Street in Nazareth
In the spring of 1887 we rode into Nazareth about two o’clock in the afternoon. After the pitching of our tents we rambled through the bazaars, going to the “Holy Places,” the “Altar of the Annunciation” and “Mary’s Kitchen,” just back of it, and some distance away “Joseph’s Workshop.” We went into a veritable carpenter shop in the town of Nazareth and watched a Nazarene at work. He sawed and planed a small piece of wood for us, and the sight was helpful to our faith and suggestive of the genuine life there nearly nineteen hundred years ago. Many of the houses of Nazareth are of the simplest and most primitive order—made of bricks which are a combination of clay and straw. A piece of rough masonry is softened by the whitewash of lime. The houses of the better classes are often built of white limestone. The gardens scattered among them laden with figs and olives, and rich with the white orange blossoms and the scarlet pomegranate, form a charming contrast. On the streets we meet the people of Nazareth in their bright oriental costumes. Nazareth may have shifted its position slightly during the centuries, but not to any great extent. We can easily see that it is, as to its location, the Nazareth of our Lord’s time. The memories of the dear Child still haunt these hills. Here he lived and played and worked. He lived as lived the other children of peasant parents in this quiet village, and in great measure as they live now. Here he prepared himself amidst this hallowed obscurity for His mighty work on earth.
Comments