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| The Three Kings with Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Joseph |
(The webmaster would like to thank Scott from FL. for putting together this article on the Three Kings and the Star of Bethlehem, taken from the visions of the 20th century German mystic, Therese Neumann, 1898-1962)
The Mystical Illumination upon the Three Kings
and the Star of Bethlehem
In addition to bearing the stigmata of Jesus’ wounds and repeatedly enduring his crucifixion sufferings, the mystic Therese Neumann had also witnessed many supernatural visions of the sacred events in the life of Jesus and the apostles, prior to passing away in 1962. During her young adulthood, the blessed German mystic (whose Cause for beatification was submitted to the Vatican in 2005) had been cured of two ailments—paralysis and blindness—through the intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux prior to the full flourishing of Neumann's mission, accompanied with an abundance of awe-inspiring manifestations of God. Paramount among them was the divine allowance for Neumann to solely live upon the Eucharist, without consuming food or water for over 35 years. In 1927, two doctors—along with four nurses—scrutinized this phenomenon and continually monitored Neumann for consecutive weeks, in order to confirm an absence of food and water intake. Jesus had said Neumann’s sustained, healthy condition was a miracle to affirm His authentic Presence and the spiritual sustenance He provides through the Eucharist, as true spiritual food for the souls of people upon Earth.
Long after the two cures of paralysis and blindness with St. Therese’s intercession, the Virgin Mary eventually appeared on the feast of her Assumption into Heaven and cured Neumann of her stroke-induced paralysis, endured later in life. Many awesome marvels were wrought for the glory of God. Yet, they all were bestowed to spotlight the truth of the holy sacraments as channels of divine graces, through Our Lord’s only true, apostolic, Catholic (universal) Church established upon Earth. As those displayed during the life of Jesus, the wonders and spectacles accompanying Neumann for wavering Church leaders and unbelievers to have FAITH were as abundant as the ubiquitous graces of God.
Every year around Christmas time, there always arises increased wonderment and scholarly debates about the Three Kings and Star of Bethlehem (especially about how it could “stand over” to denote the spot – Mt. 2:9), due to the less than detailed accounts by St. Matthew and Luke (who did not personally witness the events), deficient by modern standards demanding intricate details, timelines, and descriptions from reporting journalists.
Across her many decades of visions, Neumann was blessed to repeatedly see many sacred events which her spiritual director (Father Naber) and others documented with a multitude of details and previously unknown insights. Renowned linguistic experts were also fascinated by what they even learned about words and usage of languages, while listening to Neumann speak ancient Greek and Aramaic (spoken by Jesus). Unlike the mystical effusions of former eras, Neumann’s outpourings of foreign languages and accompanying ecstatic state during the visions had also been recorded with motion picture film and audio equipment for repeated analysis.
During the middle of the twentieth century, a businessman by the name of Johannes Steiner often traveled through Europe. Along with the thousands of other visitors—including military soldiers—who traveled to Konnersreuth with great excitement to see the marvels themselves, Steiner had also embarked as a pilgrim to witness Neumann’s stigmata and her suffering of Our Lord's Passion. Eventually Steiner became a very close friend of Therese, whom he referred to Resl, as did other friends and family. The Society of St. Paul helped publish his book called The Visions of Therese Neumann in 1976.
The following passages are excerpts from Steiner’s book, wherein he had provided excerpts of what he personally witnessed and also Fr. Naber’s records of Neumann’s supernatural visions across the decades. They contained what many eyes had wished to see and better comprehend regarding the Three Kings and the guiding “star” of the sky: a spectacle which had beckoned to three Gentile leaders of other nations, in contrast to the angels directly appearing to Bethlehem's shepherds during the night of Jesus’ birth.
Incidentally, the eight shepherds had been watching the flocks for the owner of the empty stable of Jesus' birth (i.e., no other animals except the Holy Family's donkey). Without remaining room in his inn, the stable owner directed St. Joseph and Mary to stay in the empty shelter, after they had already concluded registration for the emperor in Bethlehem. The shepherds were only about a half hour walk from their watch-post to the Holy Family's shelter. Following the resplendent visitation of angels, they journeyed to the stable with their two dogs and a few select sheep, and left one lamb as a gift to the Holy Family.
