Speaker 1: Christmas in Bethlehem by Edwin S. Wallace. During the Christmas season,
when the thoughts of the civilized world turn to Bethlehem,
many will wonder how the people there keep this greatest
religious holiday. Very few American children can ever visit the
little city among the Judaean hills. Yet a number of
travelers from America and Europe come to the Holy Land
every year to be among those who are on Christmas
Day crowd the streets of the little city, Nestled among
its fig trees and olive orchards. It is a little
city and it does not take many people to crowd it.
But besides being the birthplace of Jesus, it is the
birthplace of Israel's great warrior King David. Bethlehem to day
has barely eight thousand inhabitants, and in appearance is not attractive.
The streets are too narrow for vehicles. In fact, there
is but one street in the town wide enough for carriages,
and it is so very narrow that they cannot pass
each other in it. The streets were made for foot travelers, donkeys,
and camels. Bethlehem is about five miles south of Jerusalem,
leaving the larger city by the Jaffa gate. We take
a carriage and ride rapidly over the fine road built
but a few years ago. The carriage we are in
and those we meet are wretched affairs. The horses are
to be pitied, first because they are not well cared for,
and second because their drivers are regular jihous, who drive
them furiously up hill and down. In less than an hour,
we are in the market place of Bethlehem, in front
of the Church of the Nativity. Let us suppose we
have arrived on Christmas Eve in time to wander about
and to become acquainted with the little city. Of course,
it has changed in appearance since the time of the
birth of Christ. It is larger and better built. Now
as then, the houses are of stone, And as cities
and customs change but little in the east, we may
safely infer that modern Bethlehem houses are much like those
of nineteen hundred years ago. Perhaps some of the old
buildings that were in existence so long ago may still
be standing. Of course, the great Church of the Nativity
was not then erected, nor were any of the large
religious buildings we see. These are the memorials of a
later date, built in honor of him whose earthly life
began here. One would have to be unmindful of his
surroundings and very unimaginative not to wonder what the place
was like on that night, the anniversary of which we
are celebrating. We know that then, as on this December
twenty fourth, it was filled with people. But those people
had come for a different purpose. Augustus Caesar, the master
of the then known world, had issued an imperial decree
ordering a general registration of all his subjects. This was
for the purpose of revising or completing the tax lists.
According to Roman law, people were to register in their
own cities, that is, the city in which they lived
or to which their village or town was attached. According
to Jewish methods, they would register by tribes, families, and
the houses of their fathers. Joseph and Mary were Jews
and conformed to the Jewish custom. It was well known
that he and Mary were of the tribe of Judah
and family of David, and that Bethlehem was their ancestral home. Accordingly,
they left the Nazareth home in the territory of Zebra
and came to day that's own city in the territory
of Judah. They came down the east bank of the Jordan,
crossed the river at Jericho, and came up among the
Judaean hills and valleys till they reached Bethlehem. It was
a long journey and a wearisome one, and on arriving
a place of rest was the first thing they sought.
Evidently they had no friends living in the place, or
if they had, their houses were already filled. It was
necessary that shelter be had, and immediately in the khan
or inn there was no room, so there was nothing
to do but occupy a part of the space provided
for cattle. It was not an unusual thing to do,
and is often done to day in these eastern villages.
In fact, they were about as comfortable there as in
any khan. At a khan one may procure a cup
of coffee and a place to lie down on the floor,
but each guest provides his own bed and covering. This
was all Joseph and Mary could have obtained in the
inn had there been room for them. And here in Bethlehem,
in a stable or a cave used for stabling animals,
Jesus was born, and Mary wrapped him in swaddling clothes
and laid him in a manger. There is one short
walk we should take before entering the Church of the
Nativity and the cave beneath it. This is to the
field of the Shepherds, about a mile east of the church,
and the traditional place where the shepherds were watching their
flocks on that momentous night. This may not be the
exact place where the angels appeared, but there is no
reason why we may not accept the tradition which has
placed the event here. It has often been wondered why
the shepherds had their flocks out all night in the
winter time, and the wonder is easily satisfied when we
know that these were not ordinary flocks of sheep, nor
ordinary shepherds. These flocks were those specially selected for sacrifice
in the temple at Jerusalem at the Great Passover season,
and were kept in the fields all the year. The
shepherds were specially appointed. Sometime during that winter night, the
shepherds were dazzled by a light more brilliant than the stars,
and roused by voices not of earth. The Christ, whose
future sacrifice their flocks were to symbolize, was born, and
the angels were singing the good tidings. These shepherds were
the first to hear and to spread the marvelous news.
Because of the event the angels were heralding. Men have
built the Great Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and
indeed all the great Christian churches and cathedrals of the world.
It is because of this that people from every country
in Europe and America will join the throng of native
Christians in the City of the Nativity and rejoice in
memory of the Angel's song. It is because of this
that there is today so much of peace on earth
and good will toward men. And now we return in
time to see the procession of bishops, priests and people
that is forming in the square in front of the church.
Each is dressed in his most gorgeous robes. Turkish soldiers
line both sides of the street to keep the way
open for the procession to pass. The Latin Patriarch of
Jerusalem has just arrived. The procession of priests, carrying banners
and immense candles, meets him, then turns and all go
into the Latin chapel through the main entrance. Following, we
are surprised to find the main entrance so small it
can admit but one at a time, and that one
must stoop to enter. From the masonry, it can be
seen that the entrance was once much larger. The reason
for the change was that the Mohammedans at one time
did all in their power to injure and annoy the Christians,
and even used to ride on horseback into the very church.
The door therefore was made small to protect the church
from this sacrilege. Once inside, we see we are in
a very ancient structure. Part of the masonry dates from
the time of Constantine, who built a magnificent basilica on
this site about the year three hundred thirty of our era.
All we can see of the oldest work, however, probably
dates from not later than Justinian's time about five hundred
fifty a d. In any case, the church is a
venerable building, and it has witnessed some stirring scenes In it,
Baldwin the Crusader was crowned King of Jerusalem. It has
been repaired a number of times, and once when it
needed a new roof, King Edward the fourth of England
gave the lead to make one. This was about the
year fourteen hundred eighty two. The lead roof did good
service for about two hundred years, and might have lasted
much longer had not the Mohammedans melted it up to
make bullets. However, another roof was soon provided. Inside the
building consists of a nave and double aisles. The isles
are separated by two rows of columns made of red limestone.
These columns have plain bases and are surmounted by Corinthian capitals.
They are nineteen feet high, and at the top of
each a cross is engraved. The church is now owned
by the Latin, Greek and Armenian Christians. Religious services will
be held all night in the Latin chapel of Saint Catharine.
At midnight, a solemn Mass will be said by the
Patriarch of Jerusalem. The chapel is full of people, many
of whom are sitting on the floor. Before the procession
descends into the grotto of the Nativity, we make our
way there so as to have a better view. Originally
it was simply a natural cave in the limestone rock.
Now little of the native rock is seen. Marble slabs
cover the floor and line the walls. The ceiling, which
is about ten feet high, is resplendent with thirty two
brass lamps. Their light enables us to examine the many
pictures portraying scenes in the life of Jesus which the
devotion of Christians has hung about the walls, but these
pictures are generally very poor as specimens of art. At
the east end of the cave, there is a small
recess in the rock, before which hang fifteen lamps. In
the floor of this recess, a bright silver star is
in left. It is nearly all worn away by the
constant kissing it receives. Around the star is an inscription
in Latin which tells us that here of the Virgin Mary,
Jesus Christ was born. Turning just a little to the
right from this place of the star, and descending a
few steps, we are in a small chamber called the
grotto of the Manger. The original Manger is of course
not here. It probably never was preserved, and many stories
about it are inventions of a much later date. Here
also is a little altar, or the place where the
wise men from the east prostrated themselves before the infant Jesus.
These three, the places of the birth, the manger, and
the adoration, are all in what is called the Chapel
of the Nativity. Passing out of this chapel by the
steps leading into the Greek Church of Saint Mary, we
are again in the streets of Bethlehem. It is a
relief to get away from the glare of lamps, the
smoke of candles, and the heavy odors of burning incense,
and to breathe again the fresh air blowing over the
Judaean hills. The streets are very quiet, for all not
in the church have retired to their homes. Occasionally people
leave the church and are driven away in their carriages
to Jerusalem, though most visitors remain all night. We can
wander through the streets and over the neighboring hills, for
the clear moon makes it almost as bright as day.
How peaceful it all is. Indeed, it seems a most
suitable place for the coming to the world of the
Prince of Peace. Faint streaks of the dawn are beginning
to show in the sky above the hills of Moab.
Rapidly they grow longer and brighter, and soon it is daybreak,
and we know that it is Christmas in Bethlehem. But
we miss much of the accustomed joy of the day.
At home, there would be good cheer, the companionship of
loved ones, and the giving and receiving of gifts. Here
there is little of this. The home life of the
people is so different from ours. Christmas Day in Bethlehem
is not the Christmas day we know. It is full
of religious ceremonies, and when these are over, young and
old go back to their accustomed life. The faces of
the boys and girls I saw in Bethlehem last Christmas
were not such faces as I should have seen in
any city or village in America. And I knew the reason.
It was because Christmas to them was much the same
as any other day of the year. And so it
requires more than Bethlehem to make Christmas what we like
to have it. It requires loving home life and the
presence of the spirit of the Christ Child in the heart.
And yet, who would not be glad to spend one
Christmas Eve and day where he who made the glad
day possible was born and of Christmas in Bethlehem. By
Edwin S. Wallace