We went further on, and came to the garden in which the Lord Jesus came to meet those who wished to take Him, bowed thrice, at last voluntarily delivered Himself up into their hands, and suffered Judas to kiss Him: This place is surrounded by a dry stone wall, and is of peculiar sanctity. It stands on the slope of the mount: not that the place slopes much, but there is a wide field there which is called the `flower garden.' This place is visited by both Eastern and Western Christians alike, with most zealous devotion; but the Saracens, out of jealousy of us, generally befoul the place with dung, and bedaub with filth the stones which the pilgrims are wont to kiss. So on this day, when we came to this place, we found it freshly defiled in a shameful fashion. Herein we were not so angry with the Saracens as we were with our own selves, knowing on the other hand that it was in consequence of our sins that God suffered this to be done, and that He powerfully stirs up the Saracens to do these things, to the end that the holy places may be defiled before the eyes of pilgrim knights and nobles, who may thereby be roused up to deliver the Holy Land, to avenge the malice which prompts such great insults, and to kindle their zeal for the places wherein our redemption ( 146a] was wrought. That God powerfully stirs up the Saracens to act thus is proved by the fact that this place is far from the haunts of men, and that this collected filth must be carried in a pitcher from the city, or from the lower parts of the Mount of Olives, where also there are houses, and the places which we adore carefully bedaubed, which beastly action no one would commit were he not strongly influenced by something more than mere human will. However, this good is made manifest even by this filthy act, that they reckon that we are much interested in these places and therefore are strong Christians, and when they see that in spite of their defilements we reverence and kiss the holy places, albeit they are not edified, yet they are confounded thereby. So we went to this place, wiped away the filth with our garments, and being moved by a feeling of pity to greater devotion and respect, kneeled down in this filth out of worship for the holy places, and received indulgences (^). Even so one who saw the host lying in the mud would straightway fall into the mud himself, and would not regard his own defilement, provided that he could save the sacrament from insult.

From thence we went on a little further down along the wall of that garden. Here a stone marks the place where St. Peter stood, and seeing a serving man named Malchus strike the Lord a violent cuff in the face, blazed up with zeal, and aimed a blow with his sword at Malchus, who was coming towards him, meaning to split his head in twain; but, as he avoided the stroke, Peter cut off his ear. Presently the Lord reproved him, forbade him to fight with the sword, and having had the wounded man led up to Him, healed him in the presence of them all. We kissed this place, and received indulgences (^).

We now went down the hill nearer to the brook, and came to the place called Gethsemane, where eight of the disciples remained asleep, while the Lord went on with three to the place where. He prayed. Here,we said the appointed prayers, and received (^) indulgences. On this spot, in the time of Christ, there was a farm and homestead belonging to the Levites, wherein cattle intended for sacrifice in the temple were kept. After the triumph of Christ the Christians built here a great church, and a monastery for many monks. All these buildings have now been levelled with the ground, but some slight traces of the walls may still be seen.

These four places aforementioned are situated within small compass, near to one another, and in the same piece of ground. In this piece of ground we were also taken to a wide rock which rises out of the earth, and forms as it were a wide wall, [b] not very high, and not quite upright but slanting. At the foot of. this wall of rock is a piece flat ground whereon the Lord Jesus was standing when the Jews ran up to catch Him and take Him prisoner. The mob could not quite surround Him, because the rock stood on the east side of Him; and when they were about to make a rush upon Him, He was afraid, and, turning Himself towards the wall of rock, in His wish to escape from their eager attack, He stretched out His arms and fell upon the wall of rock, not in order to seek any means of flight, but that He might yield Himself up to brute violence. As He fell thus against the wall, the rock yielded to His most sacred body, and made itself soft even as though the wall had been formed of yielding wax and received into itself the print of His body with all its limbs in the very fashion in which He fell against it. These marks are, imprinted in the rock so as to show completely the form of the hands and arms, of the head and hat, of the breast and clothes. It is impossible to suspect that these marks have been cut artificially by any tools, but at the instant when the Lord, troubled in mind, ran against that wall, it received an impression beyond anything that art or industry could make, even as though nature had bestowed that form upon the rock from the beginning This rock, moreover, is so hard that it appears incapable of being hewn, and no part of it can be broken off by iron tools. So we bowed ourselves down round about this rocky wall, and, after we had said our prayers, rose up, and one after another went up to the place and laid our bodies, as far as we could, in the holy imprint, putting our arms, hands, face, and breast into the hollow, and measuring it by our own figures. God is my witness that I saw this which I have written during my first pilgrimage, and that I laid myself in these marks, which, however; point to a much taller man than I am. It is mentioned by Brother Burcardus, of the Dominican Order, who spent a long time in the Holy Land two hundred years ago, and has clearly and distinctly described the entire Holy Land, and who saw this figure marked on the rock whereof I am now speaking, and has described the same. But now, I cannot tell what I am to say, and I blush, and marvel, and am astounded, nor can I conceive what has become of that rock; for during this my second pilgrimage we were conducted to all the aforementioned, places, and we neither saw that stone, nor heard any mention of it, and so my lords the knights went home with the other pilgrims, and never heard of that stone. After they were gone, when one could make a quieter visit to the holy places, I several times went alone to the Mount of Olives, and searched most diligently for that stone in the place of Gethsemane, up and down, near and far, but I could by no means find it. One day I took with me the Lord Henry of Schomberg, Knight, an active man, and quite willing to try any experiments whatever, because I was very eager to see that imprint. We both of us sought it up and down, but were not able to find any trace of it. Other knights also, at my instigation, wandered about the hill searching for it, [147a] but laboured in vain. I even took with me two young brethren of Mount Sion, who earnestly searched for it with me, but we accomplished nothing; indeed, they declared that they had never heard of it before. I also went to the Father Guardian, Father Paul Gringlinger, Father Peregrine Polanus, and Brother John, of Prussia, men of age and experience, and ancient friars, devout clerical and lay brethren, but no one of them could tell me anything, and I seemed to them to be raving until I showed them the description of Brother Burckhard, which I had with me, and the book of my own former wanderings. I endured much toil in rambling over the mount seeking for it, for I am quite sure that it is possible for that stone to have been removed from its place, save by a miracle. No new buildings have been made there, and only two years had passed since I saw it first, and to this day I am disturbed at having lost that holy place. If I knew where Brother Anthony, of Flanders, of the Minorite Order, who at that time was the guide to the holy places, is now dwelling, I would go to him, if I could obtain leave, even if he were in England. For although the Evangelists say nought of this stone, and the Canonical Scriptures make no mention of it, yet I should have been pleased to see it, even as we saw and adored many other places, whereof no distinct mention made by the Evangelists. Neglect, the mother of oblivion hath taken away this holy place from us; but it cannot take away from me the sight which I have had of place, or prevent its appearance remaining fresh in my mind. The Venerable Bede describes a like miracle to have taken place at Nazareth, near the place where the Lord was to be cast down, whereof we read in the fourth chapter of St. Luke. He says that when the Lord had escaped out of the hands of the Jews, and was coming down from the top of the mountain, He wished to take refuge beneath a rock, and suddenly at the touch of His robes the rock shrank away, and, like melted wax, made a hollow wherein it could receive the Lord's body, where all the shapes and folds of His garments and the prints of His feet may be seen in the rock at this day, according to the testimony of those who have seen it. So De Lyra in his comment on the text, `But Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them,' John viii..59.* Similar miracles may be read of as performed by many saints, to whom, by Divine power, rocks have given way, or become soft, as in the case of St. Barbara.

We departed from the place where the Lord was taken prisoner, and made for the top of the mount, climbing up a steep and stony road which leads to Bethany; for this is the road by which men coming out of Jerusalem by St. Stephen's Gate go to Bethany: but there is another road leading to Bethany from Mount Sion, which itself is divided into an upper and a lower road, as will appear in its place. We went up the road down which the Lord rode upon the ass on Palm Sunday. On the way up we came to a place in the roadway, where a wide rock which reaches all the way across the road renders the path terrifying to animals who pass over it, because the rock is as smooth as though it had been polished, and beasts walk over it with fear, dreading lest they should fall, especially when they are going down hill. At this place the Lord halted with the ass, and casting His eyes upon the city, beheld it, and wept over it, and with much sorrow bewailed its present peace, and foretold its future troubles, as we read in Luke xix. So here we bowed ourselves to the earth, prayed, and received plenary indulgences (^^). We stood for a long while in this place of Christ's tears, and gazed upon the holy city, for from this place one can get a very clear prospect of Jerusalem, the Temple, and Mount Sion, the sight whereof is powerful to move the souls of the pious to tears, and it is marked as the place where we read that the Lord wept. Jerusalem, even in its wretched state at the present day, presents a sweet and delightful spectacle from this spot.

From hence we went on up hill, up the Mount of Olives, and when we had gotten up a good way we turned aside out of the high road to the left hand, and went up through a close full of olive-trees to the uppermost ridge of the mount, which trends long ways from north to south. Upon the ridge itself we turned towards the north, and going along the top came to a stone, which we perceived to be a place of exceeding great holiness; for on account of the frequent visits paid them by Christians, all the holy places have well-beaten paths of their own leading up to them, and are marked with stones, which stones, through much kissing, are as it were dirty, through being touched by the mouths of pilgrims, from whose lips a kind of fatness remains upon the stones which they kiss. Now one day after the blessed Virgin had visited the holy places, she rested here, and the angel Gabriel came to her, and for the second time greeted her with 'Hail,' announcing to her her immediate death and translation from this world to the Father. ' Come,' said he, `glorious lady, to Him who was born of thee, and receive again the pledge of thy womb, the recompense of thy nurture, the repayment for thy milk and food, the wages of thy toil, the reward of thy sufferings: thou shaft be the glory of the saints, the ark of those appointed unto salvation, a bridge* for those tossing in the waves, a staff whereon the weakly may lean, a ladder for those who would climb up to heaven, a propitiation for sinners, and the helper of all them that call upon thee.' Saying thus, the angel handed to the Virgin a branch of a most lovely palm, sent from Paradise, as a token of her complete victory over the enemy of the human race, and over the pains and terrors of death, and bade this branch of palm be borne before her bier. Moreover, he bestowed upon her miraculously brilliant funeral clothes, wherein she was to die, to be buried, and to ascend into heaven. Having done this, he ascended into heaven. In this place we said the appointed prayers, kissed the earth, and received indulgences.

