VATICAN CITY (RNS) — A life-size crèche representing the Nativity will be unveiled at St. Peter’s Square on Saturday (Dec. 9), celebrating the 800th anniversary of a Catholic tradition long since adopted by Christians across denominations.The crèche has enjoyed great popularity in Italy and beyond ever since St. Francis of Assisi created the first one in 1223 in the town of Greccio, near Rome. The saint, known for his life of poverty, his love for creation and his efforts for peace in the Holy Land, had recently received the approval of his Rule for the Franciscan friars from Pope Honorius III.
In the rocky terrain of Greccio, St. Francis saw similarities to the Holy Land and asked the friars to help him bring the scene of Christ’s birth to life. “I would like to remember that Child who was born in Bethlehem, and somehow glimpse with the eyes of my body the hardships he experienced due to the lack of the things necessary for a newborn; how he was laid in a manger and how he lay on the hay between the ox and the donkey,” Francis said, according to his biographer, the Franciscan Friar Tommaso da Celano.
Many came to help Francis, carrying lamps …
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In the rocky terrain of Greccio, St. Francis saw similarities to the Holy Land and asked the friars to help him bring the scene of Christ’s birth to life. “I would like to remember that Child who was born in Bethlehem, and somehow glimpse with the eyes of my body the hardships he experienced due to the lack of the things necessary for a newborn; how he was laid in a manger and how he lay on the hay between the ox and the donkey,” Francis said, according to his biographer, the Franciscan Friar Tommaso da Celano.
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