A mother has abandoned her new born baby in a church in Queens, New York. Take note: the baby was found in the church's nativity manger scene next to the Virgin Mary - where baby Jesus was also found on Christmas morning. A Christmas miracle?

According to The Washington Post, a new born baby, with its umbilical cord still attached to it, was found in Holy Child of Jesus Church in Richmond Hill section of Queens, New York. The baby was left in a Christmas nativity manger and was wrapped in a towel.

Like Us on Facebook

In a report by New York Daily News, the 5-pound baby is said to have been found by a 60-year-old church custodian Jose Moran. Moran reportedly just got back from his lunch break at 1 p.m., when he was sweeping and heard a baby crying. Thinking that someone might be inside the church with a baby, Moran went back to sweeping.

"I was in the church sweeping," he told the New York Daily News. "Then I hear a child crying. I didn't make much of it. I thought there was somebody in the church with a child."

"I looked around and didn't see anyone," he said. "That got me curious. I followed the cries. I walked to the little nativity home we had installed inside the church ... I couldn't believe my eyes. The baby was wrapped in towels. He still had his umbilical cord. He was next to the Virgin (Mary)."

According to Moran, the setup of the nativity manger has just finished before the baby was found.

Despite the fact that the child was abandoned, Moran is still thankful that the baby was left in a safe place and wasn't allowed him to die somewhere else.

"At least whoever abandoned him brought him to a safe place and didn't leave him to die," he said.

The child has been named Baby Jesus. Baby Jesus was given a clean bill of health at Jamaica Hospital and is now under the Administration of Children's Services' care while the search for the mother goes on.

Father Christopher Heanue said the mother of the baby saying must be going through a very tough time in her life that she decided to leave abandon her child. He also stated that the mother might have thought about the manger as the ideal home for her son - just as where Baby Jesus was placed when he was born.

"God works in mysterious ways," Father Christopher Heanue said on Tuesday. "(The child's mother) must have been in a difficult place in her life. She found in this crèche ... this empty place where Jesus will be in a few weeks ... as a home for her son."

Brooklyn-Queens Diocese spokeswoman Rocio Fidalgo also expressed sympathy for the baby's mother.

"We can't imagine the desperation she must have gone through, but placing the baby in the manger where Jesus is born ... she wanted him to be close to Christ," she said. "We may never meet her, but our prayers are with her."

A parishioner in the church has offered to adopt Baby Jesus. Father Heanue also said that he welcomes the baby as a part of their community.

"This child was ... a kind of gift to the church in a poetic way, so we'd love to see it stay in the community," Heanue said.

TagsBaby Jesus, Nativity manger scene, Jose Moran, Father Christopher Heanue, queens, Queens New York, Holy Child of Jesus Church, Mom Abandons Baby in New York City Nativity Manger, Christmas Miracle, Rocio Fidalgo, Baby Adandoned Nativity Scene Queens Church