Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1904-01-28

III
most certainly take sides with tha,
good book, the Bible, and now I will
ask my readers 10 60 back with me
70 the Star of Bethlehem. | would
say 10 oil who believe In the Bible
70 refer 10 So. Matthew, 2nd chapter,
lst 10 10th verse. and TO those who
do not, I would refer 20 hsrd Psalm
Of David. Sc. Matthew says. "And
no human power on earth can sue.
cessfulIy dispute the great man ol
God"
When the Magi or wise men came
10 Jerusalem they inquired whore ID
he that Is born King Of the Jews,
We have seen his star In tho East p
Il beg 70 say that ! win not employ
the exact words OF Sc. Matthew, yo,,
can find them as stated above).
The designing old King Hsrod =
evil misgivings and sad forebodings
was much, and tho people with him;
for he knew that the sceptre which
he held In his trembling hand would
soon fall therefrom, never to rise again
In Israel. So far he had heard from
the chief priests and scribes that ac-
cording TO a prophecy Of old that
Christ was 10 be born In Bethlehem,
and thou Bethlehem In the land Of
Judah art not the least among the
Princes In the land Of Judah, for out
of thee shall come q governor that
shall rule my people In Israel"
Herod then commanded them TO
go and search diligently for the
Child, that he, too, might 60 and
worship him; so when the wise men
retraced their steps and went out OF
the city they saw the star again.
Now the sacred writings are silent
as to what time the Magi entered the
city, or. how long they remained, but
quite reasonable TO suppose. that
they came from far in the East, only
judging from their own words, I'VE
have seen the star In the East, +"
which must have been far TO east.
ward Of Jerusalem. Therefore, I'D.
mitting such to be the case, they
must have needed rest after their
long journey; and furthermore, 10 Is
not TO be supposed IA alert man like
Herod would 20 hurriedly over the
prophecy as 10 where the King of
the Jews should be born. II was
matter OF too much importance TO
him to be the dupe Of mistakes.
No doubt then that much care and
deliberation was brought 10 bear In
the case. IL may have taken only O
few hours, or il may have taken days,
as there was noprinting at that time;
only Hebrew manuscript was In use
In Jerusalem at least. How II only
few hours or few days. what be-
came OF the comet? How did Il in
the meantime conceal it's brilliancy i?
! would suppose that q comet of such
magnitude as TO be seen ut MONDAY
would be o hard thing TO hide ai
night, unless someone had Il thor
oughly drilled, so as to appear and
disappear at command.
II such q game was worked, there
is nothing rs yet mentioned as 10
who did il, but perhaps those mod
e-n science men know and wont tell.
Then again, want TO know why il
was that star or comet OF such won.
derful briliancy could not have been
seen by the unwise as we'll as the
wise. and why did that grea: com.
ct come out Of its diurnal course
across the heavens and 60 fifteen
miles In o southeast direction "a
where stood Bethlehem, aud there
stand still, marking the exact spot or
location OF the manger, in which was
lying Christ, the son OF the living
God ?" Would Mr.. Forbes or Mr..
Hearst kindly answer all these qnes.
tions? Just q few more which
would like TO have answered. In.
asmuch as the birth OF the Saviour
was the most important to us OF al
the great events that have occurred
since the creation OF the world, why
was IL not perfectly in accordance
with the great works OF God that the
greatest OF miracles should also oc
cur.
So far as the star was concerned
the wise men only saw it; it was
only intended they should see IL
When King Saul was much troubles
in heart as to the results OF the grea
battle OF Gelboah. in which he shet
his own life's blood, he procured th.
service OF the Witch of Endor to cal
up from the tomb the spirit OF Sam
uel the First, in which Saul saw M
one, but heard the voice OF Samuel
the witch saw him and described hin
toSaui. (Read King Saul. Old Testa
ment. One saw; the other heard)
So with the Star of Bethlehem, al
10 was a part Of the great and mys
terious programme ordained by oul
Heavenly Father; the Magi saw it
Il