Outside of the walls of Jerusalem one often sees flocks of sheep being driven in to market. Nearly every flock has its goats, which are usually black. Palestinian shepherds go before their sheep, inducing them to follow by calling to them
Lepers beg at the gates of Jerusalem, under the walls of great stone blocks finely joined together
Down the hill from under the walls of Jerusalem goes the road to Jaffa and the sea: to the right is the way to Bethlehem
The Christians of the Eastern churches are brought up in much the same faith. They believe that the prayers said within the walls of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at the foot of Mount Calvary have a wonderful efficacy, and they gather in Jerusalem every Easter by the tens of thousands. From the wilds of Abyssinia, from the flat plains of Egypt, from the mountain fastnesses of Greece, and from all over Russia, even to the borders of Siberia, they come to drop their tears upon the tomb, and to live over the terrible events of Passion Week. They come from all parts of Asia Minor, and the Syrians and the Armenians jostle the Copts and the Arabians on their way to prayers.
In recent years Latin pilgrimages from western Europe and America have been increasing. Bands of Christians come from Italy, France, Spain, and the United States. I was in Jerusalem when the first pilgrimage was made by a body of Christians from America to the Holy City. More than one hundred men and women from all sections of the United States, under the leadership of the Bishop of Tennessee, took part in the Latin celebrations in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Many of these pilgrims are extremely superstitious. Most of them believe that every spot pointed out by the monks is the actual locality of the event alleged to have occurred there. They walk over the Holy Land with staffs in their hands, and kneel down and kiss the places where they believe Jesus trod. They even kiss the stones of the streets of Jerusalem, forgetting or not knowing that there have been three or four Jerusalems buried below the site of the present one.
I have seen pilgrims crawling on their knees through the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Creeping into the vestibule, they kiss the Stone of Unction upon which it is claimed the body of Christ was anointed for burial.