The twelve bishops, in the meantime, were busy getting their feet out of their English congress-gaiters and pulling off their white cotton socks for the washing. Each bared one foot and held it out to be washed as the Patriarch came around with the basin. The Patriarch did the washing very quickly, rubbing each foot with water and drying it with a towel. As he finished he bent over and kissed the foot he had washed and then went on to the next. The last bishop represented St. Peter, and, after the example of Peter of the past, he objected to having his feet washed by the Lord; he rose and gesticulated violently. But the Patriarch opened the Bible and read to him the admonition of Christ to Peter, shaking his hand at Peter as he did so. A moment later Peter sat down humbly and submitted to the washing. At this moment the bells of the Greek churches all over Jerusalem burst out in a chorus of rejoicing. The preacher against the wall chanted louder than ever, while the great crowd surged this way and that in their efforts to get nearer the platform. The Patriarch descended, the bishops followed, and in double file they marched out through the crowd, with the _kavasses_ clearing the way. A priest carried in front of the Patriarch a vase of the holy water in which the feet were washed, and into this His Beatitude dipped a great bouquet of roses with which he sprinkled the water over the crowd. The people held up their faces to catch the purifying drops and rushed to the platform to wipe up with their handkerchiefs what was spilled on the floor. Those who succeeded in thus wetting their handkerchiefs then pressed them over their faces. The “miracle” of the holy fire also takes place in the church in front of the tomb two days after the foot-washing ceremony. The Latin churches have not taken part in it for more than three hundred years. The Roman Catholics protest against it, and it is now managed entirely by the Greeks and the other sects of the Orient. The Greeks say that the “miracle” has been celebrated ever since the days of the apostles. It is mentioned in theological literature as far back as the ninth century, and in the twelfth century it was made use of to arouse a religious fervour against the enemies of Christianity. Most of the pilgrims of the Eastern churches believe that the fire actually comes down from heaven and that they are able to ignite their candles from flames sent by God.