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When I was a little boy, I would crawl under the Christmas tree and play with the figures in our family’s nativity set. Our stable was brilliant. It had all the figures, including quite a few animals, and even had a loft for the animals to look down from. I loved rearranging the figures and pretending the story was happening while I moved all the animals around and voiced the characters.
To a child, a nativity set (particularly if it’s tucked up under the magical evergreen branches of a lit Christmas tree) is full of wonder and imagination. Even as an adult, I appreciate the nativity and enjoy watching my own children move the figures around (our nativity set is pretty good, but it doesn’t have a loft).
The kids particularly like hiding the baby Jesus until Christmas Day and moving the wise men around the house to mimic their journey until Epiphany.
The Church I used to pastor was named in honor of the Epiphany, so we always made a big deal of celebrating that great feast. We had large figurines of Magi that would “move” along the side aisle of the church from day to day until, finally, on January 6, they made it to the side of Christ. We had a big nativity set in the back of Church and, more than once as I came in the doors to begin the opening procession for Mass, I caught sight of a child petting a camel or even kneeling down to gently kiss the Christ child. I loved the sight of parents pausing there to pray with their young children for baby Jesus.
(View the Photo Gallery at the end of this article to see images of Nativity scenes from around the world.)
The earliest depictions of the Nativity
The nativity set has become a beloved tradition in every home and church. But it hasn’t always been this way. Nativity sets didn’t exist in the early Church. At first, the only depictions of Christ in the crib were paintings, and even then they were rare. This is because, until Constantine legalized Christianity, sacred art had to be kept secret, so the earliest nativity art are simple figures that carved, of all places, into caskets of the deceased. These caskets were hidden away from the prying eyes of the Roman authorities in crypts.
Those early depictions of the nativity are simpler than the whole menagerie of animals and shepherds and angels that we now have. They had the Christ child, of course, usually swaddled in a manger, but Mary and Joseph weren’t always present. It was more important to include an ox and a donkey!
It seems odd, but there’s a good reason for it. Isaiah 1:3 says, “The ox knows its master,/ the donkey its owner’s manger.” And Habakkuk 3:2 says, “In the midst of two beasts you will be known.” These two verses are prophecies of the nativity, and the early theologians of the Church enjoyed allegorizing them as images of the Jewish people and the pagans coming to the crib to adore Christ.
A growing stable of participants
As time went on, the picture developed, and more characters and iconographic meanings were introduced. The crib was made to look like a church altar, the wise men appeared with their gifts, and Christ began to glow with holy light. This last detail is courtesy of St. Bridget, who in the 14th century famously received a vision in which she saw the Virgin Mary kneel down, “with great veneration in an attitude of prayer… I saw the child in her womb move and suddenly in a moment she gave birth to her son, from whom radiated such an ineffable light and splendor, that the sun was not comparable to it.”
St. Joseph, meanwhile, was given all sorts of different tasks over the years. He was shown as fast asleep (!), building a fire, holding a candle as in St. Bridget’s vision, kneeling in adoration, or busily preparing the crib. As the scene gained complexity, shepherds began arriving and, at some point, the Magi arrived and joined the party.
Adding a third dimension
What started as painted and carved decorations on caskets, walls, and canvas eventually made the leap to three-dimensions. St. Francis of Assisi is widely credited with the creation of nativity sets, and to this very day the Franciscans have a deep devotion to prayer before nativities. Francis loved the simple beauty of the scene.
I think it must also have appealed to his imagination. To be able to touch the Christ child, even knowing it’s an artistic representation, helps focus prayer, much like that child I saw kissing the baby Jesus in the nativity set in my church.
I’m not sure when the tradition began exactly, but one further development that’s worth mentioning is the “living nativity,” in which the parts are played by real people and animals. I once played the part of Joseph in a living nativity. For hours I stood in the cold December air. After a while, I began to feel something of the mood of Joseph. How unsure of himself he must have felt, how exposed to the elements, how tired (maybe that’s the secret behind the unflattering depiction of him sleeping, it’s a way of showing how immense his vocation really was).
The serious business of Incarnation
Over the years, as I’ve learned more about the nativity, how it developed and the meaning behind the various depictions of the figures, I’ve come to realize that when I played with those little figurines as a child, it was more serious business than I would’ve ever guessed.
The arrival of Christ is so powerful an event that the Incarnation expands and fills the whole earth. What was begun on that night when God took on flesh was nothing less than the redemption of the world and the founding of a Church made in his image. A small child playing with small nativity toys is emblematic of the small baby who is at the heart of the celebration. What seems insignificant can actually be the first event in changing the course of history.
Every day, through our prayers, the sacraments, and evangelization, the Body of Christ grows. It takes on more solid form and solidity. It’s as if the love of God is so intense that it had no other option that to take on flesh, to mature and expand as it becomes ever more real.
View the PHOTO GALLERY below to see images of Nativity scenes from around the world.
And today we celebrate...