The stairway down to the Grotto of the Nativity

"Presently, we were as it seemed with the shepherds at the mouth of the cave hewn out of the rock now to be found in the basement of the Church of the Nativity.  There seemed to be in this place a kind of spiritual assurance that this was indeed a hallowed spot, although marred by centuries of, shall I say, unhallowed embellishment.  Down in the basement is the cave hewn out of rock that seemed to us to mark a sacred place". (President Harold B Lee)