for thy prayer has been heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son whom thou shalt name John. He shall be to thee, joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice because of his birth. For he shall be great before the Lord: he shall drink no wine nor strong liquor, but be filled with the holy spirit, even from his mother's womb: and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. Moreover, he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to reconcile fathers to their children, and by the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare the disobedient, to be a people well disposed for the Lord. Then Zachariah said to the angel: How can I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years. But the angel answering, said to him: I am Gabriel, who attend in the presence of God, and was sent to declare to thee, these glad tidings. But know, that thou shalt be dumb and unable to speak till the day in which these things shall be accomplished, because thou hast not believed my words which shall be fulfilled in their season.

Now the people waited for Zachariah and wondered that he delayed so long in the temple. But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; for he was making signs to them, whilst he remained silent. And when the days of his ministry were ended, he returned home. Now after these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and concealed herself five months, saying: Has the Lord done this for me, and looked upon me at this time, to take away my reproach among men?

Now in the sixth month,* the angel Gabriel was sent by God, to Nazareth a city of Galilee, to a virgin, espoused to a man whose name

culous conception by Luke, believing it ought to be retained: but we have placed it in a different type, to indicate, that it cannot lay claim to the same authority with the rest of Luke's History, all the facts of which, the apostles could most surely certify as eye-witnesses. I think Grotius and Le Clerc have weil answered the question; why have the Evangelists said so little of Christ before the beginning of his Ministry? by saying: It was not the object of the sacred writers to relate the childhood and puerile transactions of the Man Christ Jesus, but to give a faithful description of his character, doctrines, mission, death and resurrection, that the world might learn the doctrine of God, as revealed by him, and the foundation of their hope through him. It would profit the world but little, to know how Jesus wrought at the trade of a Carpenter with his father; but it is all important, to know how he taught as the Son of God and Judge of the world; and how he became a ransom for all, and was made wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

All

*The time of Christ's birth has become of late years, a subject of more than usual interest, on account of the controversy about the authority of the two first chapters of Matthew, and the attempt of chronologers to alter the common reckoning of the vulgar era. attempts to ascertain the accuracy of ancient dates or historical facts, should be made in submission to the authority of the ancients, unless internal or contradictory evidence, neutralizes the strength of the testimony. Nor should we feel ourselves authorised to reject

was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary' And the angel entering in to her, said: Hail! favorite of Heaven! the Lord be with thee, most blessed of women' But she was greatly troubled at his saying, and reasoned about the meaning of such a salutation. Then the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God; and behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, whom thou shalt call Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He shall reign over the house of Jacob through all ages, and his kingdom shall have no end: Then said Mary to the angel: How can this be, seeing I have no intercourse with a husband? The angel answered: A holy spirit will come upon thee, and a power of the Most High shall overshadow thee, and therefore, the holy offspring shall be called Son of God. And lo! Thy kinswoman Elizabeth has conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren; for with God the accomplishment of every word is possible. Then Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord! be it to me as thou hast said. And the angel departed.

In those days Mary arose and travelled in haste to a city of Judea, in the hill country; and entering the house of Zachariah, saluted Elizabeth. And as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's salutation, the babe leaped in her womb: and Elizabeth was filled with a holy spirit, and cried with a loud voice: Blessed be thou among women, and blessed shall be thine offspring. And how happens this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me. For lo! as soon as the sound of thy salutation reached my ears, the babe leaped with joy in my womb. And happy is she who believed, that the things promised from the Lord shall be accomplished.

Then Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; for he has regarded the low condition of his handmaid and lo! henceforth all generations shall call me happy. Because the Mighty one has done great things for ine, therefore hallowed

the testimony of ancient historians, without the most cogent and conclusive reasoning to the contrary.

Antonius Pagi informs us, the tradition prevails at Alexandria to the present day, that our Lord was born in the end of the year of Rome 751. This tradition he observes must have been very ancient, from the manner in which it is mentioned by Julius Africanus. We shall see from Clemens of Alexandria, Ireneas and Tertullian that this tradition is worthy of the epithet apostolical.

