The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1915-12-24
CHRISTMAS At THE
BIRTHPLACE OF CHRIST
An Interesting Story by John
Mallem of this City
Who Once Served as an Acolyte in the
Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem.

John Mallem, for the past dozen
years or more resident of Palatka,
and a man of whom The News has
had much to say in the past, is ma
tive of Lebanon in Palestine.
His family are Catholic Christians,
and if they are all as well filled with
the milk of human kindness as our
fellow citizen, they are good Christ
ians.
John Mallem's brother was at one
time a priest in the Church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem, and with this
brother John at one time served as an
acolyte. 1t is interesting to hear him
tell of this holy place as well as other
places made historical in the brief ca
reer of the Christ. John has visited
and loitered by them all and he knows
the "story of stories" with all the
pretty legends that have been joined.
He talked with The News man yes
terday:
"Dees Church of Nativity he stand
at end of market place in Bethlehem.
There is but one entrance to dees
church and mans has to bend hees
head to get indoor so low When
he get inside he look up and find hee-
self in a great lofty room with white
washed walls with ancient beams and
rafters. 1t is very big room, simple
in design but magnificent, with long
rows of marble pillars which once
had fine paintings on them but which
have been worn out, or faded so that
they can scarcely be distinguished
The beautiful mosaics are now also
only fragments.
"From this room you enter the
choir and apse and the scene is great
| ly changed. There are a number Of
affairs under guardianship of Latin,
Greek and Arminian; they claim the
various ones as their own and over
these claims there has long been bit
ter dissension and much blood has
been split. The Crimean war began
with riot by mob in this church.
Think of eet! What sacrilege! For
here was born the Prince of Peace!
"To see the manger-the place of
the birth-you go down a winding
stair, slippery with drippings of so
many candles. The grotto, or place
of the Nativity, is cavern beneath
the church with long, low ceilings and
with lamps pendant of beautiful, pre-
cious metal to light the place, The
floor is marble and there are wonder
full old tapestries, and pictures and
silk hangings to cover the walls. In
one corner is a marble cradle to COM
memorate the manger, and to one side
in a small recess about dozen hang
mo lamps are hung in a half circle.
"There are many visitors constant.
ly here and most of them will bend
low and kiss the ground for the sake
of the dear Christ, our Lords sake.
There is a silver star set here to marx
the place of birth. In the center OF
the star is small glass through
which one can see the original rocky
floor of the stable. The place where
St. Jerome spent so much time IN
translating the bible into Latin is just
north of the grotto and underneath
the floor. g,
at is very impressive to stand
there in that wonderful place and C
man with an imagination will cast
aside the beautiful gems and tapes
stries and marble floors and can al
most see the Virgin mother with her
gentle face as so many of the old
artists have depicted it,. surrounded
with the cattle and the simple things
of the old time stable and mangeer
filled with hay, fondling the. lowly
babe which was in time to revolu.,
tionize the whole thought of the world
and whose name was to be above eV..
cry name. You will go away end
will whisper, "Lo, we have seen His
! star in the east and have come To
worship Him." .
The News reporter started out to
tel, the story in the pretty dialect
which John unconsciously falls into
when interested, but we failed to
carry it through; the story was one
that will be best understood when
written in simple English, though the
foreign impressiveness is lost in the