Facts about the childhood and hidden life of Jesus Christ

• Massacre of the Innocents

73.5 «What a calamity! You will not find many of those Sarah said You want to meet and visit. Many were killed, many ran away, many… who knows!… missing, and it has never been known whether they died in the desert or were killed in jail as a punishment for their rebellion. But was it a rebellion? And who would have remained inactive allowing so many innocents to be slaughtered? No, it is unfair that Levi and Elias should still be alive when so many innocents are dead!»

«Who are those two, and what did they do?»

«Well… at least You will have heard of the slaughter. The slaughter by Herod… Over a thousand babies slaughtered in town, almost another thousand in the country. And they were all, or almost all, males, because in their fury, in the darkness, in the scuffle, the killers tore away from their cradles, from their mother’s beds, from the houses they assailed, also some baby girls, and they pierced them like sucking baby gazelles shot down by archers. Well: why all that? Because a group of shepherds, who had obviously drank a huge quantity of cider to stand the intense night cold, in a frenzy of excitement, stated they had seen angels, heard songs, received instructions… and they said to us of Bethlehem: “Come. Adore. The Messiah is born”. Just imagine: the Messiah in a cave! In all sincerity, I must admit that we were all drunk, even I, then an adolescent, also my wife, then only a few years old… because we all believed them, and in a poor Galilean woman we saw the Virgin Mother mentioned by the Prophets. But She was with Her husband, a rough Galilean! If She was the wife, how could She be the “Virgin”? To cut a long story short: we believed. Gifts, worshipping… houses opened to give them hospitality!…

Oh! They played their roles very well! Poor Anne! She lost her property and her life, and also the children of her oldest daughter, the only one left because she was married to a merchant in Jerusalem, lost all their property because their house was burned down and the whole holding was laid waste by Herod’s order. Now it is an uncultivated field where herds feed.»

«And was it entirely the shepherds’ fault?»

«No, it was the fault also of three sorcerers who came from Satan’s kingdom. Perhaps they were accomplices of the three… And we foolishly felt proud of so much honour! And the poor arch-synagogue! We killed him because he swore that the prophecies confirmed the truth of the shepherds’ and sorcerer’ words…»

«It was therefore the fault of the shepherds and of the sorcerers?»

«No, Galilean. It was also our fault. The fault of our credulity.

The Messiah had been expected for such a long time! Centuries of expectation. And there had been many disappointments recently because of false Messiahs. One of them was a Galilean, like You, another one was named Theudas. Liars! They… Messiahs! They were nothing but greedy adventurers hunting for a stroke of luck! We should have learned the lesson. Instead…»

73.6 «Well, then, why do you curse all the shepherds and sorcerers?

If you consider yourselves fools, too, then you ought to be cursed as well. But the precept of love forbids cursing. One curse attracts another curse. Are you sure you are right? Could it not be true that the shepherds and the sorcerers spoke the truth, revealed to them by God? Why do you carry on believing they were liars?»

«Because the years of the prophecy were not complete. We thought about it afterwards… after our eyes had been opened by the blood that reddened basins and rivulets.»

«And could the Most High not have advanced the coming of the Saviour, out of an excess of love for His people? On what did the sorcerers found their statement? You told Me they came from the East…»

«On their calculations concerning a new star.»

«Is it not written: “A star from Jacob takes the leadership, a sceptre arises from Israel”? Is Jacob not the great Patriarch and did he not stop in the land of Bethlehem as dear to him as his eyes, because his beloved Rachel died there? And did the mouth of a Prophet not say: “A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots”? Jesse, David’s father, was born here. Is the shoot on the stock, cut at its roots by tyrannical usurpation, is it not the “Virgin” Who will give birth to Her Son, conceived not by deed of man, otherwise She would not be a virgin, but by divine will, whereby He will be the “Emmanuel” because: Son of God, He will be God and bring God among the people of God, as His name proclaims? And will He not be announced, as the prophecy says, to the people walking in darkness, that is to the pagans, “by a great light”? And the star the Magi saw, could it not be the star of Jacob, the great light of the two prophecies of Balaam and Isaiah? And the very massacre ordered by Herod, does it not come within the prophecies? “A voice is heard in Ramah… It is Rachel weeping for her children”. It was written that tears should ooze from Rachel’s bones in her sepulchre at Ephrathah when, through the Saviour, the reward would come to the holy people. Tears which were to turn into celestial laughter, just as the rainbow is formed by the last drops of the storm, but it says: “Here, the sky is clear again”»

