The Catholic Defender: The Nativity 3rd Joyful Mystery of the Rosary

1850 B.C. God calls Abraham to come out of Ur to Canaan where the Lord establishes His Covenant with mankind through the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob promising Abraham, “I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing, all this because you obeyed my command.” Genesis 22:17-18

(Jesus would say of Himself, being the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” John 8:38)

1250 B.C., Deuteronomy 18:15, “A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you among your own kinsmen; to him shall you listen.”

1250 B.C. Numbers 24:17, “I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel, that shall smite the brows of Moab, and the skulls of all the Shuthites, Till Edom is dispossessed, and no fugitive is left in Seir.”

742 B.C., Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you this sign: the Virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.”

742 B.C., Micah (Contemporary of Isaiah) 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; Whose origin is from old, from ancient times.”

538 B.C., Daniel 9:24, “Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and for your holy city: Then transgression will stop and sin will end, guilt will be expiated, Everlasting justice will be introduced, vision and prophecy ratified, and a most holy will be anointed.”

The Preparation:

9th of Av 586 B.C. (Tish’a B’ Av) The destruction of the Temple (2 Kgs 24:18-25). People will often start the priestly rotation on the 1st of Nissan (538) as it began in 1 Chronicles 22:24, but instead, they resumed their rotation beginning with the 9th of Av. This broke cycle of the priestly duties which would resume in 538 when the Hebrews returned from exile. This would set the stage for an important event. Zechariah of the priestly Division of Abijah, was conducting his duties about October 2nd-9th, Yom Kippur (Luke 1:10). The prophecy of John the Baptist through an Angel of the Lord.

63 B.C. Pompey abominations spoken of by the Jewish Historian, Josephus said it was 27 years from this date to when Herod captures Jerusalem.

36 B.C. a Sabbatical year, During the Jewish High Festival, Yom Kippur, Jerusalem fell to Herod whose reign begins on the first of Nissan, 35 B.C. This is important because Herods death takes place soon after an eclipse on Jan 10, 1 B.C. (King Herod would be the ruling authority in Judea-a puppet of Rome, at the time of Christs birth, December 25, 2 B.C.)

September 8, 18 B.C. The Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the “New Eve”, the woman together with her seed would bruise the serpents head while the Devil strikes at their (His) heal. Genesis 3:15/Revelation 12

October 3 B.C. The Day of Atonement-Yom Kippur,the busiest Temple day of the Temple year (Luke 1:10) sometime late March early April. The Angel of the Lord appeared to Zachariah and announced the coming of John the Baptist.

September 3 B.C. The planet Jupiter was in conjunction with Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo-Leo the Lion. This would be the star the wise men would follow leading them to Bethlehem. They followed the star for about 16 months until the Star rested over Bethlehem for six days beginning on Dec 25, 2 B.C.

Isaiah 60:1-6 prophesied, “Rise up in splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; But upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. Raise your eyes anbd look about; they all gather and come to you: Your sons come from afar, and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your hear shall throb and overflow, for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations shall be brought to you. Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; All from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord.”

February 2 B.C. Caesar Augustus received the title "“Pater Patriae" on Feb 2 B.C. calling for his presence in Rome beginning early fall of 3 B.C. Quirinius, the Governor of Syria (Luke 2:2), acted as Governor of Palestine through 2 B.C. This is important because of the decree for the whole world to be enrolled which is what leads Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. This fulfills Micah 5:2.

March-April 2 B.C. “In the sixth month (since the announcement of John the Baptist-October 2 B.C.), the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail Full of Grace, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:26-22)

March-April 2:B.C. Mary hastens to visit Elizabeth who was in her sixth month of pregnancy. (The Visitation, 2nd Joyful Mystery of the Rosary

June (24) 2 B.C. Birth of St. John the Baptist.

The Christmas Story

December 25 2 B.C. The Birth of Jesus “For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, From David’s throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains by judgment and justice, both now and forever.” (Isaiah 9:5-6).

“Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:18-21)

“In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was Governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:1-7)

December 25, 2 B.C. The angels announcement of the good news and the visitation of the Shepherds.

“The total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah, fourteen generations.” Matthew 1:17

December 31, 2 B.C. The Visitation of the Wise men following the Star of Bethlehem and soon after Jesus presentation at the Temple in Jerusalem (after Mary’s purification process of 40 days) the vision of the angels to travel another route from King Herod. Matthew 2:1-12

January 1, 1 B.C. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day according to the Law and was formally given the name Jesus by St. Joseph as the angel Gabriel had directed to Mary at the Annunciation.

January 10, 1 B.C. The Eclipse spoken of by the Jewish Historian, Josephus who then identifies King Herod’s death soon after. This would have been in his 37th year of his reign as shown by Josephus.