Celebration of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem (4th century)

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View of Bethlehem and Surroundings, Cornelis de Bruyn (1698)

The celebration of the birth of Jesus is a peculiarity of the Jerusalem liturgy of the late 4th century, in which the Christian holy places in and around Bethlehem were included. It is the Feast of Epiphany (January 5th / 6th), which was celebrated for a week; In contrast to other Eastern traditions, the only festival in the Jerusalem liturgy was the birth of Jesus . The Christmas on 24/25. December originated in the Latin west of the Roman Empire and was only adopted in the east in the course of the 5th century.

Our sources for the course of the celebration are the Armenian and Georgian lectionaries as well as the Itinerarium of the pilgrim Egeria . This is incomplete and is therefore supplemented according to the excerpts of Petrus Deacon ( De locis sanctis ).

As with the celebration of Holy Week , the desire to celebrate the historical places of the life of Jesus at the right time at the historical places of the life of Jesus was decisive in the development of the Jerusalem liturgy for the Feast of Epiphany. The distance between Bethlehem and Jerusalem was around 7 km so great that Bethlehem was rarely included in the Jerusalem liturgy. Except for the Epiphany festival week, this is only attested for the 40th day after Easter (the reason for this is the grotto of the Innocent Children shown in Bethlehem , whose memory was celebrated on that day.)

Shepherd's field

Modern Greek Orthodox Church on the Shepherd's Field of Bait Sahur (2014). Above the portal the words from the Christmas story: "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth with the people of his good pleasure." Lk 2,14  LUT

On the afternoon of January 5th, the congregation gathered in the pastoral field near Bethlehem for a prayer (Statio). The Armenian Lectionary gives the following details:

  • Antiphon : "The Lord is my Shepherd ..." ( Psalm 23 )
  • Alleluia: "Shepherd of Israel, hear ..." ( Psalm 80 )
  • Gospel: Annunciation to the shepherds ( Lk 2,8–20  LUT ).

An excerpt by Petrus Diaconus contains what is probably the oldest description of the Greek Orthodox pastoral field near Bait Sahur: “Not far away, however, is the church called At the Shepherds ( Ad Pastores ), where there is now a garden, carefully enclosed with walls . And there is also the extremely magnificent cave ( spelunca lucidissima ) with an altar at the place where an angel appeared to the shepherds as they kept vigil and announced the birth of Christ to them. ”The source of this information is probably the pilgrimage report of Egeria.

Excavations on the site of the Greek Orthodox Church ( Keniset er-Ra'wat ), which is about 1 km east of Bait Sahur, revealed that a sacred grotto is the oldest element of the complex. It was fitted with a mosaic floor as early as the 4th century. In the 5th century this grotto was redesigned into a church room, from which the floor mosaic (amphora with tendrils and grapes, donor inscription) has been preserved. In the 6th century, the upper church was enlarged and an atrium was added to accommodate the pilgrims who visited this place. Even later, the place was expanded to a Byzantine monastery complex with residential quarters.

Bethlehem

Nativity grotto

Access to the Nativity Grotto in Bethlehem (2018)

From the shepherds' field the believers then wandered to Bethlehem and descended into the basilica's nativity grotto . It is very likely that this was followed by a word service with the Christmas story according to Matthew ( Mt 1,18-25  LUT ).

The tradition according to which Jesus was born in a cave is first handed down in the 2nd century by Justin of Nablus : “When the child was born in Bethlehem, Joseph took a cave since he could not find shelter in that village near the village of Quartier. ”Origen apparently knew from his own experience a grotto around which a lively pilgrimage had developed in the 3rd century. Show the cave in Bethlehem in which Jesus was born and in it the manger in which he was placed. In the meantime, this place was an Adonis sanctuary for almost a hundred years before the Constantinian basilica was built over the grotto in the 4th century.

In the 4th century, a central staircase in front of today's iconostasis led down to the nativity grotto. But it was also possible to look into the grotto from above, leaning on a parapet. It is believed that there was a round opening 4 m in diameter. An outpatient clinic made it possible to walk around the sacred site on the upper level.

Today the grotto of the Nativity is accessed via one of two staircases that were built in the time of Emperor Justinian to guide the pilgrimage: pilgrims descended on one staircase, and climbed on the other. The visitor enters a system of natural caves that has been expanded and changed many times over the centuries. The actual birth grotto is a corridor about 3 meters wide. A small apse in the east is marked with a silver star on the floor as the place of birth. "The star lies exactly on the central axis of the basilica, which indicates that the entire building was designed with this point in mind."

The nativity grotto branches off to the southwest from the nativity scene. The age of this system cannot be determined. Already Arkulf were shown in the 7th century a place of birth and one of them different place the crib. On the side of the nativity grotto opposite the star, there is a medieval connecting passage to the area of ​​the grave cave. In this part of the cave system there are sepulchral and arcosol tombs that have been associated with various Christian traditions.

