In this pretended letter, Cyril alleges as a reason for transferring the feast to a different day from the Epiphany, that it is impossible for the inhabitants of Jerusalem to keep both feasts on the same day with befitting solemnity. Bethlehem lies three miles west, and the Jordan fifteen miles east of Jerusalem. It is stated in this letter that a procession went to both places on the same day, and so it was impossible for the clergy to accompany both. The often quoted diary of the Gallic Pilgrim[345] shows us that the procession to Bethlehem actually took place, but she is silent about a procession to the Jordan. This is first mentioned by Gregory of Tours in the sixth century.[346] It only was possible when the Nativity had been transferred to another day. The writer of the letter has antedated a later practice and certainly was not Bishop Cyril of Jerusalem. The manner in which this letter brings forth evidence in favour of choosing the 25th December for the Nativity of Christ is also interesting. Titus, says the supposed Cyril in this letter to Pope Julius, had carried off all the books of the Jews to Rome after the destruction of Jerusalem. There they still remain, and Julius might make a search to see if the true birth-day of Christ cannot be discovered.[347] Julius then discovered from the writings of Josephus that Zachary had seen the vision of the angel in the Temple in the seventh month, on the Day of Atonement, which on that occasion had fallen on the 23rd September. On that day his son, St John the Baptist, was conceived, who was born on the 24th June following, but Christ, according to St Luke i. 36, was born six months later, on the 25th December. As regards the liturgical celebration of the feast, the oldest sermons on the _Nativitas Domini_ which have come down to us, are those of Zeno of Verona († 380).[348] They are purely moral exhortations, and throw no light upon the date of the feast. He has no sermon for the Epiphany, and it may be inferred he did not observe it or that it was identified with the Nativity. The representation of the crib on a side-altar or some other conspicuous place in the church is a special feature of the Christmas festival at the present day. This remains in the church until Epiphany, or even to the 2nd February. The Christmas crib dates back to St Francis of Assisi, who, with the permission of the Pope, set up in 1223 for the first time a representation of the child Jesus in the manger.