Thousands come every year to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem, birthplace of the Saviour. Many crowd into Manger Square to sing carols, some gather in the Shepherds’ Field, still others celebrate in THE CHURCH OF ST. CATHERINE.
Built next to the Church of the Nativity by the Franciscans in 1881, St. Catherine’s is dedicated to the Egyptian martyr who died for her faith upon a wheel. The circular lamps inside the church recall the event of her death.
The modern church incorporates a beautifully restored Crusader cloister surrounding a peaceful courtyard dominated by the statue of the early church father, St. Jerome, also known as Hieronymus.
Below the courtyard are a series of underground caves that connect St. Catherine’s to the Grotto of the Nativity. One is the cave that was home to St. Jerome while he translated the Old and New Testaments from their original Hebrew and Greek into the Latin Vulgate in the 4th century. This is seen as one of the single most influential acts that affected the spread of the Christian Faith throughout the Roman world.
Other caves are dedicated to the memory of Joseph and many other saints. One contains the cistern into which ancient legend says the Star fell and is still visible today - but that only those of pure heart can see it.
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In another cave a small chapel has been erected dedicated to the Innocent Children. This recalls the story told of Herod the Great in Matthew 2:16: `Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under’. |
