Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-20

1r-.at nf
Mount St Alban, through the
medium of carved stone. Stained 81,
and a natural miracle in the plant
world, the historic Glastonbury thorn,
which blossoms at Christmas, as Ten
neySon once wrote of the original tree
in Glastonbury, England. Mindful of
our Lord"
In the controversy raging between
fundamental and modcrnists about
the virgin birth of Christ. the Ma
tional Cathedral has taken no part. II
has written its creed in this matter IN
a most striking form in beautiful
Bethlehem Chapel Of tn cathedral,
which il a devcut effort TO give visible
expression to the fundamental doc
trine, the incarnation of Jesus Christ,
the bedrock of the Christian church.
Fhc chapel contains a remarkable
and original scheme of symbolism in
every detail Of its adornment, which
tells in pictorial forn-in carving and
stained glass-a comprehensive story
of the birth Of Christ.
4 memorial to the first Bishop Of
Washington, the late Right Rev.
Henry Yates Satterlee. the Bethlehem
Chapel is the first part OF the Cathe
dral which was constructed. The
symbolism in this fact Is most appro-
pirate, bee. 20 the birth of Christ.
II I -
ginning of lristian revelation.
Its position in the cathedral pile,
built deep into the foundation. is also
significant from Il theological point of
view, because Christianity is built
deep on the foundation of the virgin
birth of the Bethlehem Christ-child.
The Bethlehem Chapel is in daily
use for church services, and in IT are
buried the late President Woodrow
t1x,, Il ,j,-.ll Of Da
Navy and the hero OF Manila, and
other celebrities. including Bishop Sat
terlee. whose beautiful alabaster tomb
behind the Bethlehem altar is one Of
the art treasures of Washington.
THOUSANDS yearly visit the chapel
in pilgrimage to tho tombs Of
President Wilson and Admiral Dewey.
The latter's tomb is simply marked
by "A granite stone with his name and
the dates OF his birth and death carved
on il. The permanent marker for the
tomb OF President Wilson has been
placed, however, and il is most inn
pressiye in every detail
The sarcophagus is recessed in the
south wall of the chapel in a space
3 feet wide and X feet inches high,
with massive arches meeting above
behind. This space is filled with sar-
cophagus, grill. canopy and flags.
The ssarcopha gus itself is II cream
color limestone with almost a golden
CLEAN. The crusaders cross is its
only decoration. In front OF the
crusaders cross are inscribed the
name, Woodrow Wilson. and the dates
OF his birth and death-lS56 and 1924
The grill, Immediately in front of
la a
cess TO height of : feet 7 inches
above the floor. is beautifully wrought
in iron after the manner of the an
I cient craftsmen. the upright bars end
ing in crosses.
The canopy OF delicately carved oak
is directly over the sarcophagus.
Woven into the face just below the
cresting. an enrichment, are the
! words: Il am the resurrection and
the life. saith the Lord"
! The three flags surrounding the
canopy and lending color to the whole
effect are all historic. two of them he
! ing the president flags presented
by the Government to each President.
and these represent Mr.. Wilson'S two
inaugurations. March /. 1913, and
March 4. 1917. The third is the
/ United States flag which was carried
by the American troops when they
=; marched through London. 1t is said
to be the first American flag ever
/ saluted 10y an English King on Eng
| lish soil.
! The architecture of the Bethlehem
/ Chapel. in common with that of the
! cathedral edifice, is decorated Gothic
| of the fourteenth century. 1t. there
! fore, harmoniZes with the cathedral
J aS a whole. The nave of the chapel
/ is severely simple. but in the chan
/ eel is pure decorated Gothic. particu-
] larry the altar, which is rich in 10
! tail.
! The story of the nativity is repre-
scented by the central panel of the al
! tar. Above It is a rich vaulted canopy.
I showing on each face a miniature
Gothic window, with mullions and
! tracery, i'll front of which rise the
crocketed pinnacles terminating the
| arches OF each face OF the canopy.
Rosettes embellish the architrave
| above the window. The central panel
/ is surrounded by an enrichment rep
resenting the lilies of the field.
I Slightly lower in height at each side
| of the central panel are two vaulted
inches. whose heads are similarly
ornamented. The figures of the four
| evangelists-St. Matthew. st. Luke,
! st. Mark, St. John-each with his
symbol appear in these inches. Be
tween the heads of each pair of inches
| is d small shield bearing the sacred
| monogram I. II. S.-the Greek for
J Jesus, the Savior of Mankind.
r. !; y
| THE foundation stone of the cathe-
! dral, which lies directly under the
altar of the Bethlehem Chapel, has an
added Christmas significance because
! it was brought from the fields of
Bethlehem, in Judea, where Christ
was born nearly 1000 years ago. The
| Word Was Made Flesh and Dwell
Among Us"-the inscription on the
| granite stone-is so sacredly regarded
! that it is not exposed to the casual
visitor to the chapel and can be seen
only when the clean white cloth which
! covers it is lifted.
The inscription was inlaid in a piece
| of American granite, and was set in
place at a great service of dedication
! on September 20, 1907, attended by a
| congregation of 10000 persons. Presi-
dent Roosevelt delivered an address
on this occasion.
| The theme of the Christmas story is
again repeated in another form of
| Christian art. the five stained glass
windows of the ambulatory passage
around the altar. These windows por-
tray the chief scenes connected with
! incarnation.
The chapel windows are the gift of
George B. Cluett of Troy. n. Y. In
the soft brilliance and the rich and
varied but harmonious coloring of
these windows and the admirable