Bethlehem: Basilica of the Nativity

Benedict XVI has called the Holy Land the "Fifth Gospel." This is the first article in a new series: "In the Footprints of our Faith, Journeys through the Holy Land."

December 19, 2012
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Benedict XVI, in his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, wrote: “As we call to mind the Word of God who became flesh in the womb of Mary of Nazareth, our heart now turns to the land where the mystery of our salvation was accomplished, and from which the word of God spread to the ends of the earth. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word became flesh in a specific time and place, in a strip of land on the edges of the Roman Empire. The more we appreciate the universality and the uniqueness of Christ’s person, the more we look with gratitude to that land where Jesus was born, where he lived and where he gave his life for us. The stones on which our Redeemer walked are still charged with his memory and continue to ‘cry out’ the Good News. For this reason, the Synod Fathers recalled the felicitous phrase which speaks of the Holy Land as ‘the Fifth Gospel’” (no. 89).

The Saint Josemaria Website has begun a series of articles entitled In the Footprints of our Faith, "Journeys through the Holy Land." Their purpose is to make the places where Christ lived on earth more widely known, and they will also serve as useful guides for those who have an opportunity to travel to the Holy Land. Each article includes numerous photos.

The first article in this series is entitled "Bethlehem, the Basilica of the Nativity." To find it, click here.

The other articles in this series now available in English are "The Temple at Jerusalem," "A Village Named Emmaus," and "Lake Genesaret and Tabgha: the Church of the Primacy of St Peter." To access the Articles and studies section containing them, click here.

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