The origin of this town dates from the most remote antiquity. Moses speaks of it in the 35th chapter of Genesis in connection with the birth of Benjamin which took place, he tells us, when his parents had but a little way to come to Ephrath (which is the same as Bethlehem), Rachel dying immediately afterwords.
At the time of the Conquest of Palestine by Joshua Bethlehem was, like Jerusalem, inhabited by the idolatrous Canaanites, and in the division of the conquered districts, it fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah.
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| Bethlehem from the south. From The Atlas of the Bible. Grollenberg. (Nelson 1956) |
In the time of Herod, Bethlehem was no more than a tiny cluster of small houses (on the left). In the hill on the right were many natural caves.
The descent of this valley is very steep, and resembles a circus, with low, parallel walls, which keep the earth from sliding down, representing the tiers of seats.
This valley presents a most charming appearance, clothed, as it is, with an abundant vegetation, in which vines, fig, olive and almond trees abound.
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| The Sanctuary of the Nativity. From The Atlas of the Bible. Grollenberg. (Nelson 1956) |
In the centre, between the two bell-towers, is the famous basilica built c. 325 AD by the Emperor Constantine over the Grotto of the Nativity. Old Bethlehem lies to the right.
The view from the top of the plateau is bounded on the north by the Hill of Mar-Elias, and on the west by the Mountains of the Desert where St John dwelt. On the east, Beit-Saour rises from the little hill where Ruth gleaned the ears of corn in the field of Boaz, whilst beyond can be seen the sterile stony hills called the Wilderness. Yet further to the east, the rocks of Mount Moab stretch along like a wall, the base of which is bathed by the waters of the Dead Sea. On the south, Mount Herodion forms a regular cone, on the summit of which a few ruins indicate the site of the catle of Herod. It was here that the tetrarch was interred and, later, the Crusaders raised defensive works, hence its more modern appellation of the Hill of the Franks.
The particular spot indicated by tradition is situated in the lower part of one of these caves, reached by two slopes, now converted into flights of stone steps. Between the two sets of steps is a slight depression which tradition indicates as the spot to which Mary retired for the actual birth of the Divine child. It was only after the birth that she carried Him a few paces further to a more commodious place, more sheltered from the cold, where it was possible to give the cave something of the semblance of a room.
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| Grotto of the Nativity, Bethlehem |
A. Grotto of the Nativity.
B. Altar of the adoration of the Magi.
C. Manger in which the Infant Jesus was laid.
D. Staircase from the Basilica to the Grotto.
E. Altar marking the spot where Jesus was born.
F. Spring which gushed out at the Nativity.
G. Entrance to subterranean chamber.
H. Altar of St Joseph.
I. Altar of the tomb of the Holy Innocents.
K. Altar of the tomb of St Eusebius.
L. Altar of St Paul and St Eustochia.
M. Altar of the tomb of St Jerome.
N. Cell of St Jerome.
The shaded portion represents the Basilica built above the Grotto.
There were, says the legend, some animals: an ox and an ass, but, however that may be, Mary found something there to serve the purpose of a crib, in which to lay her new-born child; this crib, or manger as it is generally called, is now preserved in the church of Santa-Maria-Maggiore at Rome, where ir is visited and venerated by numerous pilgrims.
The place rendered sacred by the birth of the Saviour naturally became a goal of pilgrimage. The early Christians flocked to it in crowds. After the revolt of the Jews , under Barcocheba, the Emperor Hadrian had a temple to Jupiter erected on the Mount of Olives, on ther very scene of the Ascension; a temple to Venus, on Golgotha; and one to Adonis, above the Grottoes of Bethlehem. These three temples remained standing for one hundred and eighty years, thus providentially attesting the sites of these venerated sanctuaries, until the time when Saint Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine, replaced them with basilicas, in honour of Jesus Christ.
The Basilica of Bethlehem is still standing, and with the exception of the façade, which is almost hidden by massive buildings, is almost intact.''
