"Twas said, << The reason we see the nativity with Jesus in a manger is biblically based, "This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." I'd think a cave/stable with animals in it would be quite warm, due to the animals' body heat. >> Very true. If you read the King James version of the Bible (translated for the common man by decree of King James in 1611 or thereabouts) you will see that it says , "And the shepherds made haste and came to Bethlehem where they found Mary, Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger." Quite clear to me that all three of them were in the family manger. WHen you think about it, who would have bothered to make those little tiny mangers you see in the nativity scenes? Sure, they fit into those little tiny stables, but goodness sake -- you think Mary had her hands up in the air then entire time? (Mine does -- but if you manipulate the baby Jesus just right, she can hold him in her arms -- which is where he stays the entire Christmas season.) Those little mangers could hold enough to feed about one lamb. Maybe. No one was going to waste time making those things. Remember, that this was the stable for the Inn where they were going to stay, so lots and lots of animals from all the people in Bethlehem that were going there for the census would have been there. They would have been feeding donkeys and goats, and cows and sheep, and ??horses and goodness knows what else. Betcha they had BIG mangers -- and do you think Mary gave birth on the dirty old floor? Nah -- I'm sure Joseph, who probably had the Innkeepers wife and perhaps the local midwife there, set about making a lovely sweet bed of hay for Mary in the BIG manger so she could birth there. So your mental picture should be one of Mary lying on a nice clean bed of hay, nursing Jesus, while Joseph stood by her, feeding her vegemite sandwiches (to increase milk supply), french bread with olive oil & parmesan cheese, and some wine. Ok, I'm kidding about the french bread and parmesan cheese. Jan Barger, who has given this lots of thought. *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html