The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-12-25


! stand how some OF the saints have
stood perpetua1ly before the manger in
| anlazement and "leI their days waste
sweetly away like the lamps Of fra
! grant oil in the cave Of the incarna-
| tion," such as was St Paula, T1o
! though she came from a Sumtuous
abode on the banks of the Tiber, where
the pilgrim now goes 10 venerate heT
memory in the Church Of San Girolafno
Della Carita, found Bethlehem the
| sweetest, most attractive spot n the
| world. The first time she entered the
! cave of the nativity she was so pene-
| trated with the wonderful mystery Of
the incarnation that she resolved to
| spend the rest of her life watching be-
| side the manger whore the divine in
FAINT once lay on the straw, and repay
suffering by STEERING and love by love.
She built a hospice by the wayside to
shelter pilgrams drawn thither by the
star in the east, in the very place
! where Joseph and Mary could find no
suitable asylum, and founded a mon
astery for religious women, who kept
up the angels song of Gloria in Ex-
/ celsis."
OF the three midnight services in
( Bethlehem, that in the Latin chapel
! conducted by the Franciscans is the
} attended. At the stroke Of the convent
/ bell, whose echoes duly fall on the
/ PROSTATE people from the lofty belfry,
a curtain yields before the chief priest
and he enters from an eastern wing
bearing the chalice and paten. All rise
at his approach, looking like spectres
I in the dimly lit sanctuary.
! A stray traveller led TO the scene by
curiosity stands erect in the shadow of
; a huge marble column. He alone of all
the company mars the harmony of
sympathy. But when the holy moisture
from the aspergill lies damp on his
+ cheek he bends TO the priest before him
and to the memory of the manager
cradle Of life
! Anon a silence falls, broken only by
( the gentle signing Of the swinging
( HURDLES. The air is softened with the
/ warm breath of the incense, a rapture
/ settles on the kneeling devotees, with
acolytes standing like sentinels of Je-
. hovah.
/ With the closing of the credo the
splendid contrast comes when hearts
pour out their gladness in the "Adeste
F'ideles.' The old monks chant al
most celestial in such a place, swells
into an alleluia at the closing words,
''Ad Bethlehem"
A very ecstacy Of fervor is evoked
when the ring of the sacring bells
summons TO the consecra ton. At each
recurring stroke until the six are spent
he people beat their breasts in token
of their unwOrthiness, and then the
daily recurring miracle of the church
is repeated and Christ in their belief is
made flesh and blood again at the place
where Mary gave Him birth.
In similar fashion are the ceremonies
observed in the Greek and Armenian
chapels, with such changes only as
their liturgies require until the time for
the wonderous climax is reached.
Each chapel has a stairway to the
GrottO of the Nativity beneath, and at
this mystic hour it serves as the pur-
veyor of the solemn benediction. In it
the three priests join in a solemn read
ing of the story of the birth of Jesus.
Above the people on their knees listen
to the message, and with those words
ringing in their hearts go forth into the
world again.
The people o fBethlehem number $500,
and are generally professsd Christians.
As one makes all these observations
and learns these facts from a native,
perhaps he lives his life with them for Il
short span, but he has not forgotten
that center of all interest in Bethlehem,
the Church of Nativity, and row. as he
is slowly nearing the Mecca of all Christ
ians, he Studies it with greater care.
He sees before him and to the west a
square looking structure of impressive
appearance, but seeming more like a
fortress or a prison than a sanctuary.
He is struck by the great strength of the
building adjoining, as well as the
church itself, the thickness of the walls
which, he afteuward learns, is ten
feet-the comparatively small proper
lions of the door and the lack of eXteT-
iOr windows. There are windows open
ing into an exterior court. Trustworthy
tradition asserts that this church was
erected in the third century by
Constantine, who was Influenced by his
mother, St Helena, but 1T has been re
newed many times since. It is the old
est place erected for Christian worship
in the world. The church is connected
with a Latin convent on tie northeast. |
2 Greek convent on THE southeast. and
an Armenian on the southwest. These |
converts are all connected on the west,
making one end of a closed rectangle |
leaving an open court between. The !
body of the church is nearly square. be |
ing 80 feet long by 10 wide. and is en-
tered from the west. As an ordinary I
person posses through the narrow. |
heavy doors standing in an archway !
of stone barely four feet in height, ne is /
obliged to stoop.
Ones first impression on entering is |
a disappointment. Before him is a Song
bare aisle or nave (thir-ty-fOur feet wide |
and terminated by a partition. which |
divides the nave from the tranScepT), |
with a double row of COrinthian col |
umns. on either side. having aisles, each 1
twenty-five feet wide. on the out sides i
Of these columns. Many OF these col /
umns are made from solid blocks OF l
i, \
omon's temple at Jerusalem. They were
once richly Ornamented and the side
walls We're inlasd with mosaics, but
this Ornamen tatiOn has nearly all dis
q appeared and Is covered with white |
wash. The ceiling Of this part of the
church is of cedar wood from Lebanon,
but many of the beams have been re
placed by oak. Above the partition At
the eastern extremity OF the nave * Wis
Ihle the upper pant of the altar Of the
Church of the Nativity. which W. can
Sse by passing through the single door
Of The partition and mounting two stems.
the choir being slightly higher than the
nave. once inside a far different and
more dazzling vision meets tho eye.
Opposite the door is the altar. which is
elegant. The decoration throughout the
choir Is elaborate and lamps OF immea-
50 Vdlue are suspended from the ceiling. /
These lamps are chiefly gifts of distin-
suiShed folk-kings and queenstown
various parts Of the world. This space
S mainly in the hands Of the Greeks.
Who have here erected an altar. a pulpit
and a throne. The altar stands in the
center OF Ehe choir. showing in a niche |
1uder II a white marble star. marking
Inc spot over which the star Of the wise
men stood in the heaN ems. The Ar
nenianS also have an altar here.
From the transoept various passages
cad 10 the different converts. Under