, which wins it a fond place in a weary traveler's regard. To this quiet city of Galilee Mary came as a bride from the hilltop town of Sepphoris. Tradition tells how yeung she was, how beautiful lu-r dark and oval face appeared, how tiny were her hands and feel. She had traveled quite a little in her short life. For once -a year she went on foot with Anna and Joachim to Carrnnl, where they owned some land on the ! outskirts of Galilee. That mountain, which overlooks St. John of Acre, we j are told, she loved especially, for there she could scan both sky and tea and watch the clouds like angels' garments trailing delicately across the fields of blue. Trom this humble home in Nazareth Naza-reth she fifx with her child in hfr arms, following Joseph to far Egypt, j ! there to live ii exile until it was safe j once more to return to the land of : her birth. I How dear .in her dreams seemed j then to her the mountains of Gilboa, now capped Hfrmon, the Kishon'B Jtormy stream, and the fracrnnt, pathless path-less fields of Esdraelon, -7.-here a thou-land thou-land eyes of daisies sure widely at J ; the oriental sky, where breezes sway the yellow celandines amid the grasses, where tiny violets clothe the hillside modestly with bloom. Back to their garden at Nazareth came at last the holy family, and in the little house adjoining they lived all through the boyhood of Jesus In this pleasant spot Mary often sat, her child at her knee, and dreamed long thoughts of tender motherhood. By this path she led her little boy to Joseph's workshop, where he would learn the trade of carpentry. Here she was happy. Here she was young Not yef into her loving heart had come the fear of her Son's great destiny. des-tiny. Just a little beyond the town ot Nazareth, about 500 yards from where Mary's house stood, on its borders, and at this later day close to the Church of the Annunciation, is the historic well, approached by a path long and stony, where Mary came for water for her household. Below the fountain is a pool whei she washed her garments and household linen. Today at evening, when coolness has descended from the hills and tempered tem-pered the heat in the valley roundabout, round-about, the women of Nazareth come down the stony pathways from the town to fill their jars with water at this fountain. Swiftly and softly the women come and go. With practiced movement they take the amphoras from their heads, fill them at the fountain, and lift them once more to poise them either oh head or hip. Every attitude atti-tude is strong and easy. Their garments, the dark blue or j red skirt of Galilee, corded in at the waist, the protecting cloak which cov- .f if ; i V ? - , i j) V 1 P ;- i If ' 'f v ' jl ' L3f J;-..i...2f- jL 'SSZZXk The Holy Mother. ers them almost entirely, coining even over the forehead, hang gracefully in long straight folds. Mary must have dress' d like tbwe Hotr.rn when she came to the flow ing well Her little feet that history tells about with such insistent emphasis empha-sis were, like theirs, uncovered. Her little hands were strong. like theirs, to lift the heavy amphora high. With flexibility of youth she mounted the rocky slope, to where her house stood. Many times, no doubt, she led the in- ' fant Jesus with her, holding fast his hand. The pool beneath the fountain, j where the women wash their clothes, j reflected often her earnest brow. I |