 Family Theater presents Anne Blythe, June Haver, Jeff Chandler, and Nan Merriman. The Mutual Network in Cooperation with Family Theater presents transcribed, The Nativity. As a special feature for this Christmas Eve, the Catholic Daughters of America have cooperated with Family Theater for this presentation of the Christmas story starring Anne Blythe and Jeff Chandler with Nan Merriman as soloist. June Haver will be your hostess. Christmas, what associations in the very word, and this not only to the devout who love, reverence, and believe in the holy infant, in his divinity and in his redemptive mission, but to the entire world. As if for one day in the year, everyone in the world became more generous, more kindly, if you will, more Christian. A day of giving and receiving presents, of Santa Claus, of the Christmas tree and the family dinner, a time of arms giving, the feast of childhood and the day of forgiving injuries and of reconciliation between enemies. But do we understand we mobs of frantic people in the streets and in the stores, just what it is we are celebrating and why? There are many who know the answer, yet it isn't what we know but what we realize that moves the will. Let us consider the importance to the whole human race of the birth of Christ. The angels rebelled, and I cast them from the Empyrean of Heaven, and shall I show more mercy to thee? Thou hast eaten of the tree of life, whereof I commanded that thou shouldst not eat. Cursed then be the earth in thy work, thorns and thistles shall it bring forth, and in the sweat of thy face shall thou eat thy bread. The nature of which I may be Lord shall rebel, for thou art no longer child of heaven but slave of doom, to toil until thou return to the earth whence thou was taken, for thou hast eaten of the tree of life, and shalt henceforth die the death. God did have mercy, for man had not received the lights of the angels, nor the angelic intellect, endowed with infusion of wondrous knowledge, wherefore God pitied man. Nevertheless, I will put enmities between this serpent and the woman, and between his offspring and her offspring, and she shall crush his head, and thou, evil one, shall lie and wait for her heel that she may crush thee. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Thus, O man, I will not cast thee forth forever, as I have done unto the angels, but will be moved with compassion and will be appeased, and I will accept thy atonement. The fence is infinite, since I its object am infinite, yet thy means of atonement are finite, since thou, poor creature, art finite. Hence, in the fullness of time, thou shalt be vouchsafed, one who shall make to me an infinite sacrifice, the savior of his brethren, a redeemer. For thousands and tens of thousands of years, our humanity, having fallen from its primal excellence, struggled and groaned, toiled and sinned, murdered its brethren and defiled its precarious purity, until at length all had forgot, save one race, a numerically small but fervent race, the dim ancient promise of a redeemer to come. Thus, I say as prophesied, for a small moment have I forgotten thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a moment of indignation have I hid my face a little while from thee, but with everlasting kindness have I had mercy on thee. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and shall bear a son, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, God the Mighty, the Father of the World to come, the Prince of Peace. But even this race, chosen lamp of God in the pagan darkness, had forgotten that the redeemer to come would be for all the children of doom, a new priest to make atonement for all and atonement for each, not a mere national redeemer unto themselves alone. Hence Christ is born in obscurity. He is yet born in obscurity, every year and even to this day. This is not to deprecate a happy observance of Christmas far from it, but to remind ourselves of its origin, which so many seem to have forgotten. For even its symbols and customs are Christian, and should serve as reminders, Christmas, the contraction of two English words, Christ and Mass, Santa Claus, a symbol of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, Hero of Generosity and Patron of the Poor, Christmas Present, a commemoration of the gifts of the Magi. In some countries presents are given on January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany instead of on Christmas, the Christmas Tree, a commemoration of St. Boniface, the great missionary to Northern Europe. Having destroyed a sacred oak which had been an object of idolatrous worship, he gave the people a small fir tree, evergreen and emblematic of heavenly aspiration, to remind them of their new Christian faith. But in all of these things, good in themselves and some holy in origin, let us never obscure the bright star of Christmas, the newborn redeemer himself. Let us consider the circumstances of the birth of Christ. It is the year of Rome, 748, in the reign of Augustus Caesar, and during the consulate of Sensorinus and Gallus, Cyrinus being the governor of Syria, all of Palestine, indeed most of the known world, had fallen under the domination of Rome. Now it came to pass in those days that there went forth a decree that a census of the whole world should be taken. You have heard the edict. Every family shall register. Information required, number of children, description of land, income, and the inventory of all possessions. More taxes, the PPS are patience for us. Ironoman, when must this be carried out? Like all of Caesar's orders at once. More questions? But where? Why here, if you are of Nazareth, the decree is very plain. Every man must register in the city of his orders. But I am of the Caerys, far away. I cannot journey now. Friend, take the advice of an old legionary. Do as your commandant. Caesar has no interest in your private inconveniences, but only in the purposes of government. Disperse, disperse all of you. Back to your houses. Joseph, you are of the house of David. That means you will have to go all the way to Bethlehem. So I fear. But the roads are flooded. The winter rains have begun. And Mary, your young wife, is she not with child? It is for her that I fear most. At best, the discomfort of such a journey. It makes my blood boil. Someday, though, the Lord will send us a Saviour who rid us of these locusts. A Saviour from your royal house, noble Joseph. Calm yourself, friend. God is good. Good, indeed. But how can you become? Is this not an intolerable imposition? I have said God is good. He knows well how to bring good from evil and to turn the varied designs of the wicked to his own ends. There is a reason why God permits this. Let us trust in him. The designs of Augustus Caesar have long since crumbled into nothingness. For centuries, his name has been of no interest, save to students of history. But in the designs of God, Bethlehem, to which Joseph and Mary are