The Story of the Christmas Crèche
Compiled
by Pauly Fongemie
Based
on THE CATHOLIC HEARTH, Dec. 1994 and the book,
RELIGIOUS
CUSTOMS by Fr. Francis Weiser, S. J., Available
from TAN
Books.
Of all the Christmas decorations we so lovingly place around our homes, the one that is indispensable as it is central to the meaning of Christmas, is the Crèche or Nativity Scene. And at the time it is assembled by the family, the story of the Birth of Our Lord ought to be retold every year. Children should be off to bed with visions of the Infant Savior in their hearts, not sugarplums in their heads. Where did this long-standing custom or tradition come from?
The Christ Child in the manger and other pictures of the story of Bethlehem have been used in church services from the first centuries. But the crib in its present form and its use outside the church originated with St. Francis of Assisi. Through his famous celebration at Greccio, Italy, on Christmas Eve, 1223, with a Bethlehem scene including live animals, he made the crib popular. Since then it has been a familiar sight in Christian homes all over the world.
The crib should be a cherished part of the Christmas celebration in every family. It is not only completely religious in significance, but also presents to the children in a beautiful way the Birth of our Lord and Savior, assuming the character of a religious shrine in the houses of the faithful during Christmas season. It should be placed in an honored position, on a table or on some other support, not too high for the children to see it easily. Dignified decorations might enhance its attraction and solemnity.
It was, and still is, the custom to "unveil" the crib on Christmas Eve in a ceremony of spiritual significance. Parents and children gather before the crib or Nativity crèche, and one of the older children reads the Gospel of Bethlehem [Luke 2]. Then prayers are said and a Christmas carol is sung. At the conclusion of this simple rite, the members of the family wish each other a blessed and merry Christmas. It is at this moment that Christmas really begins in the home. Everything that went before was only preparation. This is the beginning of the Feast, and its high points will be Mass and Communion a few hours later.
A crib for the
family should be procured with care and loving effort. The setting
could
easily be created at the hobby bench during the evenings of Advent,
Father
and children helping together and using their imagination concerning
the
various details of structure, style and shape. The figures of the Holy
Family, of shepherds and Magi and animals, may best be bought in a
store.
Once acquired, they can be used for many successive years.
The crèche scene
is a Christmas card from Trademark: www.catholicstationery.com
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FRAME AND GLITTER WERE ADDED, AS WELL AS THE TEXT.
The history of the Christmas crèche in art and literature is a story in of itself, but the real turning point was St. Francis of Assisi's inspiration. For the Saint, Christmas had always been the Feast of Feasts, yet he did not think it had been celebrated as it could have been, The poverty of Christ had become lost in the extravagance of the Christmas festivities An idea occurred to him and while on a visit to Rome, he received permission from the Pontiff to put his idea to work.
The story of how St. Francis of Assisi "invented" the crib is so delightful and inspiring that it might be told or read to the children every year. We give here the account in the very words of Brother Thomas de Celano, who was there when it happened and who wrote it down:
