An Alternative Theory of |
The First Two Christian Pilgrims
| Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia
| |
---|
The First Official Christian Pilgrim |
---|
"Among the places visited by Eutropia was Mamre (nr Hebron), a holy place to Jews and Christians because here, according to Genesis 18, Abraham had hospitably entertained three divine messengers in the shade of an oak tree or terebinth. The lady found that this holy place was defiled by pagan rites as well as by secular activities. She reported to Constantine, who at once ordered the place to be purified and a church to be built there. The church was completed by 333. Remnants of the outer walls exist to this day, and we know that the atrium contained Abraham's altar, the well and the tree. Remnants of that tree were still seen by St. Jerome. Constantine's building activities in Palestine gave to that country a central place in Christian sentiments which it had never had before; they in fact made it the "Holy Land."--- H. Pohlsander, The Emperor Constantine, 1996
The Second Official Christian Pilgrim |
---|
She found a number of holy relics, including