I forgot to mention re: shopping…in Bethlehem are lots of, shall we say, street vendors? Let me tell you, these guys are AGGRESSIVE. I’m glad a friend who has been here before warned me to prepare myself to say no SEVERAL times before they backed down. They were on the street too as we walked to the Church, but not as aggressive as those boys trying to get us before we got back on the bus to head for lunch. Dang. The group is now comically and randomly saying to each other, “6 for $20” and we all know what it means!
OK! On the the Church of the Nativity. We entered through “the humble door” or “door of humility”, not sure which. It was made very low and small to keep thieves from bringing carts into the church and carting away artifacts. It worked, too. Definitely helped to preserve the church. It’s a low duck to get in though.
This is a view toward the back of the church where we entered. The first thing we saw was the original first century floor through a hole in the floor we were walking on, which is like 1500 years old. The floor underneath of course being more like 2000 years old.
Tiny mosaic tiles, just like the ones in Tabgha. So so so cool. There was more of this mosaic on the walls.
The monks that live and worship there are of three denominations: Roman Catholic (Franciscan), Greek Orthodox, and Armenian. They have a schedule for sharing that is governed by Jordan, a neutral party, so they don’t argue. This Jordanian entity also helps settle disputes when repairs and renovations are needed, like a new roof. These people are seriously protective. We had to wait here..
For about an hour and 45 minutes, at a standstill, while the monks did a service. The smell of incense was very strong as they carried it through, and security officers were walking around clapping at people and demanding silence. A couple scolded our group of kids for sitting down during the wait and wanting to play cards…”it’s shameful, you’re in a church,” which is fair enough given the location…but not how they did it. Then they proceeded to cut in front of our group. Really? Talk about Christians in a holy place not acting like Christians. I suppose that is not the first time by any stretch, but it was ironic. Another group also tried to cut in front of the Nigerian group in front of us and the security crew straight up HANDLED IT. They were not having it. Like riotous kind of behavior that was RAPIDLY dispensed! Those officers were not fooling around with that nonsense.
Finally, it was time for us to go down into the cave below and see the historical spot of Jesus birth, and then the historical spot of the manger.
The star is the spot He was born. They moved us through here very very quickly (because of the long lines) and then we turned around and went down to see the manger.
Our group stood out of the way in the small room and sang a verse of Silent Night while we were down there. Neat.
The walls of the cave were visible, and blackened some I’m sure by the candles burning down there.
This ornate door was on the Roman Catholic side on our way out of the cave. I thought it was neat so I’m sharing… : )
We got a very very quick glimpse into the Church of St Catherine, right outside. I loved this stained glass window.
Also the statue of St Jerome.
He translated the New Testament from Greek into Latin, so his name is on this pillar in Latin.
This is the statue of ooo. St Charles? Someone help me if I have it wrong…slaying the dragon, which is a Crusades era depiction of Christ defeating satan for his bride, the church. I can look it up sometime, but not at 2:30AM before another long day of touring!
Here is the Christmas tree in front of the Church of the Nativity.
And next is the Shepherd’s Field…but I am sleepy and need a rest, so I will finish this up tomorrow. Thanks for reading y’all! I have been surprised by how many folks have told me they are reading it! I’m honored!