authority over) Syria (Lk 2:1 2). Quirinius was in charge of a later census again in the early years 

A.D.

 This 

type of census/taxation of the Roman occupied territories, such as Israel and Syria, took place every 17 

years.

1259

 Blessed Anne Catherine also describes the census at the time of Christ's Birth as a census for the 

purpose of taxation. There is no evidence of a census/taxation in 1 

B.C.

, nor in any of the early years 

B.C.

which are often suggested as possible years for the Birth of Christ. (For details on these points, see chapter 4.) 

    Blessed Anne Catherine tells us that God revealed to her in visions the date of the Birth of Jesus Christ as 

Sunday, Nov. 25. The only years, in this time frame, when Nov. 25 fell on a Sunday are 

A.D.

  3, 4 

B.C.

, and 

15 

B.C.

 Again, most of the commonly suggested years for the Birth of Christ are ruled out. 

    The Christian liturgical calendar numbers the years based on the idea that the Incarnation occurred in the 

year before 

A.D.

 1. However, the Church does not teach that this date for the Incarnation is necessarily correct. 

The error made by Dionysius in assigning the year of Christ's Incarnation to the year we now call 1 

B.C.

 was 

due to an error in understanding the dates of various events in Roman history, such as the year of Julius 

Caesar's death and the start of Tiberius Caesar's reign. 

8 

B.C.

    This year, 8 

B.C.

, was once a commonly held date for the Birth of Christ, because scholars long believed that 

there was a census in 8 

B.C.

 However, modern scholarship describes the census of 8 

B.C.

 as applying only to 

Roman citizens, not to the citizens of the occupied countries, such as Israel.

1260

 Furthermore, the date of 8 

B.C.

is too close to the second enrollment under Quirinius, in 

A.D.

 6 (

A.D.

 2, revised), to have been the enrollment 

of Luke 2:2. Also, in the year 8 

B.C.

, Nov. 25 did not fall on a Sunday, as required by the information given by 

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich. However, since this date was long thought to be one of the most likely 

years for the Birth of Christ, the year 8 

B.C.

 is probably the year that Blessed Anne Catherine was referring to 

when she said Christ was born 7 years earlier than some commonly accepted date for Christ's Birth.

1261

12 

B.C.

    This year, 12 

B.C.

, is the year given by scholars for the first enrollment under Quirinius, which was held 17 

years before the second enrollment (in the early years 

A.D.

).

1262

 These enrollments were for the purpose of 

taxing the territories conquered and occupied by the Roman army. It took two years to complete the whole 

process of counting and taxing the people.

1263

 Any year after 11 

B.C.

 could not be the year of the Birth of 

Christ, because a census or enrollment, such as that described by Luke 2:1 2, was only held once every 17 

years under Caesar Augustus.

1264

    The conclusions of chapter 13 of this book place this census, usually dated as beginning in 12 

B.C.

, four 

years earlier, beginning in 16 

B.C.

 The process of taxation took 2 years, so that 15 

B.C.

 falls within the time of 

this census/taxation. The year of 15 

B.C.

 is the only date which fits both the revised chronology for events in 

the Roman empire and the chronological information given by Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich. 

288