Neumann described how the wooden stable was backed against a hill’s cliff of rock. It had a cave about three feet high and deep, contained in the stable’s rocky back wall. It also had a slopping roof almost two-feet higher at the rock junction (approximately eight feet high), a sliding door, and a small rectangular window on the right side. During the 11 o’clock hour the Light of the World (Emmanuel / “God with us”) was miraculously born of Mary in an ecstatic state of consciousness, a blindingly strong light had first drawn the curious shepherds out of their open shelter to see just one archangel—heralding the good news—before being joined by hundreds of other angels singing.
Such was the magnificent display to be pondered in the humble hearts of the shepherds and recalled by the faithful of future generations. Also, by divine providence, the Savior—later proclaiming himself to be the perpetual “bread of life” for the world (Jn. 6:35)—was born in Bethlehem, meaning city of bread, and placed in one of the stable’s empty, animal-feed mangers.
Although Neumann provided unprecedented details about the night of Jesus’ birth, the following passages from her mystical visions have illuminated the mysterious and often debated questions about the identities of the Three Kings, the guiding “star” of their journey, and the precise period of their visit—occurring long after Jesus’ birth.
As the reader will discern while reading Fr. Naber’s documentation of Neumann’s visions, the truth of the Three Kings and supernaturally disclosed timeline fits with the scriptural recording of Herod’s order for children two years and younger to be slain. Consequently, Neumann had related how some families even lost two children, due to Herod’s broad order for the slaying of the Holy Innocents. This savage event transpired after the Three Kings had heeded the divine warning in a dream, according to God’s plan for them to leave the country through a different route, in avoidance of Herod and delivering his requested report on their findings.
JOHANNES STEINER:
Drawing on my own records of the vision for January 6th of this year my visit to Konnersreuth, I shall give a brief account of the impressions received during the evening vision. It began at 5:40. That year, 1952, the morning vision had occurred while Teresa was all alone. She gave the following brief description of it in that evening:
“The three of them with their men and their animals are making their way through the water (crossing the Jordan River); then they came to the big town of that dishonorable man, Herod. He is the man who had them come out with the scrolls (the scribes who informed King Herod that Bethlehem will be the birthplace of the king of the Jews).”
The impression of the evening vision was as follows (on the basis of my shorthand notes taken on that occasion; the explanations included in parentheses are from Father Naber, based on his previous experiences and his interrogation of those present):
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| Therese Neumann with the stigmata
wounds of Christ visible on her hands and side |
Resl’s face shows great fright (because the star comes rushing straight down, with brilliant light, glowing hot, frightening everyone, and disturbing the horses, camels, and elephants, all of whom make their own appropriate cries of alarm). Then radiant joy (the Magi have reached her goal). Once or twice she reaches out her hand (she wants to take the child into her arms, as the three wise men are doing). She sniffed with her nose (the incense and sweet smelling ointments). A perfectly astonished expression (the child Jesus, who can now walk, comes out and gives his hand to the retinue).
…Father Naber wrote the following precise record of the first appearance of this vision on January 6, 1927:
…The names Kaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar for the three Wise Men are approximately correct. They were actually ruling princes—very, very rich, not jealous of their ruling power, but on very good terms with their people. Balthasar came from Nubia, a land rich in gold. He was in his early forties and was traveling with about seventy servants, twenty soldiers, eight scholars, each of which had two servants—Balthasar had about twenty such scholars—and a wife.
Melchior came from Arabia, a land rich in grain and spices. He was in his middle fifties and had with him about forty servants, fifty soldiers, five scholars, with two servants each, and two wives.
Kaspar came from Media, a land rich in resin and incense and fruit. He was in his mid-forties, and accompanied by about twenty servants, forty soldiers, and four scholars with two servants each.
Ø Editorial note: Nubia was in Africa’s current Sudan area and Media – from which all Three Kings ultimately depart toward Jerusalem—occupied an area spanning present day north-western Iran and south-eastern Turkey. Consequently, the Three Kings had embarked upon a journey of near 1000 miles or more to Jerusalem.
In all three of these countries study the stars was particularly cultivated, especially in Media. They used to build tall, solitary wooden towers to observe the stars. The princes each had his own astrologers, called magi. Jews who lived in the dispersion there, many of whom—and this was a special privilege they seemed to enjoy—grew to extreme old age, some as much as 200 years, had brought with them the knowledge of the one true God and the promised Redeemer, particularly the prophecy of Balaam: “A star will rise up from Jacob” (Nb 24:17).
