One witness, among the crowd that gathered for this event, reported that Francis included a carved doll which cried tears of joy and “seemed to be awakened from sleep when the blessed Father Francis embraced Him in both arms.” As part of his preparations, Francis “made ready a manger, and bade hay, together with an ox and an ass,” in the small Italian town of Greccio. (CCO public domain)Īccording to Bonaventure, Francis in 1223 CE sought permission from Pope Honorious III to do something “for the kindling of devotion” to the birth of Christ. Credit: Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, Assisi, Italy. St Francis of Assisi preparing the Christmas crib at Greccio. Today, Franciscans minister by serving to the material and spiritual needs of the poor and socially marginalized. In 1209, he founded the mendicant order of the Franciscans, a religious group that dedicated themselves to works of charity. But Francis rejected his family wealth early in his life and cast off his garments in the public square. Much of what scholars know about Francis comes from Life of St Francis, written by the 13th-century theologian and philosopher St Bonaventure.įrancis was born into a merchant family in the Umbrian town of Assisi around 1181 CE. Originsīut the Nativity scene now recreated in town squares and churches worldwide was originally conceived by St Francis of Assisi, a hill town in modern-day Italy. This description, subsequently cited in several medieval Christian texts, created the Christmas story popular today. It described how the “most blessed Mary went forth out of the cave and entering a stable, placed the child in the stall, and the ox and the ass adored Him.” This text was the first to mention the presence of animals at Jesus’ birth.
PICTURES OF A MANGER SERIES
Animals first start to appear in religious texts around the seventh century.Ī series of early Christian stories that informed popular religious devotion – including what’s known as the Infancy Gospel of Matthew – attempted to fill in the gap between Christ’s infancy and the beginning of his public ministry. The Gospel of Luke says that when the shepherds went to Bethlehem, they “found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.” Matthew tells the story of the three wise men, or Magi, who “fell down” in worship and offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.īut as my research on the relationship between the New Testament and the development of popular Christian traditions shows, the earliest biblical descriptions do not mention the presence of any animals. The earliest biblical descriptions, the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, written between 80 CE and 100 CE, offer details of Jesus’ birth, including that he was born in Bethlehem during the reign of King Herod. One might ask, what are the origins of this tradition? Biblical description
PICTURES OF A MANGER MOVIE