February 6 - St. Paulo Miki & Companions

BIOGRAPHY

St. Paulo Miki (パウロ三木) was born in Settsu Province into a rich family, son of the military leader Miki Handayu (三木半太夫). His father, along with 72 other bushi, were baptized in the castle of Iimori in 1563. He was also baptized and took the name of Paulo.

He was educated by Jesuits in the "seminariyo" of Azuchi - the construction of which was finished in 1580 - and in Takatsuki, eventually joining the order as a lay brother (being dubbed イルマン iruman in Japanese, from the Portuguese irmão, "brother") and becoming a preacher; this would continue for eleven more years.

In the fall of 1596, a Spanish ship, the San Felipe, en route to Mexico from Manila was wrecked off the coast of Shikoku. While Japanese officials confiscated the vessel’s cargo, a remark by the ship’s captain was interpreted to mean that missionaries intended to help in the conquest of Japan by Spain. Toyotomi Hideyoshi quickly ordered the arrest of several priests and laymen.

Paulo, along with two of his novice brothers, John Soan De Gotó and James Kisai was among those arrested by order of Toyotomi in late 1596 to early 1597. They were in the residence of the Jesuits in Osaka when they were arrested. The three were brought to a prison in Kyoto, where they were joined by six Franciscans and fifteen members of the Franciscan third order (such as Gonsalo Garcia, Pedro Bautista Blasquez, and Felipe de Jesus). Ishida Mitsunari, a vassal of the Toyotomi clan, originally planned to have Paulo and the other Jesuits to be released, but this eventually did not come to fruition.

They were bound with rope and had their left ear cut off - a departure for the original order given, which stipulated that their noses and both their ears should all be chopped off. Then, to warn other hiding Christians of the punishment that would await them if they were caught, they were paraded through the streets of Kyoto. It was then decided that these 24 people were to be executed in Nagasaki by crucifixion (磔, haritsuke).

Eventually, for one month Paulo and the 23 other priests and converts were crowded in carriages for the six-hundred mile ride from Kyoto to Nagasaki. Along the way, two more prisoners had joined the group, arrested for trying to comfort the victims. The total number of victims had now become twenty-six.

Paulo and the others were led up Nishizaka Hill (西坂), the final mass of land greeting Nagasaki Bay. The road to Omura divided the hill. One side of the road was scattered with human remains, where common criminals were executed; the other side was covered with new, green wheat. The government official in charge of the executions, Terazawa Hazaburo, had been persuaded by influential Portuguese to give the martyrs a more decent place of execution than those of criminals.

The victims were then fastened to crosses - each one tailor-made for the martyrs - with metal bands and ropes, with the hands, feet and neck being kept in position by the rings and the rope keeping the victim bound to the cross through the waist. Fixing Paulo to the cross proved to be difficult, as he was too short and his feet would not reach the lower rings. Under the pressure of time, the executioner had to do without the rings, and strapped Paulo's chest to the cross with a piece of linen, stepping on his chest in the process. A missionary standing by protested, but Paulo assured him: "Let him do his job, Father. It does not really hurt."

The crosses were lifted and slid into holes in the ground, twenty-six stretching in a row from the bay to the road. The martyrs raised their eyes to heaven and sang different hymns and psalm, including the Sanctus, the Song of Zechariah and the Te Deum. Finally, one of the prisoners chanted, "Jesus, Mary. Jesus, Mary."

In front of Paulo's cross was the death sentence Toyotomi had declared:

"As these men came from the Philippines under the guise of ambassadors, and chose to stay in Kyoto preaching the Christian law which I have severely forbidden all these years, I come to decree that they be put to death, together with the Japanese that have accepted that law."

Fastened to his cross, Paul Miki gave his final defense and said in a loud voice:

"All of you who are here, please, listen to me. I did not come from the Philippines, I am a Japanese by birth, and a brother of the Society of Jesus. I have committed no crime, and the only reason why I am put to death is that I have been teaching the doctrine of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I am very happy to die for such a cause, and see my death as a great blessing from the Lord. At this critical time, when, you can rest assured that I will not try to deceive you, I want to stress and make it unmistakably clear that man can find no way to salvation other than the Christian way.

The Christian religion commands that we forgive our enemies and those who have wronged us. I must therefore say here that I forgive Taikō-sama* and those resposible for my death. I have no hatred for Taikō-sama; indeed I wish that he and all the Japanese would become Christians."

*Taikō-sama (太閤様): Taikō (a retired kampaku) combined with the honorific -sama; usually used in contemporary sources, usually foreign, to denote Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

And then lifting up his heart to heaven, he said: "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Come to meet me, you Saints of God." Eventually, soon the victims and even the bystanders chanted in unison, "Jesus, Mary...Jesus, Mary!"

But not all chanted. Fray Felipe de Jesus could not sing, as the sitting prop in his cross was too low, and the whole weight of his body hung from the ring around his neck, choking him to death. With the little strength he had left, Philip invoked three times the name of Jesus. Two executioners then put an end to the sufferings of the Mexican martyr by piercing him with spears.

The death of Felipe signalled the start for the executions, There are four men to carry them out, two for each end of the rows. Their lances have long, sword-like blades protected with sheaths. After taking positions, they remove the scabbards and stand at attention.

A guttural yell, a sudden thrust, and the two spears cross each other in the chest of the martyr. Sometimes the blades come through the body at the shoulders. The death is almost immediate. If the victim does not die, another thrust to the neck will give the coup de grace. And so it was that Paulo Miki and the twenty-five others who were crucified in Nishizaki on February 5th of the year 1597 gave up their lives for Christ.

(Homepage of the Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum here)

FIRST READING

(Hebrews 13:1-8)

Brotherly love must continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Remember the prisoners as if imprisoned with them; those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves are in the body also.
Marriage must be honored among all and the bed undefiled, for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have, for He has said, "I will never leave you nor abandon you"; so we may confidently say: "The LORD is my helper, (and) I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you, reflect on the outcome of their conduct and imitate their faith.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

(Ps 27:1, 3, 5, 8b-9abc)

R. The LORD is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the defense of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
R. The LORD is my light and my salvation.
Even when an army encamps against me, my heart will not fear.
Even if war rises up against me, in this I will be confident.
R. The LORD is my light and my salvation.
For He will hide me in His booth in the day of trouble;
He will hide me in His tent, on a rock will He lift me up.
R. The LORD is my light and my salvation.
Your face, O LORD, I seek; hide not your face from me!
Do not push your servant away in anger;
You are my Help; do not cast me off.
R. The LORD is my light and my salvation.

