We then drove to the Church of the Nativity. We first celebrated mass in St. Jerome’s cave within the Church of the Nativity where my wife, Cheryl LaBella had the privilege in serving as the lector and read wonderfully. We then went to venerate the actual place where Jesus was born inside the Church of the Nativity. This is the oldest church in Christendom. Much of the church that we saw (especially the pillars) came from the church built by St. Helena in 325 and dedicated on May 31, 339. We looked at some of the original mosaics from this period. In 530 Justinian tore down parts of the older church and built a new church here. When the Persians came in 614, they did not destroy the church. They saw drawings of the three wise men that had clothing that resembled theirs and felt it should not be destroyed. They even began Muslim worship at the south side. Because of this, when Hakim ordered the destruction of all Christian churches in 1009, it was not destroyed. When the crusaders came they left the original church and only did some interior decorations. One thing to note is the door of humility. This was originally a large doorway that was reduced in size preventing pilfering but also making even the most important person bow. When we went down to venerate the place of Jesus’ birth, we saw a silver star that has imprinted on it, “Here of the Virgin Mary Jesus Christ was born”. The star has fourteen points on it reflecting the 14 Stations of the Cross. This site has been venerated since the earliest times (first known reference was in 160 by Justin Martyr). The church is currently cared for by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Churches.

 

 

 

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