78 Days Until Christmas: The Feast of St. Francis

St. Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, was the son of a prosperous silk merchant and his French wife. He lived the high life until nearly dying from sickness, although he was always partial to giving gifts to the poor. His illness and a vision converted him to a life of selfless charity, and he was the founder of an order of monks, now known as the Franciscans.

Francis was a known animal lover and preached the Gospel, it is said, even to the birds. All animals were his brothers and sisters, as all men and women were. He is usually represented with at least one bird on his shoulder and perhaps another one in his hand, or at his feet, sometimes other small animals like squirrels and foxes near him, and statues of St. Francis placed in gardens often have him with one hand extended holding a shallow dish for a bird feeder. Today churches often have a Blessings of the Animals day on or near October 8 where people bring their pets to an outdoor service. In 1979, Pope John Paul II proclaimed Francis as the patron saint of ecologists.

St. Francis is connected with Christmas as the person who created the display that today we call a "nativity scene," a "manger scene," a "presepio," "crib," or "crèche." He realized that people still could not grasp the fact that the Son of God had come to earth as a "real person," not some idealized God-figure. He was born as an ordinary baby, raised as an ordinary human child who was to respect his parents, do chores, help his father in the carpenter shop, and grow up to be a carpenter himself, taking care of his widowed mother. So he created the first "living nativity" scene in a church, having villagers take the roles of the figures of the story: the Holy Family, the shepherds, the innkeeper, townsfolk, and the Magi, and he brought live animals to the display, ones that might have been found in any humble stable: the overworked little ass, the ox or cow, the lowly but useful sheep, goats, pigeons, perhaps a horse or mule. While elders complained that this was being a little too realistic, animals doing what animals are wont to do, St. Frances wanted to recreated the conditions of the story, to show the child Jesus of being from lowly origins, not being some patron of the wealthy.

Once the displays became popular, they were recreated with artificial figures. Today one can find expensive porcelain figures down to carved wooden statues all the way down to plastic reproductions and even children's hand-made clay figures. In the middle of the 20th century the "five and dime" stores would have a section of bins where you could buy chalkware and later resin or plastic "manger figures" individually, so even a poor family might add one or two to their scene every year. You might start with the Holy Family and an angel, add some shepherds and a sheep next year, the Magi the year after, an ox and or ass another year, camels and more sheep, perhaps a goat or a dog or a boy carrying eggs as a gift to the Christ child or, especially with Italian figurines, the ever-present zampognari, or bagpipe player. Perhaps even a little drummer boy. In France and other European countries figures are even made for other townspeople: the baker, the butcher, the candle maker, etc. The French call these little figures santons and they can be found in every Christmas market and shop during Advent.

There are almost as many ways to display your nativity scene as there are figures. Some traditionally put their manger scene under the Christmas tree. Some have a special console table or china cabinet top or shelf or area that is cleared out before the holiday and set up with nativity figures instead. Some families leave the crib empty until Christmas Eve, when the Baby Jesus is finally laid inside, and others don't put the Magi out until January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, when the travelers finally found the child. In some families the Magi are set up in another corner of the living area and inch their way slowly toward the stable.