The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-04-26

Hadrian and afterwards repaired bv
the Crusaders. On the southern side
of the city there is a stretch of wall
far removed from the old foundation,
beyond which are Ophel and Sion,
which formerly were inside the walls,
but are now ploughed up as a field,
thereby fulfilling the prophecies OF
Jeremias and Micheas.
Seven monumental gates give en-
| trance to the city, each of which bears
| it's proper name. Chief amongst
| north, and the Jaffa Gate on the
| south. Formerly these gates wers
closed at night and opened at day.
break, but they are no longer locked
since the danger of smuggling in mer
chandise has been done away with by
the institution of night watchmen
| The walls surrounding the city were
| formerly crowned by many towers,
| which were built not only for the
adornment of the enclosure, but also
| to serve as Watch-towers against the
approach of enemies. Of the scores
Of wall-towers only one of Importance
the Tower of David, near the Jaffa
Gate-stands today.
A Catholic never goes to Jerusalem
as mere tourist. He is always
pilgrim DESTROYS of nurturing his
faith and piety by the sight of the
very ground over which the Goodman
trod. Everything speaks to his heart.
But of all the holy places, the Via
Dolorosa, over which the Master
passed on His way to Calvary, is most
appealing. Each phase of the Pas
sion commemorated in the Stations
Of the Cross is marked by a separate
chapel.
The first of these lies in the court
of Turkish barracks, the second in the
old Temple Enclosure, and SO through
the mazes Of the city's narrow streets
we follow the Lamb Who was led out
to slaughter. Many of the chapels
along the Via Dolorosa have been in
Christian pilgrim has up to this time
of happy deliverance, been put to the
humiliating necessity of requesting
permission to worship in them. The
last stations are within the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre.
On entering the basilca from the
south side, one ascends a narrow and
steep fight of stairs leading to a mas
| Sive platform Of stone, which is the
door of chapel-the hottest spot in
! the world, the summit of the rock of
Calvary, There one can see the place
| where the cross stood, and the spot to
| the right where Jesus was stripped Of
| His garments. There also is pointed
out the rock rent in two at the mo-
ment when Our Lord expired upon the
cross. In the interior Of the church
proper, incloSed in a SiXteen-sided
| chapel, stands the tomb in which Our
Lord was laid upon being taken down
from the cross. Chapels marking
other details of the Passion surround
the Holy Sepulchre. Thus, for in
stance, we have the chapel in which
| the stone is shown upon which the
body of Christ reposed before it was
consigned to the tomb. In another the
column at which Our Saviour was
| scourged is preserved All in all,
! there is not a spot on earth which ap-
! peals so powerfully to the Christian
imagination or touches SO deeply the
| heart Of the believer as does this very
ground once watered with the blood
of the Redeemer.
There are, Of course, many other
holy places in and around Jerusalem
Bethlehem, Nazareth, Gethsemane
| in fact, the whole Of Palestine has
been made sacred by the passing of
| the Masters feet. for He went about
doing good" All these the pious pill
grim visits, drawing from them deep
| draughts of piety and fervor. But
| when one stands in the place of
| Christ's crucifiXion, ones emotions
are too powerful for words. One can
fully realize then why Catholic Eu-
| rope arises in arms to snatch this holy
place from the hands Of the unbeliev-
en- One realizes then that all the
blood shed during the Crusades was
not shed in vain. And one wonders
! what must have been wrong with Eu-
rope during recent centuries that it
tolerated the unbearable conditions
brought about by the possession of
the Holy Sepulchre by the Moham-
| medans. Now, thank God, the Turk
| has been forced to fee before the AL
| lied armies, and it is the ardent hope
Of every Christian that he may not
, again have the opportunity of putting
| his foot back in place where his
presence is an insult and a sacrilege