The custodian on duty at the Holy Child of Jesus Church in New York Monday beheld a scene straight out of Scripture. Hearing the sound of a baby’s cry, he found a newborn wrapped in towels laying inside, of all places, the wooden manger of the church’s nativity scene.

The infant, who weighed about 5 pounds, still had his umbilical cord attached. As emergency crews arrived to take him to the Jamaica Hospital in Queens, his eyes remained closed, his slight arms outstretched towards the sky.

“For unto us a child is born,” Rev. Christopher Ryan Heanue announced on the parish’s Facebook page. “Let us pray for this child, for his parents and for whomever will receive him into their home.”

The identity of the baby’s mother is still unknown, though police told The New York Times that a video shows a woman arriving with the baby and departing without him. She likely entered the church between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., the period in which the custodian left the empty chapel for lunch.

Read the article “Newborn Baby Discovered in New York Church’s Nativity Scene” on washingtonpost.com.