The Raymer enterprise., 1916-04-20

does not coincide with that OF the western
churches holy week in Jerusalem Is celebrated
predominantly according 10 the Greek calendar.
the services of the other churches being repeated
on their own dates
in all the Greek orthodox countries-Russa
Roumania. Greece, Bulgaria Servia, Montenegro,
and large part of Austria aHungary-Easter Is
celebrated with great feryor and devotion. The
Easter kiss is wellknown incident OF these
celebrations
Jerusalem is naturally full of churches monas.
teries, hospees and hospitals OF the various
creeds, and every one of them at Easter brings
out its own peculiar religious individuality The
Latin church. for instance, whose establishment
In Jerusalem harks back to Godfrey dc Bouillon
and his crusaders. has number OF oriental
cl urches united to the Roman Catholic church.
Thus there the United Greeks. the United
syrians, the United HISTORIANS. the United Ar.
menians, the Maronites. all of whom celebrate
mass in their own tongue and so add in their
ceremonies and garb picturesque distinctive
ness 10 the whole
Then there are the Copts. the Armenans the
Syrian Jacobites. the HISTORIANS, the Abyssinians.
besides Greeks and Protestants The relative
standing of the various churches is in a measure
expressed in the way they share the Is lamps
that burn in the Holy Sepulcher chapel. which
is in the center OF the stone that rolled away
from Jesus grave by the angels Five of these
lamps belong 10 the Latins, five to the Greeks
four TO the Armenians and one to the Copts
Away from the ecclesiastical ceremonial the
pilgrim in Easter time seeks the traditional
places where our Lord spent his last days and
nights OF these Gethsemane is the principal
goal. and here the difference In creed among the
many visitors is obliterated by an earnest and
quiet devotion which is Unexpectedly free from
the emotional
Another figure has prominent place in Easter
celebrations In Jerusalem; that OF Moses. whose
liberation of the Jewish people from the yoke of
Egypt is commemorated In the ancient Hebrew
paschal feast
There is a very little known Mohammedan
celebration which. though no longer so general as
formerly. is still most interesting one To
the Mohammedan. II pust be remembered Jeru.
salem is holy city. like Mecca and Medina. and
there is saying among Arabs. Syria is the
blessed county. Palestine the holy land. and Je-
rusalem, the holy city. is the holy of hoes"
Native Mohammedans and pilgrims make up
a procession and issue from the Sitti Myriam
gate. They are joined By throngs of their breth-
rem from the nelghboring villages. and. amid the
widest enthusiasm. with standards being borne
aOU ana 10 tue typical ARD music OF ufum ana
flfe the pilgrimage proceeds in the direction OF
the Dead sea
AS the Arabs claim common descent with the
Jews from Abraham, the Holy Lana holds ira
ditions equally sacred to them. Jerusalem is
second only to Mecca In sanetity because 1t con.
tains. according to tradition. the rock OF Abra
hams sacrifice. over which the famed mosque OF
Omar is built The Arab pilgrimage to the burial
place of Moses recalls the similar one to the tomb
of Noah near the ruins OF Baabek. short dis
tance from Damascus,
In cosmopolitan charm Easter In Constantnople
almost equals that found in Jerusalem The capital
OF the Turkish empire is, OF course, In itself highly
cosmopolitan. and there is no other city In the
word where so many languages are heard in the
streets. not by foreigners but by the variegated
native population. The background here Is not
Jewish and Mohammedan. as in Jerusalem. but
Mohammedan and Christian. with a strong tinge
OF Spanish Jewry