Evening star., 1936-04-12

built in at ground level at the other
end.
A BoVE the garden grotto an ever
green-bordered drive leads to the
yellow brick Monastery building. The
domed Byzantine structure follows the
lines Of the fivefold cross which formed
the coat of arms of the Latin kingdom
of Jerusalem. The large cross incloses
the main body Of the church and the
smaller ones form its chapels.
| The Stone of Unction lies to the
right of the visitors entrance in the
eastern nave Of the church. Beyond,
between marble stairways, is the door,
way Of the holy sepulcher itself, flank
ed by white lilies and tall ferns for the
celebration Of the feast of the resur-
rection. The stone is of red Palestine
marble. approximately 9 feet long and
feet wide. and extends about foot
and half from the floor. At its four
corners stand huge brass candelabra
more than - feet high. These hold
tall. embossed waXen tapers, lighted
for Easter services.
The Stone of Amounting is a repro
duction of the place where Joseph of
Arimathea prepared Christ's body for
burial, as the shrine appears today in
the Basilica Of the Holy Sepulcher in
Jerusalem. There, on the first Good
Friday, Joseph anoinred his Masters
body with oil and wrapped it in linen
cloth, according to Jewish funeral Gus
tom.
The original stone Is covered by q
fiat monument of red marble, similar
to the one here. In the fourth century
ST. Helena, mother of Constantine the
Great, covered 1t with beautiful mo-
sale. Later the Franciscans replaced
this by slabs Of black marble In 1908
the Greeks removed this and substi-
tuted the red stone.
The Holy Sepulcher is faithful
copy Of the present Jerusalem resto-
ration of the tomb from which Christ
rose. Joseph of Arimathea had caused
the tomb to be hewn for himself out
of rock formation in his garden. On
Good Friday Joseph laid Christ's body
to rest in his sepulcher and blocked
the entrance with stone.
The tomb was built with the CUSTOM
ary antechamber, now called the
Chapel Of the Angel. It is so named in
honor Of the messenger who an
nounced to the holy women come to
anoint Christ's body on Easter morn
ing. "Ye seek Jesus Of Nazareth. He
is risen; He is not here"
The marble antechamber Is about 8
feet long and devoid of ornamentation.
Hanging lamps cast rosy glow over
its white walls and over the stone of
the Angel" supported on a pedestal
in the center of the room. According
to tradition, the original stone is q
fragment of the very one from which
the holy messenger announced the Joy
GUS tidings of the resurrection.
A LOW doorway in the eastern wall
Of the Chapel Of the Angel allows
entrance to the small square burial
chamber. On the couch OF the white
sepulcher reposes statue of the dead
Christ. Memorial lamps hang be-
fore bas-relief Of Raphael's "Resur-
rection." No other decoration diverts
the visitors eye from the Central Fig
ure.
In the twelfth century slab of
marble was placed over the original
burial couch to protect 1t from profane
hands. Workmen cut q crevice re-
sembling crack In the slab to deceive
thieves who might seek to carry away
the valuable covering. The artifice
worked. The SCARED marble cover
ing, similar to the one here, remains
today in the original Holy Sepulcher.
During 1000 years the Holy sepul.
cher in Jerusalem has been the Mecca
for countless pilgrims and has passed
through many hands. About 325 AID.
st. Helena erected a temple over the
surrounding hillside cut away, leaving
only the tomb intact.
Although the Moslems captured Je-
rusalem in 637, they allowed Christians
to visit the Holy Land freely for hun
dreds Of years afterward.
Pilgrimages to Jerusalem became
increasingly frequent. Then the Turks
captured Jerusalem and their hostility
made pilgrimages perilous and difi-
cult feats. Conquest Of the Holy Land
became the ambition of Western Chris
tianity. Desire to regain possession Of