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Our Lady of Bethlehem (Spanish: la Virgen de Belén) is a Flemish-style oil painting from Puerto Rico. Specialists in 15th-century art attribute the painting to the school of the Brussels painter Rogier van der Weyden, or an anonymous disciple of the school. ==Origin of the tradition== According to the tradition, the Milk Grotto, not far from Manger Square in Bethlehem is the site where the Holy Family took refuge here during the Slaughter of the Innocents, before their flight into Egypt. While there, the Virgin Mary nursed her child. A drop of milk fell, turning the stone white.〔(Sudilovsky, Judith. "Bethlehem's Milk Grotto brings faith, hope and sometimes babies", ''Catholic News Service'', December 11, 2007 )〕 The site is venerated by both Christians and Muslims. According to Franciscan Brother Lawrence, an American who oversees the grotto and chapel for the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, the grotto is at least 2,000 years old and the early Christians came to pray here, he said, but the first structure was built over it around 385.〔 Known in Arabic as “Magharet el Saiyidee” (The Grotto of Our Lady),the grotto, hollowed out of limestone, has become a place of pilgrimage for couples hoping to conceive a child. A second legend identifies this site as the location where the Three Kings visited the Holy Family and presented their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Divine Child.〔(Chabin, Michele. "The Milk Grotto Church Heals Infertile Couples", ''National Catholic Register'', September 21, 2003 )〕 A tradition going back to the 7th century located at this site the burial place of the innocent victims killed by Herod the Great after the birth of Jesus.〔("The Church on the "Milk Grotto", Custodia Terrae Sanctae )〕 The Devotion to Our Lady of the Milk asks husbands and wives to pray together the third of the joyful mysteries of the rosary, meditating on the Nativity of the Lord.〔 There is also a Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche y Buen Parto (Spanish for “Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery”) in St. Augustine, Florida.〔(Amberg, Marion. "Baby Wanted: The Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche", ''St. Anthony Messenger'', Franciscan Media )〕 The tradition of milk dates back to the first centuries of Christianity. Those converting to Christianity were given a mixture of milk and honey to drink, which in the early churches of Egypt, Rome, and North Africa was solemnly blessed at the Easter and Pentecostal vigils. Milk with honey symbolized the union of the two natures in Christ. The custom of giving milk with honey to the newly baptized did not last long, but this tradition is visible in artistic representations. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Our Lady of Bethlehem」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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