by Marcel-Jacques Dubois
Professor Marcel-Jacques Dubois is Professor Emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he has been a lecturer in philosophy since 1968. He entered the Dominican order in 1938, and since 1994 is a Magister in sacra Theologia (Dominican order).
Professor Dubois is a former Consultant of the Pontifical Council for Religious Relations with Judaism, and was awarded the Legion of Honor (1985), Yakir Jerusalem (1989), and the Israel Prize (1996).
At the beginning of the 5th century, two ladies of Roman nobility, who were disciples and friends of Saint Jerome, followed their master to the Holy Land. They wrote to their friend Marcella, in order to convince her to join them: "We will go to Nazareth and, according to the interpretation of her name, we will see the 'flower of the Galilee'."
Modern philologists would certainly not agree with this etymology, in all likelihood suggested by Saint Jerome. However, Saint Matthew, who was an inspired writer rather than a philologist, connects the name Nazareth with the word netzer, meaning 'offspring'. The Vulgate, followed by the liturgical tradition, translates this word as flos, in the passage in Isaiah referring to the Messiah: "There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch (netzer, FLOS: 'offspring') shall grow out of his roots."
In order to distinguish between Jesus and the numerous other sons of Israel with the same name, the name of his hometown was added to his own. Thus the sign made by Pilate and put on the Cross bore the words: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." The locals called the followers of Jesus Notzrim (Heb., 'Nazareens') meaning 'disciple of Jesus'. It was only in Antioch, outside of Palestine, that the disciples were called 'Christians' (Acts 11:26). This term has prevailed in the Greco-Roman world, while the name Notzrim continues to be used in Modern Hebrew today.
We have been surprised by the fact that Nazareth is not mentioned in the Bible, the works of Flavius Josephus the historian, the Talmud, or in any ancient Jewish literature. But in this respect, the modesty of the village of Joseph and Mary harmonizes perfectly with the humility and lack of fanfare we find in the mystery of the Incarnation. Nevertheless, recent archeological excavations have enabled us to determine both the location and the size of the ancient village. It was situated on a relatively elevated portion of land, which may explain the origin of the Hebrew name Natzrat, or 'guardian'.
In John 1:46, Nathanael asks about the origins of Jesus in a clearly surprised tone: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" And yet, he who considers the entire history of salvation, that which took place in Nazareth was one of the decisive events in the remarkable 'journey' to world redemption. The pilgrims who come, inspired by their devotion, to the Holy Land, seek to rediscover in the holy places the link between the event and the message through remembering by faith. The calling of Abraham, the giving of the Law to Moses and the call given to the Prophets are, for the Christian, parallel to the Annunciation in Nazareth, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, his death and resurrection in Jerusalem, the birth of the Church in the Upper Room, and Pentecost morning. These are the historical exploits of the New Testament. Let us also note that Mary was the privileged witness of these events, and that it is her presence that the pilgrims come to seek in Nazareth.
The holy places of Nazareth are in close proximity to each other. As such, one is able to commemorate with ease the circumstances surrounding the original events. For the Christian faith, Nazareth is the place of the Incarnation and the childhood of Jesus. In this village, bordering the hills of the Galilee, Jesus lived a hidden life. The houses were built along a small, steep slope in between two ravines (the traces of which have been more or less preserved in the two streets along the sides of the modern Basilica). There is not much left of biblical Nazareth; however, the age-old devotion attached to these places makes it possible to identify them.
The primary interest for the Nazareth pilgrim is the House of Mary, the place of the memory of the angel's visit to her who would be the future mother of Jesus. The recollection of Jewish customs enables one to understand the traditional society of Israel as found in the relatively brief accounts of the Gospels. The Jewish fiancée lived with her parents until her wedding. The cave in the lower level of the Basilica is simply the back room, cut out from the limestone rock of the hill. It precedes the house said to be the home of Mary, venerated since ancient times. In front of the cave is the rounded base of a Byzantine apse. Along the length of the north wall, pillars of Roman construction are still visible. Their decoration, the magnificent capitals, are preserved in the museum of the Franciscan Fathers.
Beneath the slab of rock that links the Basilica to the convent, there is a fascinating stone museum, in which most distinguished pieces can be seen (capitals, stones with graffiti). On one of these rocks, part of a sentence can be made out, reminding us of the first words in the angel's greeting: K...e, Maria ("Rejoice, Mary"). While there are no documents that speak of a church prior to the 5th century, the most ancient traditional relics - including some from the 2nd century - confirm the claims that this was indeed the site of Mary's home.
From here, we continue to the 'village', where one can admire the specimens of semi-troglodytic houses from the time of the Gospels.
It would be a laborious and complicated task to trace the history of the Franciscan community that resided in these places, and that of the constructions intended to consecrate in stone the very traces of the Annunciation. A wide array of conflicts, evictions, robberies and plunderings caused this settlement to be very unstable and uncomfortable, and left it isolated and threatened for a long time.
