Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

Agrippa had died. Since this was the March festival after the winter which began in late 16 

B.C.

 (12 

B.C.

, usual 

date), Agrippa must have fallen ill and died in spring of 15 

B.C.

 (11 

B.C.

, usual date). 

    Cassius Dio states that a comet was seen at about the time of Agrippa's death.

215

 He does not say exactly 

when the comet was observed, but he does places his description of the comet after his statement that Agrippa 

died. Also, he does not say that the comet was an omen seen before the death of Agrippa, as he does for other 

comets (such as the comet seen before the death of the emperor Vespasian).

216

 He states merely that it was one 

of many events  connected with Agrippa's death. 

217

 Therefore, the comet was most likely seen after the death 

of Agrippa, sometime in mid to late 15 

B.C.

    Dio gives an unusual description of this particular comet. He says that it  dissolved into flashes resembling 

torches. 

218

 Other comets described by Dio and other Roman historians are not similarly described as 

dissolving into flashes of light.

219

 This particular comet did something that the other comets did not do. 

Perhaps this comet is the same comet described by Blessed Anne Catherine as splitting into two parts and 

forming a complex pattern in the sky. Dio did not describe this comet as merely dissolving, as if it had 

disappeared in the sky. Rather, he describes the comet as dissolving, in the sense of separating, into flashes of 

light resembling torches. He does not say how many torch like lights the comet separated into, nor for how 

long the separate lights lasted. But the description has unusual parallels to the Christmas Star as described by 

Blessed Anne Catherine. 

    I believe that this comet, seen in 15 

B.C.

 (my revised date) was the Christmas Star. This comet was seen in 

the same year as the census/taxation and so also the same year as the Birth of Christ. And the unusual 

description of this comet fits  the description given in the writings of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich. 

Though we cannot be certain, it is well worth considering that this comet may have been the Christmas Star, 

since it coincided with the census under Augustus and Quirinius (cf. Lk 2:1 2), as explained below. 

A Second Line of Reasoning 

    A second argument can be made for the year of Christ's Birth, without relying on the words of Blessed Anne 

Catherine Emmerich. This argument is based on a revision of the generally accepted dates  for the reigns of 

Roman rulers (details in chapters 12, 13, and 14). As with the two arguments for the date of the Crucifixion 

presented in chapter 2, each of these two arguments can stand on its own without the other. The argument 

above, based on the writings of Blessed Anne Catherine, does not make use of the revised chronology for the 

reigns of the Roman emperors, nor does the argument below make use of the information given in the visions 

of Blessed Anne Catherine. Each can stand on its own, yet, because their conclusions agree, each one supports 

the other. 

The Enrollment 

     In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the 

first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And 

Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called 

Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary his betrothed, who 

was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered.  (Lk 2:1 6). 

    Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary went to Bethlehem because of this census (or enrollment), and while they 

were there, Christ our Savior was born. Determining the date of this census will help us determine the year of 

the Birth of Jesus Christ. 

    There is no agreement among scholars as to the date of this census or enrollment. Several different 

enrollments are known to have occurred. There was a census of Roman citizens in 28 

B.C.

 and also in 8 

B.C.

(the usual dates given for these).

220

 For some time it was thought by many scholars that Christ was likely born 

in 8 

B.C.

, because of this census. However, modern scholars now believe that these enrollments were for 

Roman citizens only, and did not apply to the Jewish people, nor to other nations conquered by the Roman 

empire.

221

 The enrollment described by the Gospel of Luke applied to  all the world,  in other words, to the 

entire Roman empire, not merely to Roman citizens. 

66