On the Way to Bethlehem: Mary between Jerome and John of Jerusalem

Anyone bold enough to venture outdoors on a mid-August day in Jerusalem around ad 400 would have encountered a striking contrast. Amidst sweltering heat jubilant voices of women and men, on march to Bethlehem, could be heard singing hymns honoring Mary’s maternity. Along the same road silent groups of men clad in mourning clothes and displaying ashes on their heads would be seen approaching the Temple Mount. The first cohort was celebrating an era which, they believed, began with a birth in Bethlehem; the second commemorated the end of an era which, for them, was symbolized by topographical vacancy in the heart of Jerusalem.