And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
All Commentaries on Luke 2:6 Go To Luke 2
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
And so it was that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. Here the prophecy of Micah 5:2, that Christ should be born in Bethlehem, was fulfilled.
Went up—from Nazareth, where, at the annunciation of the angel, the Blessed Virgin had conceived Christ. Hence Christ was called by the Jews a Galilean and a Nazarene.
To Bethlehem, which was beyond Jerusalem, and two hours journey from it; so that from Nazareth to Bethlehem was a journey of three days or more, and the Blessed Virgin, though near her delivery, accomplished it, as many piously suppose, on foot. S. Bernard, in his sermon on the words "A great sign appeared in heaven" of the Apocalypse, says, "She went up to Bethlehem, her delivery being now at hand, bearing that most precious trust, bearing a light burden, bearing Him by whom she was borne. . . . She alone conceived without defilement, carried without trouble, and brought forth her Son without pain." S. Gregory, Hom in Evang, says, "And well is He born in Bethlehem. For Bethlehem means "The House of Bread." And He it is who says, "I am the Living Bread that came down from Heaven.""
Her days were accomplished. She brought forth, not under the influence of the fatigue of the journey, but naturally. Observe that Christ was born a little after the winter solstice, when the days begin to increase, John the Baptist a little after the summer solstice, when the days begin to decrease. For, as John himself said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." So S, Augustine remarks.
