Pen Pictures of the Holy Land. VI

THE TOMB OF RACHEL. Pen Pictures of the Holy Land. From Dan to Beersheba. BY HAMILTON GARDNER. VI.— A Visit to Bethlehem on Christ's Real Birthday. Strictly speaking, if this Church was organized "one thousand eight hundred und thirty years since the coming of our Lord in the flesh," then the sixth of April must have been the anniversary of the Savior's birth- day. If the organization of the Church had been subsequent to that date, if only by one or any number of days, the great event would have been more or less than one thousand eight hundred and thirty years, by just so many days. Opinions formed by the study of chronological events may or miy not be accurate. But we would scarcely think the Lord would make any mistake about dates. This statement of President Joseph F. Smith, expressing, as it does, the belief of the Latter-day Saints that Jesus was born on the sixth of April, explains why we planned our trip in Palestine so we could be in Bethlehem on that day. We anticipated no

PEN PICTURES OF THE HOLY LAND. 479 great, celebration, no elaborate ceremonies and gorgeous pageants such as are seen on every Christmas in the "City of David." But we did believe that a visit to Christ's birthplace on his real birth- day would be a most novel and interesting experience. We left Jerusalem about the middle of the afternoon, of April fifth. This may require some explanation. In ancient times among the Jews, the old day ended and the new one began with the setting of the sun. Therefore, if Christ was born on the night of April sixth, it was sometime between what we now call the evening of the fifth and the following morning. A GENERAL VIEW OF BETHLEHEM. The drive out to Bethlehem from the Holy City — about five and one-half miles— is a highly interesting one. As is the case in other parts of Palestine, every Biblical incident that can possibly be connected with this locality has been localized at some particular spot. Thus a large rock by the roadside is said to have been the resting place of Elijah, as related in I Kings 19: 5. The prophet slept so hard that the imprint of his body was left on the stone, and tht-re it remains to this day, an object of veneration to the faithful. Tradition also has it that Mary, while on her way to Bethlehem, asked a certain man to draw her a drink from his well.

480 IMPRO VEMENT ERA . On his refusal, the water rose of itself to the level of the curb. But there is one object of interest near Bethlehem, whose location is undoubtedly authentic. That is the tomb of Rachel. Its situation seems to agree with the Bible, and it at least has the distinction of not having been changed as far back as can be traced. The site is at present occupied by a small, round-domed, white-walled sarcophagus. Mohammedans, Christians and Jews revere this tomb, and it is much visited, especially by pilgrims of the latter faith. Just before entering the city, we observed a large, level field off to the west. This is the reputed field of Boaz, famed for its connection with Ruth, who went gleaning there. Bethlehem itself varies little from the typical city of the Orient. The same covered bazaars, narrow streets, and fiat-roofed houses are to be found, and the same condition of uncleanliness prevails. The redeeming feature is the great number of foreign churches, hospices, monasteries, orphanages, hospitals and schools which add much to the appearance of the town. The population is eight thousand, of which all but about three hundred are Chris- ANOTHER GENERAL VIEW OF BETHLEHEM, SHOWING THE GARDEN OUTSIDE THE CITY.

PEN PICTURES OF THE HOLY LAND. 481 tians. The Bethlehemites profess toj bejpartly descended from the Crusaders, some of whom, they maintain, intermarried with native Christians. Of their undoubted superiority over their neigh- bors they are extremely proud, and to this may be traced the fact that so few Mohammedans are to be found in the city. As the scene of the beautiful idyl of Ruth, and as the home of David, Bethlehem enjoyed some local renown. But it was its proud claim to being the birthplace of Christ that sent its fame resounding throughout the world, causing millions of people to come and visit its historic places. Even today a large part of the Bethlehemites derive their only income from the souvenirs they Ei*w»Mi m » > -J$®r£ ':-s&£&£&^ if***** 3 THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY. The entrance is just above the X. sell to pilgrims and travelers. Particularly worthy of mention are the little mother-of-pearl stars. Vast numbers of these "stars of Bethlehem" are carried away each year; and indeed they form beautiful and suggestive souvenirs of Christ's birthplace. We wasted little time in visiting the town, but proceeded immediately to the Church of the Nativity. This interesting old structure stands over the cave in which it is believed Jesus was born. As early as the second century, Justin Martyr local-