Next, leaving the place of the presentation of the palm, we went onward along the ridge of the mount towards the north, and at the corner of the Mount of Olives, where it ceases to extend northwards, we came to the brow of the mount, where we found many heaps of stones, and a place of prayer. It is said that in the time of Christ there was a cottage here, named Galilee, in which the Lord promised at the time of His passion that He would appear to His disciples on the day of His resurrection, for in the twenty-sixth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel he saith; `After I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.' Some say that when the Lord promised that He would show Himself to His disciples in Galilee after His resurrection, He sometimes meant this village of Galilee, and sometimes the province called Galilee, because He appeared in both places. This village of Galilee is mentioned in Matt. xxvi., and in the twenty-eighth chapter of the same Gospel [148al the angel bade the women tell the disciples to go into Galilee, where they would see Him. The Church also sings in the words of Christ, `In die resurrectionis mede, praecedarn vos in Galilaeam' etc. Now we know that it was not until many days had passed since the Lord's resurrection that the disciples went down into Galilee, and not on the day of the resurrection. The Evangelist St. Matthew speaks of the province of Galilee in his twenty-eighth chapter, where he says that the eleven disciples went away into Galilee (the province), where he appeared to them both on a mountain, and by the sea of Tiberias. If, then, one understands the Scripture as applying to the two Galilees, there is no difficulty; but if of the province of Galilee alone, it contains great difficulty. Moreover, the commentators and expositors, and Augustine in his harmony of the evangelists, have had much ado to explain the texts which speak of appearances promised to be made in Galilee, because they understand the province alone, and not the village to be spoken of. I have found no ancient doctor of divinity who understands these texts otherwise than as alluding to the province of Galilee, because the appearance .which took place there was a public one, and there.were on the mountain, to wit, Mount Tabor, more than fifty brethren, as we are told in I Cor. xv.: wherefore men speak of the appearance which took place there, in the province of Galilee, beyond all others. It is said that Eusebius, in his `Church History,' speaks of the village of Galilee, though I do not remember to have read it. Ludolphus also, in his `Life of Christ,' understands that some appearances took place in the village of Galilee, which is in Judaea, and others in the province of Galilee. So we worshiped in that place where He is said to have appeared to the eleven, and received indulgences (^^), for the greatest indulgences are connected with this spot, because all those indulgences connected with these holy places which the Saracens will not allow pilgrims to visit are collected together at this spot. For there are many exceeding holy places in Jerusalem at which plenary indulgence is to be obtained, to which we are not admitted, such as the Temple of the Lord, Solomon's Porch, the Golden Gate, the Judgment Hall of Pilate, the House of Herod, and the House of St. Anne, which is the birthplace of the Blessed Virgin. The indulgences granted at these places we obtained at this spot. So when we had obtained indulgences, we climbed up over the heaps of stones, and gazed far and wide over the land. Towards the east, beyond the Jordan and the Dead Sea, we saw the mountains of Arabia, the lands of Moab and Ammon, the mountains of Galaath, and so forth. Towards the north we saw the mountains of the district of Galilee, the mountains of Gilboa and Lebanon. Towards the west we had over against us the Holy City, and beyond it we saw the Mount Shiloh, and Mount Ephraim, and the land of the Philistines, almost as far as the Great Sea. Southwards we saw the hills of Bethulia near Bethlehem, and the mountains of Hebron, and Judaea and Idumaea. After this we betook ourselves to examining the place itself. It is, as I have already told you, the end of the Mount of Olives, and is a place suitable for a castle, and indeed there seem to have been some buildings there once; moreover, upon the top of it there is a cistern, and the whole place is delightful. The histories of the kings of the East say that when the three kings had come near to Jerusalem, darkness covered the earth and the people of this region, wherefore they were not able to enter the city. King Baltaaar :with his host passed the night on this mount, while King [b] Melchior lay on Mount Calvary, as I have told you on page 117a, and King Caspar lay on Mount Gihon, and at daybreak they all entered Jerusalem together.

After having rested ourselves on the Mount of Galilee, we returned along the road on the top of the ridge of the Mount of Olives, and walked southwards on that high ground towards a great half-ruined church. When we came to it, we went up some stone steps into the vaulted porch, which stands before the door of the church. Before the church-door a Saracen had placed himself with a club, and would suffer no one to enter unless he gave him a madinus, twenty-five of which make a ducat. On the payment of a madinus he let us enter. Now in the midst of this church there stands a great chapel-fair, round, and vaulted, wherein is the exceeding holy place of the footprints of the Lord Jesus Christ, which He left stamped into the rock when He ascended from that place into heaven. We stood before this chapel, and with loud and cheerful voices chanted the hymns and prayers appointed in the processional for the place of the Lord's Ascension; and entering in, as many of us as could go in at one time, we fell down upon our faces, kissed the most holy footprints of our Saviour, and received plenary indulgences (^^).

After this we betook ourselves to viewing the place. It stands upon a high peak of the Mount of Olives at the southern end thereof, even as Galilee aforementioned is at the northern end of the mountain, and the place of the annunciation of the death of the Virgin Mary is below the ridge, half way between Galilee and the place of the Ascension. In this holy place there stands a great round church, beautifully built in such sort that on the top it is not covered by a vault, but the vaulted roof has a wide opening purposely made in it, beneath which opening stands the chapel of the Lord's Ascension, even as doth the chapel of the Lord's Sepulchre. Historians tell us that when first the faithful were building a church on the place of the Lord's Ascension, and intended to cover it with a vault, they could by no means fit together the stones of the vaults, and such stones as they set up straightway fell down again. When the believers saw this, they understood that it was God's will that the place of the Lord's Ascension from earth to heaven ought not to be blocked up by walls or vaults, but ought to remain free, clear, and open. So as they built they brought the vault round, resting upon the round wall, but they did not complete it; but, as I said before, they left a great opening, whose edge they have cased all round with cut and polished stones. When the builders were about to pave the church with marble slabs, and wished to cover the place where Christ's feet stood when He ascended, the stones when laid upon that place straightway flew back into the faces of the builders, and this came to pass [149a] as often as they attempted to cover the place. Once there was adjoining this church a great monastery of black (Benedictine) monks under a mitred abbot, and in very early times there dwelt in this place holy and devout men at whose instance and entreaty Jerome wrote the `Lives of the Fathers,' as may be read in the preface to that book. In those golden times so many lamps burned in this church, kept alight therein by the faithful, that they lighted up the whole Mount of Olives, and their radiance shone to the further side of the valley of Jehoshaphat, and illumined the hither gate of the city of Jerusalem. Opposite to this church was and still is the Temple of Solomon, in which likewise so many lights and lamps used to burn that they lighted up the hither side of the Mount of Olives. By the radiance of the lights which shone from those two churches the whole valley of Jehoshaphat was lighted up, the mount of the temple was lighted by the church on the Mount of Olives, and the Mount of Olives by the church on the mount of the temple. Furthermore this church was of old graced by the following miracle, which I have learned from the book of the pilgrimage of a holy man who was present and beheld it. It was the custom of the early Christians that on the day of the Lord's Ascension, after the services of mass, all the people of Jerusalem came out to the Mount of Olives, and remained there instant in prayer awaiting the hour of noon, at which the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven. When this hour came, suddenly an exceeding violent blast of wind rushed down from heaven, and poured its whole force through the opening in the roof of the church, so that the whole mountain quivered at the shock, and all who were present fell upon the earth, until that delightful yet terrible storm had passed away. This used to take place every year on Ascension Day. But when the Holy Land was taken by the Saracens they desecrated this holy church, and made a mosque of it. But as in spite of all prohibitions Christian pilgrims would visit this church, and were wont to enter it at night by stealth that they might kiss the footprints of the Saviour, therefore the Saracens would not either let us have it or keep it themselves, but pulled down the east end of it, took away from the walls and from the pavement all the casing of marble slabs, and removed the precious columns. Howbeit they left untouched the chapel of the place of Christ's footprints, and the rock which contains ,hem, because they also respect the holy footprints. On this rock are to be seen the prints of both the feet of the Lord Jesus, though the print of the right foot is the plainer of the two. These prints are kissed by Christians and Saracens alike. Now one of the pilgrims, moved by a pleasant spirit of piety, having with him a flask of exceeding sweet wine, poured some of it into the hollow formed by the footprints, and the rest licked it out as they kissed them, and as fast as the place was emptied he poured more in. On the north side of this church there is a hole in the wall so high up that a tall man can only just reach it with his uplifted arm. Pilgrims raise themselves up to this hole and put their hands upon it, declaring that there in the wall is some of that very stone whereon Christ stood when He ascended into heaven; but whence they get this idea I know not. At the east end there used to be a great stone, whereon the Lord sat when He [b] reproved them for their want of faith and hardness of heart, as we read in the last chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel; but now the east end is almost destroyed, and within it there are dwelling-places for husbandmen, and byres for goats, because a farmhouse adjoins the church on the east side, which house is called in their language . . . .

There is, however, a wall drawn across the middle of the church, which cuts off the east end, where these rustics live, from the western part, wherein is the chapel of the Lord's Ascension. This church stands, as I have told you, opposite to the Lord's temple, but much higher than the temple, though that likewise stands upon a mountain, and it can be seen a great way off, as is told on page 90b. It is directly to the eastward of the temple of the Lord, which they call Solomon's Temple, so that at the equinoxes the rising sun appears as it were to rise out of this church and to go up from it, as I have often watched it doing. When I saw this I no longer wondered that the Church sings upon the day of the Lord's Ascension, `Sing unto the Lord, who ascendeth above the heaven of heavens in the east.' Of this I shall speak at greater length on page 171b. From the city of Jerusalem to the place of the Ascension is three good Italian miles, by the way whereby we went up thither.

