Bethlehem Shepherds Ok

8/13/2019 Bethlehem Shepherds Ok

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Bethlehem: the Shepherds Fields

Gloria in Excelsis church, at Siyar al-Ghanim. Photograph: Alfred Driessen.

Bethlehem and its surroundings occupy a gently undulating landscape. Terraces have been cutinto the sloping sides of some of the ridges, and planted with olive-trees; the flattest parts of the

valleys are divided into fields; and the parts of the ground that are too rocky for cultivation are

dotted with different plants, shrubs and trees, including pines, cypresses, and many

Mediterranean species of bush.

This region is where David was shepherding his fathers flocks when he was anointed by Samuel

(I Sam16:1-13), and, three generations earlier, his great-grandmother Ruth gleaned in the fieldsof wheat and barley behind Boazs reapers. Centuries later, when the time had come for the

arrival of the Son of God on earth, this was where the birth of Jesus was first announced: In that

region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an

angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they werefilled with fear. And the angel said to them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of

a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a

Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped inswaddling clothes and lying in a manger (Lk2:8-12).

In the footprints

of ourFaith


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Although the Gospel narrative does not pinpoint the exact place of the Angels appearance to the

shepherds, from the earliest times Christians located it in an area two or three kilometers east of

Bethlehem, where the town of Beit Sahour (the house of the night watch) stands today. StJerome mentions it (cf. St Jerome,Epistola CVIII. Epitaphium Sanctae Paulae, 10), connecting it

with the Biblical emplacement called Migdal Eder (the tower of the flock), where Jacob

pitched his camp after the death of Rachel (cf. Gen35:21). In the Byzantine period, in the fourthor fifth century, a church was built there dedicated to the shepherds, the church in Jerusalemcelebrated a feast of the Vigil of the Nativity, and a cave was held in special veneration there.

There was also a monastery, but by the time the crusades arrived, nothing of all this remained

except ruins.

Centuries later, in the modern era, two different spots in the Beit Sahour locality conserved the

memory of the ancient traditions of the place. The first was known as Kanisat al-Ruwat, in thewest of the zone, and is now practically a suburb of Bethlehem. It held the remains of a small

Byzantine church. A Roman Catholic church was built there in 1951, dedicated to Our Lady of

Fatima and St Therese of Lisieux, and a Greek Orthodox church was built in 1972.

The second spot, about one kilometer to the north-east, was at Siyar al-Ghanim, the shepherds

field. On a hillside abounding in natural caves, there was a piece of land containing ruins, whichwas acquired by the Franciscans in the nineteenth century. Excavations carried out in 1951 and

1952, continuing a partial excavation in 1859, brought to light two monasteries which had been

inhabited from the fourth to the eighth centuries. The church of the first had been demolished in

the sixth century and another built on the same spot, though with its nave shifted slightly towardsthe east, which suggests a connection with a particular memory. The complex included plenty of

farming-related constructions presses, pools, silos, and cisterns and the caves within it had

been used for farming purposes. They had been used in this way in the times of Jesus, to judge

by the pottery shards found in them dating from the time of Herod. There are also traces of awatchtower.

The ten angels around the interior of thecupola. Photograph: Berthold Werner(Wikimedia Commons).


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On a rock overlooking these ruins of the Shepherds Fields, the Franciscan Custody of the Holy

Land built, between 1953 and 1954, the church of Gloria in Excelsis Deo, commemorating the

first announcement of Christs birth. The outside, with its decagonal shape and sloping walls,

aims to recall a nomads tent. On the inside, the altar stands in the centre; on the walls, in threeapses, Gospel scenes are represented: the appearance of the Angels, the shepherds on their way

to Bethlehem, and the adoration of the Child. The stream of light entering through the glass ofthe cupola recalls the light that streamed down on the shepherds. The inside of the cupola isadorned with the figures of ten angels and the words of their song: Gloria in altissimis Deo et in

terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatisGlory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men

of good will (Lk 2:14).