In Nubia the star had already been seen by two of the magi already, three weeks before the birth of the Savior. They came to the king and told him that they had seen a remarkable star in the sky; it was of extraordinary size and particularly powerful light and had a very peculiar tail, which was long and curved at the end. The king now assembled all his scholars. They could not however give him satisfactory answer, whereupon he sent ambassadors to his friend King Melchior in Arabia, in hope of gaining some further knowledge.
In Arabia and Media, just as in Nubia, the star had been in their towers. Only Arabia had there been a scholar engaged in observation; he had seen this peculiar star and advised that it be further examined into. But the Magi were not all together, and so the suggestion was never followed up on. The king himself did not bother about it anymore. But now the king himself visited the tower and then sent ambassadors to Media, to inquire if they too had seen such an extraordinary star.
In Media the king himself had visited the tower in the days of the Savior's birth and had discovered the star. He assembled scholars for council, but they were unable to find a satisfactory explanation. But when the ambassadors came from Arabia with their message, he suddenly saw the light and ordered his servants to make ready for a journey to Arabia for a consultation. While the Arabian ambassadors were enroute to Media, the king of Nubia journeyed to Arabia, and then both kings went to Media, where they encountered the king of that country, just as he was preparing for a journey to Arabia.
From Media all three went together, following their star, which often could not be seen for days and months at a time, so that they were hesitant about continuing their journey. (Further detail from the tapes: when the sky was overcast, and they could not see the other stars, then, naturally, they could not see the star either.) The men were monotheists, were familiar with the prophecies of Balaam, and believe that it was this star that they saw before them now.
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| Therese Neumann enraptured with divine joy |
What follows is from Father Naber’s record based on information given by Therese a year later…
On January 6, 1928 at about 6:00 in the morning, Therese saw spacious but low building, with many gold decorated columns, just as the sun was rising. She saw a man with a large retinue (King Balthasar of Africa) make his way down a long, broad staircase. The building was surrounded by widely scattered round and square huts, which appeared to be sheathed in bark and roofed with reeds, in either a lean-to or pointed form.
The House of the man (the king) was made of dark gray stone, with columns of somewhat lighter stone, and adorned with gold from top to bottom. The stairway was dark like the walls.
The man (King Balthasar) was quite large and strong, his skin was dark brown, he had curly black hair of medium length and full black beard. What struck Therese particularly were his red lips, his white teeth, and the white of his eyes. His head covering consisted of a brilliant white ring surrounded by a hanging gold band; on the top of this crown were little gold rods with little gold globes, each of which was decorated with precious stones. Inside the circle of rods and globes—and rising somewhat above them—there was a sphere-shaped white cap, sewn with gold.
He also wore a striped, brightly colored tunic, gathered at the waist with a colored sash. The tunic reached his knees and had a broad gold hem, and somewhat narrower borders on the long, full sleeves and around the neck. He wore a sort of slipper, with golden bands wrapped crosswise around his feet and lower legs. His tunic was virtually adorned with gold embroidery over the breast.
Around his neck he wore about five golden chains of various forms, each adorned with pearls and fastened to the tunic. Hanging from these chains were various kinds of gold coins, with various ornamentation stamped on them.
His cloak which covered only in his shoulders was clasped in front with silver bands and buckles. The interior of the cloak was white, with flowers of various colors worked into the background and the gold border. It had a train of many folds which is carried by two servants….
Ø Editorial note: Father Naber continued with a very lengthy description of what Neumann had viewed of the attire worn by the king’s wife and servants.
This is the end of Father Naber’s account for 1928. He continues it on January 6, 1929, and on October 10, 1949, he dictated two additional notes which enlarge upon the account of January 6, 1929, and are included below. He writes (N1,53):
January 6, 1929: About noon Teresa sees the three wise men together with the princes, with the retinue of about 300 persons (scholars, servants, soldiers, and wives on their way to Jerusalem. There's a black man from Nubia, a brown man from Arabia, yellow man from Media, all led on by a comet.) Upon their first questioning of King Herod as to where the newly born king might be, they head towards a Bethlehem far in the north.
Ø Editorial note: Bethlehem of Galilee, located in northern Israel, is about 6 miles from Nazareth and over 90 miles from the Bethlehem of Jesus’ birth—situated about 5 miles south of Jerusalem.
Only after a second inquiry do they set upon the road for the correct Bethlehem. But the star leads them far beyond Bethlehem into a stable, in which the Holy Family—who are already on their flight to Egypt—have already been staying for a long time.