It was not until 1730 that the Franciscans were able to build their first church. This building was enlarged in 1877, demolished in 1955, and replaced by a new sanctuary in order to accommodate the increasing flow of pilgrims to the area. The first draft for the new building was drawn up by M. Barluzzi, architect for the Custody of the Holy Land. However, due to its grandiosity, his plan was the subject of much reservation and criticism. The architect Giovanni Muzzo was then appointed the task of developing a new plan. Whatever one may think of his style, it is an admirable presentation of the ancient remains - and a celebration of
Mary - from the bronze gates up to the dome.
In spite of the silence that marks Jesus' obscure years, of which we read but little in the Gospels, pilgrims have not gone in search of the home which housed this mysterious period, as if to 'keep the secret'. Jesus must have been about two years old when the holy family moved to Nazareth. Saint Luke comments with remarkable sobriety: "And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him." (Luke 2:40) Slightly later, after Joseph and Mary's pilgrimage to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve years old, he returns with his parents to Nazareth, and Luke tells us that: "Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, in favor with God and man." (Luke 2:52) This is all the Gospels reveal about his hidden life in Nazareth.
Two ancient texts, one by Eusebius of Caesarea (340) reworked by Saint Jerome (419), and the other by Arnulf, the Gallic Bishop who came on a pilgrimage around 670, nevertheless make mention of two churches in Nazareth: "[one built] on the site where the angel appeared to announce the good news to Mary and the other where the Lord was fed." The first undoubtedly describes the Byzantine edifice that preceded the original Basilica of the Annunciation. The second could be below the convent of the Sisters of Nazareth. In fact, archeological excavations, undertaken since 1884, have uncovered very interesting finds that confirm Arnulf's text.
It is easy to picture Mary as a young Jewish mother, poor and thrifty, hard-working, dedicated to observing the Law, and depriving herself so that her son could study and practice as a carpenter's apprentice (the trade of his father, Joseph). It is by no means coincidental that the merging of hidden and public life, according to the Synoptic Gospels, happens in Nazareth and, more precisely, in the synagogue.
In the beginning of chapter four of the Gospel of Luke, we find two opposing scenes in which Jesus visits the synagogue of Nazareth. In the first, he is celebrated as a prodigy of a Jew, admired by all. But in the second, he is chased out by his fellow countrymen, who understand neither his identity nor his message. Scorned in his own country, unable to perform a single miracle "because of their unbelief"(Mark 6:1-6), he chooses instead the city of Capernaum, on the lakeshore, as the center for his ministry.
It is not easy to determine the location of the ancient synagogue of Nazareth; the excavations in the village have not revealed any type of building that could possibly correspond to the synagogue. Today, it is associated with the ancient Greek Catholic church, situated in the commercial center of the modern town, close to the Basilica of the Annunciation. This is an old stone building, with a vault resembling the handle of a basket that served as a stable for livestock.
In the spirit of adventurous curiosity, devoted pilgrims have tried to identify sites whose only 'authenticity' is that of local tradition. At the intersection on the road to Tiberius, a modern construction has taken the place of the ancient 'Fountain of the Virgin', well-known from the ancient engravings of Nazareth. It is here that the apocryphal text of Saint James situates the angel Gabriel meeting Mary. However, the Orthodox Church of Saint Gabriel, erected in the 18th century, was also built to house the same source of water.
At the time of his visit to Nazareth during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in January 1964, Pope Paul VI admirably summarized the mysterious significance of this 'high place' of the Christian faith:
"We are only passing through... we will not leave, however, without having hastily welcomed, as if surreptitiously, some brief lesson from Nazareth...
"First a lesson of silence. O silence of Nazareth, teach us to meditate, to turn inward...
"A lesson of family life. May Nazareth teach us what is a family, its communion of love, its austerity and simple beauty, its sacred and inviolable nature...
"A lesson of work. Nazareth, O home of the 'son of the carpenter', it is here that we would like to understand and to celebrate the severe and redemptive law of human labor, to reestablish our awareness of the nobility of work."
Silence. The sanctity of the family. The nobleness of human labor. These are the sacred lessons from life in Nazareth: gentle, demanding and irreplaceable.
The Christian who has the privilege of living in this country, and who daily witnesses Jewish life, the hearing of the Torah and the carrying out of her commandments, discovers another aspect of this mystery: hearing and observance. Mary was never more Jewish than at the moment of her consent to the angel's message. Christians remember this fact three times daily in the prayer of Angelus: "I am the servant of God, may it be done according to your word." The fiat of Mary is the mysterious 'stitch' between the Old and New Covenants, in which both the continuity and the novelty of God's plan in the history of salvation are expressed together.