GOSPEL

(Mark 6:14-29)

King Herod heard about Jesus, for Jesus’ name had become known. And some were saying, "John the Baptizer has been raised from the dead, and that is why mighty powers are at work in him." But others were saying, "He is Elijah." And others said, "He is a prophet, or like one of the prophets." But when Herod heard of it, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised up."

For Herod himself had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife." And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not (because Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he enjoyed listening to him).

And a day of opportunity had come, when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his chief men, and the chiliarchs, and the leaders of Galilee; and when his daughter, Herodias, came in and danced, she pleased Herod and those who reclined at table with him; and the king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you." And he swore (many things) to her, "Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you, up to half of my kingdom." And she went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptizer."

And at once she came in with haste to the king and made her request, saying, "I want you to give me, on a platter, the head of John the Baptizer immediately."

And being very dejected, the king did not want to reject her because of his oaths and because of those reclining at the table. And the king sent an executioner at once to bring his head; and he went and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard this, they came and took his corpse and laid it in a tomb.

The Mass in Köln (the Use of Köln, Germany), part 6

Hic accipit corpus in manibus dicat. Panem coelestem accipiam, et nomen Domini invocabo.
Hic ter tundat pectus suum. Domine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meum: sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea.
Sumat corpus et dicat. Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam meam in vitam aeternam. Amen.
Inclinatus dicat. Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi? Hic accipit in manus calicem dicens Calicem salutaris accipiam, et nomen Domini invocabo. Laudans + invocabo Dominum, et ab inimicis meis salvus ero.
Hic sumat Sanguinem dicens. Sanguis Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam meam in vitam aeternam. Amen.

Post perceptionem. Corpus tuum, Dómine, quod sumpsi, et Sanguis, quem potávi, adhaereat viscéribus meis: et praesta, ut in me non remáneat scélerum mácula, quem pura et sancta refecérunt Sacraménta: Qui vivis et regnas in saecula sæculórum.

Quod ore sumpsimus, Domine, pura mente capiamus: et de munere temporali fiat nobis remedium sempiternum. Per Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen.

Deinde Communio et postea.
V. Dóminus vobíscum. R. Et cum Spíritu tuo.
Oremus. sequitur Complenda quam finitam respondetur Amen. deinde benedicens populum.
V. Dóminus vobíscum. R. Et cum Spíritu tuo.
Quando Gloria dicatur Ite Missa est, quando non dicitur Benedicámus Dómino. R. Deo grátias.

Benedícat vos omnípotens Deus, Pater, et Fílius, + et Spíritus Sanctus. R. Amen.
Finita Missa inclinet se dicens. Placeat tibi, sancta Trinitas, obsequium servitutis meae: et praesta, ut sacrificium quod oculis tuae majestatis indignus obtuli, tibi sit acceptabile, mihique, et omnibus, proquibus illud obtuli, sit te miserante propitiabile. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Osculando Altare dicit: Méritis et intercessiónibus istórum et ómnium Sanctórum suórum miseriátur nostri omnípotens Deus per Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen.

deinde in cornu Evangelii
V. Dóminus vobíscum. R. Et cum Spíritu tuo.
Prosequitur. + Inítium sancti Evangelii secundum Joánnem.
In principio erat Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil quod factum est; in ipso vita erat, et vita erat lux hominum; et lux in tenebris lucet, et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt. Fuit homo missus a Deo cui nomen erat Joannes. Hic venit in testimonium, ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine, ut omnes crederent per illum. Non erat ille lux, sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine. Erat lux vera quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum. In mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est et mundus eum non cognovit. In propria venit, et sui eum non receperunt. Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri; his qui credunt in nomine eius, qui non ex sanquinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt. Et verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis; et vidimus gloriam eius gloriam quasi unigenti a Patre, plenum gratiae et veritatis.

=============================

Here he shall take the Body in his hands and say: I will take the Bread of heaven, and call upon the name of the Lord.
Here he shall beat his breast three times: Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed.
He shall receive the Body and say: May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul unto life everlasting. Amen.
He shall bow and say: What return shall I make to the Lord for all He has given to me? Here he shall take the chalice in his hands and say: I will take the Chalice of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. Praising + I will call upon the Lord, and I shall be saved from my enemies.
Here he shall receive the Blood, saying: May the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ keep my soul unto life everlasting, Amen.

After partaking: May your Body, O Lord, which I have received, and your Blood which I have drunk, cleave to my bowels; and grant that no stain of sin may remain in me, whom your pure and holy sacraments have refreshed; who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

Grant, Lord, that what we have taken with our mouth we may receive with a pure mind; and that from a temporal gift it may become for us an eternal remedy.

Then the Communion follows; and afterwards:
V. The Lord be with you. R. And with your spirit.
Let us pray. Then follows the Post-Communion, when it is ended is said Amen. Then the blessing of the people.

V. The Lord be with you. R. And with your spirit.
When the Gloria is said: Go, the dismissal is made (the Mass is ended), when it is not said: Let us bless the Lord. R. Thanks be to God.

May the almighty God bless you: Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit. R. Amen.
When Mass is ended, he bows and says: May the homage of my service be pleasing to you, O holy Trinity; and grant that the sacrifice which I, though unworthy, have offered in the sight of your majesty, may be acceptable to your: and through your mercy win forgiveness for me and for all those for whom I have offered it. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Kissing the Altar, he says: Through their merits and intercession, and of all His saints, almighty God have mercy on us; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then on the Gospel side (of the Altar):
V. The Lord be with you. R. And with your spirit.
Then follows: + The beginning of the Holy Gospel according to John.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him: and without Him was made nothing that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the Light, but was to give testimony of the Light. That was the true Light, which enlightens every man that comes into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came to His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, He gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in His name: who are born, not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

First Sunday after Epiphany (formerly January 13) - The Baptism of the Lord

1.) OLD ROMAN LECTIONARY

(John 1:29-34)

At that time, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who has a higher rank than I, for He was before me.' And I did not know Him, but so that He might be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing with water."

