Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

information about the census which brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, about the role of the scribes and 

Jewish religious leaders in collecting the Roman tax, about the date for the death of king Herod, and about the 

Christmas Star. This information is not essential to establishing the year of the Birth of Jesus Christ, but it does 

lend additional support to the chronology. 

The Day and Month in the Jewish Calendar 

    In 15 

B.C.

, Nov. 25 coincided with Kislev 5 in the Jewish calendar.

171

 (See the chapter 17 for details on 

determining dates in the ancient Jewish calendar.) The Jewish date of Kislev 5 for the Birth of Christ is also 

consistent with the conclusions of chapter 5 of this book, on the date of the Incarnation. 

    Clemens Brentano, the man who wrote down Blessed Anne Catherine's visions, commented in one place 

that Jesus must have been born on Kislev 12,

172

 but in another place he states it was Kislev 10.

173

 These dates 

were conclusions drawn by Clemens Brentano. Blessed Anne Catherine herself said only,  I think Christ was 

born in the month Kislev.  

174

    The sources of Clemens Brentano's error in determining the Jewish date for the Birth of Christ is probably 

the statement of Blessed Anne Catherine that Hanukah (Kislev 25) that year coincided with Dec. 8 (beginning 

the previous evening on Dec. 7). However, in 15 

B.C.

, the new moon occurred on the afternoon of Nov. 20, 

making Nov. 21 the first day of Kislev (by calculation). Nov. 25 would then be Kislev 5, and Dec. 8 would be 

Kislev 18. Hanukah fell exactly a week later (Dec. 15 in 15 

B.C.

) than Blessed Anne Catherine thought. 

    When speaking about the days following the Birth of Jesus Christ, Blessed Anne Catherine also said that the 

feast of Hanukah on Kislev 25 (the  Feast of the Consecration of the Temple ) would have coincided with a 

Sabbath that year, and so was postponed a day (to avoid a conflict between the Sabbath day of rest and the 

celebration of Hanukah).

175

 In 15 

B.C.

, Kislev 25 (by calculation) would have fallen on a Saturday, and so 

Hanukah that year may well have been postponed until Sunday. Her statement that Hanukah fell on a 

Saturday (but was moved to Sunday) agrees with her other chronological statements. 

A Note About The Taxation 

    Joseph traveled to Bethlehem with the Virgin Mary at the time of the Birth of Jesus Christ (Lk 2:1 7), in 

order to take part in a Roman census (or enrollment). Blessed Anne Catherine tells us that this enrollment was 

for the purpose of taxation. 

      This taxation has been going on for several months . Joseph came rather late to the tax office, but was 

treated in quite a friendly way. He has not paid anything yet, but was asked about his means, and stated that 

he had no land and lived by his handicraft and by the assistance given him by his wife's mother . Only the 

people who are not resident anywhere and have no land on which they can be taxed have to present 

themselves at their birthplace. 

 176

     There are a great number of scribes and high officials in many of the rooms . There are also present 

Pharisees and Sadducees, priests, elders and every kind of official and scribe, both Jewish and Roman. 

177

    Here she describes the place in Bethlehem where the taxes were collected during the Roman taxation and 

enrollment at the time of the Birth of Jesus. Notice that the Jewish religious leaders are present to assist the 

Romans with the process of enrollment and taxation. As Joseph is being questioned by the tax officials, they 

consult genealogical records on long scrolls. 

     They are asking him who he is and are referring to long scrolls of which a great many are hanging on the 

walls. They unroll them and read aloud to him his ancestry and also Mary's: he did not seem to know that she 

also descended so directly from David through Joachim . 

178

    The Jewish priests and scribes must have kept detailed genealogical records (cf. Nehemiah 7:5ff). Keeping 

records of who was descended from whom was a religious duty. They knew that the Messiah would be a 

descendant of David. If no genealogical records were kept, then how would they know who was descended 

from David? They would then lose one of the signs indicating the Messiah. 

    These detailed genealogical records were used by the Jewish religious leaders to assist the Romans in 

identifying the Jewish people for the enrollment and taxation. According to Blessed Anne Catherine, the tax 

60