«You are a learned man. Are You a rabbi?»

«Yes, I am.»

«And I perceived it. There is light and truth in Your words. But… Oh! too many wounds are still bleeding in this land of Bethlehem because of the true or false Messiah… I would never advise Him to come here. The land would reject Him as it rejects a stepson who caused the death of the true children. In any case… if it was Him… He died with the other slaughtered children.»

• Massacre of the Innocents
• Nativity of Jesus Christ
• Shepherds of the Nativity
• Three Kings (Epiphany)

«(...) Could it not be true that the shepherds and the sorcerers spoke the truth, revealed to them by God? Why do you carry on believing they were liars?»

«Because the years of the prophecy were not complete. We thought about it afterwards… after our eyes had been opened by the blood that reddened basins and rivulets.»

«And could the Most High not have advanced the coming of the Saviour, out of an excess of love for His people? On what did the sorcerers found their statement? You told Me they came from the East…»

«On their calculations concerning a new star.»

«Is it not written: “A star from Jacob takes the leadership, a sceptre arises from Israel”? Is Jacob not the great Patriarch and did he not stop in the land of Bethlehem as dear to him as his eyes, because his beloved Rachel died there? And did the mouth of a Prophet not say: “A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots”? Jesse, David’s father, was born here. Is the shoot on the stock, cut at its roots by tyrannical usurpation, is it not the “Virgin” Who will give birth to Her Son, conceived not by deed of man, otherwise She would not be a virgin, but by divine will, whereby He will be the “Emmanuel” because: Son of God, He will be God and bring God among the people of God, as His name proclaims? And will He not be announced, as the prophecy says, to the people walking in darkness, that is to the pagans, “by a great light”? And the star the Magi saw, could it not be the star of Jacob, the great light of the two prophecies of Balaam and Isaiah? And the very massacre ordered by Herod, does it not come within the prophecies? “A voice is heard in Ramah… It is Rachel weeping for her children”. It was written that tears should ooze from Rachel’s bones in her sepulchre at Ephrathah when, through the Saviour, the reward would come to the holy people. Tears which were to turn into celestial laughter, just as the rainbow is formed by the last drops of the storm, but it says: “Here, the sky is clear again”»

«You are a learned man. Are You a rabbi?»

«Yes, I am.»

«And I perceived it. There is light and truth in Your words. But… Oh! too many wounds are still bleeding in this land of Bethlehem because of the true or false Messiah… I would never advise Him to come here. The land would reject Him as it rejects a stepson who caused the death of the true children. In any case… if it was Him… He died with the other slaughtered children.»

• Jesus Christ preaches in Bethlehem
• Preaching of Jesus Christ
• Star of Bethlehem (Epiphany)

And did the mouth of a Prophet not say: “A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots”? Jesse, David’s father, was born here. Is the shoot on the stock, cut at its roots by tyrannical usurpation, is it not the “Virgin” Who will give birth to Her Son, conceived not by deed of man, otherwise She would not be a virgin, but by divine will, whereby He will be the “Emmanuel” because: Son of God, He will be God and bring God among the people of God, as His name proclaims?

• Incarnation
• Jesus Christ - God-Man
• Jesus Christ - Son of God
• The Virgin Mary
• Virginity of the Virgin Mary

Simon asks: «Where are we going now, Master?»

«Come with Me, I know a place.»

«But if You have never been here after You left, how can You know?» asks Judas, still angry.

