A relic of Jesus' manger, Christmas gift from pope to Bethlehem

 

The Custodian of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton holds a wooden relic reputed to be part of Jesus's manger, upon arrival at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 30, 2019. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma

 

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) - A fragment of wood reputed to be from the manger where Jesus was laid after his humble birth arrived in Bethlehem as a gift from the Vatican on Saturday, kicking off Christmas season at the town revered as the place of Jesus' birth.

 

The wood piece, just a few centimetres (inches) long, was once kept in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. It was handed over earlier this week to the custodian of the Bethlehem church, who said it brought "great honour to believers and pilgrims in the area".

 

The provenance of ancient relics is often questionable. Still, they are revered by the Christian faithful, among them the many pilgrims who squeeze through a narrow sandstone entrance in the Church of the Nativity to visit the birth grotto that is its centrepiece.

 

According to the Custos of the Holy Land for the Catholic church, Francesco Patton, the relic dates back more than 2,000 years and was sent to the Vatican in the 7th century.

 

Encased in a silver-coloured ornamental table-top stand, it was unveiled to the public on Friday at the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center. Marching bands greeted the relic as it arrived in Bethlehem on Saturday. It was placed in Saint Catherine's Church, at the Church of the Nativity compound in Manger Square.

 

"We are proud that part of the manger is back in Bethlehem because we feel that the soul of God is with us more than before," said Chris Giacaman, 53, a Bethlehem homemaker, as she stood outside the church.

 

Others were a little let down.

 

"It's a small piece, we thought it would be a bigger piece," said Sandy Shahin Hijazeen, 32. "When we heard that the manger is coming back we thought it would be the whole manger, but then we saw it."

 

After night fell, the traditional lighting of the Christmas tree ceremony was underway as hundreds gathered at Manger Square to celebrate the start of holiday season.

 

With a bright red star gleaming at its top, the giant tree was illuminated by hundreds of golden-white bulbs as fireworks lit up the night sky.

 

Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is usually particularly busy ahead of Christmas on Dec. 25, with tourists and pilgrims flocking to the Biblical city. Christians make up around 1% of the Palestinian population in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

 

(Reporting by Mohammad Abu Ganeyeh; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Christina Fincher)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-01

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There are so many pieces of the "true cross" the "crib" and all the other stuff from the middle ages ,you would need a bloomin forest . another fake religous relic 

If you pray to the wood piece it will give you the lottery number!

Pray that the termites don't eat it.

 

 

The Christian equivalent of a Buddha's Footprint relic I suppose.

 

 

I have got a religious relic encased in a small ash tray, reputed to be one of Bob Marley's roaches.

Another item to add to a  collection of bogus symbols of idolatry. The  many claimed fragments of  "The Shroud" sewn together would probably make a  king sized  blanket !

36 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

If you pray to the wood piece it will give you the lottery number!

We visited Wat Kham Chanot, near Udon Thani with some friends. It's famous for its big tree which everyone thinks will bring them good luck if they visit there.

 

One of our friends spent 20 minutes rubbing one of the tree's buttresses, photographed her handy-work and then asked us all whether we could see the 'lucky number' in the photo. None of us could so there was no lottery win for us that month.

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

A fragment of wood reputed to be from the manger where Jesus was laid

you couldnt make it  up could you

 

I rotten little bit of old wood as a Christmas gift, from the guy who has a net worth of over 2 million!!!  Suggest he watch the traditional Christmas film, 'Scrooge'.  

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

One of our friends spent 20 minutes rubbing one of the tree's buttresses

I bet the tree was happy 

1 hour ago, secondfusilier said:

 

And yet .........................

He'd  probably  get a better  fragment of  wood scratching his  head, probably  fall out of his ear

BREAKING:

 

Upon closer inspection, the splinter turned out to be one of the teeth of buddha.

The Bethlehemians then decided to recycle their Santa Claus present and sent it to Thailand.

 

The gullibility of religious people never ceases to amaze and amuse me.  Totally deluded. 

3 hours ago, wgdanson said:

I have got a religious relic encased in a small ash tray, reputed to be one of Bob Marley's roaches.

Me too! Coincidence? You decide.

4 hours ago, wgdanson said:

I have got a religious relic encased in a small ash tray, reputed to be one of Bob Marley's roaches.

Are you serious?

The crazy things that some people believe.

You and your sect are infidels, renegades, splitters, traitors.

 

I have a lock of Bob's hair.

That illustrates the difference between a religion and a sect.

Follow me to Eternal Reggae Land, or burn in hell. Your choice.

 

PS. I take back the accusation of "traitor", as it is too closely associated with brexit.

 

 

4 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

 

Can anyone imagine such a video about any moslim religious part and still be alive after a month or so...

6 hours ago, Antonymous said:

The Christian equivalent of a Buddha's Footprint relic I suppose.

 

 

Unlike Christianity,  Buddha was not fiction.  

10 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"It's a small piece, we thought it would be a bigger piece," said Sandy Shahin Hijazeen, 32. "When we heard that the manger is coming back we thought it would be the whole manger, but then we saw it."

How ungrateful can you get?

15 minutes ago, Mick501 said:

Unlike Christianity,  Buddha was not fiction.  

But it was turned into fiction,and not only in Thailand.

The alledged original teachings did have some merit.

7 minutes ago, torturedsole said:

How ungrateful can you get?

How intoxicated by religion can you get?

7 hours ago, Antonymous said:

The Christian equivalent of a Buddha's Footprint relic I suppose.

 

 

No you can't use that one. You don't have to leave anything behind when you make a footprint do you? ????

 

2 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

No you can't use that one. You don't have to leave anything behind when you make a footprint do you? ????

 

buddha's flip flops ?

11 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"It's a small piece, we thought it would be a bigger piece," said Sandy Shahin Hijazeen, 32. "When we heard that the manger is coming back we thought it would be the whole manger, but then we saw it."

There's dumb,

 

There's dumber,

 

Here we have dumbest...

deleted

11 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"It's a small piece, we thought it would be a bigger piece," said Sandy Shahin Hijazeen, 32. "When we heard that the manger is coming back we thought it would be the whole manger, but then we saw it."

To which the Pope reacted with " What you think wood grows on trees?"

8 hours ago, Chazar said:

you couldnt make it  up could you

Well you could if you dug an old piece of wood out of the ground and did some work on it and then buried again in the right place.

Trouble being to bury it in the right place you might be in the middle of a war zone.

Stop press.  Upon closer examination, it turned out not to be a splinter from a manger, but rather just a mangey splinter.  Funny how they managed to find three wise men there 2,000 years ago, but there aren't any around now.

 

 

Pope still peddling his BS then...… Hoping for a full collection plate this year.