The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-01-09

blessing of their parents; they attrlb-
ute their success to it. 1t reminds
one often of the patriarchal blessings
as recorded in Old Testament MARIA
tives. We read that when Rebekah
had chosen to leave the land of her
nativity and journey to be the wife
of Isaac in Canaan, her mother and
brethren blessed her and sent her
away with the words, BE thou the
mother of thousands of millions"
Again we see Jacob supplant his
elder brother and receive the parental
blessing, causing Esau in the agony
of his soul to cry with a great and
exceeding bitter cry and say unto
his father, "Bless me, even me, also,
o my father!"
Usually parents counsel their sons
not to marry of the maidens of the
land in which they sojourn, just as
Abraham, in his declining days, while
Isaac was still young, made his "eld-
est servant, that ruled over all he had,
swear by the Lord" enjOining him,
"Thou shalt not take a wife unto my
son of the daughters of the Canaanites
among whom l dwell; but thou shalt
go unto my country, and to my kim
dred, and take a wife unto my son
Isaac"
Church of the Nativity.
The Church of the Nativity in Beth
lehem is one of the oldest existing
churches in Christendom, if not the
oldest, one of the few used in common
by the three eastern denominations
and revered by all sects Of Christi
anity. The best authorities doubt not
that it stands OF or close to the site
where Jesus was born and the place
of the first Christmas.
Built A. D. $50 by the Emperor Con-
stantine and added to by Justinian, it
became in the Fifth century the home
of st. Jerome, who here translated
the Old Testament from the Hebrew.
Since that time it has gone through
many vicissitudes and RESERVATIONS.
The present entrance to the Nativ-
ity church is so small that in passing
through it one must bend very low.
It is closed by a heavily sheathed,
iron-studded door. But one person can
enter at time. The original entrance
must have been an imposing one, for
over the present miniature door is a
large portal that repeatedly through
the ages has been made smaller.
70 int
an interior of great simplicity. There
are two double rows of pinkiSh lime
stone monolith pillars, said to have
been brought from the ruins of the
Temple of Jerusalem. Above the sup
porting columns is the old wooden
roof, the gift of Edward the Fourth
and Philip of Burgundy. About two
walls are scattered patches of gold
and cOlored Byzantine mosaics, con-
trasting with the white plaster that
was filled in as portions of the mosaics
dropped off. Particularly interesting
is a fragment depicting a row of half
figures intended to be portraits of the
ancestry of Joseph.
A pretty story is still told by the
Bethlehemites, which, though it lacks
historic backing, may account for the
sparing of this church when the hordes
of the ruthless Persian Chosroes
burned and destroyed all the other
churches in Palestine, including the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher in
Jerusalem.
Why VandaIs Spared 1t.
1t is said that among the earliest
mosaics over the main entrance with
in was large panel representing the
Magi making rich offerings to the in
FAINT Jesus. Seeing this, and recogniz-
ing by the costumes that the Three
Wise Men were Persians the vandal
hordes spared the church.
Today the pilgrims and visitors, as
well as the natives, enjoy quick run
from Jerusalem to Bethlehem over a
smooth, dustless road in modern cars /;
still it is pleasant, in thinking of the
first Christmas, to let memory carry
one back to days when there were no
vehicles of any kind to mar an ancient
setting, when camel and donkey trails
and fOotpaths were the only highways.
Leaving Jerusalem, with its encir-
cling wall, towers, and bulwarks be-
hind. the traveller crosses the plain of
Rephaim and starts a gradual ascent
From the top of this hill he catches
his first glimpse of Bethlehem, called
Belt Lahm, "The House of Bread" by
the ancients because of the fertility of
its fields.
BY the roadside at the foot of the
hill is a large old cistern with twin
openings from which to draw water.
One of these openings is topped by a
section of conduit built by the Roman
procurator, Pontius Plate, to supply
Jerusalem with water. Between the
cistern tops is a circular stone trough.
One can scarcely pass during the noon
tide hours of hot summer day with
out finding many flocks being watered
at this well, and sometimes long
strings of camels stop here to quench
their thirst
While this cistern has no historic
background, pretty legend hangs to
it. It is known as the swell of the
Magi." Supposedly the Three Wise
Men halted here to water their camels
on the night when they were on their
way to Bethlehem, seeking Him who
g. -