Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-04-13
Calnage
Sermon
Be- Rev.
~ fiiit Tslmacc. .. d.

Los Angeles, CAL. April Sat this
season of the resurrection Of nature
the preacher takes us back on sacred
pilgrimage to the scenes of the first
Easter day. the text chosen being
Matthew xviii. 6, Gene, see the place
where the Lord lay."
The worlds most sacred shrlnes are
the vaults or cathedrals which cover
the bodies OF the honored dead. When
the American tourist alights In the
London depot to begin the exploration
of the British metropolis one OF the
first places he visits is Westminster
abbey. He does this not because West
minister abbey is near to the parlia-
ment buildings, where assemble the
legislative bodies OF the British en-
pire. He does this not because its
stones form the most beautiful archi-
tectural coronet of England. He does
this because for years-aye, for CEN
turies-the greatest dead OF the British
realm have been buried there. Not
only do we find England's kings and
queens sleeping within those stately
walls. but we find there the bodies Of
some of the greatest poets. dramatists
and musicians. painters, warriors ana
statesmen, whose closed eyes cannot
be opened, whose ears cannot be filed
by the many thunderings which the
mightiest of capitals roars about those
silent graves.
When you cross the channel and 60
TO the most beautiful OF all modern
cities, the French capital, what Jour.
ney do you first maker Do you say,
"Let us get a carriage and drive out
upon the boulevards and ride ND the
Champs Elysees and see the Arc de
Triomphe?" No, not IL you are like
most American tourists. You want to
see where the great dead sleep. You
wish 90 go to the Notre Dame. or TO the
Madeleine, or to the Pantheon, or to
that greatest of all tombs where sleeps
the mighty Napoleon. 1t is said that
when Charles V. of the Netherlands
and Spain was about to be buried
courtier of his son and heir, King
Philip. stepped forward and lifted q
rod and struck the casket as he said:
The king is deadi He shall remain
dead He is dead, and there is another
risen up in his place greater than he
ever was" But though that may be
true of Charles V. ii Is not true of
Napoleon L.. the warrior. Napoleon.
the soldier, is dead, but another soldier
greater than Napoleon has not risen IN
his place and in all probability never
will arise. No wonder most tourists
seek the mausoleum of the little Cor
&c, A.
London and Paris is also true of Berlin
and st. Petersburg and Rome and
Egypt. The graves OF the great dead
have, for the most of us, more fascina-
ton than the palaces and the thrones
or living men, greater than their an
cestors though they may be.
But though Caesar may travel hun
dreds OF miles TO stand at the tomb of
Alexander the Great, and Otto III.
went far out OF his way to open the
vault which contained the body of
Charlemagne, and Napoleon himself
went forth to find the tomb of Caesar.
and though great may be our fascina-
ton FOR the tombs OF great men, that
fascination is as nothing compared to
the warnings that draw us to the fam
lily plots where sleep our own beloved
dead. The greatest compliment we
can pay TO n living friend is to ask
him TO accompany us TO the last rest
ing place OF mother, n father. q
VIE or n child. Because we have
loved our silent dead so much we do
not wish any one to go to our family
plot unless our dear ones are sacred In
his eyes.
Mary mt the Temb.
Now, Mary Magdalene loved the Lord
Jesus Christ with her whole heart. He
was TO her the divine being who for
gave her past sins. And as we see
her going TO the tomb or Christ on that
Easter morning we find her taking
along one OF her dearest friends-Nary.
the mother OF James, who also loved
the Lord. These two women are wend-
ing their way to Christ's sepuicher
weighed down with a common sorrow.
AS they come near to the tomb an
angel meets them and says: Gear not
we. for know that ye seek Jesus who
was crucified. He is not here. for he Is
risen, as he said" Then the. ,aneel
spake the eight words to which wish
TO call your attention In our medIta-
ton on the events of that Easter day
Come, see the place where the Lord
lay.r If a holy fascination drew Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary to the
tomb OF n dead Christ surely it is i'm
portant for us TO visit the rlfied tomb
or q risen Lord. Easter day should
be the happiest day or all the year to
us. 1t is the mighty day when the
Lords humiliations and services came
TO their glorious eternal consumma-
ton and Jesus became the first fruits
OF them that slept
Let us find out, in the first place. I'm
what kind of grave Jesus was buried.
Let us see how his body was laid in
that crypt. The condition of his tomb
and of his clothes ought to teach US
just as many helpful gospel lessons as
his cradle OF Bethlehem and the swad-
ding clothes in which he was wrapped
as a newborn child. / suppose the cas-
lest way TO find this grave is to have
Mary Magdalene for our guide. With
out some help we shall never find IL at
all. The cemeteries or graveyards of
the far east are just like the grave
yards or the west. They all need
guide to take the tourists through.
"What?' you say. II never thought
or that. Does Jerusalem have its nea~
Dy cemeteries, as Brooklyn has its
Greenwood and Philadelphia it's Laurel
Fol, Boston its Mount Auburn, Chica-
go Its Rose Hill, New York its Wood
lawn and Paris Its Pere-la- CHASER"
fes. and the amazing fact about the
Jerusalem cemeteries is that you can
distinguish the different graves there.
just as you can pick out the different
graves In Calvary cemetery of Long
island. AS you so through them you
can say, Here is the tomb of wealthy