The place of the Lord's Ascension is one of especial sanctity among all the holy places of the Holy Land, and thither pilgrims are impelled with wondrous zeal, forasmuch as it is ennobled by seven peculiar virtues; for it is

• (I.) Exceeding venerable, because in ancient times there was here a famous high place, up to which David went to pray, as we are told in the sixteenth chapter of the second Book of Kings, and on page 171 of this work, and because thereon the disciples were made lords of all lands, since they were bidden, 'Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature' (Mark xvi.).
• (II.) It is a place which should be loved, because here He ascended into heaven, and showed us the path to a the heavenly kingdom.
• (III.) The place is wonderful, because of the most cruel destruction of Antichrist; for theologians, as, for instance, Richardus, towards the end of his fourth book, tell us that in this place Antichrist will be slain by the Lord Jesus. For, according to the vision in Daniel xi., Antichrist will come up to the top of the Mount of Olives, which the prophet calls a glorious and holy mountain; he will set up his throne in the place from whence Christ ascended, and will fancy that he, too, will ascend into heaven. Him the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth, giving a fearful cry, at which sound Michael shall rise up against Antichrist, whom he will strike with a thunderbolt and sink to the bottom of the great pit.
• (IV.) This place is terrible, because of the seat and throne of the Last judgment; for in this place the Lord Jesus will set up His judgment [150a] seat, wherefore the angels in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles said, `Even as ye have seen Him ascending into heaven, so shall He come with great power to judge the quick and the dead.'
• (V.) This place is dreadful, because of the casting down of sinners into hell; for those sinners who are damned shall stand in the valley of Jehoshaphat, which valley, as I have said above, page 142a, joins the accursed valley of Ennon or Gehennon, which reaches from thence through horrible desert tracts to the Sea of Devils, which is otherwise called the Dead Sea. As soon as those dreadful words of the judge shall be heard, `Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire' (Matt. xxv.), there will break forth from the northern side of this valley a stream of fire, running exceeding swiftly, which will enfold all the wicked, and will roll them violently along from the valley of Jehoshaphat into the dreadful valley of Toph, Tophet, and Hennon. On this subject consult the notable passage in Isaiah xxx. From thence they will be brought by the stream through that great valley into the Dead Sea, which is also called the Sea of Devils, into whose jaws that fiery river will be received, and soon, as it pours in, the whole sea will be set on fire by it, and beneath the sea hell will open its mouth, boundless in width, and will swallow up the whole. In fact and truth the position of the place is as follows: the Mount of Olives is a long way towards the east; it reaches from the north towards the south, and to it is joined on the same side the Mount of Offence, which likewise extends a long way. On the west side is the mount of the holy city, whereunto the Mount Sion adjoins, behind which lies the Mount Gihon over against the Mount of Olives and the Mount of Offence, and the space midway between them is called the valley of Jehoshaphat, at the bottom of which is the brook Cedron. The valley of Jehoshaphat and the brook Cedron start from the place of the stoning of Stephen, and end at the foot of Mount Sion, in the place where the waters of Siloam join the brook, and there it is called the valley of Siloam, which reaches as far as the well of Rogel. From this place begins the valley which is called `the shady valley'; beyond this it is called the valley of Hennon, Toph, or Tophet, from whence the name of Gehenna has been taken; and this name it retains all the way down its course, among hideous mountains and past steep cliffs, down to the accursed stinking, deceitful Dead Sea, beneath which, it is said, opens the yawning mouth of the pit of hell. So then, after the wicked have been judged, the brook Cedron will be filled to overflowing with a river of fire breaking forth from its north side, whence it will begin to break forth, because `out of the north an evil shall break forth' (Jerem. i. r4); it will envelop them and lead them along the aforesaid valleys, which all communicate one with another, without any mountains to block them up, down to the Dead Sea [b]. So the valley of Jehoshaphat will be the place of those who are to be damned, who will stand in the brook Cedron, as unclean ; for this place was ever a sink of all uncleanness, or rather a sewer down which uncleannesses ran into the sink, that is, into the Dead Sea. We read in i Kings xv., that Asa the king destroyed the Priapus, the exceeding filthy idol of his mother, and burned it in the brook Cedron, with all the uncleanness of the idols. Likewise in 2 Chron. xxix. 16, `And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord . . . and carried it abroad into the brook Cedron. Moreover, in 2 Chron. xxx., we are told that the children of Israel assembled in Jerusalem and broke the altars, destroyed everything whereon incense was burned to idols, and threw them into the brook Cedron. Moreover, they broke the idols and altars into pieces, and cast the powder into the brook Cedron. Besides this, all the other filth from the city used to drain down into the brook Cedron, and when the brook was in flood it was all carried down with a rush into the Dead Sea.

  Another reason why the valley is unclean and accursed is that devils used to be worshiped in it, and divination was practised in it, as we read in 2 Chron. xxviii., of King Ahaz, who burned incense in the valley of Hinnon, and purified his children in fire there, after the fashion of the Gentiles. This valley of Hennon is the same as the valley of Jehoshaphat, and this same valley is likewise called Cela, while the brook Cedron is called Chrinarus. Now, as is commonly believed and taught, all kindreds of the earth will be assembled together in this valley. Wherefore men are wont to inquire of those who have been in the Holy Land, how large that valley is, whether it be so wide that therein all men can stand on the day of judgment. Simple folk care for nothing else, but are anxious about the size of the valley of Jehoshaphat; and sometimes it has happened, and does still happen, that pilgrims pile up stones for themselves in that valley, wishing before the day of judgment to secure a place for themselves whereon they may sit on the day of judgment. And sometimes simple folk give money to pilgrims about to set out to Jerusalem, to mark a place for them with a stone in the valley of Jehoshaphat, to which place they believe that they will come on the day of judgment. When such men question one about the size of the valley, in good sooth one is forced to answer that the valley is of no great size, and that in its present form it would hardly be able to take in one nation, for all the Swabians who are now actually alive could barely find standing room in it, without mentioning those who have been, or who will hereafter be. But on the day of judgment the shape of that valley will be different, as will be that of the whole earth also; for before the judgment the world will burn and be freed from all uncleanness, nay, from all unevenness also, for the strait places shall be made wide, and the crooked and rough into flat highways. That this valley will be enlarged is evident from Zach. xiv., where we are told that the Mount of Olives shall be riven from the east to the west, and one part of the mount shall be upon the south side, and the other on the north side [151a], and this cleft in the mountain shall be as deep as a continuation of the valley of Celacin from the West.

  The Mount of Olives will have another cleft in it, from the north to the south, so that the two clefts will intersect one another in the form of a cross, and the Mount of Olives will be divided crosswise, and those who are to be judged will stand in the valleys formed by this cross. When this division is made, let no one be anxious about the room, which would be ample even if the world remained in its present form; for the cleft in the Mount of Olives towards the east hath beyond it the exceeding wide plain country of Jericho, and the vast wildernesses of Jordan, which could contain all the people in the world.

  One ought likewise to reply to them, and indeed it is a better answer, that those who have spent their lives well, righteously, and virtuously here on earth will have altogether unmolested places to stand in prepared for them by their angels. But the vicious and wicked will have very cramped and wretched places, and will stand in great misery, so that the whole world shall seem to them too small, and they shall say to the mountains, `Fall upon us,' and to the hills `cover us.' Wherefore thou need'st not secure thy place beforehand, seeing that if thou art a good man, thy angel will make ready an excellent place for thee, and will not suffer thee to be anywhere save in a place of honour. If thou art wicked, and hast set up a stone for thyself, that stone shall cry out against thee, neither will the evildoer have any place wherein to rest; for the just will miraculously and gloriously stand in the air, but the unjust will stand on the earth in the fire, in disgrace and misery, shrieking and howling. For an account of this valley and its names see page 233a.

  Lo, from what hath been said it is plain how dreadful this place must be to sinners.

  (VI.) This place is desirable because of the consolation of the elect; for from this mount the Lord will cast down death, and will destroy the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations, and in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things full of marrow, etc. (Isaiah xxv.). For all the things which are spoken of in that chapter properly belong to the Mount of Olives, albeit some explain them as belonging to the Mount Sion. Let anyone who pleases read that chapter and the next one to it, and he will see many proofs of what has been said above. `' This place is desirable because from thence after the judgment is over the Lord will ascend into heaven together with all the elect who have been since the beginning of the world.

• (VII.) This place is to be taken as a lesson, because of the examples of sublime devotion which have come to pass thereon. Here stood the most blessed Virgin Mary, thrilled with unspeakable joy as she beheld the Ascension of her Son. Here also stood the apostles and more than five hundred of the brethren with upturned faces, gazing earnestly into the clouds, and with devout contemplation longing to follow the Lord. Angels likewise were present, and said to them, `Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up. . . ?' Wherefore we read in the last chapter of St. Luke's Gospel that they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. It is also told, and is a pious tradition, that after her Son's Ascension the Virgin Mary every day visited this holy place, gave herself up to especially devout meditation, and with all the strength of her mind raised herself up to the contemplation of heavenly things. It is also told of a certain pilgrim [b] knight, that after he had visited all the holy places wherein , Christ wrought out our salvation, at last he climbed up to this place, and, falling down upon the earth in prayer, cried out, `Lo, Lord Jesus, I have sought Thee as carefully and as devoutly as I could throughout the earth; I know not where to seek for Thee after this place, for here Thou didst leave the world, and returnedst to the Father. I pray Thee, Lord, bid me come unto Thee, that I may seek Thee and find Thee at the right hand of the Father.' When he had finished this prayer he with a cheerful countenance breathed his last in the sight of all his fellow pilgrims, and by his death found in heaven Him whom he had sought in his pilgrimage through the holy places.

