Greccio: The First Nativity Crib

The crib we set up every December in our homes and churches has a birthplace — Greccio, a small village perched on the rocks of Italy's Rieti valley. On Christmas night in 1223, in a cave there, Francis created the world's first "living nativity."

Its 800th anniversary was celebrated in 2023. Setting up a crib is not merely a decorative custom; Francis teaches us that it is a deep spiritual lesson.

In the pages that follow we return to that winter night in the Rieti valley, listen to the earliest account of what happened there, and draw out three lessons for our own homes — closing with a practical way for families and parishes to build a crib "the Greccio way" this Christmas.

"I want to see with my own eyes the Child born in Bethlehem."

— Francis to John of Greccio, 1223

"I Want to See It with My Own Eyes"

Thomas of Celano, who wrote the first life of Francis, records this event in detail. About fifteen days before Christmas, Francis called his friend John of Greccio and said: "I wish to recall the memory of the Child who was born in Bethlehem, and to see with bodily eyes, as far as possible, the hardships he endured as an infant — how he lay in a manger, and how, with an ox and an ass standing by, he rested on the hay."

John prepared everything: a cave, a manger, hay, an ox and a donkey. There were no statues — some historians believe there was not even a figure of the Child. Only an empty manger, like our hearts waiting for God to come and fill them.

That Holy Night

Men and women came from the surrounding villages carrying torches and candles.

"The night was lit up like the day," Celano writes, and the woods rang with song. Mass was celebrated over the manger itself. Francis, a deacon, sang the Gospel and preached.

Whenever he spoke of "the Babe of Bethlehem," Celano tells us, he seemed to savour the sweetness of the words on his lips, and his voice sounded gentle as a lamb's. One man present saw a vision of Francis lifting a lifeless-looking child from the manger and waking it — a sign that Francis had awakened the Child Jesus who lay asleep in people's hearts.

"The night was lit up like the day, delightful to people and animals alike."

— Thomas of Celano, First Life of St Francis

Why a Crib?

For Francis the Incarnation was not just a doctrine but a reality you could touch. What moved him most was that the allpowerful God became a poor child lying in straw. "Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor" (2 Cor 8:9) became his rule of life. He even wished that on Christmas Day the walls be rubbed with meat if they could eat, that grain be scattered for the birds, and that animals be given extra food — a day on which all creation should rejoice!

A Spiritual Lesson in Simplicity

1. Love That Comes Down

God did not command from above; he came down and became one of us. In a world that seeks to climb, humility is God's way.

2. Less Is More

A manger, some hay, two animals. Only when we have little is there room for God. Are our homes and hearts overflowing?

3. A Feast for Everyone

Poor farmers, brothers, animals — all in one place. The crib leaves no one standing outside.

A Family Crib: A New Way

This year, try setting up your home crib "the Greccio way." Instead of expensive decorations, let the whole family build it together, from natural materials, with prayer.

Parishes can start a "One Crib, One Family" scheme: a family with means sets up a crib together with a poorer family and shares the Christmas meal with them.

• At the start of Advent, put out only the empty manger.
• For every good deed, add one piece of straw — a soft bed for the Child.
• No plastic: use clay, twigs, dried leaves and palm fronds.
• A place for the poor: keep an "empty seat" in the crib and give what it would cost to a family in need.
• On Christmas night, let the youngest child place the Infant in the manger.

"Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich."

— 2 Corinthians 8:9