The celebration of the Christmas Liturgy dates back to the primitive church. And this cannot be otherwise as the devotion at this site goes back to the first Christians. The first liturgical documents (the Diary of the Spanish pilgrim Egeria and the Armenian Lectionary of Jerusalem - both IV-Vth century) give us a description of the Liturgy of Epiphany..

慶祝聖誕節的禮儀可以追溯到初期教會，初期基督徒在此的奉獻祈禱。最早的禮儀文件（西班牙朝聖者Egeria的日記及耶路撒冷亞美尼亞教會經文選集，都是第四、第五世紀的作品）給了我們有關主顯節禮儀的描述…

Epiphany opened the liturgical year with a celebration on the 5th of January towards 4 pm at the site of the Shepherds, not too far from Bethlehem. The celebration started with singing of the psalms which exalted the figure of the shepherd (Psalms 22; 79) culminating with the proclamation of the Gospel of Luke (2,8-20). After the gospel there followed twelve readings from the Old Testament which were followed by the celebration of the Eucharist during which the canticle from Daniel (3,52a-90) and the Gospel of Matthew (2,1-12) were read. This gospel recounted the arrival of the Wise Men from the East. This liturgy was celebrated by the Christian community of Jerusalem and that of Bethlehem gathered together after which the bishop of Jerusalem and his faithful returned to the Holy City while the clergy and faithful of Bethlehem went up to the Nativity Church singing hymns and praise to continue the vigil till sunrise. The celebrations went on for a whole week during which period the Christian communities were united in the Joy of the Lord and for which even the edifices used to be adorned with drapes and torches to illuminate the darkness of night to hail the Lord of Light, the Sun of the East who revealed himself to all the world as the joyous herald of the Morning.

主顯節是禮儀年的開始，一月五日下午約四點在牧羊人曠野，離白冷不遠處慶祝。慶祝由吟唱聖詠開始，特別是描述牧羊人的聖詠22篇、79篇。在宣讀路加福音2：8-20中達到高潮。福音之後是十二篇舊約，接著在達尼爾的讚美詩（3：52a-90）中慶祝感恩禮Eucharist並宣讀《瑪竇福音二1-12》，這段福音記載東方賢士的到來。這個禮儀由耶路撒冷及白冷的基督徒團體共同慶祝，然後耶路撒冷主教及其信眾返回聖城而白冷的聖職人員及信眾則上到聖誕教堂以詠唱祈禱為晚禱直到日出。慶祝會持續一整個星期，在此期間基督徒團體在主的喜悅中緊密合一。主要建築甚至會用布幔妝點，夜間用火炬照耀以向光明之主致敬，祂如同東方的太陽喜悅宣報清晨的來臨般向全世界顯示祂自己。

In those days the feast of Epiphany used to commemorate both the birth of Jesus and his revelation (Epiphany) as the Saviour of mankind. But during the fifth century, at the time of bishop Jiovenal (421-452) the church of Jerusalem started to celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December as the Church of Rome, a day in which the Church of Jerusalem used to celebrate the feast of Jacob and David. The Georgian Lectionary of Jerusalem ( VI-VIII century) witnesses this feast of Christmas on the 25th of December. According to this liturgical document, at the sixth hour (noon) of the 24th December, the Christian community of Jerusalem, overcoming the winter cold and the weariness of the voyage used to walk to the Sheepfold or Shepherds' field where they used to read the Gospel of Luke (2,8-20) and then hurry across the plane up to the town of Bethlehem and into the Nativity Grotto where Vespers were celebrated and the readings about the Birth of Jesus (Mt 1,18-25). At midnight a vigil with Psalms, biblical readings and canticles culminated with the reading of the Gospel of Luke (2,1-7). Towards the morning the Divine Liturgy or the Eucharist were celebrated and sunrise used to be greeted with the proclamation of the Gospel of the Revelation (Epiphany) of Matthew (2,1-23). The same Gregorian Lectionary places the feast of Epiphany on the 6th of January..

