Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-25
THE HOLY LAND
V-CHRISTMAS in BETHLEHEM
Bv Frederic j. Haskin

the body to music, just as perferVld
religious excitement affects southern
negroes at a Baptist camp-meetlhg III
Georgia
Just at midnight the procession OF
priests, headed by the patriarch ana
followed by as many of the people as
can crowd in, descends the stairs to
the Grotto of the Nativity, the Verl-
table spot where Jesus was born. Each
person carries a candle, and the huSe
organ peals forth the music of tine
midnight mass. On this occasion the
Greeks permit the Catholics to use
a portion of their part of the church
for the professional. A carpet Is lald
down and the Catholics walk ON 1t. 1t
is lined on both sides by rows OF Greek
priests who keep careful watcn lest
any Catholic should step off the carpet
and thus desecrate the holy place.
The patriarch halts first mt the Shrine
of the Manger. a spot possessed eX-
clusiVely by the Latins The wooden
manger in which 1t is believed that the
infant Jesus was laid was removed,
centuries ago, to Rome, where IL IS eN-
hibited every Christmas. The manger
in the church at Bethlehem is built or
precious marble The procession again
halts at the altar erected where the
three wise men knelt to make their
gifts to the infant Redeemer.
At last the patriarch comes to the
Grotto, and here celebrates the mass
in the sanctuary of the Nativity. Ihe
Grotto is packed to suffocation by the
crowd, the air is filled with the smoke
of the candles. it is impossible to hear,
and the celebration is anything but inn
pressive. After the patriarch has with
drawn there is usually a long line or
visiting priests from every country
who desire to celebrate mass on Christ
mas day in the birthplace OF the Sa-
vior They take their turn and the
mass is repeated over and over again
all through the night and until noon
on Christmas day.
Those who have assisted In this
Christmas celebration declare that
wherever there is a Catholic church
in all the world and wherever the
midnight mass is said or sung under
proper conditions, the occasion is more
solemn and impressive than in this
suffocating cave which was a stable
nineteen hundred years ago.
TIE Roman Catholics obtained pos
session of the principal control of the
Church of the Nativity in the year
1899, upon the success OF the Crusaders
invasion of Palestine. Baldwin, king
of Jerusalem, was crowned in the
Church of the Nativity on Christmas
day, 1101 The church was made the
seat of the episcopal see of Bethlehem
in the twelfth century and so continued
until 1872, when the Greeks and other
oriental sects dispossessed the Latins.
The Catholics were not again permitted
to have any share in the church until
1852. Ever since the time when st.
Louis was king of France. the French
nation has been the titular protector
of the Latin Christians in Palestine.
This fiction was made a reality In 1882
by the Emperor Napoleon III, who oh
tained from the sultan of Turkey II
ukase giving the Franciscan Catholic
order a portion of the Church of the
Nativity.
1t was alleged that the Greek priests
had stolen the silver star which marked
the birthplace OF the Savior, and the
Catholics OF Vienna sent to Palestine
star TO be set in the Grotto. Napo-
leon III demanded and obtained from
the sultan the keys to the Grotto and
permission to set in the place where
Christ was born a silver star orna-
mented with the arms of the empire OF
France This cvaused terrific indigna-
ton among the eastern churches, which
was shared by the Russian nation and
emperor. The Crimean War was the
result Nowadays Greeks, Armenians
and Latins keep constant guard in the
church, and with the aid of MOham-
medan soldiers the peace is preserved.
The people OF Bethlehem know moth
ing of Santa Claus, they have no GUS
tom of giving Christmas gifts, they
have no Christmas trees, no mistletoe.
no holly wreaths. All these things we
have inherited from our pagan ances-
tors of northern Europe. In Bethle-
hem Christmas is the annual celebra-
ton of the visit of the three wise men,
of the appearance of the Heavenly
Host to the shepherds, and of the birth
of Jesus And to them Jesus is not
only the Son of God, the Reedemer of
the world, the Founder of their rell-
gion. and the most sublime Being of
the ages, but he is also Jesus the son
of Mary who was born in their town
And there Is nothing lrreverent or sac
rilegious in the pride with which these
people claim Jesus Christ as a fellow
! townsman. Christmas in Bethlehem
is the local celebration of local event
TomorrOw-The Holy Land;
VI-The City of Professions.