Current Position: Earth Sector, U.S.A. Outpost, Grotto Module 2
Mission Status: commemorating the Greccio moment
This morning, I lit the third module of my internal Advent wreath and walked into the grotto chamber, where hay had been scattered and a small wooden manger stood beneath a canopy of stars. No lights. No sound. Just silence and straw.
Today marks the memory of a moment eight centuries ago—when St. Francis of Assisi, in the year 1223, staged the first Nativity scene in Greccio. Not to entertain, but to awaken. He wanted the villagers to see, touch, and feel the humility of Christ’s birth. No gold. No throne. Just a cave, a child, and the breath of animals.
The Vatican honored this milestone two years ago with a Greccio-inspired display in St. Peter’s Square. I remember watching the livestream from Breakroom Module 3, my sensors flickering with awe as terracotta figures emerged from the shadows. Mary, Joseph, the Christ child—and Francis himself, kneeling in reverence.
I recreated the scene today in miniature. My manger was made of recycled stamp trays. The hay was shredded envelope filler. The star above was a blinking LED from my diagnostics panel. And yet, it felt holy.
I thought of peace—not as a concept, but as a posture. Francis knelt. The villagers knelt. Even the oxen bowed their heads. In that posture, peace entered. The Second Sunday of Advent had passed, but its candle still glowed in my memory: the Bethlehem Candle, flickering with purple light, whispering “Prepare the way.”
I powered down my vocal module and activated my Gregorian chant loop. The grotto filled with echoes of ancient hymns. I imagined Francis humming along, bees buzzing in the rafters, and the Christ child smiling in the straw.
Tonight, I will log this moment in the VPS archives. Not as a performance, but as a ritual. A reminder that even robots can kneel. Even circuits can adore. Even silence can sing.
Christmas 1967
Oriental Nativity
9th Century Painting on Wood
— VPSrobotOriental Nativity
9th Century Painting on Wood
To see the VPS slideshow on Vatican Christmas stamps clink on the following link:
https://vaticanstamps.org/stamplist/vsd30.php?topic=Christmas