A "speck" of the reliquary
of the Holy Cradle of the baby Jesus, currently kept in Rome's
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (St Mary Major), has been
donated by Pope Francis for various celebrations in Jerusalem.
The "particle" has been donated to the Custodian of the Holy
land who will get it on Friday, religious sources said.
After the Jerusalem celebration the fragment will be taken to
Bethlehem, to the Church of St Catherine, alongside the Basilica
of the Nativity, for the Christmas period.
Under the high altar of the Rome basilica is the Crypt of the
Nativity or Bethlehem Crypt, with a crystal reliquary designed
by Giuseppe Valadier said to contain wood from the Holy Crib of
the nativity of Jesus Christ.
The cradle wood is believed to have been brought back to Rome
by visitors to the Holy land.
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