«I know. It is not a beautiful place. But I have been there before. It is not in Bethlehem… it is a little outside… Let us turn this way.»

Jesus is in front, followed by Simon, then Judas and John is last…

(...) «Judas, come here. I want to speak to you.» Judas goes near Him. «Take this purse. You will do the shopping for tomorrow.»

«And for the time being, where are we going to lodge?»

Jesus smiles, but does not reply.

73.10 It is dark. Everything is white in the moonlight. The nightingales sing amongst the olives-trees. A brook is a silvery resounding ribbon. One can smell the scent of hay of the mown fields: a warm, I would say, carnal smell. Bellows and bleats can be heard. And stars, stars and stars… stars strewn on the heavenly curtain, a canopy of living gems, spread over the hills of Bethlehem.

«But here!… There is nothing but ruins here! Where are You taking us? The town is over there.»

«I know. Come. Follow the rivulet, behind Me. A few more steps and then… then I will offer you the abode of the King of Israel.»

Judas shrugs his shoulders and becomes quiet.

A few more steps, then a heap of ruined houses: the remains of houses… A cave between the clefts of a big wall.

Jesus asks: «Have You any tinder? Light it.»

Simon lights a small lamp which he has taken out of his knapsack and he gives it to Jesus.

«Come in» says the Master lifting the lamp. «Come in. This is the nativity room of the King of Israel.»

«You must be joking, Master! This is a filthy den. Ah! I am not going to stay here! I loathe it: it is damp, cold, stinking, full of scorpions and perhaps also snakes…»

«And yet… My friends, here the night of the twenty-fifth of Chislev, Feast of the Lights, Jesus Christ, was born of the Virgin, the Emmanuel, the Word of God made flesh, for the love of man: I Who am speaking to you . Also then, as now, the world was deaf to the voices of Heaven speaking to the hearts of men… and it rejected the Mother… and here… No, Judas, do not avert your eyes in disgust from those fluttering noctules, from those green lizards, from those cobwebs, do not lift with disgust your beautiful embroidered mantle, lest it may trail on the ground covered with animal excrement. Those noctules are the daughters’ daughters of the ones that were the first toys to be tossed before the eyes of the Child, for Whom the angels sang the “Gloria” heard by the shepherds, intoxicated only by an ecstatic joy, a true joy. The emerald green of those lizards was the first colour to strike My eyes, the first, after My Mother’s white face and dress. Those cobwebs were the canopy of My royal cradle. This ground… oh! you may tread on it without disdain… It is littered with excrement… but it is sanctified by Her foot, the foot of the Holy, the Most Holy, Pure, Immaculate Mother of God, Who gave birth, because She was to give birth, because God, not man, told Her and covered Her with His shadow. She, the Faultless One, trod on it. You can tread on it, too. And may the purity diffused by Her, by the will of God, rise from the soles of your feet to your heart…»

73.11

Simon is on his knees. John goes straight to the manger and cries, leaning his head against it. Judas is terrified… he is overcome by emotion, and no longer worried about his beautiful mantle, he kneels on the ground, takes the edge of Jesus’ tunic and kisses it and beats his breast saying: «Oh! My good Master, have mercy on the blindness of Your servant! My pride vanishes… I see You as You are. Not the king I was thinking of. But the Eternal Prince, the Father of future centuries, the King of peace. Have mercy, my Lord and my God, have mercy on me!»

«Yes, you have all My mercy! Now we will sleep where the Infant and the Virgin slept, over there where John has taken the place of the adoring Mother, here where Simon looks like My putative father. Or, if you prefer so, I will speak to you of that night…»

«Oh! yes, Master, tell us of Your birth.»

«That it may be a bright pearl shining in our hearts. And we may tell the whole world.»

«And we may venerate Your Virgin Mother, not only as Your Mother, but also as… as the Virgin!»

Judas was the first to speak, then Simon and then John, whose face smiles and cries, near the manger.