ized the Savior's birth in a cavern. His belief was that the khan, or inn, stood over this cave, and that travelers slept in the inn itself, while their animals found shelter in the cavern. Indeed, today many of the oriental khans are built so the upper floor is used by travelers and the bottom one by their animals. Finding the inn full, Joseph and Mary were compelled, therefore, to rest in the cave. The supposition that this was the exact place of the birth of the Savior has prevailed, without serious oppo- sition, up to the present time; but that it is only a supposition goes without saying. The church has been renovated and restored many times during the past centuries, but the style of its archi- tecture, its inscriptions and monuments, are strong evidence of its venerable antiquity. In fact it is believed that the basilica as it stands today is substantially the same as when built by Constantine about' 330 A. D. The entrance to the Church is a low doorway in one of the bare, massive, stone walls. The interior is dark, but we could easily see the four rows of columns which support the roof; and soon we could make out the old mosaic that still remains on one of the walls. At the end of this part of the church is a flight of steps, which leads down into the Chapel of the Nativity, as the THE MANGER IN THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY

PEN PICTURES OF THE HOLY LAND. 483 cave where Christ was born is now called. This chapel is about forty feet long, fifteen feet wide, and ten feet high, although it includes only part of the original cavern. The grotto is now lined with marble. In one corner, in a little recess, a silver star, about one foot in diamettr, has been let into the pavement. This star marks the spot where the Savior was born, as told by the inscription on it: "Hie de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est" ("Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary.") Above this star burn continually fifteen silver lamps, of which six belong to the Greeks, five to the Armenians, and four to the Latins. One thing about this recess seemed particularly strange to us. Right in the middle of the star, a little opening had been made, and into this, pilgrims were supposed to drop money. Immediately opposite this recess is another, containing the manger in which the Babe was laid. The real manger is, of course, not now in existence, although one is shown in Rome. In other chapels, adjoining the Chapel of the Nativity, have been localized the various incidents connected with the birth of the Savior — such as the adoration of the Magi and the slaughter of the innocents. The tomb of the great Latin church father, St. Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin — the Vulgate — is also in the church. Even here, in the house of worship that stands over the birth- place of the Son of Man, we found much the same conditions as prevail in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, at Jerusalem. A Turkish soldier, armed with rifle and bayonet, stands on guard. President Booth asked him, in Arabic, why such a precaution was necessary. At first he was extremely reticent, but his Moslem pride at last asserting itself, he answered that to preserve order among the Greek, Latin and Armenian monks — not the pilgrims, he said— a guard must be stationed there. Furthermore, we learned that it had become necessary for the Turkish government to assign definite hours to each church for mass and other ser- vices, just as at Jerusalem. Not only that, but because the church here is so small, the specific places where the monks of each creed might walk had also been prescribed. Truly, as the guard said, this was anything but creditable to Christianity. By the time we had completed our inspection of the church,

and loaded ourselves with little stars, it was eight o'clock, and we started back to Jerusalem. The air was warm and balmy, and a light wind was blowing. (In Jerusalem I had previously enquired of members of the American colony about weather conditions in Judea at Christmas time. They informed me that generally it was quite cold, that snow fell sometimes, and that shepherds did not herd their sheep at night at that time of the year.) The full moon touched everything with a silvery light, making plain the surrounding country for a long distance. At first we talked a little about the places we had just visited ; but our environment was such as to stimulate meditation and revery rather than con- versation, so we soon became quiet. In my mind I tried to picture the coming of that little Stranger, who was to have so potent an influence on the world, the humble surroundings of his birth, and the feelings of his parents and the wise men. In the midst of such thoughts — we were now about a mile from Bethlehem — our carriage made a turn in the road, and there a strange sight burst upon our eyes. Standing on a hillside, in plain viesv in the bright moonlight, and leaning placidly on his curved staff, was a shepherd. Near by, his flock was contentedly grazing, making themselves heard only by an occasional bleating and the soft tinkle of a bell. Instantly our minds reverted back to the incident that occurred there just nineteen hundred and nine years ago that very night, when to some other shepherds, who were also "abiding in the fields, keeping their flocks by night," an angel of the Lord appeared and announced: "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." Some one struck up the beautiful song: Far, far away on Judea' s plains, Shepherds of old sang their joyous strains — Glory to God, glory to God, Glory to God in the highest, Peace on earth, good will to men! Some of that peace we experienced that memorable evening; and of all the experiences of my visit to Palestine, I regard this little incident as the most interesting and striking. University of Utah ( TO BE CONTINUED.)