And John testified, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and He remained upon Him. And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God."

2.) NEW ROMAN LECTIONARY (YEAR B)

(Mark 1:7-11)

This is what John the Baptist proclaimed, "There comes after me One who is mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

And it happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens being split apart, and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. And a voice came out of the heavens, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Popular (Mis)Depictions of Bible stories, part 2 (1)

1.) The Tablets of the Law are semi-flat rounded off rectangles.

While it had become common to depict the Tablets of the Law as rounded off rectangles, this is actually a recent innovation in Western art, becoming prevalent only from the late Medieval period. A majority of earlier depictions of the Tablets depict them as being rectangular slabs (see image at left, and here, here, here, here, and here for some more examples).

Rabbinic tradition, meanwhile, has it that the Tablets were either shaped like perfect cubes or sharp-cornered rectangles, six tefachim - a tefach ("handbreath") is approximately equal to 8 centimeters or 3.2 inches - in length and three tefachim thick (Baba Batra 14a).

2.) Adam and Eve ate an apple.

There is nothing in the Bible that expressly mentions or suggests that the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Etz ha-Daat tov V'ra) is an apple tree. Even early authorities disagreed on the species of the tree and its fruit. The apocryphal Book of Enoch (32:4) suggests that the tree looked like a species of tamarind that bore fruit which resembled extremely fine grapes.

In the Talmud (Berachot 40b), Rabbi Meir said that Man and Woman debased themselves by drinking wine made out of the grape(s) which grew from the tree, "since the thing that most causes wailing to a man is wine" (as it did to Noah, who drank to the point of intoxication). Meanwhile, Rabbi Nehemiah suggested that the fruit may have been figs (cf. Genesis 3:7, where Adam and Eve sew fig leaves to hide their nakedness) while Rabbi Yehuda said that it was a sort of wheat (Hebrew khitah, a pun on khet, "sin"), "since a child does not know how to call 'father' and 'mother' until it has had a taste of corn."

The citron (Hebrew etrog, which resembles the Aramaic m'ragag, "desirable"; cf. Genesis 3:6) and the carob (since its Hebrew name charuv puns on cherev "sword", and churban "destruction") have also been suggested. Islamic tradition, meanwhile, commonly represents the fruit as a fig or olive.

Around the 12th century, Christian art in France and Germany started to depict the apple as the forbidden fruit, while Byzantine and Italian artists stuck with the belief that the Fruit of Knowledge was a fig. It was not until the later Renaissance that the "forbidden fruit=apple" belief was universal.

There are varying hypotheses on why the apple was chosen to represent this fruit, but one possible theory is that because the Latin word for evil, "malus", is homonymous with the word for apple: Adam and Eve contracted malus (evil) by eating a malus (apple).

3.) Golgotha was a skull-shaped hill with three tall crosses in it.

While the word Golgotha does mean "the place of the skull," the place's appearance needn't necessarily have looked like a skull; indeed this belief that Golgotha is named so because of its appearance is only recent, dating only from the 19th century.

The general belief from early Christian times onwards is that the reason why it is called such is either because of its function as a place of execution, i.e. there were bones and skulls of victims strewn about all over the place, or the belief held by many Church Fathers that Adam was buried on that spot (Origen in the 2nd century, who himself have lived in Jerusalem for 20 years, is our earliest witness to this tradition).

No early Christian writer explicitly suggested that Calvary was a skull-shaped hill, and the Gospels themselves are silent as to whether Jesus' crucifixion occurred on a raised place at all. It is true that the tradition embodied in the name "Mount Calvary" appears as early as the 4th century, but that the hill was skull-like in form is quite a modern idea. In fact, St. Epiphanius of Salamis in the 4th century expressly said that "There is nothing to be seen on the place resembling this name; for it is not situated upon a height that it should be called (the place) of a skull, answering to the place of the head in the human body."

Gordon's Calvary (named after Major-General Charles George Gordon, who had popularized the site in 1882-83, after Otto Thenius of Dresden proposed this hill as the true location of Golgotha in 1842) does resemble a skull and is popular among some Christians as the location of Jesus' crucifixion. Even so, the features of the hill that make it look like a skull were most likely not present in the 1st century. Archaeologists believe it to be a quarry or mine developed only in the past two or three centuries; its skull-like appearance is thus due to modern mining or quarrying operations in the area.

Also, many works of art and even a number of films show only three crosses on Golgotha; sometimes shown as very tall ones.

However, it is more historically plausible that Golgotha was literally dotted with upright beams (stipes) on which the crossbeam (patibulum) was placed to make a cross - it was, after all, an execution site, and crucifixions by the tens or hundreds were most likely held there daily. It might be even possible that there were other crucified victims, dead or dying, in Golgotha when Jesus and the two criminals arrived.

Also, crosses were not that high; in fact, they were most probably only a feet or so from the ground, so as to facilitate wild animals consuming the corpses of the victims hanging thereon (victims of crucifixion were often left to hang on their crosses to rot or, at worst, were dumped in the garbage heap; giving a crucifixion victim a proper burial was rare and was the exception to the rule).

Early artworks (once again, examples are here, here, here, here, here, here, and here) quite uniformly depict the crosses as only a few measures tall than the victim. It was not until later that a number of artists gradually started increasing the heights of the crosses in their art. The end results of this were the popular images of three crosses which at most are somewhere around seven to ten-feet tall, standing on a hill very much devoid of anything else.

January 6- The Epiphany of the Lord (aka The Theophany)

1.) ROMAN LECTIONARY

(Matthew 2:1-12)

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." When Herod the king heard he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. But they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what has been written by the prophet:

'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

Then Herod privately summoned the magi and determined from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and look carefully for the child, and when you have found Him, bring me word so that I too may go and worship Him." When they heard the king, they left; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them until it stopped above where the Child was. When they saw the star they rejoiced with very great joy.

And when they had come into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they gave to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

2.) MOZARABIC LECTIONARY

(Matthew 2:1-23)

3.) BYZANTINE LECTIONARY

(Matthew 3:13-17)

At that time, Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus, answering, said, "Let it be so now, for it is proper for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him. After Jesus had been baptized, He came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming on Him. And behold a voice from the heavens, saying, "This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

4.) COPTIC LECTIONARY

(John 1:18-34)

No one has ever seen God. The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known.

