THE LATIN CONVENT AT NAZARETH.

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a court-yard which was open to the sky, and then passed to another and smaller one directly in front of the church. The sacred building is about seventy feet by fifty, and was completed in its present form a century and a half ago. Several churches have stood here, and the materials of each have been used in the erection of its successor, so that we may fairly believe that some parts of the first church of Nazareth are to be seen here.

"The interior of the building consists of a nave and aisles, formed by four piers that support the roof. The whole of the interior is covered with paintings and tapestry representing scenes in the Saviour's life, and there is a fine organ and an altar dedicated to the angel Gabriel. We did not spend much time over this part of the church, as we were all impatient to descend to the Grotto of the Annunciation, which is below the floor.

"There is a stairway of fifteen marble steps between the first two columns as you enter the church, and down this stairway we went, after a brief inspection of the decorations of the walls and a glance at the high altar.

"At the foot of the steps we entered the so-called Chapel of the Angels,' which contains shrines dedicated to St. Joachim and the angel Gabriel. Beyond the shrines is an opening or passage leading to the Chapel of the Annunciation, which is an apartment fifteen feet by ten, as near as we could judge, and has a marble altar showing the spot where Mary stood during the Annunciation. A column near the entrance marks the position of the angel, and a little distance from it is a fragment of a column hanging from the roof, and said to be suspended by miraculous power. We wanted to examine it closely, but the monk in charge of the place hurried us on, and evidently did not wish a careful inspection of the hanging column.

"Beyond the Chapel of the Annunciation is the Chapel of Joseph, and farther on is a small cavern hewn from the solid rock, and said to have been the kitchen of Mary.

"The general arrangement of the altars, lamps, and decorations was a constant reminder of Bethlehem, and when the monks began their service we found it was very nearly the same. As soon as the ceremony was over in the grotto it was announced that the hour for service in the church had arrived, and we all went to attend it. The congregation numbered two or three hundred persons, including the twenty-five or thirty Italian and Spanish monks in charge of the convent, and perhaps fifty pilgrims, while the balance was made up of our party and the Latin

Christians living at Nazareth. The notes of the organ sounded finely through the old church, and when we remembered that we were on the spot where the Christian world believes the coming of our Saviour was announced to his mother, we were deeply impressed with the solemnity of the occasion.

"Let me tell you here the story of the Santa Casa, or Holy House, as

THE ANNUNCIATION.

we heard it from the monks, and as it is told in the history of the Catholic Church since the fifteenth century:

"The house in which Mary lived was carried away by angels, who lifted it from its foundations and bore it away when the infidels conquered the country and began the expulsion of the Christians. They carried it, in A.D. 1291, to the heights overlooking Finme, in Hungary. It rested there about three years, and was then transported to the coast of Italy, where it remained five or six months. A third and last removal occurred in the year 1294 or 1295 to the place where it now stands in the town of Loretto, twelve miles south of Ancona, and three miles from the sea

shore.' Great numbers of pilgrims are said to go there every year to see it, and the building is carefully preserved from injury. The Latin monks believe the story implicitly, and they point out the exact position which the house formerly occupied.

"We went from the church to see the house and workshop of Joseph, now fitted up as a chapel, and in possession of the Latins; and then we visited the Chapel of the Table of Christ,' where there is a table of solid rock, on which Jesus and his disciples are said to have eaten frequently. From this place we went to the synagogue where he was teaching when

the Jews drove him out, and to the rock where they were about to cast him down. From there we went to the Fountain of the Virgin, where the Greeks have their Church of the Annunciation. When we had seen this we were told that the round of the holy places of Nazareth was complete, unless we wished to see the 'Mount of the Precipitation,' about two miles away.

"We declined the journey, as there is a great deal of doubt concerning the accuracy of the tradition. Doctor Bronson said we should not. miss the view from the hill back of Nazareth, and so we climbed there a little before sunset and had a magnificent prospect.

"The best point for the view was said to be Neby Ismail, and we certainly have seen nothing finer in all Palestine. The hills are less barren than in most other parts of the country that we have visited, and the plains and valleys present an appearance of fertility. Mounts Tabor, Hermon, and Carmel were in the picture, and beyond the latter we had a glimpse of the blue waters of the Mediterranean bounding the western horizon. Then we looked down on the Plain of Esdraelon and on the upper Valley of the Jordan, and lingered as long as time would permit. I cannot begin to tell you of the thoughts and associations that crowded upon us in looking upon the place so intimately connected with the life of the Saviour, and the scenes of so many other events that form a part of our Bible history."