[Taken from The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by J. James Tissot, Sampson, Low, Marston, London, 1897]
Saint Luke - Chapter 2
[6] Factum est autem, cum essent ibi, impleti sunt dies ut pareret.
And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered.
Her days were accomplished. She brought forth, not under the influence of the fatigue of the journey, but naturally.
Observe that Christ was born a little after the winter solstice, when the days begin to increase, John the Baptist a little after the summer solstice, when the days begin to decrease. For, as John himself said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” So S. Augustine remarks.
[7] Et peperit filium suum primogenitum,[1] et pannis eum involvit,[2] et reclinavit eum in praesepio[3] : quia non erat eis locus in diversorio.[4]
And she brought forth her firstborn son,[1] and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes,[2] and laid him in a manger;[3] because there was no room for them in the inn.[4]
And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for Him in the inn.
She brought Him forth naturally like other mothers, and was, therefore, truly and naturally the mother of Christ, and therefore of God, for Christ is God. Moreover the Blessed Virgin was more the parent of Christ than other mothers are of their children; (1) for from her Christ received all His substance, and other sons receive it not only from their mother and but also from their father. Hence the love between Christ His mother was far greater than that between other mothers and their offspring, for the love which is divided between mother and father was, in the case of the Virgin, united and kept together, since she was to Him in place of both mother and father. (2) Secondly, as she conceived so she brought forth, remaining a virgin, so that Christ was born while the womb of his mother was closed, and penetrated as the rays of the sun penetrate glass.
(3) Thirdly, the Blessed Virgin, as she conceived without concupiscence, so also brought forth without pain, or any of the concomitants of ordinary childbirth. So say the Fathers everywhere.
So the Blessed Virgin was all vigorous and in good health, absorbed in the love and contemplation of her Son, each moment expecting His birth, and longing to see and embrace Him.
And she herself on a certain anniversary of the Nativity made a revelation to S. Bridget, as the latter tells us in book vi. ch. 88 of her Revelations, saying, “When He was born of me He went forth from my closed virgin womb with unspeakable joy and exultation.… I brought Him forth as thou hast now seen me, kneeling alone in prayer in the stable. For, with such exultation and gladness of soul did I bear Him that I felt no trouble nor any pain; but straightway I wrapped Him in the clean clothing which I had prepared long before. And when Joseph saw these things, he marvelled with great joy and gladness that I had brought forth without assistance.” And in the “Angelic Discourse,” ch. xv.—“God Himself bent low His majesty, and, descending into the womb of the Virgin … formed in purest fashion from the flesh and blood of the Virgin alone His Human Body. And therefore is that most chosen Mother fitly likened to the burning bush which Moses saw, that took no hurt.… Moreover as, when the Son of God was conceived, He entered throughout the whole body of the Virgin with His Divinity, so, when he was born with His Humanity and His Godhead, He was poured forth throughout her body, like all its sweetness shed whole from the bosom of the rose, the glory of maidenhood remaining entire in His Mother.”
There is a question as to what place was the first to receive Christ at His birth. Barradius thinks it was the ground, that Christ might teach us humility. Others think that Christ was received into the arms of His Mother, with exceeding joy,—for this would seem to be becoming for such a mother and such a son, and would be natural, and is gathered from what Luke immediately adds, “and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes.” Taking Him in her hands she adored Him, kneeling, and then kissed Him most sweetly, and wrapped Him in the clothes and bands. Suarez thinks that Christ, as soon as He was born, was laid by angels in the arms of His most holy and loving Mother; S. Gregory of Nyssa implies the same. This would be the place most becoming to Him, and most consonant to the wishes both of Son and Mother; and from thence she placed Him in the manger.
S. Bridget, Revel bk. viii. ch. 47, implies that, at His birth, Christ came of His own accord into the hands of His sweet Virgin Mother, and this may be piously believed with great probability.
