El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-11-05
FRANK G. CARPENTERS LETTEI



| and gown, decorated with diamonds. en-
eralds and rubies. His clothes are OF
woven gold and silver. and the bishops
who march with him have crosses OF
diamonds which hang from their necks
and they are gowned in gold and silver
brocade.
One of the queerest sights of the world
is to see his beatitude, as the patriarch
is called, going through the ceremony
of washing the feet of the Y apostles
in front of the church of the ffoIy Sepul-
cher. This he does every year He dp-
pears dressed as | have described. but
before going through the humble cere-
mOny of washing the feet of the bishops
who have been picked out 10 represent
the apostles, he takes off his grand gown
of woven gold and lays aside his domed
hat, which is incrusted with jewels
As he does so his long hair falls to
his waist, and he stands forth in plain
sight of his people clad in a long robe
of cream-cOlored silk crepe, which is
bound in at the waist with a golden
white girdle. He now takes a Turkish
bath towel which he wraps around his
loins, and then, STOPPING over. he pOurs
some water from a golden pitcher into
basin of gold. In the meantime each of
the bishops has cast one of his shoes,
and he holds his bare foot out to be
washed The patriarch does this quickly,
splashing the foot with water and driving
it with a towel. As he finishes this
operation he kisses the foot. and then
goes on to the next one in turn | have
seen this ceremony with nv own eyes IN
company with 10000 or more sightseers
and pilgrims.
The Pope of the East.
But let me tell you about my talk with
his beatitude. 1t was arranged by an
official of the church, and the audience
took place in the patrlarchs house, 4
great stone building near the Pool of
Hezekiah, and not far from the church OF
the Sepulcher. His beatitude lives there
with 100 monks and many fine looking
Greek priests stood about as / went up
the stairs of rose cOlOred marble
passed through several rooms filled with
high capped, black goWned ecclesiastics,
and as waited priests and bishops from
the four quarters of Greek Catholicism
passed in and out. One of the priests,
who spoke English, went with fme into
the audience chamber and gave me seat
at the right of the throne. He asked
me to wait, telling me that his beatitu,le
would be in very shortly.
In the meantime there were Others Who
had come for an audience, and the long
table in the center of the room and the
chairs on each side of it We're soon
filled. The most of the men were beard
ed, fine looking PRIESTS dressed in plain
gowns and hiDh caps
As we waited servant brought in a
silver tray containing a nlate OF rose
and white cubes of Turkish delight and
several glasses of water. Upon the tray
were many silver forks, each having
two fine tines as long as my little fin
ger. As the candy was passed each man
OF us took fork and stabbed it into a
cube of the sweet, and thus conveyed
1t to his mouth. 1t was delicious.
BY and by the patriarch entered. He
talked first with some of the priests.
and | had a good chance to study him.
Imagine tall, fine looking, full bearded,
fair faced man of s., dressed ill a long,
black gown and a rimles black cap which
rises eight inches over his forehead. The
gown is cut full and it falls to his feet.
His cap is draped with black cloth which
covers his shoulders and about his neck
is a long, heavy gold chain, to which
hangs an ivory medallion as big as the
palm of your hand. The rim of this me
dallion is studded with diamonds AMI in
side the rim is a painting of the ma
donna with the Holy Child in her arms
| watched the man as he talked. He
gestured now and then and | saw that
his hands were soft and his nails well
kept. His face changed with the sub
lect and the man he spoke re. At times
he was serious, again his eyes sparbled
with animation and now and then he
broke into smile
Ny talk with him was through the
Greek priest, who spoke English. | asked
his beatitude as to the condition of the
church and whether it would improve in
IL
in Turkey. eHe replied that he had no
doubt of that, saying that the church
was a democratic BODY and it ought
therefore to do well under a constitution
al government, such as Turkey now has.
His beatitude spoke of the manv sects
of Christians which were now in the
Holy Land, saying that they were grad
;Ially growing more liberal, and that they
would work more in harmony than they
had in the past.
Future Christianity.
| asked his holiness as to the life of
the priests and whether he thought it
was as pious as that of the hermits who
lived in the second and third centuries
after Christ. tie replied that he donbt
ed whether man was as good now as
then, but that the church WAS doing
what it could to bring him back to the
would come when all mankind would be
Christian, although that time would
probably be far in the future. ! was sur
prised to hear him speak well of The
Protestants, and to say thai all Chris
tan sects would eventually unite and
work together as one for the salvation
of man.
The Patriarch Blesses the United States.
His beatitude was much interested in
America, and at my request gave me the
blessing which he gives to all true be-
levers, saying that | might transmit it
to the American people, each of whom
could regard it as bein~ made especially
for him. This blessing was given 10
me in a golden frame. The words are
printed in Greek in letters IF gold. Lit
orally translated. it reads:
Almighty God, the Father of Mercy
and God of PRAYER, bless, purify and
strengthen these thy disciples who now
bow before Thee.
From every wicked work withdraw
them, and in every right action give
them thy aid
Make all things smooth to each ac-
cording to his wants. BE with those
travelling upon the water and upon the
land. Comfort the poor and heal the
sick