Our Own Little Greccio

Have you ever heard the origins of the Nativity Scene? Have they been around for the entire 2,000 years of Christianity? Where exactly did it come from? The Nativity Scene as we know it today has actually been a custom since the thirteenth century. In fact, this year is the 800th anniversary of the very first one. It was St. Francis of Assisi who set up the first Creche in Greccio, Italy on Christmas Eve in 1223. He was passing through the area after going to Rome for the approval of his Third Rule. Christmas was only a couple of weeks away when he had the idea. He asked the pope’s blessing for his idea, and then sought the help of a nobleman to make a suitable space for the Creche. He then had a Baby Jesus made out of wax, and the nobleman’s ox and donkey were put into service, too.

The townsfolk were all excited about this and some volunteered for various roles. Everyone came out on the freezing cold Christmas Eve, with their torches making the area quite bright. They had Midnight Mass there, and St. Francis read the Gospel and preached a homily as he was a deacon. It is because of this event that we know for certain that he was a deacon. At the end of his homily, he went toward the Child Jesus in the manger to pick him up and kiss him. At that moment the Nobleman Giovanni Velita actually saw the Child Jesus wake up and look at St. Francis with a smile. Only the two of them saw Baby Jesus appear.

A further miracle from Greccio was that many people took straw from the manger home with them, and miracles occurred. There were both people and animals cured by the hay from that scene. In some places, people continue the tradition of taking a piece of straw home with them from a blessed manger scene. From the time of St. Francis’ first Nativity Scene, the custom has gone around the world to set up similar Nativity Scenes. Italy is especially known to be quite extravagant!

Now, some say Nativity Scenes were around several centuries before St. Francis, but a quick look at what they were talking about showed the scenes (as a mosaic in Santa Maria in Trastevere Rome) is really an Epiphany Scene. What’s the difference? For centuries, Epiphany was considered a higher feast than Christmas. The Epiphany Scene depicted Mary with the Child Jesus and the Wise Men with their gifts. The Wise Men represent all the other nations besides the people of the Promised Land.

Here at Casa Maria, our breezeway nativity scene is put up each year by December 8th. Somehow, it seems traditional that “Tree Day” is always a very cold day as we set up our little forest. In the cold, more critters keep making places for themselves in the hay! This year, you will see a special guest in our nativity scene, in memory of Greccio.