“A Lady in the Holy Land.” from the May 24, 1902 Advocate
A LADY IN THE HOLY LAND.
Continuing the description of her travels in the Holy Land, Helene Schulte writes as follows:
I arrived at Jerusalem March 16. After a drive of one and a half days from Harfa to Jaffa, through a plain at the foot of Mt. Carmel, and the sea shore. We passed a few Arabian villages and Beduins. From Jaffa to the Holy City we came by train, arriving at sunset. I was received at the “Casa Nova”, Franciscian Fathers. They have a three-story stone building, fitted up fine for pilgrims. One of the brothers, a guide, took us to the Holy Sepulchre. We gazed upon the spot where our Saviour was embalmed. It is covered with a pink piece of marble. There are three altars. One on the spot where the cross was erected. This altar belongs to the Greeks. Next to this is the altar to commemorate the Dolour of Our Lady. The other to commemorate the nailing on the cross. These two belong to the Latins.
Leaving Mt. Calvary we came to a chapel which incloses the sacred tomb. Its walls are covered with white marble. First we entered a small chapel, where the angel announced our Saviour’s resurrection to the holy women. The chamber measures about six and a half feet each way. Over the tomb hang 43 lamps burping day and night. From the nave of the bacilica we entered many chapels. The lower chapel is where St. Helena found the cross on May 3, 326. There is a daily procession at 4 p. m. around the church.
The next day we made a trip on Mt. Olive. At the foot of the mount we came to the church of the Assumption. The church is in great part excavated in the rock and is very dark. We came to a chapel hewn in a rock, like the Holy Sepulchre, containing Our Lady’s tomb. This church is owned by the Greeks and Armenians. The Franciscians are only allowed to read mass on the feast of the Assumption. On leaving the church we came to the Grotto of the Agony. The irregularly shaped grotto has kept its natural state. There are six altars on which the Franciscian Fathers say mass daily. The high altar is said to cover the spot where our Lord prayed.
On the summit of Mount of Olives there is a village. It is planted with olives and fig trees. It is 2700 feet above sea level. On the summit is the spot where our Lord ascended into heaven in the presence of 120 persons.
In Jerusalem I visited the mosque of Omar, said to be the finest in the world. Every Friday in Jerusalem are the devotions of the Way of the Cross on the street, the same way that Our Lord carried the cross which has redeemed the world. The first station is made at Pilate’s Praetorium inside the Turkish barracks. On Good Friday a thousand people took part, attending the service, which were the greater part tourists and pilgrims. There are about 10,000 Russians pilgrims in the city. They walk from place to place through the Holy Land. The streets here are crowded with them. They seem to be poor country people. They will all stay until the Greek Easter which is the 20th of this month. It is quite a sight to see them in their native costumes.
I have visited the Jews waiting place twice. This is very interesting, about twenty to thirty or more gather at the wall erected by Solomon or his immediate successor, it is built of large block stones measuring from six to nine feet in length. Every Friday the Jews most attached to this religion and this country came to this place to pray and weep in sorrowful tones, for their sins and to bewail the evils that for nineteen centuries have befallen their nation.
I will make my trip to Bethlehem, and vicinity this week, after a few weeks I will return to Europe.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
[The Wailing Wall was built by King Herod the Great.]
Articles about pilgrimages
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