The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1909-12-24
The Celebration of
Christmas.

In the pleasure and hustle OF the
celebration of the birth of the Christ
Child the fact Is apt to be overlooked
that another portion Of the world is
doing precisely the same thing-in a
different n Scarcely one-lfth
Of the territory of the globe is Chris
tian, and but a proportionate number
of its inhabitants celebrate Christmas.
Yet wen in this comparatively small
number Of people there are surpris-
ingly diverse methods of celebrating
the great day. OF course, all countries
that have a Christmas have a similar
spiritual celebration-thanks and
praise and worship to God for the
birth of His only Son in the manger
at Bethlehem. But the diversity Of
celebration along material lines and
the great variety Of Christmas customs
in other lands are surprising, indeed.
Even between countries so closely al
lied as the United States and England
the difference is marked.
OF all places on Christmas surely
the Holy Land, the birthplace of the
Christ Child, is paramount in interest.
And, naturally, the celebration Of the
people Of that land centers in Bethle-
hem, the humble little village where
the shepherds found "the Babe wrap
ped in %swaddling clothes and lying in
a manger." On Christmas Eve the
Christians of Jerusalem and from all
over Palestine and visitors from other
lands flock to Bethlehem to witness
the gorgeous ceremonial in the Roman
Catholic Chapel in the Church of the
Nativity.
One by one and in groups they come,
with their caravans of camels or on
foot, down the road from Jerusalem to
Bethlehem, leading through stony,
rolling plains, with here and there an
olive grove or an orchard. Under the
wonderful radiance of al Eastern
night they wend their way through
the crooked streets of the quaint little
town to the market place, opposite the
church.
The scene is, indeed, a festive one.
Christians from all the countries OF
the East are congregated here in gala
attire. Vendors of sacred relics are
selling their crosses and pictures in
olive wood, and small boys, dressed
in m~any-colored garments, red fezes
and bright red shoes, are darling hith-
err and thither in the crowd in wild
exuberance Of boyish spirits. Sheep
are being killed by family groups for
their evening meal after the ceremo-
MES in the church. The mothers OF
Bethlehem, with their large, lustrous
eyes and brilliant compilations, a"c
making merry with their children.
There is a babel of many voices and
a great running to and fro.
The door of the church opens and
the crowd presses in. The Church Of
the Nativity belongs to the Latins,
the Greeks and the Armenians, each
sect having its own convent adjoining.
The Latins are holding their service
now, the Armenians later and the
Greeks ten days afterward. The en-
trance is through a small door In a.
high stone wall, and one has to stoop
as he enters-thus %insuring bowling
to the crucifix opposite.
The building is believed to be the
oldest monument Of Christian archi-
lecture extant, the basilica erected by
St. Helena In 227 A. D. The services
are held in an adjoining building and
the worshippers are all seated on the
marble floor. The priests and monks
enter in solemn procession to the.
chant Of the grand TIE Deum- The
Bishop and Archbishops follow, in gor-
geous robes richly embroidered in gold
end silver. Paens Of worship peal
forth from the grand old organ.