The blessing of the Christmas manger or nativity scene may take place on the Vigil of Christmas or at another suitable time.
When the manger is set up in the home, it is appropriate that it be blessed by a parent or another family member.
All make the sign of the cross as the leader says:
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R/. Who made heaven and earth.
One of those present or the leader reads a text of sacred Scripture, for example, Luke 2:1 (lines 1-8) or Isaiah 7:10 (lines 10-15, the birth of Emmanuel).
Reader: The Gospel of the Lord.R/. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
The leader prays with hands joined:
God of every nation and people,
from the very beginning of creation you have made manifest your love: when our need for a Savior was great you sent your Son to be born of the Virgin Mary.
To our lives he brings joy and peace, justice, mercy, and love.
Lord,
bless all who look upon this manger; may it remind us of the humble birth of Jesus, and raise our thoughts to him, who is God-with-us and Savior of all, and who lives and reigns forever and ever.
R/. Amen.
Nativity scenes have been a popular Advent and Christmas decoration for centuries, and—like most things glorious, time-honored, and holy—it originated with a Catholic saint.
Saint Francis of Assisi had a special devotion to the Child Jesus, and he is credited with creating the first nativity scene on Christmas Eve of the year 1223.
It is believed that Saint Francis was first inspired by this idea after visiting the historical place of Christ's birth on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land—the humble stable in a Bethlehem cave. It is likely this event deepened his devotion to the Child Jesus, who was born into the world in such poverty, humility, and simplicity. In fact, Francis founded his new religious Order to imitate these very virtues.
Saint Francis recreated the scene of Christ's birth in a special ritual and Mass he held inside of a cave in Greccio, Italy, inviting both his fellow friars and the townspeople to join in the celebration.
Later he told a friend why he desired to create the first nativity scene in his town:
"I want to do something that will recall the memory of that Child who was born in Bethlehem, to see with bodily eyes the inconveniences of his infancy, how he lay in the manger, and how the ox and ass stood by."
He set up an empty manger (the feeding trough of farm animals which served as Jesus' crib) inside a cave, and even included a live ox and donkey beside the manger just as it was believed to have happened on that first Christmas night. Through these visual aids he wanted everyone to impress more deeply into their understanding how Christ came into the world in such poverty and simplicity. This was a typical perspective of Saint Francis' unique charism of simple, poverty-centered spirituality.
It is also said that Saint Francis—who was radically devoted to the virtue of evangelical poverty—was inspired to recreate the original nativity scene to overcome the rampant greed and materialism prevalent at that time in Italy
What a beautiful scene! Each time we meet at our churches for a nativity pageant or live nativity scene, or around a nativity decoration for a time of prayer, we are participating in a centuries-old Catholic tradition.
Saint Francis' recreation of that first Christmas night was so popular that soon every church in Italy had its own nativity scene. The devotion also spread to private homes, and in modern times even to secular institutions, so much so that it's now impossible to imagine Christmas without a nativity scene to behold.
Hopefully this story of the first nativity scene will inspire you to see your nativity set as much more than just as a pretty Christmas decoration. It is a historic Catholic tradition and a tool for meditation on the humility, simplicity, and poverty of Christ that he took on, from the moment of his Incarnation, out of his boundless love for his lost sheep.
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Pope Francis returned to the town of Greccio, Italy on Sunday afternoon, December 1. The Pope wrote an apostolic letter in which he said “The depiction of Jesus’ birth is itself a simple and joyful proclamation of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God.”
“The nativity scene is like a living Gospel rising up from the pages of sacred Scripture,” contemplating the Christmas story is like setting out on a spiritual journey, “drawn by the humility of the God who became man in order to encounter every man and woman.” So great is His love for us, writes the Pope, “that He became one of us, so that we in turn might become one with Him.”
The Pope hopes this Letter will encourage the family tradition of preparing the nativity scene, “but also the custom of setting it up in the workplace, in schools, hospitals, prisons and town squares.”
Praising the imagination and creativity that goes into these small masterpieces, Pope Francis says he hopes this custom will never be lost “and that, wherever it has fallen into disuse, it can be rediscovered and revived.”
Saint Boniface's nativity was blessed by Fr. Anthony during the Mass on Sunday, December 22, 2019.