ebrate Christmas on the 25th of December as the Church of Rome, a day in which the Church of Jerusalem used to celebrate the feast of Jacob and David. The Georgian Lectionary of Jerusalem ( VI-VIII century) witnesses this feast of Christmas on the 25th of December. According to this liturgical document, at the sixth hour (noon) of the 24th December, the Christian community of Jerusalem, overcoming the winter cold and the weariness of the voyage used to walk to the Sheepfold or Shepherds' field where they used to read the Gospel of Luke (2,8-20) and then hurry across the plane up to the town of Bethlehem and into the Nativity Grotto where Vespers were celebrated and the readings about the Birth of Jesus (Mt 1,18-25). At midnight a vigil with Psalms, biblical readings and canticles culminated with the reading of the Gospel of Luke (2,1-7). Towards the morning the Divine Liturgy or the Eucharist were celebrated and sunrise used to be greeted with the proclamation of the Gospel of the Revelation (Epiphany) of Matthew (2,1-23). The same Gregorian Lectionary places the feast of Epiphany on the 6th of January..
St. Sofronius, patriarch of Jerusalem (634-638) speaks of the sites in relation to the gospel accounts as celebrated in the liturgy: the Basilica which comprises the Nativity Grotto, the "perfumed" slab (where today there is the silver star), the Manger and the tombs of the Innocents. To these later on where added the cell and tomb of St. Jerome.
The Franciscans inherited this long tradition of the primitive Church and notwithstanding the difficulties maintained alive the "Christmas" spirit of these sites. Today in Bethlehem the Franciscans take care of the Catholic Community and perform all their liturgies in St. Catherine's Church but they still share the space of the Nativity grotto with the Orthodox Clergy. The Franciscans hold a daily procession, at noon, from St. Catherine's to the Grotto of the Nativity and to the subterranean chapels.
The Christmas experience today starts on Christmas Eve with the solemn entry of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem welcomed on the main square by the Franciscan Friars and the beating of the drums of the Scouts of Palestine. The celebration of the Liturgy is carried out in St. Catherine's Church while in the evening the central Square of the town is full of pilgrims in a lullaby of Christmas Carols. Midnight Christmas Mass is held in a packed Church. A procession with the Infant Jesus to the Holy Grotto follows with the reading of the Gospel of Luke and the singing of Christmas Carols. On January 6th, feast of Epiphany in Bethlehem there is another solemn celebration this time led by the Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land.