Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-24
Some Things You Want to Know
The Holy Land-The Church of the Holy sepulOhre.

There Is almost an endless succession Of
professions winding in and about the halls
and corridors Of the great church. wor-
shipping at the various sacred shrines
But each sect ignores a sacred place pc
culiar to another and denies strenuously
the authenticity of the traditions Of the
other sects.
The Holy Sepulchre stands in the center
OF the great rotunda, which is the principal
feature Of the edifice. This rotunda is the
common property Of all Christians, oriental
and occidental. orthodox and hetrodox: Il
is the one place in the Christian world
where all sectarianism Is forgotten and the
Christian Pilgrim Is free to come and wor-
ship according to the dictates OF his own
conscience.
Whatever may be ones own religious be-
lief or unbelief, the heir Of twenty cen
turtles Of christian civilization cannot look
upon that Sepulchre without emotion. Its
dirty marble, its soiled tinsel, its forty
three t~winkling lamps, stand not in the
way Of the imagination. For here is the
place which faith has long accepted as
the spot where was laid the body Of the
CrUcified Jesus, the spot wher He arose
from the dead and where He made unto
the world His supreme revelation. This IS
- - - Nv Rte9No9A9A u III SAAA -
tian Europe for two long centuries battied
in vain. This is the spot which was the
Inspiration of that most remarkable Of all
psychological f-olk-movements. the Cru
sades. This is the spot so holy h
never has 1t passed from the ownership and
control of the Christian church, for even
when the Crusaders sought to deliver the
~Sspulchre from the dominion of the Sara
Gems, although unknown to Europe, this
church was safely in the hands Of the
Oriental Christians.
Here come annually tens Of thousands OF
pilgrims from every quarter of the Chris
tian world. Russian peasants in compa.
mics Of several hundreds, at the expense
Of every bodily comfort, make the great
sacrifices necessary TO bring them to the
Holy land. And here, at the tomb Of the
Lord, one sees them PROSTATE themselves
and kiss the holy stones in a passion OF
religious fervor and zeal which must i'm
press the American onlooker with the tact
that to the miserable Russian moujik the
consolation of the Christian religion is q
very real and potent thing. Here comes
a cowled friar from the mountains OIL
Northern Spain who has begged his way
along the long journey will a faith thai
rivals the passion Of Peter the Hermit
himself. Here comes a prelate of thu
Church Of Rome, who has been laborinl
for the cause Of Christ in far-awa!
America, who thanks his God at the alteI
of Constantine that wherever Christ wa!
buried He lives everywhere today in tn,
hearts Of man. Here comes an Ethiopian
with skin black as night, from the hear
of Africa, a priest in the Church Of Abye
sinia against which all the powers o.
Islam and o. paganism have not prevailed
Here comes a HISTORIAN pilgrim from
Chinese East Turkestan. a representative
of the tiny remnant of that once grea
Christian church which held sway owe
all Asia. even unto China and Japan. Her,
comes, in the uniform of a Twentieth cen
fury Crusader, a Salvation army captain
from the east end of London, whose yea
equals and whose morals are far abov,
those Of the good English soldiers of tn,
Cross. who followed Richard OF the Liol
Heart, into battle against saladin. Her,
comes from the United states the presi
dent of the woman's university, who here
amid this homogeneous convention of al
types OF Christians, fgfves thanks unit,
her Risen Lord for heFtiown country IL
which the teachings Of Jesus Christ hav,
resulted In the emancipation Of her sex
One wishes that the church was clean
one shudders to think that Moslem sword
must preserve the peace between the bick
ering factions of those who follow tn,
lowly Nazarene, one is depressed by tn,
squalor and the superstitions; but one i
forced to remember that the religion o
Jesus Christ is for all men of every shad,
Of opinion, Of every race and color, o
every age and century. No armor of ma
terialism, no defense Of ra~tionalism, NJ
argument Of ~eason is potent to with
stand the powerful emotional influence o.
the spot which is after all, to Christians
the center of the world.
ny FREDERIC ]. HAsKIN.
Tomorrow-TKE HOLY LARD-Bethel
hem OF Judea.