How sad to think that Mahomedans should worship now in the
very spot where once the Son of God taught the people. No Jew, no
Christian may go into that mosque. The Turks stand near the gate to keep
off both Jews and Christians.
Every Friday evening a very touching scene takes place near this mosque.
There are some large old stones there, and the Jews say they are part of
their old temple wall: so they come at the beginning of their Sabbath
(which is on Friday evening) and sit in a row opposite the stones. There
they read their Hebrew Old Testaments, then kneel low in the dust, and
repeat their prayers with their mouths close to the old stones: because
they think that all prayers whispered between the cracks and crevices of
these stones will be heard by God. Some Jewesses come, wrapped from head
to foot in long white veils, and they gently moan and softly sigh over
Jerusalem in ruins.
What Jesus said has come to pass, "Behold, your house is left unto you
desolate." The thought of this sad day made Jesus weep, and now the sight
of it makes the Jews weep.
But there is a place still dearer to our hearts than Mount Moriah. It is
Calvary. There is a church there: but such a church! a church full of
images and crosses. Roman Catholics worship there--and Greeks too: and
they often fight in it, for they hate one another, and have fierce
quarrels.
That church is called "The Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25