在那一段時期，主顯節的慶典結合了紀念耶穌誕生和顯示祂是人類的救主（主顯）。但在第五世紀，Jiovenal主教（西元421到452年）時，耶路撒冷的教堂開始如同羅馬的教堂，在十二月二十五日慶祝聖誕節，那一天原先是耶路撒冷教會紀念雅各伯和達味的日子。第六到第八世紀的Georgian Lectionary of Jerusalem證明十二月二十五日的聖誕節慶典。根據這份禮儀文件，在十二月二十四日的第六時辰（正午），耶路撒冷的基督徒團體冒著寒冬步行到他們慣於宣讀《路加福音二8-20》的羊圈或牧羊人曠野然後他們快速的穿過原野上到白冷小城，進入聖誕地窟舉行日間祈禱並宣讀耶穌的誕生（瑪一18-25）。在午夜用聖詠、讀經及讚美詩舉行晚禱，並以宣讀《路加福音二1-70》為最高潮。接近早晨時舉行聖禮或感恩祭，並在日出時宣讀揭露（主顯）的福音（瑪二1-23），但同樣的Georgian Lectionary將主顯節的慶典放在一月六日。

St. Sofronius, patriarch of Jerusalem (634-638) speaks of the sites in relation to the gospel accounts as celebrated in the liturgy: the Basilica which comprises the Nativity Grotto, the "perfumed" slab (where today there is the silver star), the Manger and the tombs of the Innocents. To these later on where added the cell and tomb of St. Jerome.

耶路撒冷宗主教patriarch（西元634到638年）St. Sofronius談到這些與福音記載有關、在禮儀中被慶祝的地點時說到：大殿是聚合了聖誕地窟，the "perfumed" slab（今日銀星所在處），馬槽和諸聖嬰孩的墳墓，之後並加上了the cell及St. Jerome的墓。

The Franciscans inherited this long tradition of the primitive Church and notwithstanding the difficulties maintained alive the "Christmas" spirit of these sites. Today in Bethlehem the Franciscans take care of the Catholic Community and perform all their liturgies in St. Catherine's Church but they still share the space of the Nativity grotto with the Orthodox Clergy. The Franciscans hold a daily procession, at noon, from St. Catherine's to the Grotto of the Nativity and to the subterranean chapels.

儘管在這些地方，要延續生活的聖誕精神是那麼的困難，方濟會士們仍繼承了這長時間的古老傳統。今日在白冷的方濟會士照看著天主教團體，並在St. Catherine教堂舉行他們的禮儀，但他們也與東正教會一同分享聖誕地窟的空間。方濟會士們保持著每夜的遊行，從St. Catherine教堂到聖誕地窟並下到地下的小教堂。

The Christmas experience today starts on Christmas Eve with the solemn entry of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem welcomed on the main square by the Franciscan Friars and the beating of the drums of the Scouts of Palestine. The celebration of the Liturgy is carried out in St. Catherine's Church while in the evening the central Square of the town is full of pilgrims in a lullaby of Christmas Carols. Midnight Christmas Mass is held in a packed Church. A procession with the Infant Jesus to the Holy Grotto follows with the reading of the Gospel of Luke and the singing of Christmas Carols. On January 6th, feast of Epiphany in Bethlehem there is another solemn celebration this time led by the Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land.

今日的聖誕節經驗是從聖誕前夕開始，方濟會士與巴勒斯坦Scouts樂隊在主廣場迎接耶路撒冷拉丁宗主教隆重的進場。晚間在St. Catherine教堂舉行禮儀慶祝，同時在聖誕歌曲的旋律中，白冷中心廣場內擠滿了朝聖者。聖誕子夜彌撒在擠滿人的教堂中舉行，宣讀路加福音後，在聖誕歌聲中耶穌嬰孩遊行往神聖地窟。一月六日由方濟會的聖地監管Custos帶領下在白冷隆重的慶祝主顯節。

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