Page:Syria, the land of Lebanon (1914).djvu/198

SYRIA, THE LAND OF LEBANON our travels; they sympathized tenderly with the homesickness which comes so strongly at Christmas-time and expressed kindly wishes for our dear ones in America; they pressed upon us the poor hospitality that it was in their power to offer. In short, out of church as in church, the people of Feruzi acted like the devout, courteous and friendly Christians that they were.

When at last we had to leave, they all followed us out to the village limits, and one or two—such is the pleasant Oriental custom—walked on with us for a mile on our homeward journey. When the last strange, dark Chaldean had said "God be with you, brother!" we went on in the beautiful calm of evening a little more quietly than we had come, with a clearer understanding of the brotherhood of man, and a deeper faith in the teachings of man's great Brother.

To those who look to see an effective Gospel brought again to the Near East through a reawakening of the ancient Oriental churches, it is encouraging to know that even now there are prelates who are earnest, sincere and capable. Such a one was Butrus Jureijery, the first bishop of Cæsarea Philippi and later the patriarch of the Greek Catholic Church.

From beginning to end he was a thoroughgoing Catholic. Indeed, the most striking incident of his [ 156 ]