«Come and sit on the hay. Listen,…» and Jesus tells them of the night of His birth. «…as the Mother was near Her time to have Her Child, a decree was issued by the imperial delegate Publius Sulpicius Quirinus on instructions from Caesar Augustus, when Sentius Saturninus was governor of Palestine. The decree stated that a census had to be taken of all the people of the empire. Those who were not slaves were to go to their places of origin and register in the official rolls of the empire. Joseph, the spouse of the Mother, was of the line of David and the Mother was also of David’s line. In compliance with the decree, they left Nazareth and came to Bethlehem, the cradle of the royal family. The weather was severe…».

Jesus continues the story and it all ends in this way.

• John of Zebedee (apostle)
• Judas de Kérioth (apostle)
• Nativity of Jesus Christ
• Rosary
• Simon the Zealot (apostle)

73.10 It is dark. Everything is white in the moonlight. The nightingales sing amongst the olives-trees. A brook is a silvery resounding ribbon. One can smell the scent of hay of the mown fields: a warm, I would say, carnal smell. Bellows and bleats can be heard. And stars, stars and stars… stars strewn on the heavenly curtain, a canopy of living gems, spread over the hills of Bethlehem.

«But here!… There is nothing but ruins here! Where are You taking us? The town is over there.»

«I know. Come. Follow the rivulet, behind Me. A few more steps and then… then I will offer you the abode of the King of Israel.»

Judas shrugs his shoulders and becomes quiet.

A few more steps, then a heap of ruined houses: the remains of houses… A cave between the clefts of a big wall.

Jesus asks: «Have You any tinder? Light it.»

Simon lights a small lamp which he has taken out of his knapsack and he gives it to Jesus.

«Come in» says the Master lifting the lamp. «Come in. This is the nativity room of the King of Israel.»

«You must be joking, Master! This is a filthy den. Ah! I am not going to stay here! I loathe it: it is damp, cold, stinking, full of scorpions and perhaps also snakes…»

«And yet… My friends, here the night of the twenty-fifth of Chislev, Feast of the Lights, Jesus Christ, was born of the Virgin, the Emmanuel, the Word of God made flesh, for the love of man: I Who am speaking to you . Also then, as now, the world was deaf to the voices of Heaven speaking to the hearts of men… and it rejected the Mother… and here… No, Judas, do not avert your eyes in disgust from those fluttering noctules, from those green lizards, from those cobwebs, do not lift with disgust your beautiful embroidered mantle, lest it may trail on the ground covered with animal excrement. Those noctules are the daughters’ daughters of the ones that were the first toys to be tossed before the eyes of the Child, for Whom the angels sang the “Gloria” heard by the shepherds, intoxicated only by an ecstatic joy, a true joy. The emerald green of those lizards was the first colour to strike My eyes, the first, after My Mother’s white face and dress. Those cobwebs were the canopy of My royal cradle. This ground… oh! you may tread on it without disdain… It is littered with excrement… but it is sanctified by Her foot, the foot of the Holy, the Most Holy, Pure, Immaculate Mother of God, Who gave birth, because She was to give birth, because God, not man, told Her and covered Her with His shadow. She, the Faultless One, trod on it. You can tread on it, too. And may the purity diffused by Her, by the will of God, rise from the soles of your feet to your heart…»

73.11 Simon is on his knees. John goes straight to the manger and cries, leaning his head against it. Judas is terrified… he is overcome by emotion, and no longer worried about his beautiful mantle, he kneels on the ground, takes the edge of Jesus’ tunic and kisses it and beats his breast saying: «Oh! My good Master, have mercy on the blindness of Your servant! My pride vanishes… I see You as You are. Not the king I was thinking of. But the Eternal Prince, the Father of future centuries, the King of peace. Have mercy, my Lord and my God, have mercy on me!»

«Yes, you have all My mercy! Now we will sleep where the Infant and the Virgin slept, over there where John has taken the place of the adoring Mother, here where Simon looks like My putative father. Or, if you prefer so, I will speak to you of that night…»

«Oh! yes, Master, tell us of Your birth.»

