The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1909-02-11

the Garden of Gethsemane and en-
deavor to gain some inspiration from
the sacred surroundings. Here it wa
that the Master retired the night
after the last supper and there it was
that He endured the dreadful agony
for the sins of the world. The garden
is now the possession of the Fran.
ciscans who take excellent care of it.
making it very attractive. There ar
in it many flower beds, and visitors
may pluck few, though the priest
in charge naturally expects q small
fee in return. There are in the gar
den some ancient olive trees, one
especially old with riven trunk and
a mere shell left, though bearing
| live branches, is said to have been
there when the blessed Lord Wept
and prayed within the sacred pre-
cincts. There had been a storm q
short time before and several of the
slender twigs had been broken off by
the wind, and these | gathered and
treasure as some of my most pre-
cious mementoes. The garden is ir-
regular in shape, having a diameter
of some 215 feet, which seems small
when compared with what took place
within it's precincts. A stone marks
the spot where Peter, James and
John slept, and a short distance from
it are the remains of a column cree
ted on the supposed spot of the
betrayal by Judas for 80 pieces of
silver. This garden is one of the best
authenticated places we have and
ranks next to Jacobs we'll for GER
tainty. We have accounts of it as
early as the fourth century, SO it is
regarded as quite reliable. There are
small monuments to mark the several
spots where the blessed Redeemer
Matthew %, and while they are prob
ably not exact they serve to call at
tention to the great event which
meant so much to all mankind.
The Greeks cannot bear to be out
done by the other orders, so they
have a garden of Gethsemane not
| far away and near it is the church
of ST. Mary Magadalene with seven
swelling domes, richly adorned, while
within the building are many choice
paintings. The church was built in
! 1888 by Alexander III, of Russia as
token of his loyalty to the church
of which he was the supposed head.
A few steps from the garden we
come to a light gray rock which has
been pointed out since the fourteenth
century as the spot on which the Vir-
gin Mary dropped her girdle into the
hands of ST. Thomas at the time of
her assumption.
About half way up the mountain
are the ruins of church once cree
ted in honor of the spot from which
the Lord of glory viewed the city and
wept over it as told in Luke 1874:
And when He came near He beheld
the city and wept over it" 1t might
well he the spot, for it commands a
fine view of the city and even the
Moslems once regarded the place OF
weeping as holy. Here stood a mos
que in the seventeen century.
AS we go up the side Of the noun
tain we pass over the spot occupied
by Titus when he laid siege to the
holy city and destroyed some 1000,
900 of people, making true the many
assertions of the Redeemer regarding
what would take place if they re
/ jected Him. Arriving at the top OF
the mount we have an especially fine
view and if the day be a clear one
the waters of the Dead Sea seem not
far off, though in reality they are
/ 1914 miles distant. Beyond we car
! see the blue outlines of the mountain
of Moab while all about one are tradi
Etional sites almost without number
/, The rock which marks the spot of tn
ascension is carefully garded and the
| deyout Greeks are assured that from
that exact spot the Master ascended
into heaven, though it cannot be the
right place. The Greeks have 6
church here called the Church Of the
Ascension, and many devout worship
ers have prayed within its walls
From the top we see many other in
teresting places but cannot stop tc
mention all of them though about the
mountain are many places and object
of interest which we may examine
There is the replted tomb of Absa
lom though it hardly TALES 1t is a
piece of work principally of alabaste1
and in it's time must have been very
beautiful. Near by is the tomb OF
Jehoshaphat though it is now much
checked by rubbish tending to show
! the former greatness of the place