Ribadaneira says that there is a tradition to the effect that the Blessed Virgin, as soon as she saw Christ, struck with wonder at God made Man, prostrated herself on the ground before Him, and, with the deepest reverence and joy of heart, saluted Him with the words, Thou art come to one who has longed for Thee, my God! my Lord! my Son!—not doubting that she was understood by Him, infant as He was; and that thus she adored Him, kissing his feet as God, His hands as her Lord, and His face as her Son.
Christ, says S. Bernard, sermon 4, “On the Nativity,” when born cried and shed tears like other infants; both that He might begin to weep for and wash away our sins and also that He might conform himself to other infants; as Solomon, who was a type of Christ, says, “And when I was born, I drew in the common air, and fell upon the earth, which is of like nature, and the first voice which I uttered was crying, as all others do.… For there is no king that had any other beginning of birth.” Wisdom 7:3–5.
[3] Et ego natus accepi communem aerem; et in similiter factam decidi terram, et primam vocem similem omnibus emisi plorans.And being born I drew in the common air, and fell upon the earth, that is made alike, and the first voice which I uttered was crying, as all others do.
[4] In involumentis nutritus sum, et curis magnis :I was nursed in swaddling clothes, and with great cares.
[5] nemo enim ex regibus aliud habuit nativitatis initium.For none of the kings had any other beginning of birth.
[6] Unus ergo introitus est omnibus ad vitam, et similis exitus.For all men have one entrance into life, and the like going out.
All the angels accompanied Christ, their God and Lord, to earth, as all royal households accompany a king when he goes abroad. They were amazed at God the immeasurable as it were straitened into a span’s breadth, they venerated Him and adored Him. Such is the meaning of the Apostle where he says, “And again, when He bringeth His Firstborn into the world, He saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him,” Heb. 1:6.
And so it came to pass that this stable was, as it were, turned into the highest heaven,—full of angels, yea, of cherubim and seraphim, who all, leaving heaven, came down to adore their God made Man. Such was the work of the Incarnation and Nativity of the Word,—hitherto inconceivable, and, as it were, incredible to the angels, as being the supreme and appropriate work of the Divine Power, Wisdom, Justice, and Clemency—surpassing every understanding of men and of angels.
The reasons why Christ would be made Man and born on earth were many. First, that suffering and dying in the flesh He might redeem us from our sins and from hell. That He might teach us by example rather than word the way of salvation, and give us a perfect specimen of sanctity and of all virtues, but especially of the most profound humility. “Dig within thyself,” says S. Augustine, “the foundation of humility, and so shalt thou arrive at the summit of charity.”
Another reason was that Christ wished to become our kinsman and brother, nay, our very flesh and blood, in order that He might deal as flesh with flesh, as man with man, as equal with equal. Hence S. Bernard (Serm. 3, super Missus Est) says, “He has been sent;—let us strive to be made like as this little one; let us learn of Him, for He is meek and humble of heart, lest the Great God be made Man to no purpose.”
A third reason is, that Christ took upon Him the meanness, the lowliness, the ills of our flesh, not for Himself but for us, to prick the icy hearts of men with the effectual stimulus of love and stir them up,—nay, force them, to love Him in return. For Christ, in His Incarnation, is ever calling aloud to us; I have given Myself all to thee, do thou in turn give thyself whole to Me. For this did I take flesh upon Me, that thou mightest say with Paul, I live now not I, but Christ lives in me. Listen to S. Ambrose,—“He therefore was a little infant that thou mightest be a perfect man—He swathed in bands that thou mightest be freed from the snares of death—He in a crib that thou mightest be on the altars—He on earth that thou mightest be in heaven—He had not room in the inn, that thou mightest have more abiding places among the inhabitants of heaven.… His poverty, therefore, is my heritage, and the weakness of my Lord is my strength.”