And this is the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed (and did not deny but confessed), "I am not the Christ!" And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" And he says, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" And he answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" He said, "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the Lord,"' as Isaiah the prophet said." (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)

And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but among you there stands one you do not know, who is coming after me, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal!"

These things happened in Bethany beyond the Jordan where John was baptizing.

On the next day he sees Jesus coming toward him and says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who has a higher rank than I for He was before me.’ I did not know Him, but so that He might be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing with water."

And John testified, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and He remained upon Him. And I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God."

Popular (Mis)Depictions of Bible stories, part 1

Sometimes, popular belief and iconography can influence our minds on how we read the Bible (admittedly one of the least descriptive ancient texts), sometimes to such an extent that we are so used to it that when someone tries depict a particular event in a different manner - usually closer to what the Bible says, we often get fidgety and uncomfortable.

Here let's do a simple listing of popular depictions vs. the Biblical account.

1.) The Red Sea started to part from Israelites' side.

Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 and 1956 films, both entitled The Ten Commandments, and just about a majority of Moses films after it depicts the parting of the Red Sea in a very dramatic manner: as Moses raises his staff/hands over the sea, the sea starts to open from the shore where the Israelites are. (footage from DeMille's 1923 version)


The Bible (Exodus 14:21-22), however, paints a quite different picture:

Then Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind (v'ruach qadim 'azah) all that night and He made the sea into dry ground, and the waters were divided. The sons of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were for them a wall on their right and on their left.

While the exact route that the Israelites took is still a matter of debate (see map to the right for various possible routes), the results would have been pretty much the same. The Israelites were going eastward towards Canaan, as any good map could tell you. If the parting of the sea happened like films show it (opening dramatically), the sea would have started to part from the other shore, as the sea was driven back by "a strong east wind", rather opposite to what the movies are depicting - since an east wind comes from the east and blows west.

2.) Jonah was swallowed by a whale.

There's really no indication that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, at least from the book of Jonah (2:1):

The LORD appointed a great fish (hadag gadol) to swallow Jonah; and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

Now the phrase "great fish" is ambiguous. While there is a possibility that it is indeed a species of whale, it could also have been another aquatic animal, or even a special one-time creature that God made for the purpose of rescuing Jonah.

The Greek Septuagint, meanwhile, renders the phrase hadag gadol as kētei megalō meaning "a large great fish" or "a large whale" or even "a large sea monster/sea serpent." Since in Greek mythology the word kētos, while meaning "great fish", is closely associated with sea monsters (e.g., Cetus (Kētos) of Greek mythology), early Christians seem to have understood and depicted the 'fish' as being a hideous serpentine creature like in the image at left; see here, here, and here for other examples.

Jerome later translated this phrase as piscis granda (great fish) in his Latin Vulgate. He translated kētos, however, as cetus in Matthew 12:40. At some point cetus became synonymous with "whale" (for instance, the study of whales is now called cetology).

In his late 14th century translation, John Wycliff rendered piscis granda as "greet fisch" (great fish) in Jonah 2:1, while translating cetus as "whal" (whale) in Matthew 12:40. William Tyndale followed suit, translating the phrase as "greate fyshe" in his 1534 translation of the Bible, while translating the word kētos or cetus as "whale". Tyndale's translation was later incorporated into the Authorized Version of 1611 (aka the King James Version). Since then, the "great fish" in Jonah 2 has been most often interpreted as a whale.

3.) Moses turned his rod into a serpent and called forth all ten plagues of Egypt.

In the 1998 film The Prince of Egypt, it was Moses who call forth all the plagues to the Egyptians. However, the Bible has Moses commanding Aaron to throw down his staff and to summon the first three plagues:

Exodus 7:10: When Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the Lord had commanded them – and Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake.

Exodus 7:19: And the LORD spoke to Moses, "Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in wood and stone containers.’"

Exodus 8:5: And the LORD spoke to Moses, "Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’"

Exodus 8:16: And the LORD spoke to Moses, "Say to Aaron, ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and it will become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.’"

However, that piece of artistic license within the context of the film is understandable (the film has Moses' wife Tzipporah accompanying him to Egypt in place of Aaron, who seems rather bitter at Moses by this point).

As to the reason why Aaron is commanded to do the things that would call the three plagues, Jewish belief explains it as Moses being obliged to appreciate the help he received earlier from the Nile (Exodus 2:1-10), and the dust (Exodus 2:11-12) and was therefore unable to smite either of these, necessitating Aaron to do it in his stead.

4.) The Tablets of the Law are only written on one side.

Exodus 32:15-16 tells us that:

And Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. The tablets were written on both sides – they were written on one side and the other. And the the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

There was in fact a Jewish tradition which states that the letters were not merely engraved on the surface of the tablets; they were fully bored through it. In fact, while one would expect the reverse side to bear a mirror image since the letters were bored fully, both sides appeared normally; i.e. the back appeared identical to the front. Another is that the inner part of some Hebrew letters (either ayin, which in paleo-Hebrew looked like an 'O', or samekh or the final mem in modern-day Hebrew script) 'hovered' in place, despite the letters being graven fully.

As for how any commandments are written on one tablet, while arrangements such as "five commandments on each tablet" or the "three commandments on one with seven on the other" (first suggested by St. Thomas Aquinas, for theological reasons) are common, some are of the idea that that each tablet contained all ten commandments in imitation of ancient treaties, in which each party receives a copy of the treaty - usually written in stone - while the subordinate party places his copy of the pact inside the main temple of his deity, which would be parallel to the keeping of the tablets within the Ark of the Covenant, which in turn was kept in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and later in the Temple of Jerusalem.

Apparently, this was also a debated point among early Jewish rabbis: some held that there were five on each tablet, but it was also admitted that "the Sages say ten on one tablet and ten on the other".

January 1 - Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God (aka Octave of the Nativity, Feast of the Circumcision of Christ)

1.) OLD ROMAN LECTIONARY

(Luke 2:21)

At that time, when eight days were completed for His circumcision, His name was called Jesus, which was called by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

2.) NEW ROMAN LECTIONARY

(Luke 2:16-21)

The shepherds went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Child lying in the manger. And when they saw, they made known the word which had been spoken to them about this Child, and all who heard it marveled at what the shepherds said. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

And when eight days were completed for His circumcision, His name was called Jesus, which was called by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

3.) MOZARABIC LECTIONARY

(Luke 2:21-40)

At that time, when eight days were completed for His circumcision, His name was called Jesus, which was called by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord: 'Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord'), and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the Law of the Lord: a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

And behold there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And he had received an answer from the Holy Spirit that that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when His parents brought in the child Jesus to do for Him according to the custom of the Law, and he took Him into his arms and blessed God and said, "Now you are dismissing your servant, O Lord, in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples; a light for revelation to the Nations, and the glory of your people Israel." And His father and mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning Him.

And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and for a sign of contradiction (and a sword will pierce your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

And here was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old in her many days and had lived with her husband for seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow for eighty four years, who did not depart from the temple, worshipping night and day with fastings and prayers. And coming up to them at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak about Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Israel.

And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town, Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

4.) BYZANTINE LECTIONARY

(Luke 2:20-21, 40-52)

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as had been told them. And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child, He was named Jesus, which was called by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. And the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

And His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph and His mother did not know, but supposing Him to be in the company, they went a day's journey, and were searching for Him among their relatives and among their acquaintances; and when they did not find Him they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking Him.

And it happened that after three days they found Him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and questioning them, and all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.

And when they saw Him, they were astonished, and his mother said to Him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Behold, your father and I were looking for you in sorrow." And He said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" And they did not understand the saying which He spoke to them.

And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, and His mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

On Martyrologies

What is a Martyrology?

A martyrology (a synaxarion or menologion for the Eastern churches) is a catalogue or list of martyrs - later extended for saints in general, arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts.

Since the time when the commemorations of martyrs, to which were added those of bishops, began to be celebrated, each local church had its special martyrology, on which the names of local Christians who were killed for their faith were listed. These local lists were further enriched by names borrowed from neighbouring localities. Consolidation occurred, by the combination of several local martyrologies, with or without borrowings from literary sources.

In the early years of Christianity, it became customary to offer the Eucharist on the tombs of the martyrs on the anniversary of their deaths; i.e. their birthday into Heaven. At this meeting, the local bishop, or one from a neighbouring community, would usually deliver an oration in praise of the martyr. The Acts of the trial and passion of the martyr would also be recounted or, if the community possessed them, read and, later on gathered in a special book, of the miracles accomplished by the martyr since his death.

The veneration of certain saints gradually spread beyond the bounds of their churches of origin, most often because of the miracles worked through their relics. These attracted pilgrims and the veneration of other churches who sought the martyrs' protection, particularly if they had been able to obtain some fragments of their holy relics. This led to consolidation and combination of several local martyrologies, with or without borrowings from literary sources, to produce general martyrologies, covering a wider range. The scope of martyrologies were further extended when the struggle against heresies produced many holy bishops and priests, and whose feasts, as confessors of the faith, were added to those of the martyrs.

These martyrologies either took the form of a simple list of names, or may also include small biographical details about a particular saint (these types of martyrologies were called historical martyrologies).

The Latin rite of the Catholic Church uses what is called the Roman Martyrology (Martyrologium Romanum in Latin). The main source for this was the Martyrology of Usuard, completed by the Dialogues of Pope Gregory the Great and the works of some of the Fathers, and for the Greek saints by the catalogue known as the Menologion of Sirlet. Its origins can be traced back to the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, which was originally based on calendars of Roman, African and Syrian provenance, but to which were gradually added names of many saints from other areas, resulting in a number of duplications, fusions of different saints into one, and other mistakes.

The Roman Martyrology was first published in 1583 by Pope Gregory XIII, who in the year before had decreed the revision of the Julian calendar that is called, after him, the Gregorian calendar. A second edition was published in the same year. The third edition, in 1584, was made obligatory wherever the Roman Rite was in use. Very soon, in 1586 and again in 1589, revised editions were published with corrections by Caesar Baronius along with indications of the sources on which he drew, and in 1630 Pope Urban VIII issued a new edition. Pope Benedict XIV was also interested in the Roman Martyrology: his bull of 1748 addressed to John V, King of Portugal, long prefaced printings of the Roman Martyrology.

1748 saw the appearance of a revised edition by Pope Benedict XIV, who personally worked on the corrections: he suppressed some names, such as those of Clement of Alexandria and Sulpicius Severus, but kept others that had been objected to, such as that of Pope Siricius. Subsequent changes until the edition of 2001 were minor, involving some corrections, but mainly the addition of the names of newly canonized saints. The current (2005) edition, which corrected a number of typographical errors that appeared in the 2001 edition and added 117 people canonized or beatified between 2001 and 2004, contains about 7,000 saints and blesseds currently recognized and venerated by the Church.

A sample entry from the Roman Martyrology would look like this (taken from the 1956 Roman Martyrology):

The 1st day of January. The Kalends of January.

The Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the octave of his Nativity.

At Rome, under Emperor Alexander, St. Martina, virgin, who endured various kinds of torments, and being beheaded, received the palm of martyrdom. Her feast is kept on the 30th of this month.

At Caesarea in Cappadocia, the death of St. Basil the Great, bishop, confessor, and doctor of the Church, renowned for his learning and wisdom and gifted with every virtue, who during the reign of Emperor Valens wonderfully displayed his talents as he defended the Church with great constancy against the Arians and Macedonians. His feast, however, is appropriately kept on the 14th of June, the day on which he was consecrated bishop.

In Tuscany, on Mount Senario, St. Bonfilius, confessor, one of the seven founders of the Order of the Servites of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, having honoured her devoutly, was suddenly called to heaven by her. His feast, with that of his companions, is kept on February 12th.

At Rome, St. Almachius, martyr, who, by the command of Alipius, governor of the city, was killed by the gladiators for saying, "Today is the Octave of our Lord's birth; put an end to the worship of idols, and abstain from unclean sacrifices."

In the same city, on the Appian Way, the crowning with martyrdom of thirty holy soldiers under Emperor Diocletian.

At Spoleto, in the time of Emperor Antoninus, St. Concordius, priest and martyr, who was beaten with clubs, then stretched on the rack, and after a long confinement in prison, where he was visited by an angel, lost his life by the sword.

