The Star of Bethlehem

From FishEaters blog . . .

The Star of Bethlehem

The next great symbol of the day is the glorious Star of Bethlehem. There are so many theories now as to what, exactly, this "Star of Wonder" was. Some believe it was a comet or a supernova. Some believe it was actually a conjunction of planets. ² The Fathers, like St. Ignatius of Antioch (A.D. 50 - c.100), though, believed it was completely miraculous, like the pillar of fire of Numbers 13:21: "And the Lord went before them to shew the way by day in a pillar of a cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire: that he might be the guide of their journey at both times." St. Ignatius wrote to the Ephesians:

A star shone forth in heaven above all the other stars, the light of Which was inexpressible, while its novelty struck men with astonishment. And all the rest of the stars, with the sun and moon, formed a chorus to this star, and its light was exceedingly great above them all. And there was agitation felt as to whence this new spectacle came, so unlike to everything else in the heavens.

St. John Chrysostom (A.D. 347-407) (and St. Thomas Aquinas after him), also believed it was a miraculous event. He wrote in his Commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew:

For if ye can learn what the star was, and of what kind, and whether it were one of the common stars, or new and unlike the rest, and whether it was a star by nature or a star in appearance only, we shall easily know the other things also. Whence then will these points be manifest? From the very things that are written. Thus, that this star was not of the common sort, or rather not a star at all, as it seems at least to me, but some invisible power transformed into this appearance, is in the first place evident from its very course. For there is not, there is not any star that moves by this way, but whether it be the sun you mention, or the moon, or all the other stars, we see them going from east to west; but this was wafted from north to south; for so is Palestine situated with respect to Persia.

The apocryphal Protoevangelium of St. James (ca. A.D. 125) has the Magi saying to Herod:

We have seen a star of great size shining among these stars, and obscuring their light, so that the stars did not appear; and we thus knew that a king has been born to Israel, and we have come to worship him.

Pope St. Leo the Great (d. 461) described it like this in his thirty-first sermon:

To three wise men, therefore, appeared a star of new splendour in the region of the East, which, being brighter and fairer than the other stars, might easily attract the eyes and minds of those that looked on it, so that at once that might be observed not to be meaningless, which had so unusual an appearance.

But perhaps St. Ephraem (a.k.a. Ephraim), d. 373, describes it best in his "Hymns for Epiphany":

In the Height and the Depth the Son had two heralds. The star of light proclaimed Him from above; John likewise preached Him from beneath: two heralds, the earthly and the heavenly. The star of light, contrary to nature, shone forth of a sudden; less than the sun yet greater than the sun. Less was it than he in manifest light; and greater than he in secret might because of its mystery.

Its exact nature aside, we're not sure about precisely when it appeared or for how long. Did it appear at the Annunciation, giving the magi more than nine months to make their way to Bethlehem? Did it appear on Christmas night? Some time in between? No one knows for certain, but whatever it was, this great sign was predicted by the wicked Balaam, as recorded in the Books of Moses:

Numbers 24:15-19
Therefore taking up his parable, again he said: Balaam the son of Beor hath said: The man whose eye is stopped up, hath said: The hearer of the words of God hath said, who knoweth the doctrine of the Highest, and seeth the visions of the Almighty, who falling hath his eyes opened: I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not near. A STAR SHALL RISE out of Jacob and a sceptre shall spring up from Israel: and shall strike the chiefs of Moab, and shall waste all the children of Seth. And he shall possess Idumea: the inheritance of Seir shall come to their enemies, but Israel shall do manfully. Out of Jacob shall he come that shall rule, and shall destroy the remains of the city.

-- and the Magi knew it.

Show natural symbols of the Star to your children inside a cross-sectioned apple, in poinsettias, on one side of a sand dollar, in the flower called "Star-of-Bethlehem" (Ornithogalum umbellatum), etc. 
Another flower associated with the Star of Bethlehem is the Ox-Eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum), also called "Mary's Star." Legend says that after the Magi followed the Star of Bethlehem to the right town, they didn't know where exactly to go. St. Melchior looked down and saw the Ox-Eye Daisy, noticed its resemblance to the Star they'd been following, so plucked it up. When he did, the door to the place of Christ's nativity opened, showing the Magi where the King of Kings lay.