Church of the Nativity

Nativity and Adoration of the Magi (Armenian manuscript from 1575, Zakaria Gnunetsi)

In the basilica of the Church of the Nativity, on the night of January 5th to 6th, a service (vigil) with eleven prophet readings took place, led by the Jerusalem bishop. The similarity to the Easter Vigil is clear, the readings partly matched ( creation story , rescue on the Red Sea, three men in the fiery furnace). This similarly designed vigil is "a conscious interpretation of the birth [of Jesus] in the light of the Easter mystery of salvation." According to the Armenian lesson, these texts were selected:

  1. Creation and fall (Gen 1: 28-3: 20);
  2. Prophecy of the virgin birth ( Isa 7 : 10-17  LUT );
  3. Salvation of Israel by the Red Sea and hymn of praise (Ex 14.24-15.21);
  4. Prophecy of the ruler from Bethlehem ( Mi 5,1–6  LUT );
  5. Listen and become wise ( Prov 1, 2-19  LUT );
  6. Prophecy of the Prince of Peace ( Isa 9,4b – 6  LUT );
  7. Prophecy of the ruler from the tribe of Jesse ( Isa 11 : 1-9  LUT );
  8. Prophecy: the weak will be strengthened, there will be a holy way ( Isa 35,3–8  LUT );
  9. Prophecy: God will feed his people like a shepherd ( Isa 40,10–17  LUT );
  10. Prophecy of the servant of God, the light of the world ( Isa 42 : 1-8a  LUT );
  11. Rescue of the three men from the fiery furnace ( Dan 3,1–30  LUT ); then the hymn: “Lord, you drop the dew, a dew of grace, and you extinguish the flame of the fire; you alone are known as the Savior. ”Then the hymn of the three men in the fiery furnace and the hymn:“ You have mercy on our fathers. You visited us. You saved us. "

Then the epistle was read Tit 2.11–15  LUT and the Gospel Mt 2.1–12  LUT .

Petrus Diaconus knew the following details of the Church of the Nativity: it was said that "the table at which St. Mary dined with the three kings" was shown; the church had 64 columns, and there the children (according to Mt 2,16) killed by Herod are buried.

A remarkable remnant of the first, Constantinian Church of the Nativity is its mosaic floor: In the central nave, protected by wooden hinged covers, are the remains of a mosaic carpet laid around 400 with a side length of 16.40 mx 6.80 m. It has two fields, a square in the west and a rectangle in the east. The preserved parts show almost only geometric motifs as well as tendrils and fruits.

From Bethlehem to Jerusalem

After the celebration of the Eucharist, the congregation moved from Bethlehem to Jerusalem under the leadership of their bishop and sang Psalm 118 with the refrain: “Praise he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Egeria wrote that because of the monks one has to go very slowly Jerusalem is only reached at dawn.

The goal of the procession was the rotunda of the Constantinian Church of the Resurrection ( Anastasis ), which was festively illuminated by many lights. Here it is possible to adopt elements of the Jewish festival of lights Hanukkah , which had recently been celebrated in the Jewish community.

According to a psalm, the believers were blessed by the bishop and returned to their hostels to rest. In the morning around 7 o'clock the Christians gathered again in the Martyrdom of Anastasis and celebrated the morning service followed by the Eucharist. According to the Armenian Lectionary, the following texts were selected:

Festival week

The festival week lasted eight days; the services were spread over various Jerusalem churches, including the Anastasis, the Eleona Church on the Mount of Olives, the Lazarium (tomb of Lazarus in Bethany ) and the Church on Zion.

"In Bethlehem, however, this splendor reigns every day for the entire eight days, and the same festival of joy is celebrated by the priests, by the entire clergy of the place and by the monks who belong to that place."

Christmas in Bethlehem

When Christmas became established in the east, the customs of the festival of Epiphany were on the 24th and 25th. Transferred December. The Georgian Lectionary shows how Christmas was celebrated in Bethlehem in the 6th to 8th centuries:

  • On the afternoon of December 24th, the community went to the shepherds' field. Litany and prayers took up motifs from the gospel, the proclamation to the shepherds.
  • The congregation then moved to Bethlehem. One went down to the nativity grotto for Vespers followed by the Eucharistic celebration.
  • At midnight the vigil began with the eleven readings of the prophets. The song of the three men in the fiery furnace was followed by the reading of the Gospel: Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem, Jesus is born and placed in a manger (Lk 2: 1-7). The morning prayers followed.
  • The Eucharistic celebration on the morning of December 25th had the usual structure ( James liturgy ); the gospel was Mt 2: 1–23.

reception

Detail of the triumphal arch of S. Maria Maggiore: City vignette of Bethlehem

The Jerusalem station liturgy on the Feast of Epiphany had an impact on the western church liturgy of Christmas:

In the Roman basilica of S. Maria Maggiore , Pope Sixtus III. to build a replica of the grotto of the Nativity of Bethlehem. The reliquary of this basilica includes pieces from the wooden planks of the nativity scene as well as part of the panniculum in which Jesus is said to have been wrapped after his birth.

