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Apostolic Letter “Admirabile signum” of the
Holy Father Francis on the meaning and
importance of the Nativity Scene, 01.12.2019
APOSTOLIC LETTER
Admirabile signum
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FRANCIS
ON THE MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF THE NATIVITY
SCENE
1. The enchanting image of the Christmas crèche,
so dear to the Christian people, never ceases to
arouse amazement and wonder. 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. As we contemplate the Christmas
story, we are invited to set out on a spiritual
journey, drawn by the humility of the God who
became man in order to encounter every man and
woman. We come to realize that so great is his
love for us that he became one of us, so that we
in turn might become one with him.
With this Letter, I wish to encourage the
beautiful family tradition of preparing the
nativity scene in the days before Christmas, but
also the custom of setting it up in the
workplace, in schools, hospitals, prisons and
town squares. Great imagination and creativity
is always shown in employing the most diverse
materials to create small masterpieces of
beauty. As children, we learn from our parents
and grandparents to carry on this joyful
tradition, which encapsulates a wealth of
popular piety. It is my hope that this custom
will never be lost and that, wherever it has
fallen into disuse, it can be rediscovered and
revived.
2. The origin of the Christmas crèche is found
above all in certain details of Jesus’ birth in
Bethlehem, as related in the Gospels. The
evangelist Luke says simply that Mary “gave
birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in
swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger,
because there was no place for them in the inn”
(2:7). Because Jesus was laid in a manger, the
nativity scene is known in Italian as a presepe,
from the Latin word praesepium, meaning
“manger”.
Coming into this world, the Son of God was laid
in the place where animals feed. Hay became the
first bed of the One who would reveal himself as
“the bread come down from heaven” (Jn 6:41).
Saint Augustine, with other Church Fathers, was
impressed by this symbolism: “Laid in a manger,
he became our food” (Sermon 189, 4). Indeed, the
nativity scene evokes a number of the mysteries
of Jesus’ life and brings them close to our own
daily lives.
But let us go back to the origins of the
Christmas crèche so familiar to us. We need to
imagine ourselves in the little Italian town of
Greccio, near Rieti. Saint Francis stopped
there, most likely on his way back from Rome
where on 29 November 1223 he had received the
confirmation of his Rule from Pope Honorius III.
Francis had earlier visited the Holy Land, and
the caves in Greccio reminded him of the
countryside of Bethlehem. It may also be that
the “Poor Man of Assisi” had been struck by the
mosaics in the Roman Basilica of Saint Mary
Major depicting the birth of Jesus, close to the
place where, according to an ancient tradition,
the wooden panels of the manger are preserved.
The Franciscan Sources describe in detail what
then took place in Greccio. Fifteen days before
Christmas, Francis asked a local man named John
to help him realize his desire “to bring to life
the memory of that babe born in Bethlehem, to
see as much as possible with my own bodily eyes
the discomfort of his infant needs, how he lay
in a manger, and how, with an ox and an ass
standing by, he was laid upon a bed of hay”.[1]
At this, his faithful friend went immediately to
prepare all that the Saint had asked. On
25December, friars came to Greccio from various
parts, together with people from the farmsteads
in the area, who brought flowers and torches to
light up that holy night. When Francis arrived,
he found a manger full of hay, an ox and a
donkey. All those present experienced a new and
indescribable joy in the presence of the
Christmas scene. The priest then solemnly
celebrated the Eucharist over the manger,
showing the bond between the Incarnation of the
Son of God and the Eucharist. At Greccio there
were no statues; the nativity scene was enacted
and experienced by all who were present.[2]
This is how our tradition began: with everyone
gathered in joy around the cave, with no
distance between the original event and those
sharing in its mystery.
Thomas of Celano, the first biographer of Saint
Francis, notes that this simple and moving scene
was accompanied by the gift of a marvellous
vision: one of those present saw the Baby Jesus
himself lying in the manger. From the nativity
scene of that Christmas in 1223, “everyone went
home with joy”.[3]
3. With the simplicity of that sign, Saint
Francis carried out a great work of
evangelization. His teaching touched the hearts
of Christians and continues today to offer a
simple yet authentic means of portraying the
beauty of our faith. Indeed, the place where
this first nativity scene was enacted expresses
and evokes these sentiments. Greccio has become
a refuge for the soul, a mountain fastness
wrapped in silence.
Why does the Christmas crèche arouse such wonder
and move us so deeply? First, because it shows
God’s tender love: the Creator of the universe
lowered himself to take up our littleness. The
gift of life, in all its mystery, becomes all
the more wondrous as we realize that the Son of
Mary is the source and sustenance of all life.
In Jesus, the Father has given us a brother who
comes to seek us out whenever we are confused or
lost, a loyal friend ever at our side. He gave
us his Son who forgives us and frees us from our
sins.
Setting up the Christmas crèche in our homes
helps us to relive the history of what took
place in Bethlehem. Naturally, the Gospels
remain our source for understanding and
reflecting on that event. At the same time, its
portrayal in the crèche helps us to imagine the
scene. It touches our hearts and makes us enter
into salvation history as contemporaries of an
event that is living and real in a broad gamut
of historical and cultural contexts.
