There is a tradition that the first Nativity Creche or
Nativity Scene was produced by St. Francis of Assisi at Greccio, in central
Italy. The story is that, even in that day,
the festival of the birth of Jesus had been polluted by secular materialism and
that the development of the creche was an attempt by Francis to bring the focus
of the day back to faith.
“Nativity Scenes” come in all sizes and in a huge degree of elaboration. Some are simple, unpainted one-piece representations
of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. At the other
end of the scale are creches with large figures that depict the Holy Family,
shepherds, Magi, sheep accompanying the shepherds, camels in the presence of
the Magi, various barn animals associated with the manger of Jesus, angels and
others. I have a tree ornament that
represents the central three figures in silhouette. And I have seen creches in church sanctuaries
that were ¼ scale of real-life persons and animals. This does not take into account the so-called
“living Nativity” that some congregations present with live actors portraying
the characters of the story and real farm animals (and even camels) present to present
an extra layer of pageantry.
Each of these arrangements serves to present a visual expression
of the Nativity story. Some are broken
out in their entirety at the beginning of Advent. Other have a barn structure to which other
representations are added as the season progresses. Mary, Joseph and Jesus make their appearance
on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. The Magi
are not inserted until Epiphany – January 6.
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