The same day, St. Magnus, martyr.

In Africa, St. Fulgentius, bishop of Rusp, who suffered much from the Arians, during the persecution of the Vandals, for holding the Catholic faith and teaching an excellent doctrine. After being banished to Sardinia, he was permitted to return to his diocese, where he ended his life by a holy death, leaving a reputation for sanctity and eloquence.

At Chieti in Abruzzo, the birthday of St. Justin, bishop of that city, illustrious for holiness of life and for his miracles.In the diocese of Lyons, in the monastery of St. Claude, St. Eugendus, abbot, whose life was eminent for virtues and miracles.

At Souvigny in France, St. Odilo, abbot of Cluny, who was the first to prescribe that the commemoration of all the faithful departed should be made in his monasteries the day after the feast of All Saints. This practice was afterwards received and approved by the universal Church.

At Rome, the birthday of St. Vincent Maria Strambi, Bishop of Macerata and Tolentino, of the Order of Passionists, renowned for his pastoral zeal, whom Pope Pius XII numbered among the saints.

At Alexandria, the departure from this world of St. Euphrosyna, virgin, who was renowned in her monastery for the virtue of abstinence, and for the gift of miracles.

¶ And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God.

A sample entry from a calendar-type synaxarion (which is a mere listing of saints arranged in the order of their anniversaries), meanwhile, would look like the following:

January
1. The Circumcision of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea.
Peter the Neomartyr.

In the 10th century, scribes began to including biographical notices to these simple calendar listings. As the lessons in the Byzantine Divine Office are always lives of saints, the synaxarion became the collection of short lives of saints and accounts of events whose memory is kept. Another name for these synaxaria containing brief lives of the saints is the Prologue, a term which did not remain in popular use in the Byzantine church, but which remained popular among the Slavic nations. Essentially, the Slavonic Prolog (traditionally published in 4 volumes containing brief lives of the saints for 3 months per volume) and the modern Greek synaxarion are the same, or at least analogous, collections.

A sample entry would very much look like this:

JANUARY

This month has thirty-one days with ten hours of day fourteen hours of night.

The Circumcision according to the flesh of Our Lord Jesus Christ; and commemoration of our Father among the Saints Basil the Great, archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia.

Since the law of Moses lays down that if a woman gives birth to a male child it shall be circumcised in the flesh of its foreskin on the eighth day, for this reason our Savior on the present day, which is the eighth from his Nativity, accepted the Circumcision prescribed by the law, and received, in accordance with the Angel’s command, the name which is above every name, "Jesus", that is to say, Savior. As we celebrate our Lord’s name day today, from it we begin the New Year from his incarnation.

Saint Basil the Great belonged, through his father also named Basil, to the province of Pontus, and through his Emmelia, to the province of Pontus, and through his mother Emmelia, to Cappadocia. He was born in Caesarea in Cappadocia around 329-330. He studied in Caesarea, then in Constantinople under the famous rhetor Libanius, and finally in Athens, where he became a close friend of Saint Gregory of Nazianzus. Shortly after his return to Caesarea which occurred about 356, he retired in solitude to the outskirts of Neocaesarea, where his mother and his sister Macrina already led the monastic life. It is at that time he composed his ascetical writings. He was ordained a priest by Eusebius, Archbishop of Caesarea, and at the death of the latter was elected in 370 to succeed him and rule the Church of Christ. He governed it for eight years, during which time he proved himself a witness of the truth in the face of heresy and full of courage before the threats of the Arian Emperor Valens. He died on January 1, in the year 379. The wisdom and the learning which fill his works, his Philokalia (extracts from the works of Origen), his Treatise on the Holy Spirit, his theological work against the Arian Eunomius, his ascetical writings, his monastic rules, his commentaries on Sacred Scripture, the panegyrics which he made of many saints, his correspondence, and finally the splendor and the force of his words, have won for him rightly the epitaphs of "Revealer of Heaven," and of the "Great."

December 28 - The Holy Innocents

1.) ROMAN LECTIONARY

(Matthew 2:13-18)

At that time the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to destroy Him." Then he got up, took the child and His mother by night and went to Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called my Son."

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became enraged. He sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding region from two years old and under, according to the time which he had learned from the magi.

Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

"A voice was heard in Rama, lamentation and great wailing,
Rachel weeping for her children,
And she refused to be comforted, because they are no more."

2.) MOZARABIC LECTIONARY

(Matthew 19:13-15; 18:1-6, 10-11)

At that time little children were brought to our Lord Jesus Christ that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not stop them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." And he placed his hands on them and went from there.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And He called a child and had him stand among them and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you are converted and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore anyone who humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven; and whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me.

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of my Father who is in heaven; for the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost."

December 27 - Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist

Gospel readings from various Liturgical Rites:

1.) OLD ROMAN LECTIONARY

(John 21:19-24)

At that time, Jesus said to Peter, "Follow me." Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following (who had leaned on His breast at the supper and said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?"). When Peter saw this one he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me." So the saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say to him that he would not die; rather, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?"

This is the disciple who is testifying about these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

2.) NEW ROMAN LECTIONARY

(John 20:1-8)

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have put Him!"

Then Peter and the other disciple went out and were coming to the tomb. The two were running together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he stooped down and saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face-cloth that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, also went in; and he saw and believed.

3.) MOZARABIC LECTIONARY, for 29 December

(John 21:15-24)

At that time, our Lord Jesus Christ said to Peter, "Simon of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." He said to him again a second time, "Simon of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him a third time, "Simon of John, do you love me?" Peter was sad that He said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and said to Him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Amen, Amen, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked wherever you wished, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will gird you and bring you where you do not wish" (He said this, signifying by what death he would glorify God). And when He had said this, He said to him, "Follow me."

Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following (who had leaned on His breast at the supper and said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?"). When Peter saw this one he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me." So the saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say to him that he would not die; rather, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?"

This is the disciple who is testifying about these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

4.) BYZANTINE LECTIONARY, for September 26 (October 9), Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, and May 8 (May 21), Feast of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

(John 19:25-27; 21:24-25)

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. So when Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing there, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" He then said to His disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that very hour the disciple took her to his own.

