I’ve been watching the news during this post-Christmas travel period of 2022. Winter storm Elliott has tens of thousands of late-December travelers stranded and looking for alternate ways to get home. News reports say that some of the technology that enables airlines to respond to changing conditions is outdated, exacerbating the chaos caused by the storm itself. Plenty of travelers are depending on Google maps to choose a new route home.
Think back to the same period in late December, some 2,000 years ago.
Imagine Mary’s concern when Joseph told her that they’d have to find a new way home from Bethlehem, where she had just given birth. Add to this, they’d be taking the long way back to their home in Nazareth, all while tending to their newborn son. To make things even worse, their tiny baby was being hunted!
To better understand what the Holy Family was contending with, I referred to the “Pocket Bible Atlas: The Events, People, and Places of the Bible” (The Bright Press / The Quatro Group). My son gifted me a copy of the book this Christmas and it brought to life the second sorrow of Mary, The Flight Into Egypt.
Using Google Maps I learned that the trip from Joseph’s home in Nazareth to Bethlehem is just under 100 miles. By foot, that trip would take about 31 hours over the course of four days. Of course, Mary was about to give birth, so it’s likely it took longer. But that is probably how long she was expecting the trip home would take.
After Joseph’s dream (see below), the family rerouted their course and traveled home by way of Egypt. According to the University of Dayton, it took Mary and her family about three years to travel roughly 1,200 miles before arriving back in Nazareth. Part of this time was spent waiting for King Herod, who had ordered Jesus to be killed, to die. He died in the year 4 BCE (before the common era).
Read about the Holy Family’s journey home here. The University of Dayton has an amazingly detailed account of what occurred during the Holy Family’s trip home.
Interestingly, today marks the feast of the Holy Innocents, those male children under the age of two who were ordered killed by King Herod, who hoped one of the babies killed would be Jesus himself. The order came after the three kings reported to Herod that they would visit the Baby Jesus (“the king of the Jews”) in Bethlehem.
Here is the account of St. Matthew:
When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi,
he became furious.
He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity
two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:A voice was heard in Ramah,
– Mt 2:13-18
sobbing and loud lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be consoled,
since they were no more.
At Mary’s own request, we pray each day to remember her Seven Sorrows, The Flight Into Egypt, and for the souls of those children slain, and for their parents left grieving.
I am hoping to bring more knowledge about the Virgin Mary to the world, especially during these times when we need her most. Please consider sharing this post, this site, or its social media pages on Facebook and Instagram. I invite you to subscribe to this site (below) to be notified of new posts. Thank you.
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