MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE TO YOU!

 GOOD MORNING FROM ROME AND 

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE !

Today is Christmas Eve, Sunday DECEMBER 24, 2023, 9:30 AM, and I posted a foto of the RELIQUARY I took recently at LA BASILICA DI SANTA MAGGIORE in ROME!

THE ORIGINAL MANGER IS INSIDE THIS RELIQUARY.  Some say that Helena, Mother of Emperor Constantine I, brought it from the Holy Land to Ancient Rome in the 4th Century.  Another story says it was brought here piecemeal by ordinary people.  Or sent by St. Sophronius, Patriarch in Jerusalem, to Pope Theodore I in the 7th century!  Bottom line is it’s not in Bethlehem, the original Manger IS IN ROME!  No wonder this Church was first named St. Mary of the Manger!



I WISH A HEARTFELT MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE TO ALL OF YOU WHO ENJOY MY PILGRIMAGE POSTS.  

Sandra Panici, the Roman Pilgrim in Person in Rome


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