Nativity Scene Analysis

The nativity scene. Taken place in Bethlehem in Judea, birthed from the Virgin Mother Mary. Also called the Creche, this scene is scene is seen or created by many all over the world nearing the holidays; made from ceramic to real people. The origin of this tremendous phenomenon rests in the hands of the great Saint Francis of Assisi.
First and foremost, a brief history of the creche, or nativity scene.The story of the nativity of Jesus is conveyed differently with slight details and differences through two of the four bibles: Matthew and Luke. As stated in from an online source,”The canonical gospels of Luke and Matthew both describe Jesus as born in Bethlehem in Judea, to a virgin mother. In the Gospel of Luke account, Joseph and Mary travel
from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, and Jesus is born there and laid in a manger. Angels proclaim him a savior for all people, and shepherds come to adore him. In the Matthew account, astronomers follow a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, born the King of the Jews. King Herod orders the massacre of all the boys less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth (en.wikipedia.org).” In both accounts of the birth, Jesus is praised in some way. Whether be as the King of the Jews or Angels proclaiming Him as the Savior for all people. The relevance of this information to the history of the creche is that it proves a baby named Jesus did truly exist in a place named Bethlehem what most likely happened during the birth of Jesus and what it most likely look like. It reveals that there is truth in the nativity scene.
“In the year 1223, St.
Francis, a deacon, was visiting the town of Grecio to celebrate Christmas. Grecio was a small town built on a mountainside overlooking a beautiful valley (catholiceducation.org).” On that night, St Francis created one of the best nativity scenes ever created. Whilst visiting this quaint little town for a Christmas mass, he went into the church and realized that it was too small to fit the whole of the inhabitants of the town into it. So nearby he found a niche to do mass in. “After gaining permission from the sovereign Pontiff, he set up an altar, prepared a manger, and brought hay, and an ox and an ass to the place appointed. The brethren were summoned, the people ran together, the forest resounded with their voices, and that venerable night was made glorious by many brilliant lights and sonorous psalms of praise (catholiceduction.com)” what this quote states is how St. Francis effectively started the tradition of the nativity scene. The mass he gave and the words he spoke gave such a great religious impact on the people that we still use the same stylized nativity today.
In summation, St. Francis was the first contributor to the tradition of the nativity scene.
The living nativity scene he created very prominently depicts the nativity in its physical sense and in its symbolic and religious sense. All in all, St. Francis of Assisi had so much passion and love for Christ and his religion that it not only beamed through his effort on the scene itself but his words of wisdom and faith in the mass itself was burnt into the minds of the people; creating a tradition that is still present in today’s
world.