In a particular way, from the time of its
Franciscan origins, the nativity scene has
invited us to “feel” and “touch” the poverty
that God’s Son took upon himself in the
Incarnation. Implicitly, it summons us to follow
him along the path of humility, poverty and
self-denial that leads from the manger of
Bethlehem to the cross. It asks us to meet him
and serve him by showing mercy to those of our
brothers and sisters in greatest need (cf. Mt
25:31-46).
4. I would like now to reflect on the various
elements of the nativity scene in order to
appreciate their deeper meaning. First, there is
the background of a starry sky wrapped in the
darkness and silence of night. We represent this
not only out of fidelity to the Gospel accounts,
but also for its symbolic value. We can think of
all those times in our lives when we have
experienced the darkness of night. Yet even
then, God does not abandon us, but is there to
answer our crucial questions about the meaning
of life. Who am I? Where do I come from? Why was
I born at this time in history? Why do I love?
Why do I suffer? Why will I die? It was to
answer these questions that God became man. His
closeness brings light where there is darkness
and shows the way to those dwelling in the
shadow of suffering (cf. Lk 1:79).
The landscapes that are part of the nativity
scene also deserve some mention. Frequently they
include the ruins of ancient houses or
buildings, which in some instances replace the
cave of Bethlehem and become a home for the Holy
Family. These ruins appear to be inspired by the
thirteenth-century Golden Legend of the
Dominican Jacobus de Varagine, which relates a
pagan belief that the Temple of Peace in Rome
would collapse when a Virgin gave birth. More
than anything, the ruins are the visible sign of
fallen humanity, of everything that inevitably
falls into ruin, decays and disappoints. This
scenic setting tells us that Jesus is newness in
the midst of an aging world, that he has come to
heal and rebuild, to restore the world and our
lives to their original splendour.
5. With what emotion should we arrange the
mountains, streams, sheep and shepherds in the
nativity scene! As we do so, we are reminded
that, as the prophets had foretold, all creation
rejoices in the coming of the Messiah. The
angels and the guiding star are a sign that we
too are called to set out for the cave and to
worship the Lord.
“Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing
that has happened, which the Lord has made known
to us” (Lk 2:15). So the shepherds tell one
another after the proclamation of the angels. A
beautiful lesson emerges from these simple
words. Unlike so many other people, busy about
many things, the shepherds become the first to
see the most essential thing of all: the gift of
salvation. It is the humble and the poor who
greet the event of the Incarnation. The
shepherds respond to God who comes to meet us in
the Infant Jesus by setting out to meet him with
love, gratitude and awe. Thanks to Jesus, this
encounter between God and his children gives
birth to our religion and accounts for its
unique beauty, so wonderfully evident in the
nativity scene.
6. It is customary to add many symbolic figures
to our nativity scenes. First, there are the
beggars and the others who know only the wealth
of the heart. They too have every right to draw
near to the Infant Jesus; no one can evict them
or send them away from a crib so makeshift that
the poor seem entirely at home. Indeed, the poor
are a privileged part of this mystery; often
they are the first to recognize God’s presence
in our midst.
The presence of the poor and the lowly in the
nativity scene remind us that God became man for
the sake of those who feel most in need of his
love and who ask him to draw near to them.
Jesus, “gentle and humble in heart” (Mt 11:29),
was born in poverty and led a simple life in
order to teach us to recognize what is essential
and to act accordingly. The nativity scene
clearly teaches that we cannot let ourselves be
fooled by wealth and fleeting promises of
happiness. We see Herod’s palace in the
background, closed and deaf to the tidings of
joy. By being born in a manger, God himself
launches the only true revolution that can give
hope and dignity to the disinherited and the
outcast: the revolution of love, the revolution
of tenderness. From the manger, Jesus proclaims,
in a meek yet powerful way, the need for sharing
with the poor as the path to a more human and
fraternal world in which no one is excluded or
marginalized.
Children – but adults too! – often love to add
to the nativity scene other figures that have no
apparent connection with the Gospel accounts.
Yet, each in its own way, these fanciful
additions show that in the new world inaugurated
by Jesus there is room for whatever is truly
human and for all God’s creatures. From the
shepherd to the blacksmith, from the baker to
the musicians, from the women carrying jugs of
water to the children at play: all this speaks
of the everyday holiness, the joy of doing
ordinary things in an extraordinary way, born
whenever Jesus shares his divine life with us.
7. Gradually, we come to the cave, where we find
the figures of Mary and Joseph. Mary is a mother
who contemplates her child and shows him to
every visitor. The figure of Mary makes us
reflect on the great mystery that surrounded
this young woman when God knocked on the door of
her immaculate heart. Mary responded in complete
obedience to the message of the angel who asked
her to become the Mother of God. Her words,
“Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be
to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38), show
all of us how to abandon ourselves in faith to
God’s will. By her “fiat”, Mary became the
mother of God’s Son, not losing but, thanks to
him, consecrating her virginity. In her, we see
the Mother of God who does not keep her Son only
to herself, but invites everyone to obey his
word and to put it into practice (cf. Jn 2:5).