«That it may be a bright pearl shining in our hearts. And we may tell the whole world.»

«And we may venerate Your Virgin Mother, not only as Your Mother, but also as… as the Virgin!»

Judas was the first to speak, then Simon and then John, whose face smiles and cries, near the manger.

«Come and sit on the hay. Listen,…» and Jesus tells them of the night of His birth. «…as the Mother was near Her time to have Her Child, a decree was issued by the imperial delegate Publius Sulpicius Quirinus on instructions from Caesar Augustus, when Sentius Saturninus was governor of Palestine. The decree stated that a census had to be taken of all the people of the empire. Those who were not slaves were to go to their places of origin and register in the official rolls of the empire. Joseph, the spouse of the Mother, was of the line of David and the Mother was also of David’s line. In compliance with the decree, they left Nazareth and came to Bethlehem, the cradle of the royal family. The weather was severe…».

Jesus continues the story and it all ends in this way.

• Places - Bethlehem crib

«And yet… My friends, here the night of the twenty-fifth of Chislev, Feast of the Lights, Jesus Christ, was born of the Virgin, the Emmanuel, the Word of God made flesh, for the love of man: I Who am speaking to you . Also then, as now, the world was deaf to the voices of Heaven speaking to the hearts of men… and it rejected the Mother… and here… No, Judas, do not avert your eyes in disgust from those fluttering noctules, from those green lizards, from those cobwebs, do not lift with disgust your beautiful embroidered mantle, lest it may trail on the ground covered with animal excrement. Those noctules are the daughters’ daughters of the ones that were the first toys to be tossed before the eyes of the Child, for Whom the angels sang the “Gloria” heard by the shepherds, intoxicated only by an ecstatic joy, a true joy. The emerald green of those lizards was the first colour to strike My eyes, the first, after My Mother’s white face and dress. Those cobwebs were the canopy of My royal cradle. This ground… oh! you may tread on it without disdain… It is littered with excrement… but it is sanctified by Her foot, the foot of the Holy, the Most Holy, Pure, Immaculate Mother of God, Who gave birth, because She was to give birth, because God, not man, told Her and covered Her with His shadow. She, the Faultless One, trod on it. You can tread on it, too. And may the purity diffused by Her, by the will of God, rise from the soles of your feet to your heart…»

• Immaculate Conception
• Incarnation
• Jesus Christ - Word of God
• The Virgin Mary
• The Virgin Mary - Mother of God
• Virginity of the Virgin Mary

• Anne of Bethlehem
• Jesus Christ
• Judas de Kérioth (apostle)
• Locations - Anne of Bethlehem Hospital House
• Locations - Bethlehem of Judea
• Massacre of the Innocents
• Summary of EMV

74.2 «Let us go.»

«Where, Master?»

«To Bethlehem.»

«Again? I do not think the situation is a favourable one for us…»

«It does not matter. Let us go. I want to show you where the Magi came and where I was.»

• Locations - Anne of Bethlehem Hospital House
• Three Kings (Epiphany)

«We have come from far, man. We are Judaeans of the Asiatic communities. This gentleman, born in Bethlehem and persecuted, is now looking for some dear friends. We are with Him. We have come from Jerusalem, where we worshipped the Most High in His House. Can You give us some information?»

«My lord… your servant… will do everything for you. Give me your orders.»

«We want some information on many… and particularly on Anne, the woman whose house was opposite your hotel.»

«Oh! poor woman! You will find her only in Abraham’s bosom. And her children with her.»

«Is she dead? How?»

«Don’t you know of Herod’s massacre? The whole world talked about it and even Caesar called him “a pig who feeds on blood”. Oh! What have I said? Don’t report me! Are you really a Judaean?»

«Here is the sign of my tribe. So? Speak up.»

«Anne was killed by Herod’s soldiers, with all her children, except one daughter.»

