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On a warm, bright Christmas morning in early 16th-century Spain, Thomas of Villanova completed the gospel reading and advanced to the pulpit. The Augustinian friar was preaching on the nativity story found in Luke:

"The simple hasten eagerly to see the newborn king lying in a manger … they adore and rejoice and mingle their artless praises with the heavenly hymns. … How the Virgin rejoiced at the devotion of these simple folk! How delighted and gladdened she was by their praises! For by his own announcement God had begun to make known to human beings the mystery of divine condescension which had occurred in her womb for their salvation."

Throughout the Christian era, rich traditions have arisen surrounding the nativity of Jesus, and these traditions have given a prominent role to Mary. As the mother of the Christ, the "Word made flesh," Mary plays a special role in God's plan of salvation. Although Christians differ on this role, she has been honored throughout history for being the handmaiden of the Incarnation over 2,000 years ago.

Matthew and Luke give few details about Jesus' actual birth. According to the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke, Mary was a young Jewish woman, possibly still a teenager, betrothed to a man named Joseph. Although the Gospels say nothing about his age, the church has traditionally viewed Joseph as much older than Mary, in part because of his apparent death before Jesus' ministry.

Whatever their ages (Luther boldly asserted Mary was 15; the early church thought 12), we do know that the couple traveled to Bethlehem, Joseph's ancestral hometown, for a census. Upon their arrival, it became clear that Mary would soon give birth, and yet they could not find a place to stay. The "inn" of most English translations need not be a hotel—it could refer to a relative's home, for instance.

It is likely that Jesus was born not in a wooden barn but in a cave or a shelter built into a hillside. The hills around Bethlehem were dotted with small caves for feeding and boarding livestock. Joseph probably had to lead the donkey bearing Mary down a rocky, jagged path into the mouth of one of these caves as she was experiencing labor contractions. The gospel writers do not mention if anyone else was present, and although Martin Luther, for example, imagined a scandalous lack of help (p. 25), self-delivery was not uncommon in 1st-century Palestine.

The exact site of Jesus' birth is unknown, but by the 3rd century, tradition had established a probable cavern. Constantine's mother, Helena, erected the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem over the small space. Nearby is the Milk Grotto, a small cave with chalky white rocks, where it is believed Mary nursed the baby Jesus as they fled from Herod's soldiers. The story goes that she spilled a few drops of milk that whitened the rocks. To this day, Christian and Muslim women visit the Milk Grotto and ask Mary to help them conceive and nurse.

The birth of the Messiah was heralded by two unlikely groups. Shepherds were often feared as a dangerous migrant group on the margins of society. The Magi were probably eastern astrologers who had followed their pagan calculations to the birthplace of the Jewish Messiah. Mary welcomed these visitors and the praise they brought to her newborn baby; Luke tells us she "treasured" their words and "pondered them in her heart."

Early Christians were quick to identify the nativity scene as a reversal of Isaiah 1:3. The prophet announced that "the ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand." Origen and Augustine, among others, affirmed that in the guise of the shepherds and the wise men, humanity had literally returned to its master's crib.

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