Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-26
THE HOLY LAND
VT-THE CITY OF PROFESSIONS
Bv Frederic L HaSkln

, christ ia esteemed bv Islam as the greatest
! of the prophets but Mohammed' ana II 's
interesting to note that on the mount ol
olives the most sacred Christian shrine Is W
| DC ssession Of the Mohammedans ana Is piaoe
! fieouented by dovout pilgrims who follow the
| prophet of Arabia A mosque here marks me
site of the place from whence Jesus Is salu
| to have nscended into heaven ana there ~
| one of the footprints of Jesus in the soHu
| stone to prove the story.
Yet Of all the professions OF Jerusalem 'ne
most impressive is that disjointed and un-
organized march OF tn devout along the wa
Dolorosa. the route which Jesus trod on ms
last march 10 Calvary. Along this winding
! and narrow way are the stations OF the
Cross so familiar In the worship OF an Chrls-
| tians Of the Latin rite There are only nine
of the fourteen Stations of the Cross IN the
| Via Dolorosa, as the last five are covered over
by the building of the Church Of the Holy
Sepulchre
Tho pilgrims who make this Journey repre-
sent almost every nationality and almost every
class In Christian society. There is the fanat-
cal devotee who makes the arduous pilgrimage
every Friday. groaninG under the weight or q
| huge wooden cross almost as large as thaI
which Jesus carried Hundreds Of these PHI
| grims dress themselves as they imagine jesus
would dress and make the pilgrimage. As ihey
| take their Ideas of tho costume from p0lht-
ings with which they are familiar, and as
the European painters OF the middle ages were
anything but accurate In detail the costumlhs
| is most motley, Some wear German cloth'S
| OF the medieval periods, some are dressed as
! Romans and some Russians These pllBrlihs
may be seen any day. but ON Friday there Is
usually greater number. Then thero are
solemn and formal ceremonial professions
which make the pilgrimage Of the Via
Dcorosa In sacerdota splendor, with all the
| trappings Of gorgeous ecclesiastical habits
Then there are the ordinary tourists, every
party Of whom goes over this way There
| is rarely time when some procession is not
moving over this route.
As Christmas day is the climax OF the
| Christian year In Bethlehem 80 in Jerusalem
does Easter mark tho high tide OF the re-
! ligious Observance. The Church Of the Holy
! Sepulchre lnclosng the tomb from which
Christ arose. IS, OF course the center or the
/ eastern celebration. The Greek church holds
its most solemn services on this day but
/ for various reasons the service in the Church
OF the Holy sepulchre upon Easter morning
! Is usually degenerated into riot In which
| lives are often lost.
/ The chapel OF the sepulchre Is divided into
/ two smaller chapels, one containing the
/ scpulchre. which Is Latin. and the other con-
tanning the stone which was rolled away from
the door OF the sepulchre. which is Greek
and Armenian. In the wall Of the latter tiny
| n
OF Easter will issue. on the night before
Easter the CHURCH Is crowded with as many
persons as the Turkish soldiers viii admit and
| tho square m front OF the building and the
streets in the neighborhood packed densely
with shouting. singing throng Of Oriental
Christians.
Inside the church tho people run round and
round and round the sepulohre shouting. This
| Is the tomb OF Jesus Christ. God save the
sultan. Jesus Christ has redeemed us" II Is
| a wild orgy which has semblance of what
/ westorners deem proper religious decorum
/ Finally n procession OF Greek priests IN em-
| bioldered vestments comes forth escorting the
bishop. He after a ceremony, goes into the
tiny chapel and closes the door. In there.
alone. he prays FOR fire 10 descend from
heaven.
| After a long time during which the crowd
has been working itself up 10 the highest
| freOzy. the fire comes forth from the hole In
! the sf,le Of the chapel; It is caught on the
candles OF the waiting priests and then COM
mUnicated rapidly all through the church, each
waiter having a candle ready, ou. the door
and from candle 10 candle In the great throng
outside Men fight with each other TO be first
70 receive the Holy Fire. and Easter morning
IS often the occasion Of disgraceful brawls al
the very sepulchre Of the Christ. That the Ore
actually descends from heaven In answer 10
the prayers Of tho bishop one OF these
eager and devout worshipcrs ever doubts. The
Latins have nothing 10 do with this ceremony.
They, the Episcopalans, the Lutherans and
the other western churches observe Easter In
Jerusalem just as they do in any other city,
Tomorrow-The Holy Land;
UI F8nrA - VnHu