If you haven’t yet had a chance to set up your Nativity scene, tonight would be a lovely time to gather as a family to do this. Styles vary from the traditional scene used for years at St. John's, to the more modern set used one year in the chapel of the church.
Another name for the Nativity scene is ‘creche’ and the tradition has been around for centuries. Painted frescos depicting the birth of Christ have been found in catacombs, dating from the 2nd Century! Three dimensional representations didn’t appear until the 13th Century. By then, the elements of the scene, as we know it, were established as Mary, Joseph, and the Infant, with ox, ass, shepherds and Wise Men. St. Francis of Assisi is credited with the first live Nativity when he filled a manger with hay and added live animals to the scene in 1223.
When I was growing up, we always put out the entire crèche scene when we set up the Christmas tree. Some families start with just the stable and perhaps a few sheep and shepherds. Over the next 10 days more and more participants will gather at the manger, until on Christmas Eve, the Christ Child is placed reverently in the manger. Even then the scene isn’t complete because the Wise Men don’t arrive until Epiphany (January 6).
Our tradition is to include not just the traditional sheep and shepherds, but also animals and figures that mean something to us as a family. There is the ceramic horse I’ve had since High School, a small ceramic elephant from my childhood, and some foreign dolls given me by my uncle from trips overseas. (This is just a portion of the entire scene.)
Our tradition is to include not just the traditional sheep and shepherds, but also animals and figures that mean something to us as a family. There is the ceramic horse I’ve had since High School, a small ceramic elephant from my childhood, and some foreign dolls given me by my uncle from trips overseas. (This is just a portion of the entire scene.)
We do put up the entire scene at the start, except that some years we haven’t put the Christ Child in the manger until Christmas. I’ve always thought it would be nice to develop the tradition of adding to the scene over the days before Christmas, but there is so much else happening, that we never did.
However you do your Nativity, let it be a time of peace and remembering the reason for our preparations and a reminder of the coming of the Prince of Peace.
See you tomorrow.
