By now you’ve probably received your fair share of emails and savings offers on a variety of items—including Christmas decorations! These “Christmas in July” sales are now as common as the Back-to-School push, which seems to occur the moment we settle into summer. We barely get to enjoy that special time in our year before Madison Avenue moves us on to the next important occasion.
Perhaps it’s because most of the nation, and a good portion of the globe, has been enveloped by what feels like a never-ending heatwave, but this time around I’m finding these common marketing trends refreshing, rather than annoying, as they get me thinking about cooler days and important holy days on our Catholic calendar. And because I love the saints so much, it inspires me to think about and call upon our great cloud of witnesses associated with the various seasons.
When it comes to Christmas, for example, we might automatically think of St. Nicholas or St. Stephen, but St. Francis of Assisi should also be at the top of that list of saints connected to Christmas. In fact, it was he who gifted us the most important image associated with the birth of Christ.
Perhaps yours has been in the family for generations. Maybe it’s made of olive wood or crafted by Lladró or Lenox. If you’re someone who celebrates the birth of Christ, you likely own at least one. But when was the last time you thought about St. Francis of Assisi when you unpacked your nativity scene for display? Although most Christians are familiar with and have great admiration and love for the crèche, are they aware that their holiday decorations would look much different if it weren’t for St. Francis?
In 1219, Francis took the long journey to the Holy Land. He was so inspired by his visit to the holy sites related to Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection that he was moved to share the experience in hopes of helping Christians understand the Incarnation more deeply. That’s where Greccio came to his mind. Francis had already spent time in the hills of northern Lazio, preaching and praying. There he built the Hermitage of the Sanctuary of Greccio (Santuario Eremo di Greccio) where he went to pray and enjoy the solitude.
In late 1223, Francis decided to involve the locals in a reenactment of the birth of Christ. Francis received permission from the pope to reenact the manger scene. He asked his close friend, the local lord of Greccio, Giovanni Velita, and to bring live animals and to prepare a setting with hay. Greccio was truly the perfect backdrop for the reenactment. The rocks, caves, and crevices of Mount Sabini were just like the rugged hills near Bethlehem over a thousand years earlier.
People who came to the Christmas Mass that night had not only the blessing of hearing Francis, the deacon, preach, but they were also witnesses to a miracle: the Christ Child appeared lying on the hay in the Greccio cave!
Greccio, now known as the “Franciscan Bethlehem” has a shrine, and in its center is the Nativity Chapel (Cappella del Presepio). It was built in 1228, five years after St. Francis established the first live crèche. The chapel leads pilgrims to the friary with the cell of St. Francis and a pulpit of St. Bernardine. Nearby is the beautiful twentieth-century Church of the Immaculate Conception, at the back of which, visitors are gifted with life-size scenes representing major events connected to the birth of Christ, including the announcement to the shepherds, the nativity, the flight to Egypt, and the slaughter of the Holy Innocents. Above the sanctuary is a small nativity museum with manger scenes from around the world. All of this to remind us of the need to be like Jesus and St. Francis by embracing simplicity and a childlike faith.
As one would expect, Greccio is a great place to visit at Christmas time. In addition to the beautiful shrine, the nearby town hosts one of the loveliest Christmas markets in central Italy. But it’s open all year long. That means it’s always Christmas in Greccio, even in the middle of the summer season. Hopefully that will encourage all believers, no matter what season we find ourselves in, to keep Christmas in our hearts as well.
St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us!
Image from Wikimedia Commons