forced to travel, is the city chosen as birthplace of the Redeemer. This had been foretold by the Holy Prophet Micaius 700 years before. And thou, Bethlehem of the land of Judah, art by no means leased among the princes of Judah. For from thee shall come forth a leader who shall rule my people Israel. Poor Mary. But it may be that you are not required to make the journey. The decree specifies only heads of families. We have friends here who will care for you and for him when he is born. But I want you with me. And I want to be with you with the thou goest I go. Let us go to Bethlehem, Joseph. Let us go to the city of our father, David. But your condition... The Lord will provide, Joseph. Thus, in the rainy depths of a Palestinian winter, and at the behest of a tyrant's whim, Joseph and his espoused wife Mary set out on the road to Bethlehem, some 75 miles to the south. Road? But there were no roads, as we understand the term. There were rocky and slippery caravan trails over waves that were steep and rough. By night, if the travelers were fortunate, they might find shelter at a caravansary or public inn. Where are we, Joseph? This is in Gannum. We have come six leagues. Go in out of the rain, Mary, and I will find some dry hay for our donkey. But again, this is not an inn, as we know such a thing. Unattended and with no charge, the caravansary is simply a collection of huts built around an enclosure for the beasts and possibly a well. Each traveler supplied his own food and sleeping mats, or it was said there was nothing to be found in such a place saved dust and scorpions. There was danger to the journey, too. Danger from lions, from robbers, from flooded and abandoned cisterns that were left open, and in which many a traveler fell and lost his life. But at last, after five weary days, the holy pair sighted Bethlehem. Bethlehem. Joseph, it is a very little city. Hardly a city anymore. But look at the crowds. We must hurry. Dear Joseph, how tired you must be. You have walked every step of the way from Nazareth. I am more fortunate than you. I did not have to ride on this stubborn donkey. How are you feeling, Mary? I shall be glad to rest. We are very nearly there. Poor Saint Joseph. So much responsibility, yet, like ourselves, so often, so few resources. I tell you, there is no room. Be gone. But my place is filled. Can I build another house? Mary, it cannot be that I have failed you. And yet... Fear not, Joseph. The Lord will provide what we need. Ben! You there! I'm a son of Abraham. I cannot turn you away altogether in your wife with child. Come. The cave of Bethlehem. Here's the place. At least it's sheltered. May the God of our fathers bless you. But, Mary, this is... Oh, here is what the Lord has provided through this. I'm ashamed that you call me that. It is filthy. A shelter for animals, but what can I do? But her hour is almost come. Well, our mothers were sons in the wilderness. I take it with thanks. May the Lord bless you and your children. Peace be with you, then. Peace, kind friend. Oh, Mary. This is God's will, Joseph. Blessed be his will. Wait. Here is clean straw. I will build a fire, and you must have some broth. And it came to pass that when they were there, her days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. And there were in the same country shepherds watching and keeping the night watches over their flocks. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them and the brightness of God shone round about them. And they feared with a great fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy that shall be to all the people. For this day there is born to you in the city of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. You will find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Shepherds, simple men of the fields that have quiet flocks but valiant. Unlettered but devout. Undefiled with the knowledge of men. Wise in the ways of God. These are his first adorers. Later will come the great ones of the earth to offer their gold in frankincense and myrrh. But on the holy night itself the babe is worshiped only by his mother and foster father by angels and humble shepherds. Let us consider the effects of the birth of Christ. The human race redeemed. Our adoption as sons of God through the sacred humanity of Christ who remains with us. Emmanuel on our altars. The power of hell essentially broken. For whereas before Christ the earth dominated by Lucifer had been in rebellion against God it has since Christ been in counter-rebellion against Lucifer. The establishment of the church. The end of Greco-Roman paganism. Respect for womanhood and for childhood. The conversion and civilizing of the barbarians of Europe. And the gospel preached to the ends of the earth the abolition of slavery, the dignity of labor the dignity of the human person and as a direct result of Christ's birth and life the concept of freedom, of equality and of justice for all. Mercy as well as justice introduced into human relations and charity unknown in its full sense before this tremendous event. The earth itself sanctified by Christ's presence so that despite criminals, dictators, tyrants and wars it shall never again be as evil as it was before. Thus the birth of Christ divides human history into two parts and man is reconciled to God. This is June Haver. And with this presentation of the Christmas story family theater urges us to pray. To pray together as families so that peace on earth to men of good will the peace which surpasseth all understanding may come upon us all. Family theater has asked me to extend its wish that the divine infant may bless each and every family and individual among its listeners. The family that prays together stays together. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. The mutual network in cooperation with family theater and the Catholic daughters of America has presented transcribed the nativity starring Anne Blythe and Jeff Chandler with Nan Merriman as soloist. June Haver was your hostess. The script was written by Fred Nibleau Jr. with music composed and conducted by Harry Zimmerman and was directed for family theater by Joseph F. Mansfield. This series of family theater broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you who feel the need for this type program by the mutual network which has responded to this need and by the hundreds of stars of stage, screen and radio who give so unselfishly of their time and talent to appear on our family theater stage to them and to you our humble thanks. This is George Crowell expressing the wish of family theater that the blessing of God may be upon you and your home and inviting you to be with us next week when family theater will present the presentation starring Anne Blythe and Jeff Chandler. Join us won't you? Family theater is broadcast throughout the world and originates in the Hollywood studios of the world's largest network, the Mutual Broadcasting System.