Adoration of the Shepherds

Shepherds are watching their flocks by night, apparently near Bethlehem, when an angel appears to announce the good news that "today in the City of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord".

Roger Baxter reflects on verse 15 ("Let us go to Bethlehem..."), writing, "Observe the prompt obedience of the shepherds, and learn thence to obey with promptitude the divine inspirations."

[7] Alternatively, it has been argued that this motif derives from a custom of playing the pipes before images of the Virgin and Child at Christmas in parts of Italy.

[8] A charming but atypical miniature in the La Flora Hours in Naples shows the shepherds playing to the Christ Child, as a delighted Virgin Mary stands to one side.

The modern "Calypso Carol" has the lines "Shepherds swiftly from your stupor rise / to see the Saviour of the world," and the chorus "O now carry me to Bethlehem."

"O Come, All Ye Faithful" ("Adeste Fideles" in the Latin version) has a verse which runs: See how the shepherds, Summoned to His cradle, Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze; We too will thither Bend our joyful footsteps.

The German carol "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" ("From Heaven Above to Earth I Come") contains several stanzas on the subject of following the shepherds and celebrating the newborn baby.