«But why? She was so good?»

«Did you know her?»

«Yes, very well.» Judas lies shamelessly.

«She was killed because she gave hospitality to those who said they were the father and mother of the Messiah…

74.4

Come here, into this room… Walls have ears and it is dangerous to talk about certain things.»

They go into a low dark room. They sit down on a low couch.

«Now… I am very clever. I am not a hotel keeper for nothing. I was born here, the son of sons of hotel keepers. I have malice in my blood. And I did not take them. I could have found a hole for them. But… poor, unknown Galileans as they were… Oh! no! Hezekiah will not fall into the trap! And I felt… I felt they were different… that woman… Her eyes… something… no, no… She must have had a demon inside Her and She spoke to him. And She brought him… not to me… but to town. Anne was more innocent than a little lamb, and she gave them hospitality a few days later, when She already had the Child. They said He was the Messiah… Oh! the money I made during those days! The census was nothing like it! Many people came here who had nothing to do with the census. They came even from the seaside, even from Egypt to see… and it lasted for months! What a profit I made! The last to come were three kings, three powerful people, three sorcerers… I would not know! What a train! An endless one! They took all the stables and they paid in gold for so much hay that could have lasted a month, and they went away the following day, leaving it all here. And what gifts they gave to the hostlers and the women! And to me! Oh! I can only speak well of the Messiah, whether He was a true or false one. He made me earn bags of money. And I had no disasters. None of My family died, because I had just got married. So… but the others!»

74.5

«We would like to see the places of the slaughter.»

«The places? But every house was a place of slaughter. There were people killed for miles around Bethlehem. Come with me.»

They go up a staircase into a large terraced roof. From it, one can see a lot of countryside and the whole of Bethlehem spread on the hills like an open fan.

«Can you see the ruined spots? Over there also the houses were burnt down because the fathers defended their children with their weapons. Can you see over there that kind of well covered with ivy? Those are the remains of the synagogue. It was burnt down with the ruler of the synagogue who stated that it was the Messiah. It was burnt down by the survivors, who were wild because of the slaughter of their children. We had trouble for that after… And over there, and there, there… see those sepulchres? The victims are buried there… They look like little sheep spread all over the green, as far as the eye can see. All the innocents and their fathers and mothers… See that vat? Its water was red after the killers washed weapons and hands in it. And the brook at the back here, did you see it? It was pink because of the blood which had flowed into it from the sewers. And there, over there, in front of us. That is what is left of Anne’s house.»

Jesus is crying.

«Did You know her well?»

Judas replies: «She was like a sister for His Mother. Is that right, my friend?»

Jesus replies simply: «Yes.»

«I understand» remarks the hotel keeper who becomes pensive.

74.6

Jesus bends forward to speak to Judas in a low voice.

«My friend would like to go on those ruins» says Judas.

«Let Him go! They belong to everybody!»

They go downstairs, say goodbye and go out. The host is disappointed. Perhaps he was hoping to earn something.

They cross the square. And they climb the little staircase still left.

«From here» says Jesus, «My Mother made Me wave My hand to the Three Wise Men and we left from here to go to Egypt.»

People look at the four men on the ruins. One asks: «Are they relatives of Anne?»

«They are friends.»

A woman shouts: «Don’t do any harm to the poor dead woman, don’t you do it, as her other friends did when she was alive, and then they ran away.»

Jesus is standing on the landing against the little wall enclosing it. He is therefore about two metres higher up than the square, with nothing behind Him. The outline of His figure is clearly cut against the sun shining behind Him: it forms a halo around His golden hair and makes His snow white linen tunic look even whiter, as it is the only garment on Him, since His mantle has slipped off His shoulders and is now lying at His feet like a multicoloured pedestal. Further back, there is the green unkempt background of what was Anne’s kitchen garden and field, now laid waste and strewn with debris.

• Anne of Bethlehem
• Massacre of the Innocents
• Three Kings (Epiphany)