Omaha daily bee., 1905-12-17

II ~
upon a hill which is crowned by
kr----l the Church Of the Nativity, writes
EsfxH Marion Harland in the December
S-@~ Llpplncott's. The Grotto. which
all scots of believers have agreed upon os
the birthplace Of our Lord. is directly under
the church and entirely dependent for light
upon artificial means. A silver star is let
INTO the pavement Of semicircular niche.
above which is an altar adorned with the
usual church symbols BY the light ~
hiteen colored lamps suspended under the
altar we read the inscription in Latin.
Here Jesus Christ was Born Of tn. Vir-
gin Mary"
Inc long line Of pilgrims Frustrated them
selves, one by one, and kissed the star
some with dropping tears-all. silently-soi-
emnized beyond the range OF speech 1t
did not add to our solomnity to be shown
the manager. decorated with lace and an
embroidered altar cloth and defended from
sacrilegious fingers by a glded railing Tho
really impressive things were occasional
glimpses Of the rough stone walls and roof
OF the ancient stable. visible here and
there between the gaudy decorations.
The service of Christmas eve began at
half past 10 at night and concluded at half
past 2 in the morning. At midnight a lulu
my nun Lllt VI Sdll pTtluueO the supreme
moment of the occasion-the sudden folding
back Of a curtain above the altar, revealing
manger-cradle and a big wax doll. The
exultant outburst of organ and choir in a
magnificent Gloria in Exccsis accompanied
the stately professional of the entire STAFF
of priests and acolytes, chanting and swing
Ing censers while they bore M one aisle
and down another, back to the high altar
the same doll, dressed IN cambria and lace,
and nesting in the embrace of the richly
appareled bishop.
Every incident OF our last night i'm ia
mails camp in Bethlehem recurs to ME
with peculiar distinctness How. as the
darkness deepened the red, blinking eyes
of the charcoal craters Of the wonderful
portable stove presided over by our &C
complished chef in the door of the kitchen
tent-the night being breezeless-shone
upon the under side of the olive boughs
over our heads, while our quiet talk went
on of what had happened in the old town
behind us
We spoke longest of David's Greatest
Son, and of the birth that was to draw the
eyes and thoughts of all nations to the
little city on the hilltop I'm the land of Juda.
At midnight, kept wakeful by the rush
and burden of thought I arose to look
rom the tent door upon the watchful stars
that here have a conscious majesty l had
never recognized elsewhere. and wondered
anew where, amidst the glittering hosts
'marshalled on the nightly plain" had
flashed the Star of Bethlehem. For the last
time I'm our eventful series of journeyings
we saw the dawn redden the Mountains
OF Moab. the thin crescent OF the waning
moon dying, while we gazed before the
brightness of the coming sun.
shall always be grateful that that night
of ineffable calm and the beauty of the
new day are prominent among the pictures
conjured before my mental vision, as at
the wave OF an enchanter's wand, by the
name of "Ephrath-which is Bethlehem"
Through the kindly offices OF our incom.
parable dragoman, David ,samal-who, Mrs
NJ. o. w. Oliphant writes was "the provi-
dence of her family party" as he after
ward proved himself TO be OF ours-we were
admitted TO the homes of several Bethle-
hemites and enjoyed glimpses of a life I'M
changed in general aspect from that of 2OG
years ago.
Our longest call and the most interesting
was upon a family of some note in the towr
and so well-to-do that they occupied tn,
whole of a three-storied house. Christmas
being a holiday, men well as womer
were at home, and all the members of the