The crèche for orphans in Bethlehem, a star of hope in the night of war

December 24, the Church and the world celebrate this evening the advent of the Divine Child. A testimony of humility that continues. Illustration at the Daughters of Charity nursery, in Christ's birthplace. Active in Bethlehem since 1885, it is the only Catholic institution for foundlings in the territories.

Delphine Allaire – Vatican City

Meeting with the nuns of the Bethlehem nursery

“This is the sign given to you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” The miracle of the Nativity is repeated every day at the Bethlehem nursery, teeming with toddlers on rue Paul VI, next to the French hospital of the Holy Family. Under the maternal gaze of three admirable sisters, volunteers and other employees, 45 orphans, abandoned, found, or placed, grow up there, from their first heartbeat. A tender age, tortuous life stories. The little ones are sometimes picked up in bags on the steps, children of unmarried mothers, incest or rape, as can still happen. The crèche picks them up and raises them with immeasurable love, commensurate with their great vulnerability. Sister Laudy Farès, Lebanese, has worked at the nursery for 17 years, considers them her little cohort of angels: “These children need maternal love. They call us “mom” and we become so attached to them. Their departure after six years is always heartbreaking. They are our guardian angels, innocent and always smiling.”

The last newborn is placed in the nursery

First six years during which these children, deprived of families at birth, flourish among other children, taken in by Palestinian social services or those from the daycare who find their parents every evening. The mixture takes place during games and activities, says Sister Aude-Marie, a volunteer since March 2023. “Our littlest arrived two weeks ago, she was barely six days old. I look after the little ones to teach them to walk, until they are just beginning.” If since March, the nun who came from a Spanish Carmel has started learning Arabic, she joyfully notes that “the language of the heart is universal. It is the miracle of the crèche of Bethlehem where tongues vanish before the candor of childhood. This touching innocence is particularly manifested on the occasion of the Christmas celebration in the institution, celebrated with many gifts, music, dances, and representations of the Nativity, even if respect for the Palestinian Muslim state imposes an inevitable discretion on the catechetical part. According to a touching custom, the youngest infant is placed in the crèche in place of the Child Jesus, who came into the world a few meters from the crèche, at the Grotto of the Nativity. “When Christ became incarnate, he stripped himself of all the wisdom, all of this knowledge that he had in God. In fact, he made himself humble, very small and fragile. muses Sister Aude-Marie, grateful to be able to have a year of experience in this very special nursery, “where we touch on fragility itself.”

The age of innocence

The universality of the heart, the smiles and the tenderness, however, clash with the harsh reality of war for more than a year. But here again, Sister Laudy manages to keep the innocence intact. As missiles pass through the sky, the smell of gas or the noise of planes questioning the children, the nun, herself frightened, protects these little ones by telling stories. “When there are bombings, we tell the children that it's just fireworks or that there's a wedding party at the restaurant next door. We are very scared, but the little ones think that these are planes bringing back presents.», she smiles despite the difficulties.

Supreme innocence preserved at all costs for these children, little Christians and Muslims, the majority of them from Jericho, Nablus, Hebron or other Palestinian regions. “For the moment, they are marked neither by resentment, nor by political questions, nor by the difficulties between each other. They live alongside each other, Christians and Muslims, and there is no problem. The problems come later. What the crèche brings us is to say “it’s possible, it exists” on a small scale. Of course, children have a joy that, perhaps, we adults have lost. An extraordinary joy and simplicity, testifies Sister Aude-Marie.

Christ watches over the manger

This island of hope only survives through donations. The guest house linked to the crèche has closed since October 7, 2023 and the disappearance of the pilgrims. The nursery today only lives on the charity of earthly benefactors. “We rely on Providence, which has never failed us! Certainly, we live modestly, but we have never lacked for the children. Often, people come to offer things to the children, a benefactor calls and delivers us a week's worth of bread. explains Sister Laudy, full of confidence. There is no doubt that Providence watches and provides. Christ, born a few meters from the nativity scene, seems to have his eyes fixed on it. Like him, born again more than 2,000 years ago, the children of Bethlehem are fragile, but their destiny is irrigated by the happy message of rebirth, renewal, light and freedom brought by the Savior.

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