In the first episode of the "special pilgrimage" with Brother Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land, we met the characters who witnessed the birth of Jesus. We were guided by biblical texts, historical data and the origin of secular tradition. In this second episode we will follow the stories of St. Matthew, and the Magi bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Child Jesus. Pope Francis returns to the Holy Land a fragment of the relic of the cradle of the Child Jesus kept in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome. In the biblical accounts the presence of the characters bringing gifts to the baby Jesus. Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land "Then of course there is another very important gospel, and that is the one according to Matthew, which adds other characters and other presences, we could say. What are the characters that Matthew adds? They are the Magi, basically. They arrive in Bethlehem, and the evangelist Matthew this time no longer speaks of a cave, but of a house: they are in a house, and he says that when the Magi arrive they feel a great joy to see the child and his mother. They prostrate themselves, then bend down to touch the ground with their foreheads, adore Jesus and offer three gifts that have a very high symbolic value: gold, frankincense and myrrh." Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land "Tradition added some details: in the Middle Ages the Magi became the Wise Men. The content of a Psalm that speaks of the Kings of Sheba and of the islands that will come bearing gifts was taken up: and so the medieval tradition took these wise men, the priests of the cult of Zoroaster and transformed them into Kings. The depiction also changed: while before they had a Phrygian hat, which is that hat made a bit with the tip forward, afterwards they have a crown. Gradually, other symbolic elements are added: they become one with a white complexion, one with Asian features and one with African features, to say that all the peoples of the earth have come to worship the child Jesus." Also in the Old Testament we find prophecies announcing the birth of Jesus. Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land "Of course, there are other elements that come into play in the nativity scene: for example, the donkey and the ox, which are taken from a prophecy of Isaiah, which will then be reinterpreted in the Patristic era as two characters representing the people of Israel and the pagan peoples, to say once again that all of humanity is called to welcome the child Jesus." Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land "In fact, the nativity scene was created by putting together these various elements and therefore depicts not only the Christmas scene of December 25, but also the Epiphany - which we celebrate on January 6 - and therefore depicts the entire mystery of the Incarnation and makes it visible in a simple form, comprehensible even to a child: in this way, we could say, it transforms the Gospel into something visible, capable of arousing participation, emotion, joy for all of us." Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land "The Nativity scene always needs an extra character, and that extra character is the one who is making it, contemplating it...even making the Nativity scene materially should be in some way a meditation on the individual characters, an identification with each character, and then truly a rejoicing and adoration of the child Jesus, welcoming him as Savior." Last year, at Christmas, the city of Bethlehem welcomed with great joy a relic of the cradle of the Child Jesus preserved in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land "Just last year Pope Francis wanted to make us a gift of a fragment of one of these 4 rods, a fairly large fragment, in a beautiful reliquary, and now we keep it in Bethlehem. When the Christmas celebrations take place, it is exposed to veneration: already at the end of November, on the first Sunday of Advent, we brought the relic in procession and exposed it to veneration." Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land "There are many small signs that recall the reality of the Incarnation: when we speak of Jesus, we do not follow fantasies, fairytales, but we follow a story that leads us to contemplate the concreteness of the mystery of the Incarnation, of the invisible and infinite God who becomes visible and manifests himself in something very finite: a small child who needs everything."