Denver Catholic

4 DECEMBER 2020 | DENVER CATHOLIC We have to read the symbols, we need to look at the narrative, otherwise we cannot catch the true meaning of what God is saying to us." FATHER MASPERO CH R I STMA S F or more than two millennia, the Star of Bethlehem, which guided the Magi to the city where Jesus was born, has been rousing the curiosity of researchers worldwide. The Star of Bethlehem, mentioned in St. Matthew's Gospel, is one of the main symbols associated with Jesus' birth, embodying the light of the hope of salvation in the midst of darkness. But beyond its symbolism, this star is also an exhaustible subject of debate as a scientific phenomenon. Was it a historical event or only a pious fiction invented by St. Mat- thew? And if it was a historical event, how can we scientifically explain the occurrence of this exceptional astro- nomical event? Such questions have given rise to many different interpre- tations over the centuries. Moreover, as it is difficult to deter- mine with certainty the exact year of the Nativity, a scientific explanation of the phenomenon would also be a potential time marker to help pin- point the date of Christ's birth. According to a calculation by German astronomer Johannes Kepler in the 16th century, an extremely rare conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn occurred three times in the constellation Pisces in 7 B.C., appear- ing to observers as a single luminous star. This would coincide with St. Matthew's description of the celestial body appearing, disappearing and then reappearing to the Magi. A cen- tury earlier, Portuguese Rabbi Isaac Abravanel had already claimed that this specific kind of conjunction trig- gered the birth of the Messiah. This theory gained more credibility in 1925, when German orientalist Paul Schnabel deciphered ancient cunei- form tablets from the astronomical school of the Babylonian city of Sippar, which described the exact same astro- nomical conjunction in 7 B.C. "This is a good theory," Father Giulio Maspero, a physicist and theolo- gian at the pontifical University of the Holy Cross, told EWTN, mentioning other plausible scientific explanations, including the possibility of a comet. "Another theory, which may be shocking for us, is that the star was an angel. So, no astronomy here, but just a spiritual light that accompanies the Three Wise Men along their path," he said. Father Maspero says this expla- nation is "coherent with the whole narrative," as Bethlehem was filled with angels who were "proclaiming the glory of Jesus and announcing to the shepherds what was happening there". There is also the possibility of an appearance of a nova or the explosion of a supernova around 5 B.C., as sug- gested by several Chinese and Korean astronomer's chronicles, but this has never been definitively determined. T H E S P I R IT UA L S T R E N GT H O F M Y S T E RY For Brother Guy Consolmagno, astronomer and director of the Vatican Astronomical Observatory, the impor- tance of the shining Star of the Holy Night lies above all in the fact that it shows that the physical universe can be used to get closer to God. "We don't know whether Matthew was intending this to be a pious story to show that Christ was even more significant than Augustus, who had used astrology to say that he had to be an emperor, or if he was describing a real star or a real astronomical event," he said. But if there is no definitive scien- tific conclusion regarding the nature of the Star, the mystery surrounding this story makes it even more power- ful for Christians. "We have to read the symbols, we need to look at the narrative, otherwise we cannot catch the true meaning of what God is saying to us," Father Maspero said. And the universality of redemp- tion and assurance that God always answers those who seek him is the central meaning of the Christmas Star — a symbol that shouldn't be distorted by an excess of scientism. BY SOLÈNE TADIÉ Europe Correspondent for the National Catholic Register THE MYSTERY OF THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM

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