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 Christmas 2023: The Greccio Nativity Scott 1843-1844 (2023) As we settle in on Christmas Eve, I am sure many of our readers have set up their Nativity sets to remember the humble and mystical setting of Christ’s birth. A wooden manger, statues of the shepherds and their livestock, the Three Wise Men, and Mary and Joseph around the creche holding the Baby Jesus—these are the components of our homage to the birth of our Savior. But how did this tradition start? Let’s go back over 800 years to find our answer. In 1221, Saint Francis of Assisi had returned to Italy following his time in the Holy Land. From 1219, he had traveled through the region during the time of the Fifth Crusade. One famous event during this trip was a meeting with the Sultan of Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan. His intervention did not succeed, but he gained the respect and admiration of the Sultan. Francis also formed the foundation for the presence of the Franciscan order in the area, which exists to this day. During his trip, Saint Francis had also visited Bethlehem, and as he returned to Italy he wanted to recreate and commemorate the birth of Jesus. This led Saint Francis to develop what was a new idea. To celebrate the birth of Jesus and animate the experience of the Nativity, he decided to recreate the first Christmas scene with people in the roles of the participants and live animals in the manger. He had stopped in the village of Greccio, which lies about 95 kilometers south of his friary in Assisi. Here he chose a hilltop grotto as the setting for the recreation. He had reportedly been to the exact site of Christ's birth, so he was familiar with the simple nature of the scene that had existed some twelve centuries earlier.  Nativity Scene by Arnolfo di Cambio Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome Photo by Hugo DK From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license The scene created at Greccio captured the simplicity, poverty and humility of the first Christmas, much as we all think of it today as we gaze at our own Nativity sets. The concept created in Greccio eventually led, in 1291, to the first Franciscan pope, Nicholas IV, commissioning the production of statues to reproduce the Nativity scene. This Nativity scene above, by Arnolfo di Cambio, is the first permanent presentation of the Nativity, and can be seen to this day at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. That Basilica also houses the “Saccra Culla”, or “Holy Crib” of Bethlehem, a reliquary which contains wood from the crib which held the Baby Jesus. Our Nativity sets come in all shapes and sizes, and they may not be grand and elaborate. But they capture the spirit of the first Christmas, and we have the humble and great Saint Francis of Assisi to thank for that. Best wishes for a peaceful and wonderful Christmas Eve, and for a joyous and Merry Christmas!  Christmas 2023 Booklet Pane REFERENCE: |
