attend the Mass unless they have confessed; and no woman can go into the church whilst she is unwell. Whoever has hatred or enmity towards another, must stand before the church, and is not allowed to go in until he has become reconciled. Woman and man sing the Pater Noster and the Belief, with the priest, when he celebrates the Mass. They give the Sacrament also to young children. The priests do not shave their hair nor their beard. Instead of consecrated oil, they have balm, and the patriarch gives the sultan a large price for the balm, which he sends to his bishopric. When one wants to be a priest, he must be forty days and nights in the church; and when the XL days are passed, he sings his first Mass, and he is led out with singing, dressed for the Mass. Then come his wife and child, and they kneel before him, and he gives them his blessing; then come the priest’s friends and those of his wife, and they bring their offerings; also those who are invited; and there is great rejoicing in his honour, more even than when he was married, but he cannot be with his wife until he has said the Mass for forty days in succession. When they baptise a child, a man receives it, not a woman, because they say that our Lord had only a man to baptise him, and not a woman. It is also a great sin to take a woman to a baptism. They hold baptism in great honour, and whoever comes into the presence of his godfather, must kneel on the ground before him. They hold, that in sponsorship, marriage is forbidden to the fourth generation. They place much confidence in our religion;(3) they also willingly go to Mass in our churches, which the Greeks do not. They say, that between their religion and ours, there is only a hair’s breadth, but that there is a great division between the Greek and their religion. During the week, they fast on Wednesday and on Friday. They do not fast in Advent, and may eat oil, but on those days they eat as often as they like after mid-day. They fast one week for Saint Gregory. They have a saint named Aurencius,(4) who was a doctor, for whom they also fast one week. They fast also on the day of the Holy Cross, which is in September; they fast also one week for Saint James the Great;(5) and they fast XV days in August, for our dear Lady. They fast one week for the three holy kings. They have a saint who was a knight; his name is Zerlichis;(6) they call upon him loudly when they are at war or in other necessity; they fast one week for him. There are many knights and nobles who fast for him for three days in January, so that they do not eat or drink, because he is a great helper in need. Their saints’ days they keep on Saturday. On Easter eve, they celebrate the Mass after vespers, because that is about the time when the light shines on the holy sepulchre at Jherusalem. They also celebrate Easter, Trinity, and Ascension day with us; the other holy days they keep separately. Christmas and the