Bethlehem, celebrated throughout the world as the birthplace of the
Redeemer, is situated at the distance of six miles south-west from
Jerusalem, in a fine country, blest with a salubrious air, and abundant
fertility. The water is conveyed in a low aqueduct which formerly passed
to Jerusalem. The _fons signatus_ is a charming spring, yielding a
constant supply of water to three large cisterns, one of which is still
in good preservation. At a small distance from these, a beautiful
rivulet called the _deliciæ Solomonis_, laves the herbage of the valley,
and fertilizes several fine gardens, while the circumjacent soil is
richly clothed with an elegant assemblage of fig-trees, vines and
olives.
Bethlehem received its name, which signifies the _house of bread_, from
Abraham; and it was surnamed _Ephratah_, the fruitful, after Caleb’s
wife, to distinguish it from another Bethlehem, in the tribe of Zebulon.
It belonged to the tribe of Judah, and also went by the name of the city
of David, that monarch having there been born, and tended sheep in his
childhood. Elimelech, Obed, Jesse, and Boaz, were, like David, natives
of Bethlehem, and here must be placed the scene of the admirable eclogue
of Ruth. Matthew, the apostle, was also born in the village of
Bethlehem.
The convent now at Bethlehem is connected with the church by a court
inclosed with lofty walls. This court leads by a small side door into
the church. The edifice is certainly of high antiquity, and though often
destroyed and as often repaired, it still retains marks of its Grecian
origin. On the pavement at the foot of the altar, you observe a marble
star, which corresponds, as tradition would have us believe, with the
point of the heavens where the miraculous star that conducted the three
kings became stationary. The Greeks occupy the choir of the Magi, as
well as the two other naves formed by the transform of the cross. These
last are empty, and without altars. Two spiral staircases, each composed
of fifteen steps, open on the sides of the outer church, and conduct to
the subterraneous church situated beneath this choir. At the further
extremity of the crypt, on the east side, is the spot where tradition
reports that the Redeemer of mankind was born. This spot is marked by a
white marble, incrusted with jasper, and surrounded by a circle of
silver, having rays resembling those with which the sun is represented.
Around it are inscribed these words:
HIC DE VIRGINE MARIA
JESUS CHRISTUS NATUS EST.
At the distance of seven paces toward the south, after you have passed
the foot of one of the staircases leading to the upper church, you find
what is called “the Manger.” You go down to it by two steps, for it is
not upon a level with the rest of the crypt. It is a low recess, hewn
out of the rock. A block of white marble, raised about a foot above the
floor, and hollowed in the form of a manger, indicates the spot where
tradition says our Saviour was laid upon straw. Two paces further,
opposite to the manger, stands an altar, which, the same tradition would
teach, occupies the place where Mary sat when she presented the Child of
Sorrow to the adoration of the Magi.
Nothing can be more pleasing to the view than this subterraneous church.
It is adorned with pictures of the Italian and Spanish schools. These
pictures represent the mysteries of the place, the Virgin and Child,
after Raphael, the annunciation, the adoration of the wise men, the
coming of the shepherds, and all those miracles of mingled grandeur and
innocence. The ornaments of the manger are of blue satin embroidered
with silver. Incense is continually smoking before the cradle of the
Saviour. The grotto of the Nativity leads to the subterraneous chapel,
where tradition places the sepulcher of the Innocents: “Herod sent forth
and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts
thereof, from two years old and under. Then was fulfilled that which was
spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: In Rama was there a voice
heard,” &c.