A fourth reason is that we could not conceive the idea of God, who is a pure and uncreated spirit, so God clothed Himself in our flesh that we might see Him with our eyes and hear Him with our ears. It is this that the Church sings in the Preface of the Mass of the Nativity;—“Because by the Mystery of the Incarnate Word a new effulgence of Thy glory has shone upon the eyes of our soul, that coming to know God visibly we may by Him be rapt into yearning after things that are not seen.”
[1] Firstborn—and only born. The firstborn is he who is born first, though no other be begotten after him; for such an one enjoys the rights and privileges of primogeniture.
[2] And wrapped Him in swaddling clothes—poor and cheap, but clean and decent. Cyprian, or whoever is the author of the book, “On the Chief Works of Christ,” in serm. 1, says, “In place of purple some rags are got together, instead of the regal equipage a few fragments; the Mother is also the nurse and pays devoted attention to her beloved Offspring.” The Ethiopian version, instead of “wrapped Him in swaddling clothes,” has “bound His thumbs,” as though this were the sign by which the Infant was recognised by the shepherds. This is connected with the Ethiopian tradition that the Queen of Sheba, when she returned to Ethiopia from her visit to Solomon, brought forth a son called Menelich, whom she had conceived by him, and that she sent this son back to Jerusalem, putting on his thumb the ring which Solomon had given her, that by this sign he might be known by his father.
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| Manger relic. it:Utente:Riccardov [Public domain] |
Christ was placed in the manger for two reasons; first, because there was no place better fitted to hold Him—the straw in it forming a kind of bed on which the tender babe might repose; and, secondly, that in the rigour of winter, He might be warmed by the breath of the ox and the ass. For the tradition goes that an ox and an ass were tethered to this manger, and such is the common belief of the faithful. Of these two animals the Church interprets the words of Habakkuk 3:2, “In the midst of two animals shalt Thou be known” (Vulgate), and appropriates also Isaiah 1:3, “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib,”—such is the explanation given on these passages by S. Jerome, Nazianzen, Cyril, Paulinus, and others, quoted by Baronius.
Gregory of Nyssa “On the Nativity” gives a mystical reason as follows:—“A manger is the dwelling-place of beasts; in such a place is the Word born, that the ox may know his owner, and the ass the resting-place of his Lord. Now, the ox is the Jew under the yoke of the Law; and the ass is an animal fitted for bearing burdens,—the Gentile groaning under the grievous burden of idolatry. Moreover, the ordinary food of beasts is hay.… But the rational animal eats bread, wherefore the Bread of Life which came down from heaven is laid in the crib where the food of beasts is wont to be placed, that even animals void of reason may share the food of reasonable beings.”
Many mothers of Saints, following the example of Christ, have brought forth their sons in a stable. The mother of S. Francis, being pregnant, and unable to gave birth to her child, advised by a poor pilgrim to betake herself to a stable, did as she was told, and there gave birth to S. Francis, the imitator of Christ’s poverty. So says Ribadaneira in his life. Let all Christians look at and contemplate Christ in the manger, and consider Who and What He is,—what He does, for whom and why He does it. For Christ in the manger, God made Man, the Word become a babe,—is the love and admiration of all the angels and all the faithful, at whom they stand amazed and shall be amazed for all eternity. For who will not be astonished if he look thoughtfully at this Child and ask Him, Who art thou, O Babe of Bethlehem? and hear Him answer; learn of Isaiah,—“Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6.
“O God, we have thought of thy loving kindness in the midst of Thy temple. For this God is our God for ever and ever, He will be our guide unto death. Ps. 48.
Let Solomon, the wisest of kings, teach who this is;—“The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old.… When He prepared the heavens I was there: when He set a compass upon the face of the depth … Then I was by him, as one brought up with him. Prov. 8:22.
And let the Sybil of the Gentiles tell us in Virgil’s Fourth Eclogue.
“The last great age, foretold by sacred rhymes,
Renewed its finished course, Saturnian times
Roll round again; and mighty years begun
From their first orb, in radiant circles run.
The base degenerate iron offspring ends;
A golden progeny from heaven descends.”