From what hath been aforesaid somewhat of the shape of the Mount of Olives will be understood; but I have thought well to add what follows, that it may be more clearly known. In the eleventh chapter of the Book of Daniel it is called `the glorious holy mountain,' and more over it is commonly called the Mount of Olives. Yet is its proper name the Mount of Lights, for this mount is first lighted by the sun. At dawn it is straightway lighted by the sun's rays before the other mountains, and from it the rays are passed on to the holy city and the temple; for Solomon's Temple was so built that its door looked towards the east, and the altar with the ark of the covenant stood in the western part of the temple over against the door; and when the sun rose, and passed over the top of the Mount of Olives, the first rays which it sent forth from the brow of that mount towards the city entered into the door of the outer tabernacle, through the door of the inner tabernacle, and through the door of the inner tabernacle they made their way even to the ark of the covenant, which was lighted up by the first stroke of the sun's rays. Now the Church of the Lord's Ascension always receives the first rays, as has been told above, page 149 [b], and it passes them on to the temple of the Lord; and if it had two doors over against one another, one in the east wall and the other in the west wall, then at the equinoxes the rising sun would have sent its rays through those doors, even to the doors of the temple of the Lord, to the ark of the covenant, and to the mercy-seat, and to the cherubim. Therefore it was called the Mount of Light.

Secondly, it was called so because at nights it was lighted up on the western side by the lights in the temple of the Lord; for there were so many lamps burning in the temple of Solomon that they lit up the mountain opposite to them, as has been told above, page 149a. Even at the present day the light from the temple is shed upon this mount; for it is said that the Saracens have seven hundred lamps, always burning therein, and eight hundred in the church by the side of the temple. I was once on the Mount of Olives by night, and saw through the windows of the temple as bright a fire therein as though it were a lantern filled with clear flame.

Thirdly, it is called the Mount of Lights because on its top, in the place inhere the Lord ascended, the priests of the old law were wont every year to make a great fire, and they used to bring out a red heifer, with all the people of Israel following them, and burned it there as a burnt sacrifice to the Lord. They collected the ashes of the heifer, and made the water of purification by mixing these ashes with it, by sprinkling with which they used to purify the people from many sins against the law, and this was done with great solemnity, as we read in Numbers xix.; and they did it on this mountain, as Jerome tells us in the ` Life and Death of St. Paula.' Never throughout the whole year did the people of Israel meet together at a fire without the walls, save at the ceremony of the burnt sacrifice of the red heifer; wherefore they named the mount after that fire and light, or else from the ashes and water of purification which was kept there. Now, besides the mystery of Christ and His passion there are two reasons for the sacrifice of the red heifer. First, it was to atone for the sin which they had committed in worshipping the calf in the wilderness, which calf was red, for it was newly wrought of the finest gold, which is red before it be filed or polished. The second cause is that the children of Israel learned this ceremony from the idolaters in Egypt; wherefore the Lord, having compassion on their frailty, did not change the ceremony, but its meaning and purpose. For the Egyptians in very ancient times looked upon their King Osiris as a god--nay, thought him to be a god. This man was slain by his brother Typhon, a red-haired, impious, and wicked man, who cut him into twenty-six pieces and sent them to his followers in divers places. Howbeit Isis, the wife of him who was slain, a giantess and a woman of exceeding might, seized upon her husband's kingdom, collected his members together, and placed them in a golden chest. She built a temple, instituted priests, and ordained a service of sacrifices to Osiris, ordering that out of hatred for the crime of the red-haired Typhon both red-haired men and beasts should be burned at the tomb of Osiris as a burnt-offering. Wherefore when the worship of Osiris became known throughout the countries of the world, people who wished to sacrifice to him in like manner would bring either a red-haired man or a red bull or a red cow to be slaughtered ; whereby it came to pass that no red-haired man was left alive in the whole land of Egypt, and in other lands red-haired men were viewed with hatred by the worshippers both of Osiris and of Isis, because of Typhon the fratricide, on account of whose wickedness all red-haired men were suspected of evil. So likewise Christians portray the accursed Judas the traitor in the likeness of Typhon, and sneer at and insult red-haired men, even of the greatest piety. Thus do innocent red-haired men pay the penalty of crimes which they have not committed. The myth of Osiris, Isis, and Typhon is written in the fourth chapter of the first book and in the fourth chapter of the second book of the `Ancient History' of Diodorus Siculus.

[152a] Fourthly, it is called the Mount of Lights, because it was lighted by the lamps and lights of the churches which stood thereon. For there was the church of the Lord's Ascension, full of lamps, as is told on page 149a; the church in Galilee; the church of St. Mark; the chapel of Pelagia; the church of Christ in agony; the church of the sepulchre of the blessed Virgin; the church of Christ's tears; the church in Gethsemane; the church in Bethphage; the church of. St. James; and many others, in all of which lamps used to burn, whereby not only the Mount of Olives,. but also the mount of the temple and the holy city over against it, were lighted up.

Fifthly, it was called the Mount of Lights because oil, the food of lights, grows there abundantly. Therefore it. is called the Mount of the Olive Grove, or of Olives, which grow there in great numbers of their own accord without being planted. The oil which grows thereon is used at this day to feed the lamps in the temple of the Lord. Thereon are olive-trees so huge and so ancient that I believe that some of them have been there from the time of Christ even to our own days. St. Augustine, in his commentary upon St. John's Gospel, says that the Mount of Olives is the mount of anointing and of unction, the mount of fatness and fulness, the mount of purging and healing. This he says because of the abundance of olive-trees which grow there, whose fruit is unctuous, earthy, and delicious, for, as Isidorus says, olive-oil through the bitterness of its root comes to be food for light, medicine for wounds, and refreshment for the hungry.

Sixthly, it is called the Mount of Lights because it is loftier than all the other mountains, and from it a man can see the country round about far and wide by the light of his eyes.

Seventhly, it is called the Mount of Lights because it is delightful to behold, and gladdens the eyes of one who sees it from the opposite hill. For there are upon it gardens of olives and fig-trees, pomegranates, and other fruits. In ancient times cedars and cypresses and vines, and all that man can want, grew at its foot. So much, then, about it. This Mount of Olives and valley of Jehoshaphat are mentioned by St. Bernard in his sermon to the Knights of the Temple, chapter viii.

When we had done in the church of the Lord's Ascension all that for which we had gone up thither, we came out of it, and went down some steps into a road which leads down a steep place into the valley. After we had gone down a little way beyond the steps, we came to a darksome chapel of St. Pelagia, wherein she wrought her work of penitence, and wherein she ended her life. Before the mouth of this grotto there ever stood a Saracen, who forbade us to enter until we had given him some money, after getting which he let us in. When we had entered, we read the appointed prayers, and received indulgences (^) ; moreover, we were greatly edified at the penitence of St. Pelagia. She was, as we are told in the `Lives of the Fathers,' an ambitious and vain woman of the leading society of Antioch, and was, moreover, wanton and unchaste. After many crimes and homicides had been committed on her account, she was converted, and said, ' I, Pelagia, am a sea of sin, overflowing with waves of wickedness; I am a pit of perdition; I am a pitfall and a halter for souls; deceived myself, I have deceived many others, but now I shudder at all these things: See, if you choose, this story very beautifully set forth in the chronicle of Antoninus, part i., volume vii., chapter ix., § 6. [b] Thus confessing her sins, she betook herself to the Church, and after having been instructed by the Bishop of Antioch, sold all her possessions, and gave the money to the poor, not wishing her property to be bestowed upon churches and priests, but upon the needy alone, holding herself unworthy that her property should be converted to holy uses. After having done this and changed her dress, she secretly departed from Antioch, made her way to the holy Mount Olivet, and betook herself to this cave, where she lived a most religious life to the wonderment of the whole country while no one knew her to be a woman until when she was dead, she had to be washed in the presence of the holy priests and bishops, who, astonished at what they saw, buried her in her own cell, where her sepulchre may be seen even to this day. There is a narrow passage between the sepulchre and the wall nearest to it, so that he who would pass through it can only do so with difficulty, and has to drag himself through the stonework. There is a common fable that no one who is living in mortal sin can pass through this place. This I consider to be a fable, for all of us passed through it; whether we were all in a state of grace, God knows.

After coming out of the cave of St. Pelagia we went on down the side of the mount, and passing by the road which leads to Bethphage and Bethany, we climbed over a dry stone wall into a garden, and came to the ruins of a great church, which is called the church of St. Mark the Evangelist. In this church there were once indulgences, as indeed there are at this day, which indulgences we obtained by saying prayers (^). This church is said to stand in the place where the holy apostles composed the creed of our faith. Here they met together by themselves, that they might be away from the noise of men, and by the inspiration of God composed the articles of the faith. After having composed them they passed over to the Mount Sion, called together the first holy council of the universal Church, laid before it the Articles and the Creed, discussed them, and gave them over to the Church to be published abroad throughout the world, as has been told on page 106a. So in this place we professed this same faith anew and said the Creed.

Leaving the garden which contains the aforesaid church for the road which leads down the steep hillside, we came down into the valley, and went down it a little way to the place where we understood that a church or oratory once stood, which church was called `the house of bread.' Here we said the appointed prayers and received indulgences (^). This church is said to have been built on the place of which we read in the eleventh chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, that, when Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished His prayer one of His disciples said to Him, ` Lord, teach us to pray.' There He taught them the Lord's Prayer, which is most acceptable to God--short, and exceeding profitable. He had uttered this prayer before on another mountain in the land of Galilee, in a long sermon, [153a] as we read in the fifth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel. When the Lord had prayed for a long time in this place, His disciples wondered how he prayed, and asked to be taught to pray. He gave them the same form of prayer which He had previously uttered in His public sermon. This prayer surpasses all other prayers, because it was set forth by the mouth of the Saviour Himself, who hath therein condensed all our human prayers into one wholesome sentence. So here we said the Lord's Prayer with more than usual devotion, and frequently kissed the place. I believe that this was called the church of the Lord's bread, because therein we were bidden to ask for bread, as well for the body as for the soul. In this place there is at the present day a deep cistern, but without water.

