The Shepherds' Field Chapel ( ar, كنيسة حقل الرعاة; he, כנסיית שדה הרועים) or the Sanctuary of the Gloria in excelsis Deo, dedicated to

Our Lady of Fatima Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...

and St. Theresa of Lisieux, is a Roman Catholic religious building in the area of

Beit Sahour Beit Sahour or Beit Sahur ( ar, بيت ساحور pronounced ; Palestine grid 170/123) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian town east of Bethlehem, in the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine. The city is under the administration of the ...

, southeast of

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. The chapel marks the place where, according to Catholic tradition, angels first announced the birth of Christ.

Biblical relevance

This is one of two locations held to be not only the site of the

Annunciation to the shepherds The annunciation to the shepherds is an episode in the Nativity of Jesus described in the Bible in Luke 2, in which angels tell a group of shepherds about the birth of Jesus. It is a common subject of Christian art and of Christmas carols. Bibli ...

, but also the place mentioned in , where

Ruth Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Arka ...

gleaned grain for herself and

Naomi Naomi or Naomie may refer to: People and biblical figures * Naomi (given name), a female given name and a list of people with the name * Naomi (biblical figure), Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth * Naomi (Romanian singer) (bo ...

. The site of the Annunciation to the shepherds favoured by tradition is not this, but the Orthodox one, on the other side of the valley (see Beit Sahour article).

History

Roman period

In 1951–52, prior to the construction of the present chapel, Franciscan archaeologist

Virgilio Canio Corbo Virgilio Canio Corbo (1918, in Avigliano – December 6, 1991 in Capernaum) was an Italian Franciscan Friar and professor of archaeology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. Life Virgilio Canio Corbo was born in Avigliano, Italy on Ju ...

excavated the site and found caves with evidence of human habitation during the

Herodian Herodian or Herodianus ( el, Ἡρωδιανός) of Syria, sometimes referred to as "Herodian of Antioch" (c. 170 – c. 240), was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled ''History of the Empire from the Death o ...

and later Roman period, as well as ancient

oil press Expeller pressing (also called oil pressing) is a mechanical method for extracting oil from raw materials. The raw materials are squeezed under high pressure in a single step. When used for the extraction of food oils, typical raw materials are ...

es. Corbo used his findings as arguments in favour of the hypothesis that a small community inhabited the site at the time of Jesus' birth. Murphy-O'Connor concludes that the site was occupied during the first century by nomadic shepherds.

Byzantine period

Over the Roman-period remnants, a Byzantine monastery was built at the end of the 4th century, which went through a second, rebuilding and expansion phase in the 6th. The monastery was destroyed by the Persians in

614 __NOTOC__ Year 614 ( DCXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 614 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

and was not reoccupied afterwards. The remains were destroyed in the 8th century by Muslims who chiseled off the Christian signs from several stones.

Modern church

The Shepherds' Field Chapel was built by the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

s in 1953. It is not far from the

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...

Der El Rawat Chapel, commemorating the same event.

Architecture

The chapel was designed by architect

Antonio Barluzzi Antonio Barluzzi (26 September 1884 – 14 December 1960) was an Italian architect who became known as the "Architect of the Holy Land" by creating, among many others, the pilgrimage churches at the Garden of Gethsemane, on Mount Tabor (considered ...

. Under the chapel is a large cave. It has five apses that mimic the structure of a nomadic tent in gray. The words of the angel to the shepherds are inscribed gold. An image depicting the birth of Jesus can be seen in the place.

Gallery

%22Gloria_in_Excelsis_Deo%22_Chapel.JPG, Barluzzi's "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" chapel Roman Catholic church of Shepherds Field Chapel, Bethlehem, Palestine4.jpg, Interior Christmas Church (Bethlehem)2.jpg, Fountain in the courtyard Roman Catholic church of Shepherds Field Chapel, Bethlehem, Palestine6.jpg, Excavations Shepherd's Field (2876595213).jpg, Access alley

References

External links

Youtube presentation by tour guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd's Field Chapel, Church Roman Catholic churches in Bethlehem Roman Catholic churches completed in 1953 Roman Catholic chapels in the State of Palestine 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings