WHEN IS THE CHRISTMAS NATIVITY SET UP?

For this reason, the first thing we will do in this article is tell you a little about how the tradition of setting up the Christmas Nativity began. It’s a story you will love!

When did the tradition of setting up the Christmas Nativity begin?

The tradition of setting up Christmas Nativities has its roots in the Middle Ages and is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi. According to history, Saint Francis created the first living Nativity at Christmas in 1223 in the Italian town of Greccio. Saint Francis wanted to highlight the humility and simplicity of the birth of Jesus, and to do so, he recreated the scene with people and live animals in a manger.

What is the origin of the Christmas Nativity?

At Christmas in 1223 in Greccio, Italy, Saint Francis of Assisi represented the birth of the Child Jesus in a manger. With the permission of Pope Honorius III, and so that he could contemplate with his own eyes “how poor and humble Jesus chose to be out of love for us,” Saint Francis set up a manger with straw, a real donkey and ox, and with the local inhabitants represented the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, the shepherds, and the angels.

According to Saint Francis’s first biographer, Thomas of Celano, that night a wonderful vision was added to the simple and moving scene, as one of those present saw the Child Jesus Himself lying in the manger. From that Nativity of Christmas 1223, “everyone returned to their homes filled with joy.”

From that moment on, the representation of the holy Nativity became popular throughout the Christian world, either live or with figures of different sizes, materials, and prices.

What is the tradition of the Nativity like?

After Saint Francis of Assisi set up the first Nativity in 13th-century Italy, it became customary in the Catholic world to remember that sublime moment of the birth of the Child Jesus through the creation of figures representing the scene of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. Nativity images are sacred, and before them we pray and meditate on the divine mysteries.

The idea of setting up a family Nativity arose so that its members may pray and admire God’s plan to save us through His Son, born in the humble stable of Bethlehem.

When is the Christmas Nativity set up?

Now that you know the origin and history of the Christmas Nativity, we share a proposal with the ideal date to set it up and experience a very special time as a family. Therefore, we suggest that the Christmas Nativity begin to be set up on the First Sunday of Advent, a very special day in the Catholic Liturgy, because it marks the beginning of the waiting for the coming of Jesus.