We left the House of Bread, and going on further down the hill, came to a place in which there was a wide road covered with smooth stone, as though it were paved with marble. In this place they say that Christ sat, and repeated to His disciples and took up again the sermon on the eight beatitudes, which He had previously preached in Galilee on a mount, and also in the plain country, even as it is clear that He did in the case of the Lord's Prayer, albeit this cannot be gathered from the Evangelists. In the fifth chapter of St. Matthew we read that He preached upon the eight beatitudes on a mountain, and in the sixth chapter of St. Luke that He afterwards repeated this same sermon on a plain at the foot of a mountain in the land of Galilee. Afterwards, when He came into Judaea, He is believed to have preached it yet another time in this place. This is not found in the Gospels, but it is an ancient tradition of the saints, that that precious sermon was uttered in this place also; for a preacher who has a good and profitable subject will often preach upon it many times, both in the same place and in divers places. At this place we bowed ourselves down in prayer, and received the indulgences appointed (^).

Below the aforesaid place we came to the place spoken of in the thirteenth chapter of St. Mark, where Jesus sat with His disciples, and, being questioned by them about the destruction of the city and of the temple, which they had before their eyes, told them many things about the persecutions that should befall them, and of Antichrist, and the last judgment, and of signs in the sun, and the moon, and the stars, of which we read in the twenty-first chapter of St. Luke. In this place we kissed the sacred footprints and received indulgences (^).

When we had gone down a little lower from the place where Christ sat, we came to the place where the blessed Virgin Mary was wont to sit down and rest during her daily [b] pilgrimage. We learn from the writings of the Fathers--to wit, of Jerome in one of his epistles, of Augustine, of Anselm, of Bernard, and of St. Vincent of Damascus in his sermon on the Assumption, that after her son's Ascension the blessed Virgin Mary every day, with exemplary devotion, visited all the places wherein our redemption was wrought. Though she was in the spirit, yet as long as she lived in the flesh she was moved by fleshly feelings, and therefore was refreshed by visiting those places, and was daily inflamed with fresh feelings of love, all the more powerfully the more she was illuminated within by divine visitations. Let us therefore reckon this most devout pilgrimage of the glorious Virgin Mary as an act of practical piety. The glorious Virgin, according to the common belief, survived her Son's Ascension fourteen years, which years she passed as a pilgrim, moving actually in the body from place to place. She vowed to make three pilgrimages as long as she lived in this world: the first a yearly, the second a monthly, and the third a daily one. Firstly, it is believed that every year she went down from Jerusalem to Nazareth, and there most devoutly visited the place where she had been greeted by the angel, calling to mind all the joy which she had felt in conceiving the Son of God, and returning thanks to God for the immense benefit conferred by Him. upon the whole world through her in that holy place. After she had accomplished this she returned by the same road by which, after she had conceived the Son of God, she had hastened to the mountains of Judaea and greeted Elizabeth, and humbly waited on her when she was delivered of John, as is told in the first chapter of St. Luke's Gospel. As she returned by this way, her sweetest joy of heart was renewed, more especially when she came to the place wherein her spirit rejoiced when she chanted that sweetest of hymns, the Magnificat, whereat the child in her womb was thrilled with joy, and leaped and rejoiced. After she had visited this place she returned to Jerusalem.

Secondly, she is believed to have passed over from Jerusalem to Bethlehem once every month, and there to have entered the grotto from whence she shed abroad that eternal light upon our world, Jesus Christ our Lord. Who can describe the joy which she felt in this place! Instead of the plenary indulgences for the remission of sins, which other sinners carry away from this place, she carried away, besides an increase of her deserts, a plenary illumination and consolation of her mind. O, what a sweet and profitable exchange!

Thirdly, she was careful every day to visit the holiest places in Jerusalem and the neighbourhood. In the early morning, as dawn drew nigh, after having received the sacrament from St. John on the Lord's Mount of Sion, she went forth with her maidens, and entered that great chamber which had been made ready for the Last Supper, where she meditated upon the immense boon there conferred upon the human race, looked into the deepest mysteries, and kissed the place where her Son had sat. From thence she would go to the house of Annas the high priest, and after praying there entered the hall of Caiaphas, and mused, not without sorrow, upon the sufferings undergone by her Son in that building. Thence she went down from the Mount Sion out of the city, and came to the rock of the Cross, which she embraced and sweetly kissed, pitying that dearest One who was crucified thereon, and rejoicing nevertheless in His precious devotion to those whom He redeemed. From thence entering into the garden of the Lord's [154a] tomb, she would go to the place where the body of her Son and Lord was anointed and preserved in spices, where she kneeled and kissed the stone; and swiftly rising from thence, made her way to the Lord's tomb, whose cave she entered, and, embracing His sepulchre, was filled on that spot with unspeakable joy. Leaving these places, she went down the hill of Calvary towards the city gate, and on her way, not unmindful of her Son, how He was led out of the city along that path burdened with the heavy cross, and in the places where she had seen her Son either fall beneath the load of the cross, or be assailed by some especial outrage, she would kneel down and pray. Thus she would enter the city by the gate of judgment, go up to Pilate's judgment hall, and kiss the places where He was scourged and crowned, with thanksgiving. Coming out from thence, she would go to the house of Herod, and kiss her Son's footprints there. From hence she would go up to the temple of the Lord, and, after praying there, would leave the temple on the other side, and come to the Golden Gate, where she reflected upon her Son's entrance on Palm Sunday. Passing out through this, she went down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and there prayed for the whole human race, that they might be worthy to stand there unconfounded on the dreadful judgment day; for she knew that on that day no prayers, not even her own, would have any weight; wherefore she addressed the judge beforehand on that spot. After this she crossed the brook, pointed out to her companions the place of her own sepulture, and, entering the cave, became filled with joy unspeakable, for that she knew that in this place she would first receive the joy of complete fruition, that here she would put on the robe of glory both in the body and in the soul, would be snatched away from this wicked world, and be exalted above the choirs of angels. Next, leaving her sepulchre, she would go a little higher up, and enter the grotto where the Lord Jesus thrice prayed when in the greatest anguish; there she also, mindful of His agony, would bend her knees on the footprints of her Son, and remain steadfast in prayer longer and more earnestly, than elsewhere. Finally, she would enter the garden and farm of Gethsemane, and kiss the places where her Son was taken captive. On leaving this place she would turn away from the valley and make for the church of the Mount of Olives; but at the place where Jesus looked at the city and wept, she likewise would turn her face towards the city, and lament its misfortunes with piteous sighs of compassion. Climbing up from thence, she came to Galilee and the cottage, where she reflected upon the glory of the resurrection of her Son, and the joy of His disciples. When she had finished her prayer there, she came walking along the crest of the mount to the place where on the last day of her pilgrimage the angel met her, and announced to her that the time of her departure was at hand. From hence she went on, and came to the place of her Son's Ascension, where she kissed with the utmost devotion the [b] holy footprints marked plainly in the rock. Now, because this place is especially fitted for prayer, she would leave it somewhat soon, that she might have longer time to spend there afterwards, and would cheerfully descend the other side of the Mount of Olives, and go through Bethphage to Bethany, to visit her acquaintances there, and the places where her Son had been--the house of Martha, the grave of Lazarus, the dwelling of Mary Magdalen, and the house of Simon the leper. After having visited there, she again sought the high ground, and climbed upwards, slender and fragile as a wreath of smoke, being already worn away by her various penances, and burned within by the flame of pious love; thus in cheerful guise she would with unspeakable longing seek the top of the holy hill of Olivet, from whence she had descended, and would return to the place of the Lord's Ascension, whither she would go as though herself about to ascend straightway and meet her Son. When she was there, she would caress the aforesaid footprints with many kisses, lifting at one time her eyes, at another her hands, to heaven, and on that spot she would feel much joy at the thought that there the greatest honour possible was bestowed upon her Son and upon herself, when that flesh which had been born of her was taken up from hence and exalted above all the heavens. Leaving this place, she would make her way home, and walk down the mount, by the place where the apostles had put together the creed which she herself had taught them, where she would stand still for a little space and pray for those who professed the faith. Passing on from thence to the place where the Lord taught them to say `Our Father,' she would stop and say that prayer, and as she went on would give thanks at the place where the eight beatitudes were preached of. From thence she would come down to the place where Christ sat with His disciples, and told them the terrible story of the last judgment; where she offered a prayer that He might be merciful in His second advent, and went on till she came to the dwelling where already at the outset of this pilgrimage of the most blessed Virgin Mary I have said was her place of rest and recovery of breath. Now, at the time when the blessed Virgin Mary was alive there stood there a dwelling, inhabited by good peasants, who, observing the unfailing passing-by of the Virgin, invited her to sit and refresh herself in the shade, and she frequently would come out of the road, sit down, and rest her frail maiden limbs. And albeit she was not wearied or fatigued by labour, yet she concealed this privilege out of humility, even as she concealed the privilege of her virginity in her purification, and the privilege of freedom from pain when at the point of death, which privilege she even concealed by lying in bed as though weak with illness, as has been explained on page 105a. So having resumed her strength, which she had not lost, but which had been in abeyance at the aforesaid place, she came down the foot of the mount into the valley, where, after visiting the sepulchres of some of the prophets, she came to the sepulchre of her own most chaste husband [155a] Joseph, who was buried there in a cleft of the rock, before which sepulchre she would stand and remember him with pleasure. From thence, crossing the bridge over the brook, she would go up again to Mount Sion, and when there would go to the place where she herself and the disciples received the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, where again she would be filled with fresh joy. Thence she went down and sought the sepulchre of the prophet David, her ancestor, after which she would go into her own oratory, which was hard by, in which it is a pious belief that she had for relics two great stones which were brought to her from Mount Sinai by angels, one of them from the place where Moses saw the bush burn without being consumed, before which stone she offered fitting thanks for the glorious preservation of her own virginity; the other from the top of Mount Sion, where the ten commandments were given to Moses; before which stone she would meditate upon the excellence of those commandments, and thank God that it was through her that He was given to the world by whom every jot and tittle of the law was fulfilled, as we read in the fifth chapter of St. Matthew. She had these two stones, by means of which she could visit the desert of Sinai, because she was in truth a pilgrim. For an account of these stones, see page 103b. After she rose from her prayers at this place she would return to her house, and bring her pilgrimage to an end for that day.

