Christmas in Bethlehem

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 50, 20 December 1923, Page 11

Christmas in Bethlehem

.Star of Bethlehem -~-3 Bright Star of Bethlehem, That brought joy unto men, Lowly hearts lifting high, Solacing woe and sigh. Shine now in souls where sin Once held wild revel in, Comfort the hearts that lie Broken, let them not die. —E. J. S., S.J.

Christmas in Bethlehem! Holy as are the thoughts born in our hearts by these words, little do most of us realise that since the first Christmas night, down through dim centuries to our very day, the Birth of the Redeemer has been celebrated in that rock-hewn Grotto —at the very Manger—where first He opened His infant eyes upon our world. To most of us it seems that Bethlehem and its Manger-Throne belong to the distant past, too far removed from our day to be more than a memory called to mind with the Christmas story. Christmas Eve finds Jerusalem in preparation for the morrow’s festival in the nearby City of David. Early in the afternoon a great procession forms at the residence of the Patriarch for the departure for Bethlehem, about five miles north of the Holy City. One of the Cathedral Canons, mounted on horseback and bearing aloft the Cross, heads the procession of the Religious, Clergy, and Cathedral Chapter, who accompany the venerable Patriarch. The line moves slowly along picturesque David Street, through the Jaffa Gate and into the open country, traversing the highway used by the Magi of old, whose resplendent i ethnic must have dazzled the inhabitants of Jersualem and oven King Herod, base man though he was. At a point somewhat more than half way to Bethlehem, the procession arrives at the Tomb of Rachel—a shrine venerated for nearly four thousand years and holy to-day to Christian, Israelite, and Mohammedan. Surrounded by the atmosphere of drear loneliness, one here recalls the words of the Prophet Jeremias: “A voice was heard on high of lamentation, of mourning, and weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted for them, because they are not.” No wonder that St. Matthew quotes this tragic sentence when recording Herod’s brutal massacre of the Innocents, whose cries and those of whose mothers must have filled the whole country-side with a lamentation, than which sadder has not been heard since the dawn of time. The Welcome to Bethlehem. At this venerable, sepulchre, the ecclesiastical and civil dignitaries, of Bethlehem are awaiting the arrival of the Patriarch and his entourage, to bid them welcome to their little town and to escort them there with all the quaint ceremony of oriental hospitality. The blessed Bethlehem, basking in the December sun as it peacefully reclines on the Judean hillsides, greets the gaze. To-day the ancient town has a population of some six thousand, nearly all of whom are Christians— an industrious people occupied, in their traditional pastoral and agricultural avocations and in artistic pearl working,

Arriving at the entrance of the town, the procession passes through its irregular old streets, and emerges into a great open space before the Basilica of Our Lord’s Nativity. Although in ages past one of the most beautiful churches in all Palestine, the surrounding buildings make its exterior appear to-day almost like a cold and forbidding fortress. St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, having at her disposal the wealth of the Roman Empire, transformed the Sacred Grotto of Christ’s Birth into a magnificent sanctuary about the year 325. From time to time, however, during the succeeding ages, the Basilica saw evil days, due either to the greed or the fanaticism of those in power. f Preceding the triumphal procession, a great concourse of people has filled the square before the sacred edifice. \ The quaint white head-dress of the Christian women contrasts with the sombre black veils of their Mohammedan sisters, and the glittering uniforms of the foreign consuls and the other dignitaries mingle with the brown habits of the Franciscans, whose happy privilege it has been for seven hundred years to, guard in behalf of the Catholic Church, the place of Our Lord’s Birth. Entering by the Low Door. The choir boys from the Franciscan orphanage raise their well-trained voices in a hymn of gladness, and the bleak gray walls seem to lose their austerity as they reecho the sound of joy. Moving slowly toward the Basilica, and passing between the remnants of the columns which indicate the outlines of the atrium that once formed its approach, the magnificent pageant enters the church through the only doorway, purposely made low and difficult in less happy days, to prevent men from bringing their horses into this hallowed spot. Once within the venerable structure, a scene of stately majesty presents itself to the vision. A forest of gigantic pillars divides the church into a broad central nave with four aisles, while high on the walls above the columns one discerns splendid mosaics of great antiquity. At the end of the nave a hundred feet away is the sanctuary, below which is the holy Grotto in which Christ was born. Instead, however, of approaching this holy of holies, the procession turns abruptly to the left and loaves the Basilica to enter the parish church of St. Catherine adjoining the ancient structure. Here Pontifical Vespers—the beginning of the Christmas liturgy—are celebrated. In order to understand some of the questions affecting the Church in Palestine, we must for the moment turn from our thoughts of Christmas to an unhappy page of history history of usurpation, of bribery, and of murder by the Greek schismatics at the very Manger of the Prince of Peace. After the fall of the Crusaders’ Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187, the Augustinian Canons, who were then in charge of the Bethlehem Basilica, withdrew, their place being filled by other clergy until about 1209 when the newlyarrived Friars of the Order of St. Francis entered upon this holy task. Various edicts of the Sultans confirmed them in their privileges, notably one in 1309 which ratified the rights they and their predecessors had in Bethlehem. Until 1564 the Sons of St. Francis continued the divine service in this holy place, but in that year began a series of events which to-day have their reflection in a thousand humiliations and injustices. The Lure of Gold. It was then that the Greeks first laid claim to the Basilica; they returned again and again to the charge and, knowing well that their claims were without foundation, had recourse to the lure of gold. These efforts finally secured for them in 1637 a decree of exclusive ownership, , although it was not until 1757 that they were able to put into effect this monstrous piece of injustice, and then only through mob force. From that time down to the present, y the Catholic Church has been deprived of her ancient rights Vin this sacred place. Now all that is left to her chosen \guardians of the Holy Places is the right of way from the parish church through a corner of the Basilica to enter the Sacred Grotto itself. .In this they are obliged to adhere to a given route and to use a certain stairway for which small though precious vestige of former ownership, they have had to pay dearly in the past, even shedding their blood for its maintenance. The same malign power