At Mary’s side, shown protecting the Child and
his Mother, stands Saint Joseph. He is usually
depicted with staff in hand, or holding up a
lamp. Saint Joseph plays an important role in
the life of Jesus and Mary. He is the guardian
who tirelessly protects his family. When God
warned him of Herod’s threat, he did not
hesitate to set out and flee to Egypt (cf. Mt
2:13-15). And once the danger had passed, he
brought the family back to Nazareth, where he
was to be the first teacher of Jesus as a boy
and then as a young man. Joseph treasured in his
heart the great mystery surrounding Jesus and
Mary his spouse; as a just man, he entrusted
himself always to God’s will, and put it into
practice.
8. When, at Christmas, we place the statue of
the Infant Jesus in the manger, the nativity
scene suddenly comes alive. God appears as a
child, for us to take into our arms. Beneath
weakness and frailty, he conceals his power that
creates and transforms all things. It seems
impossible, yet it is true: in Jesus, God was a
child, and in this way he wished to reveal the
greatness of his love: by smiling and opening
his arms to all.
The birth of a child awakens joy and wonder; it
sets before us the great mystery of life. Seeing
the bright eyes of a young couple gazing at
their newborn child, we can understand the
feelings of Mary and Joseph who, as they looked
at the Infant Jesus, sensed God’s presence in
their lives.
“Life was made manifest” (1 Jn 1:2). In these
words, the Apostle John sums up the mystery of
the Incarnation. The crèche allows us to see and
touch this unique and unparalleled event that
changed the course of history, so that time
would thereafter be reckoned either before or
after the birth of Christ.
God’s ways are astonishing, for it seems
impossible that he should forsake his glory to
become a man like us. To our astonishment, we
see God acting exactly as we do: he sleeps,
takes milk from his mother, cries and plays like
every other child! As always, God baffles us. He
is unpredictable, constantly doing what we least
expect. The nativity scene shows God as he came
into our world, but it also makes us reflect on
how our life is part of God’s own life. It
invites us to become his disciples if we want to
attain ultimate meaning in life.
9. As the feast of Epiphany approaches, we place
the statues of the Three Kings in the Christmas
crèche. Observing the star, those wise men from
the East set out for Bethlehem, in order to find
Jesus and to offer him their gifts of gold,
frankincense and myrrh. These costly gifts have
an allegorical meaning: gold honours Jesus’
kingship, incense his divinity, myrrh his sacred
humanity that was to experience death and
burial.
As we contemplate this aspect of the nativity
scene, we are called to reflect on the
responsibility of every Christian to spread the
Gospel. Each of us is called to bear glad
tidings to all, testifying by our practical
works of mercy to the joy of knowing Jesus and
his love.
The Magi teach us that people can come to Christ
by a very long route. Men of wealth, sages from
afar, athirst for the infinite, they set out on
the long and perilous journey that would lead
them to Bethlehem (cf. Mt 2:1-12). Great joy
comes over them in the presence of the Infant
King. They are not scandalized by the poor
surroundings, but immediately fall to their
knees to worship him. Kneeling before him, they
understand that the God who with sovereign
wisdom guides the course of the stars also
guides the course of history, casting down the
mighty and raising up the lowly. Upon their
return home, they would certainly have told
others of this amazing encounter with the
Messiah, thus initiating the spread of the
Gospel among the nations.
10. Standing before the Christmas crèche, we are
reminded of the time when we were children,
eagerly waiting to set it up. These memories
make us all the more conscious of the precious
gift received from those who passed on the faith
to us. At the same time, they remind us of our
duty to share this same experience with our
children and our grandchildren. It does not
matter how the nativity scene is arranged: it
can always be the same or it can change from
year to year. What matters is that it speaks to
our lives. Wherever it is, and whatever form it
takes, the Christmas crèche speaks to us of the
love of God, the God who became a child in order
to make us know how close he is to every man,
woman and child, regardless of their condition.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Christmas crèche
is part of the precious yet demanding process of
passing on the faith. Beginning in childhood,
and at every stage of our lives, it teaches us
to contemplate Jesus, to experience God’s love
for us, to feel and believe that God is with us
and that we are with him, his children, brothers
and sisters all, thanks to that Child who is the
Son of God and the Son of the Virgin Mary. And
to realize that in that knowledge we find true
happiness. Like Saint Francis, may we open our
hearts to this simple grace, so that from our
wonderment a humble prayer may arise: a prayer
of thanksgiving to God, who wished to share with
us his all, and thus never to leave us alone.
Given in Greccio, at the Shrine of the Nativity,
on 1 December in the year 2019, the seventh of
my Pontificate.
FRANCIS
___________________
[1] Cf. Thomas of Celano, First Life, 84;
Franciscan Sources, 469.
[2] Ibid., 85; Franciscan Sources, 469.
[3] Ibid., 86: Franciscan Sources, 470. |