This is the disciple who is testifying about these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. And there are many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

4.) COPTIC LECTIONARY, for Tobi 4, Departure of St. John the Evangelist and Theologian, and Bashans 16, Commemoration of St. John the Evangelist

(John 21:15-25)

5.) SYRIAC LECTIONARY, for May 8

(John 21:20-25)

6.) ARMENIAN LECTIONARY, for December 29 (feast of James and John)

(John 21:20-25)

The Eucharistic Significance of the Manger

We often read it, but very often we neglect its significance.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him up in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the lodgings.

-Luke 2:7

Many people usually think that the Christ child was placed inside a manger because it resembled a cradle. While this may be true to an extent, newborn babies don't really need a crib yet as they could not move much. Even in our time, we only transfer babies from bassinets into infant beds when they are three or four months of age (as they could tip themselves out). Mary could have chosen to place the child beside her, but instead she chose a feeding-trough for her Child.

One thing we need to see is that the Infant was placed in a feeding trough for animals (see, for example, the illustration at left depicting a stone manger from Israel, which would have been similar to the one in which Jesus was laid on).

Early iconographers seem to be aware of a sort of connection between the Nativity and the Eucharist (John 6:51-58), as in many of these representations the animals push their muzzles into the manger as if to eat from it (or nibbling at the Child's hand). The manger itself was depicted as something similar to a bread-basket or even as a raised structure somewhat similar to an Altar. In fact, in some of the above depictions architectural elements block the view of and segregate the beasts, shepherds and angels from the inner sanctum like a rood screen, who are looking on the Infant in quiet reverence like worshippers in a medieval Church.

In these images Christ is presented not as the cute baby of our Christmas cards but as the spotless Lamb of God destined for a sacrifice on the cross that will be revisited in the Eucharist. El Greco makes the emphasis on sacrifice rather explicit in his depiction of the Adoration of the Shepherds where the inclusion of a trussed lamb identifies the child as the sacrificial Lamb "who will take away the sins of the world."

In Eastern iconography, there came a type of image depicting the infant Christ either lying on the altar or within a paten covered by the asterisk, with his midsection covered by a liturgical cloth (see left portion of the icon at right). This was known as the melismos ("breaking"), with the name coming from the action of breaking the consecrated bread, known as Amnos in Greek or Amnets in Slavonic, both meaning "Lamb", with a scalpel called a "spear" (in reference to the spear that pierced the side of Jesus; John 19:33-37) that the priest performs just before distributing Holy Communion.

"Broken and distributed is the Lamb of God; broken yet not divided, ever eaten yet is never consumed, but sanctifies those who partake of Him."

The diskos itself (which answers to the paten of the Western Church), on which the Lamb is laid, is taken to be representative either of the manger or Mary, who bore Christ in her womb, and at the same time, the tomb on which Jesus was laid. The asteriskos meanwhile represents the star of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:9 is even quoted as the asteriskos is placed over the Lamb before the start of the Divine Liturgy), while the veil called aër (vózdukh), which covers both the diskos and the chalice, represents both the swaddling-clothes and the shroud which covered the Lord during burial.

The connection between the manger and the cross is also evident in another element of Eastern icons of the Nativity: in it the infant Jesus is bound, mummy-like, by strips of cloth (which is similar to the depiction of the Lord's grave clothes in burial) and rests in a raised structure, which in addition to its (vague) resemblance to an altar, also looks like a stone coffin.

The final connection between the Eucharist and Christmas we can make is the name of Bethlehem itself. Beit Lehem (בית לחם) is Hebrew for "House of Bread" (the Arabic name بيت لحم Bayt Laḥm is also interesting, as it literally means "House of Lamb" or "House of Meat"!); how fitting it is that the One who said He was the bread of life (John 6:35) was born in the House of Bread!

December 25 - The Nativity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

(Hebrews 1:1-12)

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke formerly to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us in a Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and by whom He created the ages, who being the brightness of His glory and the representation of His substance, and sustaining all things by the word of His power, when He had made purification of sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has inherited a name superior to theirs.

For to which of the angels did He say at any time, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"? And again, "I will be to Him a Father and He will be to me a Son." And again when He brings the Firstborn into the world, He says: "And let all the angels of God worship him.”

And of the angels He says, "He who makes His messengers winds, and His ministers a flame of fire," but of the Son, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and a righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness over your companions."

And, "Lord, in the beginning you founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you continue; and they will all grow old like a garment; and like a cloak you will fold them up and they will be changed, but you are the same, and your years will not fail.”

(John 1:1-14)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a testimony, to bear witness of the Light, so that all through Him might believe. He was not the Light, but he came to bear witness about the Light. The true Light which gives light to every man was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them He gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in His Name: who were born, not of bloods nor of the will of the flesh nor a man's decision but of God.

And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, (and we saw His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

"...Because there was no room for them in the katalyma"

I'm sure that most of us are at least familiar with the story of the very first Christmas ever:

And it came to pass, that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child.

And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

-Luke 2:1-7 (Douay-Rheims Challoner)

Because of that little statement that Luke makes in verse 7, as the ages pass by, many inspirational stories, poems, and sermons have been made on the innkeeper who either gave Mary and Joseph room or shooed them away. However, did Luke really refer to an inn in Luke 2:7?

First, we need to realize what word it was that Luke used in his story which is rendered as "inn" in our Bibles. Luke had used the word κατάλυμά (katalyma). In extra-biblical literature, katalyma has a wider connotation than "inn;" it can also mean "house," "guest room" or "lodging-place". It is a noun form of the verb καταλυο (kataluo), a compound verb (kata "among" + luo "break up" or "(un-)loose") which translates literally as "to disintegrate" or "to unyoke," i.e. "to loosen down." As a place of rest and lodging, a katalyma was a place to drop your baggage, to untie the straps and packs of the beasts of burden and simply sit down and relax.

When Luke speaks of a commercial inn, as he does in Luke 10:34 (in the parable of the Good Samaritan), he uses a different word, πανδοχεῖον (pandocheion), which literally means "accepting all comers", a type of public lodging-place or hostelry which was more common in Palestine, Syria, and southern Anatolia in Jesus' time than in the western Roman world (in a former time, pandocheia were more geographically distributed; many of these had diminished in Jesus' time).