Ø Editorial note, per other visions of Therese Neumann: After staying around a year in the Bethlehem of Jesus’ birth, Joseph and Mary returned to Nazareth and prepared for their flight to Egypt, as well as saying goodbye to family, including St. Anne. The poor weather / rainy period of the year had led to Holy Family staying in another stable in unspecified territory, while enroute to Egypt. Neumann described seeing Herod’s paranoid order to kill all two-year-old and younger babies, which was congruent with his deranged slayings of a wife and three of his sons—due to fear of them plotting against his power. Neumann also witnessed how the brutal soldiers used swords to kill Bethlehem’s children and those of the surrounding countryside, resulting in the total of seventy-six children dying.
At first they are disillusioned at seeing the simplicity and poverty which greets them, and they feel they must have made a mistake. Nonetheless, St. Joseph cautiously comes outside. Only the brown man [of Nubia] could speak a language that St. Joseph understands. He brings them inside, where they bow to the mother and speak with her. Then the child Jesus, who is already almost two years old, looks them in the eye with a “divine look.”
Ø Editorial note: In the Church approved (2016) messages in San Nicolas, Argentina, which had begun in the 1980s, the Blessed Mother also disclosed how Jesus was already in his second year when the Three Kings visited.
Immediately they recognized that this child is the goal of their journey, and they throw themselves to the floor. Touching the ground three times with their foreheads, at long intervals, they adore the child. “Therese hears the chains around the neck striking the floor with a clanking noise.”
Then they offered their presents. The mother honors their request by putting the child into their arms. Finally she takes the child—who could already walk—outside, in front of the stable, to meet the retinue of the Magi, who give a friendly greeting and many presents….
Excerpts from Therese’s words spoken to me after the vision of 1952:
They made their way traveling by night, and by day they rested, because during the day they could not see the star, and then at night they would set out on their journey again. All of a sudden “it became very gray (twilight), and then the star swooped powerfully down; you couldn’t see anything but fire.* Their animals cried and bellowed. There was no longer any doubt that they were at their destination, and they didn't need to ask any more. The black man was the richest, and he had the biggest animals, with huge blankets on their backs, and then cushions and more blankets on top of them, and a good many people sitting on top of the elephants; and the others were all humpy, with round humps on their backs (camels), and beautiful horses.”
Ø Editorial conclusion: Only God possesses complete understanding of the divinely guided, meteor-like piercing of the atmosphere, which had culminated with the fiery spectacle; one that had astonished both the animals and Three Kings. However, one can easily compare the resulting shock and awe to that evoked and captured in the videos of the astounding meteor blast in Russia during 2013. Whatever the precise circumstances of the guiding star—only fully comprehended in Heaven with regard to how scientific principles and the supernatural intertwined for the entire trajectory of guidance, similar to the mystical pillar that guided the Israelites out of Egypt with Moses—the prevailing message remains clearly defined: THREE KINGS visited the King of kings, and Lord of Lords (1 Tim. 6:15; Apoc. 17:14) amidst his humble beginning upon Earth and flight from Herod’s wrath.
As the prophesied Sun of Justice, Jesus had finally dawned upon humanity with perpetual power and spectacles (The works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me. – John 5:36). Beyond Neumann’s divine protection from the Nazis and miracle of Eucharistic sustenance for over thirty-five years without food or water, Jesus continues to manifest in millions of souls as the eternal source of spiritual fortification in the Eucharist, while humanity makes its exodus from sin and partakes of the Lamb of God in the Blessed Sacrament. Emmanuel, God with Us, is thereby embodied for every generation. As the foretold Son for growth over all humanity, Jesus still remains the illuminating light against the darkness and corrosion of sin, and as the Way to the Father of both Heaven and Earth.
“Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” ( Jn. 14:21)
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And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them; and they feared with a great fear. And the angel said to them:
Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people.
For, this day, is born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David.
And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying:
Glory to God in the highest; and on Earth peace to men of good will. (Lk. 2:9-14)
Ø To view the Eucharistic Miracles of the World compilation by Blessed Carlo Acutis (beatified in 2020) please click the individual cities (listed by county) at the following link:
http://www.miracolieucaristici.org/en/Liste/list.html
Ø To read more about Therese Neumann and see additional photos of her, please visit the following URL:
https://www.
Ø Wikipedia entry about the alternate Bethelehem of Galilee first sought by the Three Kings, and originally known as Bethlehem of Zebulun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Therese Neumann after her miraculous cure in 1925
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