Some Hours After Sunset I Reached The Convent Of Santa Saba, And
There Remained For The Night.
CHAPTER XVI - TERRA SANTA
The enthusiasm that had glowed, or seemed to glow, within me for
one blessed moment when I knelt by the shrine of the Virgin at
Nazareth, was not rekindled at Jerusalem. In the stead of the
solemn gloom and the deep stillness that of right belonged to the
Holy City, there was the hum and the bustle of active life. It was
the "height of the season." The Easter ceremonies drew near. The
pilgrims were flocking in from all quarters; and although their
objects were partly at least of a religious character, yet their
"arrivals" brought as much stir and liveliness to the city as if
they had come up to marry their daughters.
The votaries who every year crowd to the Holy Sepulchre are chiefly
of the Greek and Armenian Churches. They are not drawn into
Palestine by a mere sentimental longing to stand upon the ground
trodden by our Saviour, but rather they perform the pilgrimage as a
plain duty strongly inculcated by their religion. A very great
proportion of those who belong to the Greek Church contrive at some
time or other in the course of their lives to achieve the
enterprise. Many in their infancy and childhood are brought to the
holy sites by their parents, but those who have not had this
advantage will often make it the main object of their lives to save
money enough for this holy undertaking.
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