And this shall be a sign unto you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
All Commentaries on Luke 2:12 Go To Luke 2
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
On the eastern side of the town of Bethlehem, say St. Justin, St. Jerome there was a cave cut in the side of a rock, in which was a manger used by the people of those environs; so that these shepherds easily understood the angel, who told them they should find him laid in a manger. Sts. Jerome, Gregory of Nazianzus, Cyril, say that they found the child between an ox and an ass, according to the version of the Septuagint. Habacuc iii. 2.: You shall find him laid between two beasts. In the place where this crib was, St. Helen built a magnificent church in honour of the blessed Virgin Mary. Ven. Bede says that she built another in honour of the tree shepherds; whence St. Bernard concludes, that there were only three shepherds that came to adore the divine infant in the manger. (Tirinus)
It might be necessary to give them notice of this humble appearance of the Messias, to encourage them to go and pay him their homage. (Bar radius)
