Little angels all around Danced and Carols flung; Making verselets sweet and true, Still of love they sung; Calling saints and sinners too, With love's tender tongue.
Lope de Vega makes Our Lady caution the angels as they come through the palm trees--
Holy angels, and blest, Through these palms as ye sweep, Hold their branches at rest, For my Babe is asleep.
And ye, Bethlehem palm-trees, As stormy winds rush In tempest and fury, Your angry noise hush;--
Move gently, move gently, Restrain your wild sweep; Hold your branches at rest, My Babe is asleep.
Mrs. Jameson[44] says that "one legend relates that Joseph went to seek a midwife, and met a woman coming down from the mountains, with whom he returned to the stable. But, when they entered, it was filled with light greater than the sun at noonday; and, as the light decreased, and they were able to open their eyes, they beheld Mary sitting there with her Infant at her bosom. And the Hebrew woman, being amazed, said: 'Can this be true?' and Mary answered, 'It is true; as there is no child like unto my son, so there is no woman like unto his mother.'"
[Footnote 44: _Legends of the Madonna_, p. 205.]
Le Bon,[45] speaking of the cradle of Jesus, says: "According to tradition, the stone cradle contained one of wood. That of stone still exists at Bethlehem, not in its primitive state, but decorated with white marble, and enriched with magnificent draperies. The wooden one was, in the seventh century, at the time of the Mahometan Invasion in the East, transported to Rome, then become the new Jerusalem, the Bethlehem of a new people. It there reposes in the superb basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where it is guarded by the eternal city with more affection than the Ark of the Covenant, and with more respect than the cottage of Romulus. Centuries have not been able to enfeeble the veneration and the love with which this trophy of the love of God for his creatures has been surrounded. This cradle, this sacred monument, reposes in a shrine of crystal, mounted on a stand of silver enamelled with gold and precious stones, the splendid offering of Philip IV., King of Spain. This shrine is preserved in a brazen coffer, and is only exposed for veneration--on the grand altar, once a year, on Christmas Day."