The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich 5.9 THE LAST STRETCH OF ROAD TOWARDS BETHLEHEM. THE GOODWILL OF THE INN OWNERS.

[November 23 ^rd:] Joseph and Mary left here for Bethlehem about midday. They still had some three hours' journey before them. The mistress of the house urged them to stay where they were, for, she said, it seemed to her that Mary might be delivered at any moment. Mary, however, dropping her veil, said that she had still thirty-six hours before her. (I am not sure that she did not say thirty-eight.) The woman was very anxious to keep her, not in the house itself, but in another building. As they left, I saw Joseph talking to the innkeeper about his donkeys. He spoke very highly of them, and said he had brought the she-ass with him in order to pawn her in case of necessity.

When the people of the house spoke of the difficulty of finding lodging in Bethlehem, Joseph said he had friends there and would certainly be well received. (It makes me always so sorry when he talks so certainly of being well received. He talked to Mary in that way, too, as they went along. One sees by this that even such holy people can be mistaken.)