Bishop's Christmas message
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FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUlSEnS CAPE COD & THE ISLANDS·
VOL. 28, NO. 50
FALL RIVER, MASS., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21; 1984
$8 Per Year
After 2,000 year wait
MESSIAH BORN IN BETHLEHEM
From News Services JERUSALEM - After ini tial denials and expressions of disbelief, government of ficials here have confirmed that unusual occurrences at tended the birtQ of an infant in Bethlehem Dec. 25. Although adverse weath er, poor roads and lack of ad e qua t e transportation have thus far prevented reo porters from reaching the small Judean town, previ ously reliable sources have indicated that a boy was born in the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 25 to a young wom an from Nazareth named Mary. The informants said Mary became pregnant with the child while remaining a vir gin, explaining to Joseph, a Nazareth carpenter then her fiance, that an angel had told her she would become the mother of the son of God.
At first disturbed by this information, Joseph was later also visited by an angel, who confirmed Mary's statements. He then decided to marry Mary and protect her throughogt her pregnancy. As the time for her de livery approached, however, it became necessary for the couple to travel to Bethle hem, some 65 miles south of Nazareth, to comply with registration procedures for the worldwide census re cently ordered by Caesar Augustus. There, as it became evi dent that Mary was about to give birth, they took shelter .in a cave normally used to stable animals, be
ing unable to find other ac commodation in Bethlehem, whose population had been swelled by those registering for the census. The sources said the in fant's birth was accompan ied by the sudden appear ance of a very bright star, hitherto unknown to local astronomers. At the same time, nearby shepherds, keeping night watch over their sheep, were terrified by what they described as the sudden materialization of an angel. Reassuring the men, the apparition indicated that he or she was the bearer of "good tidings of great joy . . . for this day is born to you a saviour who is Christ the Lord." After telling the dazed shepherds that they would find the infant "wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger," the angel was joined by many others. All joined in singing "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will," then disappeared. Following the angelic in structions, the shepherds found the child's birthplace and knelt before the manger in which he was resting. Word of their experience quickly spread through the area and the Bethlehem Turn to Page Eleven
At right is offered an art ist's visualization of the Bethlehem nativity scene. Subsequent issues of this newspaper will keep readers abreast of new develop ments in this unprecedented story.
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