DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12665#0273
A MIDNIGHT PROCESSION.
257
inappropriate. It is one of the prettiest and best
cultivated spots in the Holy Land ; and sitting in
the door of the grotto, with an Armenian pilgrim
by my side, and looking out upon the valley and
the mountains, all around terraced and cultivated
to the very summits, all still and beautiful, I thought
I had never seen a place better qualified to inspire
a pious, philosophic, and happy state of mind, than
this Desert of St. John. We returned by a differ-
ent road, searching on our way for the pool where
Philip baptized the eunuch of Queen Candace ; but
after losing ourselves once or twice, and fearing
a threatening shower, we returned to the city un-
successful.
At about ten o'clock that evening, the monks, un-
der a guard of soldiers and a crowd of pilgrims,
each with a candle in his hand, left St. Stephen's
Gate in solemn procession. With a loud chant
they crossed the Valley of Jehoshaphat, wound
around the foot of the Mount of Olives to Beth-
page and Bethany, said mass in the tomb of Laza-
rus, and returning, prayed and chanted on the
Mount of Olives and in the Garden of Gethsem-
ane ; and, at about daylight the next morning, re-
turned to the convent.
For several days I had been preparing for a
journey to the Dead Sea ; but a mysterious influ-
ence seemed still to hang about the borders of that
water; and now, when all the rest of the Holy
Land was perfectly tranquil, the Fellahs were in
257
inappropriate. It is one of the prettiest and best
cultivated spots in the Holy Land ; and sitting in
the door of the grotto, with an Armenian pilgrim
by my side, and looking out upon the valley and
the mountains, all around terraced and cultivated
to the very summits, all still and beautiful, I thought
I had never seen a place better qualified to inspire
a pious, philosophic, and happy state of mind, than
this Desert of St. John. We returned by a differ-
ent road, searching on our way for the pool where
Philip baptized the eunuch of Queen Candace ; but
after losing ourselves once or twice, and fearing
a threatening shower, we returned to the city un-
successful.
At about ten o'clock that evening, the monks, un-
der a guard of soldiers and a crowd of pilgrims,
each with a candle in his hand, left St. Stephen's
Gate in solemn procession. With a loud chant
they crossed the Valley of Jehoshaphat, wound
around the foot of the Mount of Olives to Beth-
page and Bethany, said mass in the tomb of Laza-
rus, and returning, prayed and chanted on the
Mount of Olives and in the Garden of Gethsem-
ane ; and, at about daylight the next morning, re-
turned to the convent.
For several days I had been preparing for a
journey to the Dead Sea ; but a mysterious influ-
ence seemed still to hang about the borders of that
water; and now, when all the rest of the Holy
Land was perfectly tranquil, the Fellahs were in