which imposes these humiliating restrictions will not permit a priest to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice at the Altar of the Nativity, but .only at that of the Wise Men near the Manger, over which the Friars have succeeded in preserving the rights of ages past at God only knows what price; But let us be done with these thingSj so foreign to the spirit of Christmas; , In the Holy of Holies. Altex the.chanting of the Vespers, the daily procession to the Sacred Grotto takes place. The Religious and visiting clergy, bearing caudles and singing appropriate hymns, wend their way through a corner of the Basilica and down a winding stairway of stone, at the fodt of which is the Holy Giotto. I his Shrine, which is almost rectangular in shape, is about forty feet long with an average width of some twelve feet. It is cut out of limestone and was Once level with the surrounding ground, being open at one end to the elements, from which it formed a hillside refuge. Because of its sacred character, its floor and sides are protected with fine white marble. Here in the place of the Redeemer’s Birth, one falls upon his knees and imprints a reverent kiss upon the star beneath the altar, around which are inscribed the words, “Eic De Virgine Maria. Jesus, Christus Natus Kst”—“ Here of the Virgin Man - Jesus Christ was Born.” In a little recess at the right of the Nativity Altar is venerated the Place of the Mangei, the sacred wood of which has been treasured in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome since the twelfth centun. Here also is the Altar of the Magi, commemorating the adoration of those holy Kings. The singing of the beautiful hymns being finished, the procession leaves the Grotto through a passageway leading to another sacred spot intimately connected with the Infant Jesus. It is the Grotto of the Holy Innocents, where in ages past the relics of these tiny heroes reposed in a now-empty crypt beneath the altar. How sweet seem the words sung here by the childish voices of ,the little choir boys: Lovely flowers of Martyrs, hail! Smitten by the tyrant foe On life’s threshhold—as the gale Strews the roses ere they blow. First to bleed for Christ, sweet lambs! What holy death ye died I Playing with your wreaths and palms At the very altar side I After reciting the appointed prayers here and in the other subterranean chapels, the procession returns to the church and disbands, all awaiting the impressive midnight services. The Bethleheimtes have come at an early hour for this greatest moment of the year for them—-the celebration of the birth of their Divine Fellow-Citizen. At eleven o’clock ah are alert as the liturgical procession enters the church from the adjoining cloister. Arriving in the Sanctuary, the I atnarch is vested in cope and mitre at his throne, and the chanting of the Office of Matins begins, with its beautifully appropriate Psalms and Lessons, and concluding with the most sublime of hymns, the “Te Deum Laudamus ” Midnight Mass in Bethlehem. As the last echo created by this song of praise dies away among the arches, the cope of the venerable prelate is changed for n chasuble of cloth-of-gold, while a distant bell chimes the hour of twelve. The Holy Sacrifice of the - Mass, A , V, surrounded by all the solemn majesty withn indi Holy Church accompanies this Holiest act, and again • at the Consecration, Christ is born upon the altar. At the conclusion of the Mass, the exquisitely beautiful . figure of the Divine Babe unveiled on the altar at the . Glen ain Excels,s is placed in the Patriarch’s arms. J receded by cross-bearer in sacred vestments, and by the clergy walking two and two, the Infant is reverently borne through the spacious church, while is sung with ecstaticjoy the Adeste -I,delis,” bidding all the world to “Come and adore Him, born to-day in Bethlehem.” As the procession enters the Basilica, its vault echoes back, as inglad rejoicing, the Latin hymn that was its own in the years of long ago. On either side of the processional route

reverently eager throngs await the prelate bearing the image of the Babe, all anxious to catch a passing glimpse of its infant face and tiny hands raised as though in blessing. Here and there among the Christians may be seen a Mohammedan woman. As if in soirit of bold defiance she has thrown back the veil behind which her religion bids her hide, and with tears of unwonted emotion glistening in her eyes, she, too, pays homage to Mary’s Son. Poor Woman! How much this ' little taste of Christmas joy means to her —her to whom Islam promises no happiness, neither in this life nor the next. Placing the Babe in the Manger, In the Holy Grotto, the figure of the Divine Babe is placed beneath the altar where Christ was born nineteen centuries ago. After it is incensed, the Deacon again chants the Gospel of the Midnight Mass, interrupting the sacred words at “She brought forth her First-Born and placed Him in a manger.” Here he carries the image to the Manger near at hand, placing it upon rough straw. The singing of the Gospel is continued, after which all return to the church for the chanting of the Office of Lauds, which concludes the momentous services of Christmas night. A Bishop vested for Low Mass approaches the little Altar of the Magi to offer the Holy Sacrifice. Another succeeds him, and so priest follows priest throughout the hours of the night and morning, until all have had this priceless happiness. By special privilege the last Mass may be celebrated here at three o’clock in the afternoon of Christmas Day. The almost sudden night-fall of the Orient approaches. The Holy Grotto is all silent, its perpetual twilight illumined only by flickering rays from its precious lamps. Above, in the age-old Basilica, a tiny light here and there casts giant shadows among the arches, even as the Divine Presence of Him Who made it holy ever clings about this Sacred Shrine. Outside in the peaceful night the myriad stars appear brighter, and the angels’ Gloria in Excclsis Deo seems to fill the mystic tranquillity of the holy night—of Christmas Night in Bethlehem. Rev. Brother Anthony, O.F.M.