XIISOME BETHLEHEM LEGENDS
Numberlesstraditions have sprung up concerning the sacred places in and about Bethlehem and the holy persons who dwelt there. Many of these tales are really beautiful, and even when they will not bear a too critical inspection, there is often a moral overlaid by the extravagant details of the narrative.
The story of the First Roses is told in the words of Sir John Mandeville, who heard it in Bethlehem in the year 1322, exceptthat the spelling of the old knight has necessarily been modernized.
“And between the City and the Church is the Felde Floridus, that is to say, the Flowery Field: forasmuch as a fair Maiden was blamed with wrong and slandered; for which cause she was doomed to the Death; and to be burnt in that place, to the which she was led. And as the Fire began to burn about her, she made her prayers to our Lord, that as truly she was not guilty of that Sin, He would help her and make it known to all men, of His merciful Grace. And when she had thus said, she entered into the Fire, and anon was the Fire quenched and out: and the Brands that were burning, became red Roseries; and the Brands that were not kindled, became white Roseries, full of Roses. And these werethe first Roseries and Roses, both white and red, that ever any Man saw. And thus was this Maiden saved by the Grace of God.”
The chapter of the Koran entitled “Mary” tells how a palm tree near the birthplace of Jesus miraculously let fall its ripe dates in order to satisfy His mother’s hunger. Practically all early Moslem visitors to Palestine speak of seeing this tree and note the fact of its being the only one of the kind growing in the district. This made the miracle even more marvellous, as date-palms have to be artificially cross-fertilized before their fruit will come to maturity.
A twelfth century pilgrim tells us that “every year in the middle of the night, at the hour when Christ was born, all the treesabout the city of Bethlehem bow their branches down to the ground toward the place where Christ was born, and when the sun rises, gradually raise them up again.”
About a mile outside of Bethlehem is still pointed out the “Field of Peas,” but the story of the origin of these small, round stones has undergone a number of variations. This is the way it was told to Henry Maundrell, who visited Palestine about the year 1700.
ST. JEROME AND THE LIONFrom the painting by Rubens
ST. JEROME AND THE LIONFrom the painting by Rubens
ST. JEROME AND THE LION
From the painting by Rubens
From the painting by Rubens
“Near this Monument (Rachel’s Tomb) is a little piece of ground in which are picked up a little sort of small round Stones, exactly resembling Pease: Concerning which they have a tradition here, that they were once truly what they now seem to be; but the Blessed Virgin petrify’d them by aMiracle, in punishment to a surly Rustick, who deny’d her the Charity of a handful of them to relieve her hunger.”
According to a mediæval biography, St. Jerome was one day studying in his cell at Bethlehem, when there entered an enormous lion, limping from an injured paw. The tender-hearted saint bound up the wound, which speedily healed, whereupon the great beast was overwhelmed with gratitude and attached himself permanently to his deliverer.
The lion followed Jerome about everywhere like a dog, and slept at the feet of the holy man while he was pursuing his Scriptural studies. Upon occasion, however, the complacent creature was not above minding the monastery donkey when it was put outto pasture, or even acting as a beast of burden; while at night the fearful roar of the saint’s protector brought terror to the hearts of any evil-doers who might be prowling near the monastery grounds.
The story was accepted without question during the Middle Ages, and many a valiant Crusader was willing to make oath that he had seen the ghosts of the saint and his attendant lion strolling silently among the hilltops of Judea in the midnight shadows.
A whole group of legends tell of the miraculous deliverances of the Church of the Nativity from destruction by the Moslems.
At one time the Sultan gave orders to dismantle the interior, and carry off the precious marble slabs from the floor and walls of the church. But when the workmen preparedto tear away the wall near the stairways which go down to the sacred cave, suddenly there came out of the solid stone a serpent of enormous size, who struck at the piece of marble before which the Moslems were standing. And lo, the rock split under the force of his fiery tongue! Swiftly the reptile glided to the next slab, which he likewise cracked; and so he passed through the church, splitting in all no less than forty pieces of marble, after which he disappeared as mysteriously as he had come. The Sultan and his helpers were stricken with terror at the apparition, and gave up their purpose to deface the church.
The cracks in the marble apparently disappeared as soon as the danger was past; but in substantiation of the truth of thestory, mediæval pilgrims were shown traces of the serpent’s path, which appeared as though the stones had been marked by an intense flame.