Nativity scenes are ubiquitous and beloved parts of the celebration of Christmas, not just in churches but in private homes and sometimes businesses. The representation of Christ’s birth reminds us what Christmas is most truly about. But the next time you see a lovely crèche, remember to thank St. Francis of Assisi, who arranged the very first Nativity scene in the year 1223 A.D.
St. Francis was a saint particularly renowned for his humility and childlike faith. He was never ordained a priest, believing himself to be unworthy, and yet he had a major impact on history for the better — including through his religious order, the Franciscans. According to St. Bonaventure and the Catholic Company, St. Francis came up with the idea of presenting a Nativity scene to Italians in 1223 after returning from a journey to the Holy Land. While there, he saw the spot in Bethlehem where Christ was born.
After receiving permission from the pope to go ahead with his idea, St. Francis excitedly prepared the Nativity scene that he hoped would make the first Christmas come alive for the locals. St. Francis of Assisi even brought a live ox and donkey to the manger to make the scene as realistic as possible. St. Bonaventure, a follower of Francis, wrote:
The brethren were summoned, the people ran together, the forest resounded with their voices, and that venerable night was made glorious by many and brilliant lights and sonorous psalms of praise. . .The man of God [St. Francis] stood before the manger, full of devotion and piety, bathed in tears and radiant with joy; the Holy Gospel was chanted by Francis, the Levite of Christ. Then he preached to the people around the nativity of the poor King; and being unable to utter His name for the tenderness of His love, He called Him the Babe of Bethlehem.
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Francis explained his motivations: “I want to do something that will recall the memory of that Child who was born in Bethlehem, to see with bodily eyes the inconveniences of his infancy, how he lay in the manger, and how the ox and ass stood by.” God was willing to suffer to help mankind.
Jesus must have been pleased with St. Francis’s joyful faith and passionate love, because it is said He miraculously appeared as a baby in the empty manger, to make Francis’s Nativity scene as much like the first Christmas as possible:
“A certain valiant and veracious soldier, Master John of Grecio, who, for the love of Christ, had left the warfare of this world, and become a dear friend of this holy man, affirmed that he beheld an Infant marvellously beautiful, sleeping in the manger, Whom the blessed Father Francis embraced with both his arms, as if he would awake Him from sleep.
This vision of the devout soldier is credible, not only by reason of the sanctity of him that saw it, but by reason of the miracles which afterwards confirmed its truth.
For example of Francis, if it be considered by the world, is doubtless sufficient to excite all hearts which are negligent in the faith of Christ; and the hay of that manger, being preserved by the people, miraculously cured all diseases of cattle, and many other pestilences; God thus in all things glorifying his servant, and witnessing to the great efficacy of his holy prayers by manifest prodigies and miracles.”
The Nativity scene was so popular that churches and then homes across Italy soon set up their own, and the tradition spread to other countries, too. Just as humanity had a whole new relationship with God when God became man and was born as a little baby in Bethlehem, Nativity scenes make the birth of Christ more personal and real to Christians than anything else. So this Christmas, set up a Nativity scene in your home or yard and experience the same loving joy that St. Francis of Assisi felt as he held the Christ Child in his arms.
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