The only other place where Luke uses katalyma is in 22:11, where it refers to the upper room where Jesus and company held the Last Supper, which is clearly not an "inn" but a large guest room attached to a private house. Mark (14:14) also uses katalyma to describe the upper room itself.

During the time of Jesus, the only inns that existed were essentially truck stops for caravans. It was a place for travelers and pack animals to eat, a shelter in which to sleep overnight, a market for supplies for the road and is considered to be a hangout for prostitutes (female innkeepers were referred to as pundaqit in Aramaic, which was synonymous with the Hebrew zonah "harlot"; cf. Joshua 2:1) and others of an unsavory reputation; the word pandocheion itself had some negative connotations due to this.

Another thing that we need to consider is that at the time of Jesus, Bethlehem was a small town that was not near a major highway, so there is no reason to think that there would have been a commercial inn there, since inns were mostly built where there is more traffic, i.e. major roads, especially Roman ones; indeed, there is no archeological evidence for the existence of any inns in Bethlehem. With the population of the town in the 1st century being estimated as being around a thousand (only about a few times bigger than Nazareth, which is estimated to have had 200-400 residents at this time) and the lack of any highway nearby, the existence of a commercial inn in Bethlehem seems rather unlikely.

It then becomes more likely that Luke meant katalyma to be understood as "guest room" or "house" rather than "commercial inn." Middle Eastern hospitality required people to give shelter and sustenance to travelers (relatives or no), to make themselves as comfortable as possible at the host's expense. Since Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem in the region of Judea since that was his ancestral home, we could assume that Joseph, at least, may have had a number of distant relations living in the town who could serve as potential hosts. Kinship ties throughout the village would have been the rule, not the exception.

Archeological and literary evidence shows that houses in Bethlehem and its vicinity often had stables within the house where the family would keep their animals while the guest room was in the front of the house. The animals as well as the family stayed under one large enclosed space that was divided so that the animals would usually be on a lower level, while the family would sleep on a raised upper level.
Joseph and Mary would have come too late to get the guest room (Luke uses the definite article in the original Greek), which would have been totally crowded with other travelers who had come because of the census, so the hosts (Joseph's distant relatives?) did the best they could to help both husband and wife by putting the newborn Jesus at the stables inside the house, since no space for the baby could be had in the now-crowded guest room.

For the Middle Eastern peasant, it is a bad thing to be alone. He does his thinking in a crowd, as his culture is a group-centered one (as opposed to the individualistic thinking of the 21st century West). Thus, in the case of a birth, the men will sit apart with the neighbors, but the room will be full of women assisting the midwife; the assumption therefore that Mary and Joseph were alone, as they are so often depicted in Nativity scenes, is probably historically inaccurate. We are told that Mary swaddled the newborn infant by herself, and indeed some take this as evidence that the Holy family were alone; however, there are accounts on how Palestinian women are not incapacitated by childbirth and could even give birth in a field and go back to the village, baby in tow, with no unusual effort required.

In this scenario, it would then perhaps be natural that Mary would have swaddled the babe, since she could physically do so with little to no assistance; so when Luke tells us that Mary "wrapped the babe in swaddling clothes" that does not necessarily mean that they were alone.

In an alternative scenario, the katalyma could also refer to an area where large crowds are gathered, as might have been the case with the census. In this arrangement, people and animals were crowded next to each other in a large, open area where temporary shelters could be erected. The area would then be a totally busy place bustling with activity, noise and cooking fires. If Bethlehem had such a very crowded "camping area" of sorts for the census, then a less busy and a less crowded accommodation like a stable would certainly have been preferable for the birth of Jesus.

St. Justin Martyr, in the 2nd century (Dialogue with Trypho 79), cites a tradition where Mary and Joseph took shelter in a cave near the village - which to an extent is still mainly present in the Eastern Church, which continues to depict the "stable" in iconography as a cave. This is also plausible from a historical point of view, as caves were oftentimes used as stables and various peasants were in fact known to use caves as houses in the time of Jesus.
Interestingly, ancient translations of the Bible never directly translate katalyma into inn. For example, the Syriac Peshitta says that Mary put the baby in the manger "because there was no room where they could lodge" while the Latin Vulgate and Codex Bezae (which preserves a Vetus Latina translation of the Bible) translates the word as diversorio, which like katalyma has a broader meaning than "inn" and could also be translated as "lodging house," "stopping place," or even "accomodations" in general. In Latin, more specific terms for an inn is taberna or stabulum; the latter term, also meaning "dwelling," "tavern" (or even "brothel"!) is the one which Jerome uses for pandocheion in Luke 10;34. Interestingly, Arabic translations of the Bible themselves have never rendered katalyma as inn.

John Wycliff's version of the Bible into English even renders diversorio as "chaumbir"; it was only from Tyndale's 1520 translation that the tradition of rendering katalyma/diversorio as "inn" in English Bibles started.

Another popular misconception is that Mary went into labor immediately or shortly after arriving to Bethlehem. Luke merely states that Jesus was born "when they were there" (not upon arrival); exactly when is not specified, yet this implies that the couple was already in Bethlehem for some period of time prior to Mary going into labor. Thus the popular image of Joseph and Mary arriving at Bethlehem at the very same day/night that she gave birth to Jesus probably has no historical basis. When fitted with the above, the picture becomes thus:

Joseph and the now-pregnant Mary arrive into Bethlehem. They either stay in the house of a certain resident of the village (relying on traditional Middle Eastern hospitality) or camp out in a large open area which functioned as a large "camping area" as the influx of "visitors" to Bethlehem continue. Eventually, as the number of guests staying in the house or the campsite increase, Joseph and Mary find it increasingly difficult to have some space for their child, necessitating that the newborn baby be placed inside the stables instead.

This may not fit our traditional understanding and depictions of the Christmas story and may prove to be 'uncomfortable' for a number of people, but hey, Jesus Himself who "set up His dwelling among us" did not meet His contemporaries' expectations and was even a stumbling-block!

I'm still alive

For anyone who's worrying about me, I'm still alive and well, as far as I know. I have merely been very busy lately due to school and other things, and perhaps will still be within the next three months, which explains the lack of any recent posts. I can't promise to post more often, but I will post something one of these days.