Clemens, who gives the chronology of the Roman Emperors down to his own time, about an hundred years after the Gospels were written, expressly affirms, Stromat. L. 1, that Jesus was born in the twenty-eighth year of Augustus, and that he lived fifteen years under that Emperor's reign. Now of the different dates assigned by different historians to the commencement of this Emperor's reign, none is more suitable than the year of Rome 724, when after the death of Cleopatra and Antony, Augustus made his triumphant entry into Alexandria. If then, Christ was born in the twenty-eighth year of Augustus, to the year 724 add 27, the number of whole years, and we have 751. Again, if Jesus was fifteen years old when

BOOK OF THE NATIVITY.

LIBRARY UNIVERSITY

CALL

be his name. His mercy is on them that fear him to all ge
He displays strength with his arm and scatters the vain imaginations
of the proud. He casts down potentates from their thrones, and exalts
them that are lowly. He fills the hungry with good things, but sends
the rich away empty. He supports his servant Israel, in remem-
brance of his everlasting kindness, as he promised to our fathers, to
Abraham and his posterity. So Mary abode with her about three
months and then returned home.

?ΝΙΑ.

Now when Elizabeth's full time for delivery was come, she bear a son; and her neighbours and kinsfolk having heard of the great kindness which the Lord had shown her, rejoiced with her. And, on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child and would have called him Zachariah after the name of his father. But his mother said: Nay; he shall be called John. They said to her: there is none of thy kindred called by that name. So they made signs to his father to know how he would have him called: and he asked for a writing table and wrote: His name is John. And they all were surprized. And his mouth was immediately opened and his tongue loosed: and he spakejin praise of God. And fear came on the whole neighbourhood; and the fame of these things spread abroad through all the Hill country of Judea. And all who heard, laid them up in their hearts, saying: What will this child be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.

Then Zachariah his father was filled with the holy spirit, and prophesied, saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people; and has raised up for us a prince of Salvation, in the house of David his servant, as he promised by the mouth of his holy prophets since this age began; a deliverance from our enemies and the hand of all that hate us; to show mercy and remember his holy covenant with our fathers, the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, that he would grant us, being delivered from the hands of our enemies, to worship him in his presence without fear, in holiness and righteousness all our days. And thou child shall be called a prophet of the Most High; for thou shalt go before the Lord

Augustus died, from 767 the year of Rome in which he died take fifteen and reject the months of the current year, there remain 751.

Ireneas, L. 3, C. 25, says, "our Lord was born about the fortyfirst year of the reign of Augustus," and Tertullian, contra Judeos, C. 8, concludes thus: "Hence we see, that Christ was born in the forty-first year of Augustus." In these dates, Ireneas and Tertullian do not contradict, but confirm the decision of Clemens, for they reckon from the time Augustus was proclaimed Triumvir, with Antony and Lepidus, in the year of Rome 711, and third year of the Julian era. Now add 40 whole years to these dates and we have the year of Rome 751, of the Julian era 43, and the forty-first year of Augustus. Again according to this reckoning, Augustus reigned 56 years, from which if we take 15, the age of Jesus at the death of Augustus, according to Clemens, we leave just 41. Hence we see, the testimony of these fathers, is complete, and harmonious: and if modern opinion or calculations are of force to confirm ancient testimony, we might add the names of Joseph Scaliger, Emendat. Temp. 2d ed. and the famous Catholic Annalist, Cardinal Baronius.

to prepare his way: to give knowledge of salvation in the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, in which the morn from on high has shone upon us, to enlighten them who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace. So the child grew and acquired strength of mind, and dwelt in the deserts till the time of his manifestation to Israel.

About that time, an edict was issued by Augustus Cesar, that all the kingdom should be registered;* (which register was first accomplished when Cyrenius was governor of Syria,) and all went to register themselves, each in his own city. Now Joseph went up from Nazareth, a city of Galilee, to the city of David in Judea, called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered, attended by Mary his espoused wife, then pregnant. And it came to pass, that while they remained there, the time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth her first-born Son, and having swathed him, she laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the guest-chamber.

