The ideal and the real Bethlehem

At the conclusion of my Montessori training course in Perugia, Italy, my husband Max and I decided to meet in Jerusalem on my way home. It was Christmas of 1966. We stayed at the ancient legendary King David Hotel. On its elevated site it offers an incomparable view of the minarets and domes of the Old City and Mount Zion. This was before the Israeli and Jordanian part of Jerusalem was reunited in the 1967 Six Day War. Opened in 1931, its architecture was reminiscent of the ancient Semitic style and ambiance of the glorious period of King David.

Bethlehem, a five mile brisk walk from Jerusalem

Max noted how short are the distances in the Holy Land. For a journalist, it is a very interesting country, where major spiritual, biblical and political events keep recurring. He imagined that it was very possible for our Lord to move around Galilee, Samaria, Judea and Canaan as he preached and wrought miracles in this stamp sized country.

Bethlehem is a five-mile jog or brisk walk from Jerusalem. When the Bible says that Moses was shown the Promised Land from Mount Nebo, it is true that from the height of 4,000 feet above the Dead Sea he could see the entire country.

As we went to Bethlehem we had visions of the place where shepherds wrapped in thick cloaks watched their flocks under the star-lit night. Nearby adjacent to a stable, which housed cows and donkeys, a manger sheltered Mother Mary, with a golden halo around her head and St. Joseph, who reverently bent over the newly born Holy Babe Jesus.

It was our own private vision of Bethlehem, which we have kept in our mind from Christmas cards, even before we could read. We had only to glance at the white dusty road, the plodding camels, the patient donkeys, the Arabs squatting in the shade of trees to know that Bethlehem was not going to look like a Christmas card.

The real Bethlehem

The white houses of Bethlehem clustered on the hill, stood on the edge of the road. The hot sunlight beat down from the blue sky. Above the flat, white roofs, rose the bell towers of convents and orphanages and monasteries. There was always a bell ringing in the heat, the bell of either the Salesian Fathers or the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul.

Eager young Arabs in European clothes tugged at Max’s sleeves and tried to sell postcards and books or to lead us into souvenir shops. These little shops sell pious objects carved in mother-of-pearl, in olive wood and in a black stone that comes from the Dead Sea. We walked into the dark little lanes of Bethlehem where shops and workshops line part of the main street. They are merely arches open to the road, which is so narrow that the cobbler can sit and chat to his friend, the grocer on the opposite of the street. The people of Bethlehem, who dress like Arabs, are nearly all Christians, and it is believed that they are the descendants of the Crusaders.

The Church of the Nativity

Every biblical event of both the Old and the New Testament, which records the Life of our Lord, is marked today by a church or several places of worship. The Church of the Nativity, which was built ages ago over the cave and the manger, is believed to be where Jesus was born. A small gate in a huge stonewall is the only entrance to the church. All the others were blocked-up centuries ago to prevent the Muslims from riding into the church on horseback and slaying the Christians.

As we stepped through this door, we saw a church that was so ancient. Dull red marble columns upheld the roof. We were in the church that Roman Emperor Constantine built as a sign that he had become a Christian convert. This building has been standing for at least a thousand four hundred years, built above a cave that was believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.

One has to walk up the church aisle to see the Grotto of the Nativity, which is underneath the high altar. Then go down to it by a flight of steps in the choir. On our way down, two Greek bearded monks, came up swinging a censer of incense.

Fifty-three silver lamps hardly lightened the underground cavern. It was a small cave about 14 yards long and only four yards wide with tapestry. Underneath is the rough smoke-blackened wall of a cave. A policeman was on duty to prevent disputes between the Greek and the Armenian priests. Like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, this church at Bethlehem suffers from divided ownership. It is in the hands of the Latins or Roman Catholics, the Greeks and the Armenians. So careful are these three churches of their rights that even the sweeping of the dust is sometimes a dangerous task.

 In the floor, there is a huge silver star, about a meter in diameter. Around it an inscription, which reads: ‘Here comes Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary.’ The removal of this star a hundred years ago led to a quarrel between France and Russia, which blazed into the Crimean War. The cave was suddenly full of little children, silently standing two by two on the stairs. They came forward, knelt down and quickly kissed the stone near the star. Some of them closed their eyes tightly and whispered a prayer.

As we knelt before the birthplace of Our Lord, we recalled the host of angels of the first Christmas singing and inviting all of mankind, shepherds and kings, “O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, Oh come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem.”

Bethlehem houses are built over limestone caves

There are a number of old houses in Bethlehem built above caves in the limestone rock. These caves are exactly the same as the sacred grotto under the high altar of the Church of the Nativity.

These primitive houses in Bethlehem gave us an entirely new idea of the scene of the Nativity. They are one-room houses built over caves. These caves are level with the road, but the room above them is reached by a flight of stone steps, perhaps 15 or 20. The caves are used to this day as stables for the animals, which enter from the road level.

The family occupies the upper chamber, separated only by the thickness of the rock floor from the cave in which the animals sleep. The living room like most rooms in the East is bare of furniture. In a corner, were the matting beds rolled up and tucked away out of sight.

The holy birth

The private revelation of Blessed Mother Mary to mystics St. Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373) and Venerable Mother Mary of Jesus of Agreda (1602-1665) give us many insights into the lives of the Holy Family, which regular historical books and even the Bible does not include. The revelation stated:

“After reciting some prayers together with Mary, St. Joseph filled the manger with straw and moss and placed a cloth over it. Then he withdrew to the entrance of the cave.”

“Toward midnight a channel of brilliant light came down from the highest heaven and terminated in sparkling fire at the Blessed Virgin. In it was an extraordinary movement of celestial glories, which took on the form of choirs of angels. Then in the twinkling of an eye, the infant God was born, glorious and transfigured as on Mount Thabor.”

“There, the God-Man lay, naked, utterly clean and pure. And from Him radiated such marvelous light and splendor that the sun could not be compared to it. The angels could be heard gently singing canticles of wonderful sweetness.”

“When the holy Mother of God perceived that she had been delivered — for her child came forth without any pain or injury to her — she immediately bowed her head, placed a cloth over His tiny body, and adored Him with the greatest respect and reverence saying:

“Welcome my God and my Lord, and my Son!”

“Bending down, Mary tenderly clasped Him to her heart and with great joy warmed Him against her cheek and breast, while thousands of angels knelt and adored their incarnate Creator.”

A baby’s gentle cry

One night there went out over the stillness of an evening breeze, over the white-chalked hills of Bethlehem… a gentle cry. The sea did not hear the cry, for the sea was filled with its own voices. And the earth failed to hear it too. For the earth was asleep.

The great men of the earth did not hear the cry, for they could not understand how a Child could be greater than a man. The kings of the earth did not hear the cry for they could not understand how a King could possibly be born in an animal stable.

There were only two groups of men who heard the cry that night — the Shepherds and the Wise Men from the East. Shepherds were men who knew they knew nothing, while the Wise Men were men who knew they did not know everything.

But the shepherds found their Shepherd… and the Wise Men discovered wisdom.

The Shepherd and Wisdom was that little baby in the manger.