Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-01-27
PILGRIMAGE ECHOES.
Story of the HOly House Where the
Parents of Jesus Lived.
WHERE AND HOW PLATE DIED.
Origin of Venice, and Its Prison and
Bridge Compared to Ours.
BODIES OF SAINTS DEAD 900 TEARS

grimage to the Holy Land last summer will
never cease to be of interest. As result of
the pilgrimage many beautiful stories have
been brought to light regarding Bible char
acters, and a good deal of information was
obtained which will interest the public, and
is very valuable to students OF the Bible.
Rev. NJ. Carroll, of St. Andrews Church,
Allegheny, was a member of the pilgrim
age, and has already given the readers Of
The DISPATCH some interesting accounts
of his travels. In the following he gives
his impressions while in Athens, Venice,
Milan, Lueerne and other points of interest
Father Carroll said:
at was Just at the dawn of a beautiful
day on Wednesday, May %, that our party
of pilgrims arrived at the Pireus, the port
of Athens. We got in carriages and were
driven to that city, which is about five miles
distant over a good road. Athens. the cap
ital of the kingdom of Greece, is a modern
city, built within the last so years. The
houses and streets look new and in good re-
pair. The people are progressing hnely
since they shook of the yoke of the Turks.
This was one OF the most civilized and most
famous of the cities of antiquity. There are
hnany of its ancient temples, theaters and
other structures still standing and in toler-
ably good condition. The Greeks e1celled
in most things they undertook in the ancient
times, eloquence, poetry, painting, statuary,
architecture, politics and war. In many OF
these their productions are models still. The
nation is beginning its second career and
deserves to prosper.
MANY HISTORIC PLACES.
s'It was here on the Hill of Mars that st
al 10 fhn Afhanianc the
known God, and here Dionysius, the Are
opagite, one OF his converts, belonged. The
people mostly belong to the non-united
Greek Church, though there are some Cath
olics in the city. They still speak the Greek
language and print their newspapers in
Greek letters.
''On Nav % we took a train for Patras,
where we arrived in the evening. 1t was
here that st. Andrew, the Apostle, was
crucifed. On our course we passed through
the IsUhmus of Corinth, which was ancient
" called the 'Shackles of Greece, for the
reason that those who possessed Its fortress
controlled the affairs Of Greece. There is
new canal being cut through the isthmus at
present, which will greatly shorten the voy-
age from Constantinople to Italy. After
passing through the isthmus we went along
the banks of the strait, called the Gulf of
Lepanro or Corinth. 1t was on this strait
that the Christians gave the Turks great
overthrow in a naval battle in the time of
Pope St. Plus, who died in 1872. The city
of Corinth no longer exists. There are only
few ruins to be seen on the hill that was
called its acropolis. The land along the
strait appears to be good, and the scenery
delightful.
After supper we took boat, calling at
Corfu the next day, and arrived at Brindisi,
T. ca fo1- In,
the evening we took a train for Loretto
where we spent Sunday, the 26th. Loretto, a
small town a short distance south of An
coma, is situated in rich and beautiful
country not far from the Gulf of Venice. 1t
is remarkable as possessing the house in
which the holy family lived in at Nazareth.
The story of the holy house is as follows:
Constantine the Great built fine church at
Nazareth in the beginning Of the fourth
century, around the site on which the holy
house stood.
DESTROYED BY BARBARIANS.
This church was sacked by the Mussel-
men at the time that the Crusaders took
Jerusalem in 1899. The holy house disap-
peared out of the church at date that is not
known now with certainty. 1t is believed
that our Savior wished to save from desc
Grafton the house in which He and His holy
parents lived, and it is probable its removal
took place before the church was sacked.
"The first news of the holy house after
its disappearance was that it was found and
recognized at Ierstate, In Dalmatia, on May
10. 1891 From there it was carried, not by
earthly hands, to Recanati, December 10,
1894; afterward to a neighboring mountain,
and finally to Loretto, where it stands at
present. There is a magnificent church built
around the house, which is held in great
veneration. The house itself is encased on the
outside with precious marble, while the ma
terial of which il is built can be seen on the
inside, as the interior of the walls is not cov-
cred. At first sight it appears to be built of
large-sized bricks, but on q closer examina-
tion the material is found to be stone, shaped |
like bricks. There are no apartments in the
house, and some of the culinary utensils,
such as dishes, are shown there still.
"Venice, the city of the -gondolas, was
visited MAY q. This, indeed, is a unique
city. 1t appears at distance like large
town floating on the sea. The origin of
Venice is said to be this: In 452 A. D.,
when Attila drove the people of Italy before
him some of them took refuge in some small
islands that stood in the Adriatic Sea, close
to the shore OF Italy. There they LAID the
foundation of a city, which afterward made
q great figure in history. At first, like all
other cities, it consisted of few rude huts,
then better houses were built, and it went
on improving in size and beauty, till it de-
veloped into a great republic. 1t was the |
Venetians who built that
PART OF coNsANTNoPLE.
which stands on the hill of Pera, and the
tall tower, built there bv them for an observa- |
tory, is still called the Venetian Tower.
Instead of paved streets canals run before |
hal hnTF IN md oFc I-Cn H11.
are used by people in stead of carriages or |
cars. There are, however, some solid streets |
in the city. Their chief magistrates were called |
doges. Their Bridge of Sighs led across a |
canal from the court of Justice to the prison. |
The bridge between our Court House and
jail in Pittsburg is copied from it. It is
safe to say that the cells in our penitentiaries
and jsils, barring their size, are as chambers
of palaces as compared with the gloomy
and cherries cells of the dungeons of
Venice. Political opponents appeared in
their eyes as the worst class of offenders.
and such we're punished in this dungeon
to which they were conducted across the
bridge. 1t is good that people are becoming
more enlightened and humane as time adj
vances. As a contrast to their prison thew
have beautiful churches, fine palaces. pal
leries of paintings and statuary and large
and commodious hotels.
After stay OF one cay we departed on
Tuesday, May 2S, for Milan. On Wednes-
day, May 29, we said mass at the altar
where rests the body of st. Charles Bor-
romeo, in the Cathedral of Milan. The
saeristan opened the shrine for us to see the
body Of the SAINT, which is in a good state
of preservation, though he is dead since
November, 15SF305 years. In passing
through Rome on our outward journey we
saw another saints body, that of Pope Plus
V, who died in 1872, over 317 years ago,
and another at Asizzi, the body of ST. Clara,
who died in the thirteenth century. over 600
wears ago. The Roval Prophet saws that