Now there were shepherds in that country, abiding in the fields by night, and watching their flocks: and lo! an angel of the Lord stood among them and a heavenly glory shone around them: and they were greatly afraid. But the angel said to them: Be not afraid, for behold! I announce to you good-tidings which shall be great joy to all the people-because for you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, who is Lord Messiah. And this shall be a sign to you. Ye shall find a babe in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And instantly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill to men.

And when the angels departed into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: Let us go even to Bethlehem, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. So they went in haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen, they published abroad what had been said to them concerning this child; and all who heard, wondered at the things which were told them, by the shepherds. But Mary carefully concealed these things deeply, reflecting on them. And the shepherds. returned, glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard and seen, agreeably to what had been told them.

And when eight days were accomplished, the child being circumcised, was called Jesus; the name given by the angel before he was conceived. Also when the days of their purification were ended according to the law of Moses, they carried him up to Jerusalem, to pre

*This census, or general register of the kingdom of Judea, has occasioned great perplexity to the Chronologers and Commentators of the New Testament, chiefly because Matthew places the birth of Christ in the reign of Herod the Great, and the words of Luke would seem to intimate that the census was not taken till ten years after the death of Herod, when Cyrenius was Governor of Syria. We have avoided all the difficuity, in the translation which is perfectly agreeable to the original, and founded on the supposition, that the people of the whole kingdom of Herod the Great, were registered after his death, at the time of the partition of the kingdom among his sons. In explanation of this opinion, let it be carefully considered that

sent him to the Lord: for thus it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male child, which is the first born, shall be consecrated to the Lord; and a sacrifice shall be offered according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And lo! there was at Jerusalem a just and pious man, named Simeon, who was expecting the consolation of Israel, and the holy spirit was on him: And it had been revealed to him by the holy spirit, that he should not die till he should see the Lord's Messiah. This man came in the spirit into the temple, as the parents brought in the child Jesus, that they might do for him according to the custom of the law; and he took him in his arms and blessed God, saying, Now, Sovereign Lord, thou causest thy servant to die in peace according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast provided in the sight of all the people, a luminary to enlighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

Now whilst his father and mother were wondering at the things which were spoken of him, Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and a sign for contradiction, that the reasonings of many hearts may be revealed: yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own heart. Moreover, there was a prophetess, Anna, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who, though advanced in age, being a widow of about eighty-four years, had lived only seven years with a husband from her virginity; she departed not from the temple, but with prayer and fasting worshipped night and day. This woman also, coming in, at the same instant, continued praising the Lord, and spoke concerning the child to all at Jerusalem, who were expecting deliverance. And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew and acquired strength, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

the will of Herod the Great was left to the arbitration or disposal of Augustus, and Josephus tells us that Augustus delayed to decide, till he could know how he might apportionate the kingdom of Herod to the support of his sons. Here then I believe the register was made.

Josephus is here our best guide: and by comparing what he has said in the first book of the Wars, with the fourteenth and seventeenth books of his Antiquities, we shall find, he places the decree of the Senate constituting Herod a king, in the 184th Olympiad, when Calvinus and Pollio were consuls. This was in the end of the year of Rome 713. Herod entered into possession of the kingdom of Judea, after the taking of Jerusalem and death of Antigonus, in the 185th Olympiad, Agrippa and Gallus being consuls. This was in the year 716.Now Josephus says, Herod died, having completed 37 years from the decree of the Senate, and 34 from the death of Antigonus and the taking of Jerusalem. These dates fix the end of the 750 for the time of Herod's death. Moreover Josephus says, year there was an eclipse of the moon at the time of Herod's last sickness. This eclipse Astronomers place on the thirteenth of March, in the year of Rome 750. Again Josephus says, the battle of Actium was fought in the seventh year of Herod's reign. This was in the year of Rome 723. Substract 7 and add 34, the result will be 750.