A.D. 253 – 1871 5 witnesses
“But because they came in haste, and not with loitering steps, it follows, They found Mary, (i. e. her who had brought Jesus into the, world,) and Joseph, (i. e. the guardian of our Lord’s birth,) and the babe lying in the manger, (i. e. the Saviour Himself.)”
“Again, the shepherds of the Lord’s flock by contemplating the life of the fathers who went before them, (which preserved the bread of life,) enter as it were the gates of Bethlehem, and find therein none other than the virgin beauty of the Church, that is, Mary; the manly company of spiritual doctors, that is, Joseph; and the lowly coming of Christ contained in the pages of Holy Scripture, that is, the infant child Christ, laid in the manger.”
“And they came with haste , and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger . With haste, from their longing and zeal to see Christ Hence S. Ambrose remarks, “ Thou seest that the shepherds make haste ; for no one seeks after Christ with slothfulness.” And Bede, “The shepherds hasten, for the presence of Christ must not be sought with sluggishness ; and many perchance that seek Christ do not merit to find Him, because they seek Him slothfully.””
“And they came with haste,.... In the night, leaving their flocks, to see their incarnate Lord, as Zacchaeus hastened down from the tree to receive the Saviour. The wonderfulness of the vision, the importance of the thing related, the eagerness of their spirits to see the thing that was told them, put them on making quick dispatch, and hastening to the city with all speed: and found Mary and Joseph; as they had been directed by the angel, in the city of Bethlehem, in an inn there, and in a stable in the inn: and the babe lying in a manger: where Mary had put it as soon as born, and had wrapped it in swaddling clothes; because there was no room in the inn, and as the angel had told them they should find it,”
“with haste--Compare Luk 1:39; Mat 28:8 ("did run"); Joh 4:28 ("left her water-pot," as they do their flocks, in a transport). found Mary, &c.--"mysteriously guided by the Spirit to the right place through the obscurity of the night" [OLSHAUSEN]. a manger--"the manger," as before.”
The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.