CHURCH OF NATIVITY BETHLEHEM · CHURCH OF NATIVITY – BETHLEHEM – (It is the oldest church in...
Transcript of CHURCH OF NATIVITY BETHLEHEM · CHURCH OF NATIVITY – BETHLEHEM – (It is the oldest church in...
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CHURCH OF NATIVITY
– BETHLEHEM – (It is the oldest church in the Holy Land and a World Heritage Site.)
It is maintained by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
and
It is controlled jointly by three Christian denominations.
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The church is entered through a very low door to force even the most important visitor to dismount
from his horse as he entered the holy place.
DOOR OF HUMILITY
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GROTTO OF THE NATIVITY
“Grotto of the Manger”
- the Altar of the Adoration of the Magi -
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There are 15 silver lamps burning around the recess.
(6 belong to the Greek Orthodox Church, 5 to the Armenian Church and 4 to the Roman Catholic Church)
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A 14 pointed silver star marks the exact spot surrounded by the Latin inscription:
HICDE VIRGINE MARIA JESUS CHRISTUS NATUS EST - 1717
(Here of the Virgin Mary Jesus Christ was born.)
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ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI
Our modern celebration of Christmas
dates back to the 13th century, when a
modest monk who later was
canonized as St. Francis decided he
"would like to portray the Child born
in Bethlehem, to see the hardships a
newborn babe must endure, how he
was placed in a manger and how he
lay in the straw between the ox and
the ass."
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So on December 24th 1223
some monks led a group local
residents up Mount Lacerone
to Greccio – a simple
monastery that was little more
than a few interconnecting
caves. In one of these, a layer
of straw had been spread on
the stone and beaten earth
floor and a primitive crib had
been placed in a corner.
Around it were a donkey, an
ox and a dozen peasants
Francis had "borrowed" from
the feudal lord. All night long,
a procession of villagers
braved cold and snow to see
the unique tableau, their
torches illuminating the night.
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FRANCISCAN SANCTUARY
- GRECCIO -
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The grotto where St. Francis made the first Nativity Scene.
The grotto has remained virtually unchanged, with the exception of a nativity scene fresco
painted on the wall by a follower of Giotto about a hundred years after Francis died in 1226.