March 21, 2003
Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - Part III
Bethlehem, birthplace of Christ, humbles visitors to shrine
by Jim Rygelski, Review Managing Editor

While they were there (Bethlehem) the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn Son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn (Lk 2:6-7).

BETHLEHEM - It's physically impossible for anyone older than a toddler to stand at the spot long venerated as the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps it's appropriate, some would say, that having a canopy over the star that marks the spot of the Nativity literally forces approaching worshippers to their knees.

It's also difficult to imagine the outdoor stable of Christmas lore as one looks on the site, which is on the lower level of the sprawling Church of the Nativity. That's because the image of a stable as the birthplace of Christ was largely created by St. Francis of Assisi, whose Franciscan followers have been custodians of the Holy Land shrines for the past seven centuries.

Looking just to the right of the Nativity star one sees a small altar in the remnants of a cave. That cave setting is more reminiscent of the actual place where the Holy Family stayed while Our Lord was born, said Father Peter Vasko, OFM, a longtime Holy Land resident and veteran tour guide of Catholic pilgrims.

The cave was part of an inn that probably hosted other travels during the time of Christ's birth, Father Vasko said. The Scriptural reference to "no room for them in the inn" may be to a place where Joseph and Mary had first wanted to stay, added Father Vasko.

The Holy Family went to Bethlehem because that was the city of Joseph's birth, and by the emperor's decree all Rome's subjects had to return to the city of their birth for the census. Joseph was of the lineage traced to King David, also born in Bethlehem (Lk 2:1-4).

Shepherds visited the newborn child, after having been visited themselves by an angel who appeared to them in their fields. "Do not be afraid; for behold I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord." (Lk 2:11-13)

The altar in that nearby cave commemorates the arrival of the Magi on the Feast of the Epiphany. Starting one-half hour after completion of Midnight Mass at the adjoining St. Catherine Church, Catholic priests continually say Masses at the site on Christmas day.

The Magi, three wise men from the East, also visited the Christ Child after asking King Herod about the location of His birth. Warned in a dream not to go back to Herod with specific instructions on how to find the Child, their absence set the paranoid ruler into a frenzy. He ordered the killing of any boy under age 2. That slaughter is still commemorated as the feast of the Holy Innocents (Mt 2:16-18).

The Holy Family fled to Egypt after having been warned by an angel of Herod's intentions (Mt 2:13-15). As one looks over the rolling hills near Bethlehem, one sees the remains of Herod's winter palace high on one of those hills and can picture the Holy Family walking beyond them and on to Egypt.

When Herod died, the Holy Family returned to Joseph and Mary's home in Nazareth (Mt 2:19-23).

The Franciscans added the 14-point Nativity star in the 1700s, shortly after the main entrance to the church was redesigned so that anyone over four feet tall would have to bend to enter (it was done to keep Bedouins and their camels from entering, Father Vasko said).

That entrance, too, creates a sense of humility in the person entering the church, Father Vasko said. For more than 1,000 years, the followers of Islam, who conquered the area in the seventh century, were allowed to pray in a portion of the church.

Muslims didn't desecrate the Church of the Nativity because of their respect for Mary, whom they call Miriam (Muslims respect Jesus as a great prophet but not as God), Father Vasko said. The Church of the Nativity, begun in the 300s by St. Helena and added to by the Crusaders, long had an outside mural depicting the Magi. Their appearance also was a reason for the Muslims to respect the structure and what was inside, Father Vasko added.

Like some shrines in Jerusalem, the Church of the Nativity is maintained jointly by Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox and Armenian-rite Christians. The Franciscans also staff the 19th-century St. Catherine's Church.

How can one be sure that the church marks the actual site of the birth of the Savior of the world?

"A mother doesn't forget where her child was born," said Father Vasko, adding that Mary told the apostles of the site while Jesus was with them during His public ministry.

The Emperor Hadrian in the second century tried to snuff out the still-young Christian faith by building over the site of the Nativity a garden to a Roman god. Christians still came to venerate it.

Getting into Bethlehem for the modern pilgrim can be daunting. Because the city is such a hotbed of political activity between Palestinian extremists and Israelis, armed Israeli soldiers maintain checkpoints at its entrances. Armed Palestinian Muslims last year occupied the church for more than a month during a standoff with Israeli soldiers. A few weeks ago they shot and killed an Israeli soldier on duty outside the church. The journey to the Holy Land by a Review writer and photographer was sponsored by members of the St. Louis Council/Northern Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

BETHLEHEM CHECKPOINT - Armed Israeli soldiers inspect a car and question its Palestinian owner at a checkpoint at an entrance to Bethlehem. The city has been a hotbed of resistance to Israeli rule by Palestinians and has been subject to restrictive government curfews, which often bar incoming and outgoing traffic for several days. An Israeli soldier was shot and killed outside the Church of the Nativity during the time a Review writer and photographer were in the Holy Land last month