The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-03-31
Scenes at Christ's Tomb.


gave me clear or definite impression of
lhe interior. l don't believe it can be
described. 1t is impossible to visit the
church with any degree of reverence or to
quit it without sorrow and shame. Were
these Turkish soldiers not stationed at
the door, armed and on the watch for
the first outbreak of fanaticism, it would
be as much as mans life was worth to
venture into the sanctuary without
body-guard. Within the church, gath
cred under the shadow of the chief
shrine, the Holy Sepulcher itself, behold
the brilliant congregation of lesser
shrines that lie in a circle about the cen
ter.
Golgotha is just fourteen and half
feet above the pavement of the church,
containing, in its Chapel of the Raising
of the Cross, the hole in the rock, silver
mounted, where the cross stood, with
two holes for the crosses of the thieves;
the cleft in the rock, brass mounted,
where the earth was rent, and which is
said to reach to the center of the earth;
the Chapel of the Agony, where He was
nailed to the cross; the spot where He
was taken down from the cross; the spot
where the three Marys stood. Under
Golgotha is the tomb of Adam, the first
man, upon whose head the blood of
Christ dripped through the cleft in the
rock, thus restoring him to life. II is
Adams skull that is placed at the foot
of a crucitix. The tombs of Melchize-
dek, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus,
Godfrey de Bouillon and Baldwin l. are
all under the same roof. You have only
to walk few PAGES and you come upon
shrines in rapid succession. Here is the
place where our Lord was crowned with
thorns, where He appeared to Mary Mag
dalen, the pillar to which He was bound
during the scourging, the slab on which
His body was laid for the amounting, the
spot where He first appeared to the
Blessed Virgin after his resurrection,
the center of the earth, the place where
the dust was taken out of which Adam
was formed, the place where the gar
ments were parted, the place where the
true cross was found, etc / am told
that the place where the cock crew
thrice is shown to this day, but have
not seen it,
After hasty visit to the whole series
of shrines, having been pstairs to Col
gotha and down stairs to the Chapel of
the Finding of the Cross, came at last
to the Sepulcher and paused at the
threshold awaiting my turn to enter
The Holy Sepulcher, as it now stands, is
no sepulcher. There is no trace of
grotto or cavity in the rock or of the
rock itself. Under the great dome of
the church, in the center of an amphi-
theater, surrounded by two lofty gal
leries with arches, pictures, statues,
lamps and banners, is chapel, sixteen
sided, twenty-siX feet in length and sew
enteen and half feet in width. Guards
stand at the small door, under silken
canopy that stretches nearly to one side
of the dome. AT length my turn comes;
find myself in a chamber measuring
sixteen feet by ten feet, which is called
the Chapel of the Angel. In the center
of this chapel is huge stone, said to be
that which the angel rolled away and on
which he afterward sat. The chapel
was dimly lighted. A few figures grope
about it. One energies from low door
in the further wall of the chamber; the
figure fills the passage for moment, and
then | see flood of light and inhale
delicious breath of incense; | stoop to
enter the inner chapel, and find that
solitary priest, who is as motionless as
statue, is the only person present. This
chapel is but six and half feet long by
six feet wide; IA multitude of precious
lamps swing from the low ceiling; they
seem to eXhale exquisite perfumes. On
the right of the chapel is an altar of mar
Bile, five feet in length, two in breadth,
and three feet in height. The wall
above the altar is covered with gaudy
reliefs and pictures wrought in silver
and gold. Mass is said here daily, for
this is the tomb of our Lord!
The miracle of the Holy Fire is GER
tainly without rival in Chlistendom.
Holy Saturday, the eve of Easter, is the
day on which this miracle takes place.
Thousands of Greek and Russian pill
grims visit Jerusalem during Holy Week;
all these devotees make sure of seeing
this famous miracle. The church on
Good Friday is thronged; many of those
who are in the church on Friday have
with them mats, provisions, water, and
cigarettes, and they are thus enabled to
spend the night in the temporary CALLER
les erected under the lower arches of the
rotunda, and to remain until after the
miracle takes place, which is usually at
two p IN. on Saturday. Meanwhile they
smoke, chat-the uproar in the church is
deafening get into difficulty with those
who seek to usurp their places, and are
forcibly separated by the Turkish guards,
who are on this occasion distributed
thickly all over the church.
The Russian pilgrims are, for the most
part, brutal and ignorant race, whose
fanaticism on Holy Thursday knows no
bound save the wall of Turkish infantry
that is drawn up around them with fixed
bayonets. AS was passing through the
aisle of the church on my way TO the
Latin Convent adjoining, and through
which / was to gain access to the upper
gallery of the rotunda, was overtaken
by mob of Russians, who were quite
mad with excitement. They were naked
to the waist, were linked arm-in- arm, and
were rushing round and round, shrek
ing at the top of their voices. Had not