The Mystery of Christmas

Originally printed in 1956 this unique book about Christmas is best described by its editor in his Preface:

"There are many beautiful books about Christmas. The Christmas story is the sort of story that inspires loving thoughts and lovely fancies that yearn to be communicated—to be spoken or written down. But of all the many books about Christmas, we know of none just like this one; and that must be our excuse for it.

Legends and stories are well enough, particularly when they are as beautiful as many of the Christmas legends are; but the plain facts can be beautiful too. Hence, we have gone back to the Gospels for the basic framework of the story, because there is no other place to go. St. Luke and St. Matthew tell us all we really know about it; while St. John goes back beyond Nazareth and Bethlehem into heaven itself, for the eternal generation of the divine Son. This is primary source material.

Then for an historical reconstruction of the nativity scenes—to fill in the outline, so to speak, of the Gospels—we have drawn upon two authors, historians and Scripture scholars of note. Both Abbot Joseph Ricciotti and Father Ferdinand Prat, S.J., have written outstanding and well-known Lives of Christ, from which we have taken the accounts in this work."

In addition to the original 6 drawings, this edition has been enlarged to include biographies of the authors, 5 maps, a diagram, and 46 pictures with explanatory captions.

Saddle-stitched, illustrated, 132 pages.