This year marks the 800th anniversary of the first nativity scene, a tradition practiced worldwide by countless households and churches displaying figures recreating Jesus’ birth.
Nativity scenes have become synonymous with the Christmas season as each year millions put together different variations portraying the birth of Jesus. The tradition dates back to 1223 after St. Francis of Assisi visited the Holy Land and wanted to recreate what he saw for his friends and family in Italy.
“St. Francis of Assisi went to Bethlehem and was moved by the nativity scene and wanted to help people to understand what it looked like, to get a feel for the humble nature of Jesus birth,” Jeffery Kloha, chief curatorial officer at Museum of the Bible explained to CBN News.
At Christmas mass, St. Francis staged a live reproduction of the scene of Jesus’ birth complete with animals, actors, and a hay-filled manger outside the town of Greccio, Italy.
“He wanted to share with the people of Greccio this beautiful ceremony of the Nativity,” said Melissa Carey, CEO of The Christmas Cabinet. “And it’s so interesting because of the bales of hay that he put forward in front of this cave. People would bring their
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