YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Pope Francis has decided to donate a piece of the Holy Manger, in which the faithful believe baby Jesus slept, back to its home in the Holy Land for Christmas celebrations.

A "speck" of the reliquary of the Holy Cradle of the baby Jesus, currently kept in Rome's Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, has been donated by Pope Francis for various celebrations in Jerusalem. The Custodian of the Holy land will get it on Friday, according to ANSA.

After Jerusalem, the "speck" of the reliquary will be taken to Bethlehem to the Church of St. Catherine, alongside the Basilica of the Nativity, for the Christmas period.

The sacred crib was guarded by Christians until it was brought to Rome in the seventh century, after the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land.

The wooden fragments have been under the main alter of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

According to the basilica’s website, the crystal reliquary is shaped like a crib that “contains pieces of ancient wood which tradition holds to be part of the manger where the Baby Jesus was laid.”

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan