we were to begin to instruct our children? They have already destroyed by their tyranny more than one-half of the Nestorian population of this district, and they will not be satisfied until they have entirely exterminated us." The old man's eyes filled with tears as he narrated the sufferings of his flock, and every attempt made on our part to console him was in vain. "I shall soon sleep with my fathers," said he, "beneath the shadow of Mar Kayyoma; I shall go down to the grave in sorrow, but if there are good days yet in store for my flock, I pray God to send them upon these [pointing to the Nestorians present], and upon their children." Oh, the withering curse of Islâm!
Besides the village church, there is another at Doori dedicated to Mar Kayyoma, and situated high up in the gorge behind the Bishop's house. This latter consists chiefly of a natural cave so disposed with the addition of masonry as to form three aisles, one of which is used as a vestry. This church is regarded with great veneration by the Nestorians, as being the first Christian temple built in the Berwari district. Notwithstanding the distance from his house and the ruggedness of the road, the aged Bishop walks thither three times a day, early in the morning, at noon, and in the evening, to attend public prayers. Dr. Grant describes the person of Mar Yeshua-yau and his visit to Mar Kayyoma in these words: "The Bishop, who is a most patriarchal personage with a long white beard, was very cordial, and took me into his venerable church, a very ancient structure, made by enlarging a natural cave by means of heavy stone walls in front of the precipitous rock. It stood far up on the side of the mountain, and within it was as dark as midnight. The attentive old Bishop took my hand and guided it to a plain stone cross which lay upon the altar, supposing I would manifest my veneration or devotional feelings, after their own custom, by pressing it to my lips. I must confess that there is something affecting in this simple outward expression as practised by the Nestorians, who mingle with it none of the image worship, or the other corrupt observances of the Roman Catholic Church. May it not be that the abuse of such symbols by the votaries of the Roman See has carried us Protestants to the other extreme, when we utterly condemn the simple memento of the cross?"[1]
- ↑ The Nestorians, or the Lost Tribes, p. 52.