Since the 5th century, a midnight mass ( missa in nocte ) has been celebrated in S. Maria Maggiore, modeled on the Church of the Nativity. The readings of the Bethlehem Vigil with their reference to the Easter Vigil were not adopted, "but the motif of the night - analogous to Easter - becomes a dominant theological metaphor for the entire Christmas festival."

The Armenian Apostolic Church does not know Christmas on December 25, but celebrates the feast of the birth of Christ ( Surb Znund ) on January 6. The Eucharistic liturgy ( Badarak ) focuses on the birth of Christ on this day; a rite following the celebration of the Eucharist commemorates his baptism.

literature

  • Egeria: Itinerarium - travelogue . With excerpts from Petrus Diaconus: De Locis Sanctis - The holy places . Translated by Georg Röwekamp ( Fontes Christiani , 4th episode, volume 20), Herder, Freiburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-451-38143-0 .
  • Othmar Keel, Max Küchler: Places and landscapes of the Bible. A handbook and study guide to the Holy Land. Volume 2: The South. Göttingen 1982. ISBN 3-525-50167-6 .
  • Stephan Wahle: A secret finds its way into its festival. Insights into the early Christmas liturgy. In: World and Environment of the Bible 4/2007, pp. 50–55.
  • Daniel Galadza: Various orthodoxies: feasts of the Incarnation of Christ in Jerusalem in the first Christian millennium . In: Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony et al. (Ed.): Prayer and Worship in Eastern Christianities, 5th to 11th Centuries. Routledge, Oxon / New York 2017. ISBN 978-1-4724-6568-9 . Pp. 181-209.
  • Achim Arbeiter: Holy Spaces. Structural presentations of holiness in late antiquity. In: In: Peter Gemeinhardt, Katharina Heyden (Hrsg.): Communio Sanctorum: Holy, Holy and Holiness in Late Antique Religious Cultures . De Gruyter, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-028391-4 . Pp. 49-84.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Georg Röwekamp: Itinerarium - travel report . S. 78 (Introduction: The Church Year).
  2. ↑ a b Stephan Wahle: A secret finds its feast. Insights into the early Christmas liturgy . S. 52 .
  3. ^ Georg Röwekamp: Itinerarium - travel report . S. 62–63 (Introduction: On the Topography of Jerusalem in the 4th Century).
  4. ↑ Daniel Galadza: Various orthodoxies: feasts of the Incarnation of Christ in Jerusalem in the first Christian millennium . S. 183 .
  5. ↑ Egeria: Itinerarium - travel report. With excerpts from Petrus Diaconus: De Locis Sanctis - The holy places . S. 299 .
  6. ↑ Othmar Keel, Max Küchler: Places and landscapes of the Bible. A handbook and study guide to the Holy Land . tape 2 , p. 644-646 .
  7. ↑ Othmar Keel, Max Küchler: Places and landscapes of the Bible. A handbook and study guide to the Holy Land. tape 2 , p. 621-627 .
  8. ↑ Othmar Keel, Max Küchler: Places and landscapes of the Bible. A handbook and study guide to the Holy Land . tape 2 , p. 634 .
  9. ↑ Achim Arbeiter: Holy Spaces. Structural presentations of holiness in late antiquity . S. 78-79 .
  10. ↑ Othmar Keel, Max Küchler: Places and landscapes of the Bible. A handbook and study guide to the Holy Land . tape 2 , p. 634-635 .
  11. ↑ a b Stephan Wahle: A secret finds its feast. Insights into the early Christmas liturgy . S. 53 .
  12. ↑ Daniel Galadza: Various orthodoxies: feasts of the Incarnation of Christ in Jerusalem in the first Christian millennium . S. 183-184 .
  13. ↑ Egeria: Itinerarium - travel report. With excerpts from Petrus Diaconus: De Locis Sanctis - The holy places . S. 305 .
  14. ↑ Egeria: Itinerarium - travel report. With excerpts from Petrus Diaconus: De Locis Sanctis - The holy places . S. 221 .
  15. ^ Georg Röwekamp: Itinerarium - travel report . S. 79 (Introduction: The Church Year).
  16. ↑ Daniel Galadza: Various orthodoxies: feasts of the Incarnation of Christ in Jerusalem in the first Christian millennium . S. 184 .
  17. ↑ Egeria: Itinerarium - travel report. With excerpts from Petrus Diaconus: De Locis Sanctis - The holy places. S. 223 .
  18. ↑ Daniel Galadza: Various orthodoxies: feasts of the Incarnation of Christ in Jerusalem in the first Christian millennium . S. 186-189 .
  19. ^ Karl-Heinrich Bieritz: The church year: festivals, commemorative and public holidays in the past and present . CH Beck, Munich 2005, p. 192 .
  20. ↑ Daniel Galadza: Various orthodoxies: feasts of the Incarnation of Christ in Jerusalem in the first Christian millennium . S. 185 .