For an account of the house wherein the most blessed Virgin Mary dwelt, see page 205a. On the subject of this pilgrimage of the most blessed Virgin Mary, Odilio, an ancient doctor of the Church, says: ` If we desire to know what the blessed Virgin did after the Lord's Ascension, without doubt she frequently visited the places of the Nativity, the Passion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension, wept therein, and imprinted upon them kisses with her most holy mouth.' And St. Jerome, in his sermon on the Assumption, speaks of this pilgrimage as follows: `Perhaps we may suppose that through the greatness of her love she would dwell in the place where her Son was born, died, and was buried, among which places her love would be fed with pious reflections, as it is the property of love always to believe that it finds that for which it longs.' This pilgrimage is also spoken of by Antonius, in his Summa, part iv., volume xv., chapter xliii., § 2. Howbeit, both of these writers believe that this pilgrimage of the blessed Virgin Mary is rather to be taken in a spiritual than in an actual sense; though they do not therein deny that she did actually make this pilgrimage, and thereby accumulated great merits. She earned merit by every act of her. free will, and consequently by every; act of her life. The reason of this is, that the intellect is always right, unless it mixes itself up with vain fancies, and is led astray by them. Now, the intellect of the blessed Virgin was as clear of useless fancies as possible, wherefore she obtained merit by her pilgrimage. The second reason is this: whenever the reason cannot err in its decision, there the will also cannot choose many things, but chooses the last and best of them. Now, all of these conditions were present in the case of the blessed Virgin; wherefore it is written in the tenth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, ' Mary hath chosen the better part.' Thirdly, the Apostle hath said in the tenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, `Whether ye eat [b] or drink or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' This precept no saint has been able to keep perfectly save only the most blessed Virgin Mary, who always virtuously commanded the movements of her own freewill, and gained merit by so doing. Wherefore Odilio says: `One thing we know for certain, that is, that every act of Mary's was always done with the thought of the Lord before her eyes.' Jerome also, in his sermon on the Assumption, says: `I suppose that all the heart and all the strength of mankind, taken all together, would not suffice to understand fully how ceaselessly she was consumed by the heat of holy love, how she was moved by the incitement of heavenly mysteries to be filled with the Holy Ghost, while she turned over in her mind all that she had heard, had seen, and had known.' From this it is evident that, when she was walking as a pilgrim from place to place, the most blessed Virgin Mary, though she was doing a work of virtue, nevertheless might, nay ought, to have been better employed; since the apostle says, `The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal,' I Cor. xii.; and I Tim. iv., `Bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things.' She might therefore have neglected this bodily exercise, and have devoted herself entirely to the pious practice of pure contemplation and quietude. It is well known that they who wander in the body are distracted in the spirit. In answer to this we shall reply that the most blessed Virgin Mary had this especial privilege, that at one and the same time she could live a life of action and of contemplation, which never has been granted to anyone else. To some is given an active, to others a contemplative, life; some--for instance, the apostles--live both lives, but at different times. But it was given to the most blessed Virgin Mary to live both lives at the same moment, so that the child could be nourished by her outwardly and its divinity contemplated by her inwardly; she could move from place to place, and nevertheless keep her mind immovably fixed upon its appointed object. The devout panegyrists of the blessed Virgin tell us that she remained ever in a rapture of piety, to which only a few of the greatest saints have attained by snatches and for an instant of time at exceeding long intervals. Besides this, as Albertus tells us, she daily partook of the sacrament of the Eucharist, as is set forth on page toy a; whereby she obtained such fixity of mind that nothing which she saw or heard could distract her. Every day before setting out on her pilgrimage she heard Mass, and communicated with the most burning piety, and herein was moved by a fervour of spirit belonging to God rather than to herself.

There appears to be another reason why the most blessed Virgin Mary ought not to have gone abroad publicly every day, lest she should or might have been the cause of ruin to anyone; for it must be believed that she was most beauteous in body as well as in soul, seeing that the Holy Spirit saith of her, 'Thou art fair throughout, in thee is no blemish,' nor did age or the labour of life passed under a monastic rule disfigure her. The answer to this is that the sight of the Virgin could not lead anyone into sin. St. Bonaventure tells us that he had been truly told by Jews that at the sight of the blessed Virgin Mary, [156a] albeit she was exceeding lovely, no one was inflamed with evil carnal concupiscence, but that all feelings of the kind were extinguished in the beholder by her divine aspect, as though a cold virgin dew breathed forth from her eyes or emanated from her most chaste mind, even as on the contrary one is excited by the sight of a sinful and wanton woman. Furthermore, it seems as though the daily appearance of the most blessed Virgin Mary in public might give occasion for still greater jealousy among the already jealous Jews; for on the Son's account they were most bitterly incensed against His mother, and when they saw her pass through the city they might perhaps be excited to violence by their rage and anger. To this I reply in the words of the previous answer, that, as the sight of her quenched the fire of concupiscence, even so it damped the fire and flames of jealousy, rage, and hatred, and whosoever looked upon her lost the fury of cruelty and anger, and became piously and reverently disposed towards her; wherefore she was respected by all as a puissant, virtuous, honourable, and amiable lady. Thus, we read in the twenty-fourth chapter of Wisdom, ` In the holy tabernacle I served before Him, and so was I established in Sion. Likewise in the beloved city He gave me rest, and in Jerusalem was my power. And I took root in an honourable people, even the portion of the Lord's inheritance.' Wherefore even when the Jews were full of anger against her most sweet Son, no one molested the Virgin. We must not believe the painters, who represent Jesus led along carrying the cross, and men striking the Virgin's head and kicking her with their feet. We must bear in mind Horace's maxim,

'All the world knows, there ne'er was anything

Which painters dared not paint, or poets sing.'

So much, then, for the pilgrimage of the most blessed Virgin, which particulars I have thought fit to insert in my book of wanderings, in order that my own wanderings may have the better excuse. So at the place where the most blessed Virgin Mary was wont to refresh herself, we also sat down and took breath and rested ourselves after having said our prayer there, and received indulgences (^).

Going on from the place where the most blessed Virgin Mary was wont to rest, we went down to the foot of the Mount (of Olives), and when at the foot of the mount, we went down (the valley) towards the south, having the Mount of Olives on our left hand, the brook Cedron on our right, and above it, on the mount on the other bank of the brook, the holy city. As we went down we came to the bridge over the brook, which, however, we passed by and left behind. While thus walking we came to a costly sepulchre, cut into the shape of a tower out of the solid rock of which the mount is formed. Its builders have cut into a projection of the mount, leaving as much of it standing as was contained in the pyramid, and cutting away the rock round about it, in such sort that the pyramid stands up all alone by itself, as though it had been built there by cunning workmen from the foundations, though in truth it is part of the mount, and hath stood there from the beginning of the world. This pyramid measures sixteen great cubits in circuit, and it [b] may be three cubits in height. At the top it has a sharp-pointed pinnacle, with a roof such as towers have. Beneath the roof it is hollowed out, and windows are cut in it, so that at the back of the pyramid a man can drag himself up and get inside the pyramid through the window, as I did myself one day when I was there alone, wishing to see what was inside. This pyramid was made for the sepulchre of some great king and powerful man, but there are different stories as to who the man was for whom it was made. Some say that King Solomon caused it to be hewn out for a sepulchre for his Ethiopian wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, and that she was buried therein. It was in her honour that he likewise composed the Song of Songs, and he built temples to her idols Moloch and Chamos (sic), did many other things, treating God Himself with irreverence for love of her, and last of all he hewed out this noble sepulchre for her. Others say, and this is the received opinion among the Saracens and Eastern Christians, that Absalom, the son of David, caused this rock to be hewn out that he might be buried therein. This story is based upon the eighteenth chapter of the Second Book of Samuel; but because he made war against his father, and died miserably, Absalom was buried in another place, beyond.the Jordan. Because of this there is a custom that all the boys who pass by this pyramid, whether they be Jewish, Saracen, or Christian boys, pick up stones from the ground, and cast them at him against the pyramid; and as they throw the stones they curse Absalom, and jeer at him for his evil death, in token of their abhorrence of his disobedience to his father. Moreover, if anyone in Jerusalem hath a disobedient son, he leads him hither and forces him by threats and stripes to cast stones at it, and to curse Absalom, and relates to his son the story of the wickedness and death of Absalom. This is the most efficacious corrective for boys in Jerusalem. In consequence of so many boys throwing stones at it, the pebbles lie in great heaps beside it, and if they were not cleared away from time to time, it would long ago have been covered over with stones. Others say that Jehoshaphat, King of Jerusalem, caused this pyramid to be made that he might be buried therein. This I do not believe, because he was a holy man, a follower after the good deeds of his forefather David, and as he was not divided from him in his life, even so he did not seek to be divided from him in his burial. Thus in the last chapter of the First Book of Kings we are told that Jehoshaphat, when he died, was buried in the sepulchre of his father, in the city of David. Hence it appears that the story ought to be told in another way, that Jehoshaphat was a man of magnificent ideas, who made many wondrous works amongst which he caused this pyramid to be hewn out to show his grandeur and for a wonder among men, and that hereby he obtained so great renown that the whole of this valley, which previously was called the valley of Cela, was, because of this pyramid, thereafter called the valley of Jehoshaphat by all men unto the present day. There are no indulgences connected with this pyramid; so, after we had looked at it, we went on to the rest (of the holy places).