—Dryden’s “Pastoral IV.”
With reason, then, does S. Augustine exclaim, “O miracles! O prodigies! O mysteries! Brethren, the laws of nature are changed, God is born as a Man, a virgin is pregnant.… God who is and was the Creator becomes a creature, He who is unmeasured is held, He who makes men rich is made poor, the Incorporeal is clothed with flesh, the Invisible is seen.… What was it that so great a God did, lying in so small a covering of flesh in the crib? Let us hear Him as He teaches us from His Manger-Throne,—teaching not by word but by example.” I, who with three of my fingers poise the earth’s vast mass, I who did create heaven and earth, the King of Glory and Lord of Majesty, beneath whom the columns of heaven tremble, and they that bear the globe are bowed down,—I, for love of thee alone, O man, to deliver thee from thy sin and from the eternal flames of hell, and to bring thee to the happiness of heaven, have come “leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills;”—from heaven have I leapt down upon earth, from the bosom of the Father to the Virgin’s womb. Through the bowels of My compassion have I “the Dayspring from on high” visited thee; I have joined in one person the Word with flesh, a spirit with the slime of earth, God with man, and most intimate have I made the union. I have become a little child, thy bone and thy flesh, I am made man to make thee God. Within the manger, the food, as it were of the ox and the ass, I lie among the beasts, because thou wast living like unto the beasts,—wallowing in flesh and blood. Thou hadst become as the horse and the mule that have no understanding. For man when he was in honour did not understand, and was comparable to the senseless brutes and became like unto them. Therefore did I take flesh upon Me, that thou mayest eat My flesh, that joining it to thy flesh thou mayest breathe the breath of Heavenly and Divine Life.”
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If, then, thou wouldst not err, follow Me as the way to heaven; hearken unto Me as the Truth; embrace Me as the true Life. Vain is wealth, vain are pleasures, vain the honours of this world, which foolish mortals, like silly children, follow after and covet so greedily. True riches, true pleasures, undying honours are in heaven;—these doth God enjoy, and His angels and His saints;—aspire after these. Am I, Christ, the King of kings, born poor and needy, and dost thou, O Christian, seek after comforts and riches? Have I, the uncreated and illimitable Wisdom, chosen for Myself the pains of flesh and of spirit, and wilt thou indulge in the delights both of the one and of the other? I, whom the heavens cannot contain, am shut up in a tiny body and in this paltry manger, and art thou, Christian, ashamed to be despised as a little one and lowly? Not in Herod’s palace would I be born, not in the palace of Augustus, but in a cavern, in a manger; I chose to dwell in humble cottages, and preferred the sheepfold before the royal court, but thou dost follow after courts and the things of courts. Sons of men, why delight ye in vanity, and why seek ye after a lie?
“The stable cries aloud”—says S. Bernard, sermon 5, “On the Nativity”—“the manger cries aloud, His tears and His clothes. The stable cries out that it is ready to be the shelter and hospital of man who has fallen among thieves; the manger, that food is ready for man that is become like to the beasts; His tears and His clothes that with them man’s bleeding wounds are now washed and wiped dry.”
[4] Because there was no room for them in the inn—namely, for Mary and Joseph. The reading “for Him,” adopted by some, is, therefore, incorrect. Barradius, who is among these, gives as a reason why the Blessed Virgin brought forth in the cave, and why Christ was laid to rest in a manger and not in a bed, that all the places in the inn had already been taken by the crowd of richer people who were flocking thither for the census. It is very likely that in a small town like Bethlehem there was only one inn; as S. Luke here implies. But this came to pass by the supreme foreknowledge and providence of Christ, that he might give us an example of the greatest humility and poverty. Hiding Himself away, however, He was made manifest and glorified by God, through the star that summoned the wise men, the angels sent to the shepherds, the overturning of idols, and other miracles which Orosius, bk. vi. ch. 20, and Baronius in his annals, vol. 1, recount.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum tutus semper sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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