CHRISTMAS is the second most important festival of the Church, after Easter, but it holds a special appeal for most Christians. The miracle of Bethlehem speaks to the heart of redeemed mankind. The little town had been identified in prophecy as the birthplace of the Messiah and this was only the first of innumerable instances in the life of Our Lord that scrupulously fulfilled the forecasts of the prophets, culminating on Calvary in the realisation of David’s words: "They have pierced my hands and my feet, they have numbered all my bones." The Feast of the Nativity is very much...