On the right-hand side of the pyramid there are two holes in the wall of rock, which are said to be two sepulchres. In one of them was buried Joseph, the husband of the most (157a) blessed Virgin Mary, and the bringer-up of Jesus Christ. In the other lies Simeon, the old man who took the Lord in his arms and sang the hymn, `Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace,' as we read in the second chapter of St. Luke's Gospel. We bowed ourselves to the earth before the tombs of these holy men, said our prayers, and received indulgences (^). How holy and remarkable these men were we learn from the Gospel truth, but more especially with regard to St. Joseph no one can doubt that he enjoyed special privileges of grace, and stood high in merit with God, to have had so great a treasure entrusted to him. For his praises see the works of Albertus; he is mentioned in the passage (Luke i. 27), `To a virgin espoused to a man, whose name was Joseph.' See also in Gerson's works, in his sermons on the Nativity, on the blessed Virgin Mary, and on then incarnation of Joseph. Herein we ought not to believe the painters, who depict Joseph himself as a little decrepit mannikin, bent double and leaning on a staff, gray-headed, and altogether incapable of providing for either the Virgin or her Son. He was a man of vigorous strength, a powerful labourer, a man of ripe middle age, and both before and after his betrothal to the Virgin he remained undefiled. With regard to these matters, see the aforesaid sermon by Gerson.

Leaving these sepulchres, we came to another tomb hewn in the rock. This they call the sepulchre of the holy Zacharias the prophet, the son of Barachias, whom the Jews slew between the temple and the altar, as Christ cast in their teeth (Matt. xxiii. 35). So here we bent our knees and begged for the mediation of the prophets, and received indulgences (^). After rising up from thence, we went on down the banks of the brook, and passed by many dwellings and cells cut out of the walls of rock on the side of the Mount of Olives, wherein once devout and religious Christian men dwelt; for the Mount of Olives is stony at its foot, and full of hollow caves in the rock, which caves were used by the ancients for sepulchres. In later times they were the dwellings of monks and saints, but now are abandoned alike by the living and the dead, save that in some of them dwell some most unhappy infidels, who for their infidelity can dwell nowhere else among men. We viewed these cells with wonder at the plain living of the saints of old, who out of their love for God and desire for the Holy Land shut themselves up among the tombs of the dead, and endured to dwell in tiny caves; and we felt angry with our own selves, who become weary of dwelling in great palaces and spacious and beauteous monasteries, because we grow lukewarm in our love towards God, and neglect the duties of monastic life.

Now, as we went further down, we came to a great cave, with many works cut into the rock, full of dark hiding places, with two stories of caverns, and holes cut in the upper chambers like windows. While [b] we were rambling about in this cave, it came into my mind that I had seen a place like it in all respects in Suabia, near Gmund, which place is called Eberstein. He who has seen the one has seen the other, save that the Palestine one is larger and has the deeper cave. To this cave St. James the Less fled for refuge when the Lord was taken prisoner, and there he lay hid. We are told by Josephus and Jerome, in their lives of famous men, that when the Lord died upon the cross he vowed that he would not eat food until he should see the Lord risen from the dead; so on the day of the resurrection the Lord came into this cave to him and Himself gave him food. About this apostle see on page 106a. After the apostle's death his body was brought into this cave, and buried there; consequently from that time forth the place began to be venerated and resorted to by Christ's faithful people even to this day. Wherefore the Lord Sixtus IV. attached plenary indulgences to this place, which indulgences were first published at the time of my first pilgrimage, and were read on the spot to penitent pilgrims, sealed with a leaden seal. So here we bowed ourselves to the earth, said the prayers appointed in the Processional of the Holy Land, and received (^^) plenary indulgences with a devout spirit. I have read in some pilgrim's book that this place was once given to the brethren of the Order of Preaching Friars, who built a church and cloister there, hollowed out still deeper caves in the rock, and dwelt there awhile. At last, through the insults of the infidels and their constant robberies and attacks, they were forced to depart thence and desert the place, and so the church with its outbuildings and all were brought to nothing. After the departure of the pilgrims I often visited this place, and read my hours therein. I diligently explored its caves, and sometimes used to fancy that I was in the midst of a convent of brethren, and was filled with heartfelt joy. But when I noticed the pitiful desolation of the place, I used to sit sorrowful. This place was very fit for brethren of the Order of Preaching Friars, and at the present day it would be a very suitable place for them to dwell in, if all other circumstances were equally favourable, for many causes, as follows:

I. Because of the admirable preacher for whom the cave was made, that is to say, St. James the apostle, who when in the act of preaching and setting forth the truth was cast down from the chancel rails and lamed; yet even then he did not cease from preaching until he was cast down from the pinnacle of the temple and died, when he was carried hither from Jerusalem and buried. Now, who ought to own the sepulchre of so earnest a preacher of God save those brethren whose beginning, middle, end, and name is preaching? For this cause, when our order was first founded it was given the church of St. James at Paris, where up to the present day we have a convent of three hundred brethren of great piety, wherefore in those parts the brethren of the preaching order are called the brethren of St. James.

II. One reason why this place suits the preaching friars is because of the virtues and constancy of this apostle. He was chaste throughout his life, and altogether (158a] apostolic and devout all his days, which things all agree with the customs of the preachers.

III. Because of the Mount of Olives, which mount; as aforesaid, is lighted by the lights of the temple of God, and by the sun, by oil, and by the lamps of the churches. Even so may the Order of Preaching Friars be named a mount of lights, for it is lighted by theological science, which comes from the temple of God ; by moral science, which shines from the sun ; by the light of nature, which comes from their own industry, which is typified by the oil which grows therein, and which is the food of lamps; and by experimental science, typified by the lamps of the churches.

IV. Because of the brook, wherein is cast all the refuse brought forth from the city, which there vanishes and is washed away, as aforesaid. Even so all the uncleanness of the world is taken away by the wisdom of preachers. Prov. xviii., `The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.' Holy Scripture also is an overflowing brook, whereof a preacher ought to drink, as the Psalm says, ` He shall drink of the brook by the way,' and another Psalm, ` He shall drink of pleasure as of a brook.'

V. Because of the cedars which used to grow beside the brook; for cedars are evergreen, and lofty, and their wood is.incorruptible. Even so the preaching friar hath by his three vows the verdure of chastity, the loftiness of poverty, and the incorruptibility of obedience.

VI. Because the situation of the place is suitable for preaching friars; for the place lies in a valley, without the city walls, and yet close to the city. Even so preaching friars ought ever to dwell in the valley of humility, away iron the noise of the world, yet near to mankind, that they may edify them by their words and example.

VII. Because of its ruggedness; for the place is among rocks, hard and rough. Even so ought the life of a preaching friar to be spent in hardship and chastisement of the body, that it may be brought into subjection, lest, after preaching to others, they should themselves become castaways, in the words of the apostle (I Cor. ix.).

VIII. The place is solitary, meet for study and contemplation, which befit a good and useful preacher, and cannot well be practised in a crowd.

IX. The place is somewhat strait and narrow, typifying the mind collected within itself, and removed from aimless wanderings.

X. The place is close to the Mount of Olives, the Mount of Offence, the Mount Sion, the Valley of Hinnon, and the field of Aceldama. Herein may be noted the variety of subjects for a preacher, who may preach either about the Mount of Olives, or virtues, about the Mount of Offence, or vices, about Aceldama, or death, or about the Valley of Hinnon, that is, about hell and eternal damnation. Or he may preach to the mountains and to the valleys, that is, he may be a debtor both to the wise and to the unwise, as saith the apostle (Rom. i. 14); or to the contemplative and the active ; or to the religious and to laymen; to just men and sinners; to good and bad. So much for this subject.

When we came forth from the cave after examining it, we did not go any further down the valley, but went back by the way by which we came, as far as the pyramid [b] of Jehoshaphat, near which an arched bridge of stone crosses the brook. So we went to that bridge, and, kneeling before it in prayer, obtained plenary indulgences (^^). The Greek histories, and the writer of the Speculum Historiale, tell us the following tale: that when Solomon was building his house of the wood of Lebanon, there came into the hands of the workmen a log of wood which they could not make any use of, and which they threw away. Someone dragged this beam down to the brook, and made a foot-bridge of it across the brook at this spot. Now, when the Queen of Sheba, who is also said to have been one of the Sibyls, was about to cross the brook here together with the king, she became astonished at seeing this wood, and threw herself into the brook and worshiped it, revealing the mysteries of the cross, and saying that this wood would one day form the Saviour's cross. In consequence of this Solomon took the beam away from thence, and sunk it in the bowels of the earth near the Temple, as hath been told on page 140b. In the place of the beam which he had taken. away, he caused a stone bridge to be made, and over this bridge the Lord often passed with His disciples, whenever He desired to go to the Mount of Olives, or to Bethany, and it was across this bridge that He was led to the house of Annas. David likewise crossed the brook Cedron at this place barefoot with all the .people, when he fled from Jerusalem from before the face of Absalom his son. Here also stood the priests with the ark of the Lord, until the whole of the people had crossed over, as we read in 2 Sam. xv. So here we reverently crossed the bridge, and went up the steep slope of the holy Mount Sion, up which the Lord Jesus was led in bonds from the garden to the house of Annas the high-priest. Howbeit, when we had reached the top of the mount, we agreed that, notwithstanding the exceeding great heat of the day, we would, after dinner, visit and see the rest of the holy places round about Mount Sion, to which we had not yet been. So the knights hurried down to the hospital of St. John, to take their food, while we religious entered the convent of the brethren, and dined with them.

