The city of JerusalemConder, C. R. (Claude Reignier)
History
The city of Jerusalem
Conder, C. R. (Claude Reignier)
Jerusalem -- Antiquities; Jerusalem -- History
“Solomon’s seal” and the “horn of David” were apparently the only other
relics shown in the fourth century at the Anastasis Church,[14] but in
the sixth we find described the onyx cup of the Last Supper, the lance
and sponge used at the Crucifixion, and the crown of thorns. These
also were removed by Heraclius to Constantinople with the Cross, and
the crown of thorns was afterwards sent to St. Louis of France, who
built for it the Sainte Chapelle. Yet in 867 A. D. Bernard the Wise
was shown a crown of thorns hanging up in the Church of St. Sion,[15]
while a silver chalice takes the place of the onyx cup in 680 A. D.,
and appears to have been also regarded as the original relic. The stone
which the angel rolled away from the sepulchre is noticed even by Cyril
and St. Paula, and is spoken of about 680 A. D. as broken in two. In
the eighth century it had disappeared, and a square pointed stone was
shown instead; yet a hundred years later the substitute was accepted as
being the original.[16]
[Sidenote: THE HOLY FIRE]
Many marvels were reported to occur in the Church of the Resurrection.
Theodorus (or Theodosius, as he is also called), in 530 A. D., was
told that the holy lance, which had been made into a cross, “shone at
night like the sun by day.” St. Silvia says that at the early morning
service no lights were brought into the church, but that they were
supplied from an ever-burning lamp within the Cave of the Sepulchre.
This seems to be the germ of the later “holy fire,” which appeared
at Easter, as first clearly described by Bernard the Wise,[17] who
tells us that, on the eve of Easter Day, the “Kyrie eleison” was sung
until the angel came to light the lamps. In the twelfth century the
fire appeared sometimes in the Hospital of St. John or in the Temple
enclosure, sometimes in the cathedral, and was said to pass by an
underground passage between the two latter. In 1192 Saladin is said to
have attended the ceremony, but the Saracens “asserted that it was a
fraudulent contrivance.”[18]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account