On March 19, 1994, during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, St

Josemarias first successor, visited Bethlehem. The most intensely felt point of this visit was the

Mass he celebrated in the Cave of the Nativity. Before this, during the journey from Jerusalemthat morning, he had begun his prayer in the car by reading St Lukes accoun t of the birth of

Jesus. He finished his prayer in the Shepherds Fields at Beit Sahour, where he also visited thevenerated ruins.

The heavenly army

The shepherds were listening to the message, surrounded by a dazzling light, when suddenly

there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God

in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased! (Lk 2:13-14).Reflecting on this passage, Benedict XVI stressed a particular detail: Christianity has always

understood that the speech of the angels is actually song, in which all the glory of the great joythat they proclaim becomes tangibly present. And so, from that moment, the angels song ofpraise has never gone silent (Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: the Infancy

Narratives,p. 73).

The altar bears an inscription recalling Canadascontribution to the construction of the church.Photograph: Jamie Lynn Ross (Flickr).


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In a special way, the angels song rings out down the centuries in the hymn of the Gloria, whichwas soon incorporated into the Churchs liturgy. From the second century some acclamations

were added to the angels words: We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you,

we give you thanks for your immense glory; and later, other invocations: Lord God, Lamb ofGod, Son of the Father, who takes away the sin of the world..., to form a harmonious hymn of

praise that was originally sung at the Mass of Christmas and afterwards on all feast days.

Inserted at the beginning of the Eucharistic celebration, the Gloria emphasizes the continuity thatexists between the birth and the death of Christ, between Christmas and Easter, inseparable

aspects of the one and the same mystery of salvation(Benedict XVI, Audience, 27 December

2006).

When we say or sing the Gloria at Mass, on the days when it is included in the liturgy, it is our

turn to advert to these mysteries, to contemplate Jesus who became man in order to do the will of

his Father, reveal the love he has for us, redeem us, and restore us to our vocation as Godschildren (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 516-518). If we unite ourselves sincerely to

the angels hymn, not only with our words but with our whole lives, we will be nurturing the

desire to imitate Christ, to do Gods will ourselves, and to give him glory.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will. And may the peace of

Christ triumph in your hearts,writes the Apostle. It is a peace that comes from knowing that our

Father God loves us, and that we are made one with Christ. It results from being under theprotection of the Virgin, our Lady, and assisted by St Joseph. This is the great light that

illuminates our lives. In the midst of difficulties and of our own personal failings, it encouragesus to keep up our efforts (Christ is Passing By, 22).

With crystal clarity I see the formula, the secret of happiness, both earthly and eternal. It is not

just a matter of accepting the Will of God but of embracing it, of identifying oneself with itin aword, of loving the Divine Will with a positive act of our own will. This, I repeat, is the infallible

secret of joy and peace(The Forge, 1006).

I was saying to you that even people who had not received baptism were moved when theywere telling me, I can well understand that saintly souls must be happy, for they look at events

with a vision that is above the things of this world. They see things with the eyes of eternity.

May you not lack that same vision,I added afterwards, so that you can respond to the special

love with which the Blessed Trinity has treated you (The Forge, 1017).


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When we work wholly and exclusively for the glory of God, we do everything with naturalness,

like someone who is in a hurry and will not be delayed by making a great show of things . In

this way we do not cease to accompany the Lord, which is something unique and incomparable (Furrow, 555).

The apses are decorated with nativity scenes from the Gospels. Photograph: Berthold Werner (Wikimedia Commons).

The Gospel account of the events in Bethlehem and its surroundings ends with the joy of theshepherds: The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen,

as it had been told them (Lk2:20). But before this, St Luke reveals a personal detail: Mary kept

all these things, pondering them in her heart (Lk2:19). Let us try to imitate her, talking to our

Lord, conversing like two people in love about everything that happens to us, even the mostinsignificant incidents. Nor should we forget that we have to weigh them, consider their value,

and see them with the eyes of faith, in order to discover the Will of God (Friends of God, 285).

J. Gil

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