After dinner those of the pilgrims who were strong met together for further pilgrimage and toil. Indeed, it is no slight labour to go thus in pilgrimage from place to place, as has been noted on page 96b. So when we were met together, we went down from Mount Sion on the northern side of the mount by a long road, leaving the road on our right hand by which we had come up before. Now, on the slope of Mount Sion itself we came to a sort of cave, an open abyss in the earth, through whose mouth we entered, and descended into the bowels of the earth, walking on sand without any stairs; and since we had entered a place which was shaded from the sunlight, we could see nothing, or very little, because it is the nature of the eyes that when one goes into the shade out of the sunlight all seems dark. As we were going down into this cave, [159a] there came to meet us, running swiftly up from the depths below, a fierce Saracen, raging wondrously with loud shouts, displaying his anger in his voice, countenance, and gesticulations, who strove to drive us out of the cave, so that we might not come to the water. But as he was alone, and we were many, we did not heed him, but continued to descend, whereat he redoubled his cries, roused himself to yet more frantic rage, and if he had but had a stick, he would have put us all to flight. When this Saracen saw that we took no heed of him, he swiftly turned himself round, outran all of us who were going down, and planted himself upon the edge of the fountain, where he fought in every possible way with those who wished to drink the water, and drove back, pushed, and struck them as they came up to it. But a certain Lombard knight from Milan went boldly up to this Saracen, seized him by the arm, and dragged him forcibly away from the fountain. Here. upon the Saracen became enraged against the knight, fell upon him, and began to beat him with his fists, and the knight, on the other hand, defended himself with his fists, because neither of them had any arms, and they became so angry with one another that had not the pilgrims separated them they would have torn one another to pieces. When the Saracen saw that he could not wreak his vengeance on the knight, he began to run swiftly upwards, meaning to bring others to help him to fight with us; but we caught him and held him fast, though he shouted and struggled exceedingly. Indeed, we should have been in great peril if he had got out of our hands, and we were displeased with the knight. But, after much wrangling, some of the knights untied their purses, and showed the Saracen some money, offering it to him if he would stay there and leave off his noise, and promise to keep the peace with the pilgrim who had struck him. I need say no more: as soon as he saw the money, he changed into a different man, for his countenance became calm, his voice sounded more gentle, his anger was appeased, and he offered himself, cheerfully and without reserve, to serve us in whatever way we might choose, and he who before could not be quieted by words or by blows or by the numbers of the pilgrims, when he saw these coins made ready to obey us, for, as Solomon says in Eccl. x., `Money answereth all things.' So when he had received money, he went down into the gulf, drew water for all of us, and freely gave it to us. When we had all drunk of that clear water, we came up again, said our prayers before the mouth of the cave, and obtained indulgences (^); for this is the fountain of the blessed Virgin Mary, and it is said that on the fortieth day, when she came with Joseph and the child Jesus from Bethlehem, that she might present the child Jesus in the temple, she descended into this gulf, and abode there, because she had no place to lodge in the city, any more than in Bethlehem, and yet she did not choose to stay among the other poor people in the court of the temple, because she feared Herod; for the rumour of the King who was born of her had gone abroad into the land, whereat Herod was disquieted, and all Jerusalem with him. Howbeit from this bridge she could go up secretly to the Golden Gate, bring the boy Jesus unnoticed into [b] the temple, and perform all the rites appertaining to the law of purification, as indeed she did; for no one was present save those who were warned by the Holy Spirit to be present at that hour. Furthermore, whenever she came year by year to Jerusalem, she lodged in this chasm, and when she made her pilgrimage she used to pass this way, and refresh herself beside this fountain.

After having performed our duties as pilgrims at the fountain of the glorious Virgin Mary, we went on further, and circled round the Mount Sion, going towards its southern side. Upon the west side we entered the valley of Siloam, and came upon a rivulet of water, which silently runs towards the valley of Jehoshaphat, as Isaiah says (ch. viii.), `the waters of Shiloah that go softly.' We went up along this stream, which runs down by the side of Mount Sion, and came to the place where a high rock, as it were a foot of Mount Sion, rises out of the stream, which rock has a great rent reaching from the top to the bottom, so that a man can without squeezing enter that rent in the rock. Now, it is said that this rent was made at the time of the Lord's passion, as we read in Matt. xxvii. 5 1, `and the rocks rent.' So we leaped over the stream, and entered into the rent, until we dared not go any further in because of the darkness.

When we came out of the rent in the rock, we leaped back over the stream of Siloam, and went on up. stream to the bathing-pool of Siloam, to which pool Jesus sent Celidonius (sic), who had been blind from his birth, to wash. He washed and received his sight, as we read in John ix. This bathing-pool was nothing more than a kind of pond formed below the fountain of Siloam, wherein the water which flowed from the fountain collected together, embanked round about with stones and earth, just as they make fish ponds in our country. In this bathing-pool there is now no water, because the stream does not flow into it, but runs down by the side of it. A certain Saracen has at the present day planted a garden of potsherds within the walls of. the bathing-pool, and some trees have grown in it. Notwithstanding this, we entered the place on account of the miracle wrought therein by Christ in the days of old, said our prayers, and received indulgences (^). In a certain book of pilgrimage I have read that it was in this pool that Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, was bathing when David saw her over against his house, lusted after her, and took her; but this I cannot understand, because there could not be any view of the fountain of Siloam from Mount Sion, and in the text (2 Sam. xi. 2) it is said that the woman was washing herself in her upper chamber over against the king's house.

When we came out of the bathing-pool, we followed the channel of the stream, and came to the fountain of Siloam, where it runs out from the Mount Sion. Now, as we came up thither, walking up stream along the side of the brook, we wondered at the foul and loathsome colour of the water; but when we came to the fountain, we discovered the cause of the dirty colour: for a Saracen, who was a tanner,* stood at the mouth of the cleft from whence the water gushes forth, and was soaking, pounding with his feet hides and skins lately stripped from beasts, so that the water was rendered foul and bloody, wherefore no one could drink or wash his face below where the tanner was.

From what hath been afore said, the description of the place will be in some sort understood; yet furthermore it should be noted that this flowing water fulfils the signs of a standing miracle, in that it flows not continually, but leaves off for three, (b] or it may be four days in a week, and pours out sometimes less water, sometimes none at all, sometimes an abundant flood. I have myself beheld the cleft sometimes dry, sometimes running with a scanty rill of water, sometimes so full of water that none could enter it. I had a curious eye for this water, and ofttimes have come down thither alone before sunrise to see what was passing; for this unequal flow is not according to nature, but came to pass by a miracle in the days of the prophet Isaiah. When Hezekiah, the King of Jerusalem, heard that the host of the Assyrians was coming to encamp against the holy city, he stopped up the fountains and filled up the cisterns round about Jerusalem with earth and stones, to the end that the enemy when they came might find no water, and so be forced to go away through thirst, 2 Chron. xxxii. Now, in front of the fountain of Siloam he made as it were a pond, wherein the water gathered, for the use of the people of the city, who could go down thither from the city and carry the water up again; but the enemy also could come to the place, and take water from thence. Wherefore the holy Isaiah prayed to the Lord, and the Lord granted his prayer, so that whensoever the people came down from the city, they found water enough; but when the enemy came, the fountain dried, and they were not able to find any water. Wherefore, in memory of so great a miracle, it flows not continually, but at certain times. This miracle is mentioned by Josephus and by the writer of the Speculum Historiale.

Close beside this fountain the prophet Isaiah was buried by the people after he had been slain by King Manasses. Now, when Jerusalem was built by Nehemiah, after its destruction by King Nebuchadnezzar, the lord of the county of Mizpah built the gate of the fountain high up in the city, through which the people went out and came down to draw water, and built the wall of the pool of Siloam, which had fallen down, as we are told in the third chapter of the Book of Nehemiah. These walls were cast down by the Romans in their siege of Jerusalem, even as every other thing was cast down ; but the Christians who came after them built them up again, and devout men built themselves dwellings round about them, and built a sort of monastery above the fountain, as may be seen at this day, for in front of the fountain there is a pool like a bath, and it is set about with walls and vaults. like the passages round a cloister, and the arches of the roofs rest upon marble columns. This building is partly in ruins, and the remainder threatens to fall into ruin also. It would be an easy task to restore the ruins of this holy fountain, but no one touches them or puts forth his hand to them, and so the place grows day by day more ruinous, even as do the buildings in the other holy places. In the days of old this place was held in honour, because it was included within the king's garden, and there were steps leading up from the fountain up to the city of David on the Mount Sion (Nehem, iii.). I cannot conceive how it was done, or how it was managed, that Hezekiah, the King of Jerusalem, brought the waters of Siloam up into the city, and up such a great distance, as we are told by Nicholas de Lyra, in his commentary on the forty-eighth chapter of Ecclesiasticus, seeing that [161a] from the fountain of Siloam up. into the city is more than forty paces straight up, and there is no great plenty of water in the fountain, nor doth it run so vehemently as to be able to turn water-wheels, whereby perchance it might be possible to lead the water up.

We now left the holy fountain, and climbed up the Mount Sion. On the slope thereof we came to a flat place, whereon stands a tree with thick branches and leaves. I know not of what kind the tree is, but it is like a lime-tree. Here is the place where the. wicked King Manasses, who filled Jerusalem with idols and shed much innocent blood, caused the prophet Isaiah to be slain because he had reproved him for his wickedness. At that time there stood a great and lofty cedar on the spot where the aforesaid tree now stands, and when the executioners brought the prophet to it to slay him there, the trunk of the cedar opened, Isaiah entered into the rent in the tree, and it closed up again and hid the prophet within it. Howbeit, the king was not converted even by this miracle, but ordered the tree to be cut open, dragged forth the prophet, and slew him, causing him to be cut asunder with a wooden saw. In this place we said the appointed prayers, and received indulgences (^). Afterwards we sat under the shade of that tree and rested ourselves, conversing about the holiness of the prophet who was slain there, of whom Jerome says that in his prophecies he seems rather to be weaving together a gospel than prophesying, wherefore he deserves to be called an evangelist rather than a prophet. For this cause his prophecies are reap throughout the season of the Lord's advent and on the night of Christ's nativity, both at morning-prayer and in the Mass, even as though they were part of one of the Gospels. By reason of the excellence of the writings of the prophet Isaiah, St. Ambrose bade Augustine read them immediately after his conversion.

When we had finished resting beneath the aforesaid tree we went on our way, and as we went one pointed to us the place where once stood the tree whereon the traitor Judas hanged himself, and offered to lead us to the place. But we scorned to visit it, nor would we move our feet one step for it--nay, we were loth to raise our eyes and look upon it, since there is no grace or indulgence, but penance, despair, and shame. Howbeit, we stood for a brief space looking towards the place, and read the verse in abuse of him: `The heavens shall reveal the wickedness of Judas, and the earth shall rise up against him.'