The Penn's Grove record., 1903-04-10
= URELY nowhere on earth at

~U RELY nowhere on earth at
- present is the festival Of
9 Easter celebrated with
greater pomp and enthusi-
NaNH asm than at Jerusalem by
Proxy Jew, Mohometan and Chris
- tian alike, its symbolic
meaning only slightly varied by the
devotees of the worlds three great
faiths.
To the devout Jew 1t is still the Feast
of Passover; to the Moslem it Is the
anniversary Of Isaac's release from
death on Mount Moriah; to the Chris
tan 1t is infinitely more, for here are
Gethsemane, Golgotha and the Holy
Sepulchre, which speaks to him most
e%loquently Of the Resurrection.
Wonderful to Western eyes are those
Easter ceremonies in the Orient. Rare
~ does the Greek and Latin festival
fall upon the same date. 1t therefore
happens that for weeks pilgrims from
both churches pour into Jerusalem
from the four quarters of the earth.
Every hospice is crowded, every
dwelling has its guest; and far out on
the hills-especially on the western
slope of Mount Olivet-innumerable
white tents are pitched, as in the days
OF the Master. Every ship to Jaffa
brings it's hundreds; every road has its
ravan of horses, camels, donkeys and
dogs-Greek Christians, Moslem Arabs
and foreign-born Jews, in voluble yet
picturesque confusion, "going up to
Jerusalem as men went 5000 years
ago.
In the Holy City the narrow streets
are full to their utmost capacity. and
thousands are outside the walls try
Ing vainly to enter. It is a motley,
crowd, to be seen nowhere else, and to
be seen even in Jerusalem at no other
time.
All night professions of Russian Dill
grims pass through the Jaffa gate to
and from the Church Of the Holy Sep
ulchre. At times they sing, always
M song, the "Song Of the Resurrec-
tion." 1t begins with one low, wailing
note, like the cry Of the lost. By twos
and threes and tens and hundreds the
refrain is taken up, until the entire
street, even to the Holy Sepulchre. is
full Of the mournful strain.
White as silver in the moonlight
shines the tower Of the Emperor's
Church, its cross a pearl against the
purple night sky, where great stars
float like truant balloons. Like a huge
shadow stands the Tower Of David and
the citadel.
Beyond the city one sees the pale
breasts Of the Hebron hills, where
Abraham and Isaac lie at peace.
On the Wednesday preceding Easter
the visitor wakes before sunrise,
reused by what seems the wailing of
babies. In the open square north of
the Jaffa gate he sees huddled together
as densely as they can stand fiocks Of
sheep and goats, with their shepherds,
all the roads leading to the square alive
with herds bleating piteously and half
s%trangled with thirst and the white al
kaline dust of Jerusalem. Thousands
are here already. thousands more are
on their weary way, for it is ga sheep
to a man" in Moslem land. The herd
ers are loud voiced and quarrelsome;
they fight each other for best places,
beat their own locks and others, and
turn the morning into a sort Of Hades
of cursing and confusion.
No man would guess that this scene
Is the beginning Of a religious celebra-
ton which extends over every inch of
Mahometan territory on earth. It is
the preparation for Kurban Bairam.
On this day every Moslem, rich or
poor, must buy a sheep or goat for the