The Tradition of the Christmas Crib

Pope Benedict XV1.
Following a beautiful and firmly rooted tradition, many families set up their crib immediately after the feast of the Immaculate Conception, as if to relive with Mary those days full of trepidation that preceded the Birth of Jesus. Putting up the crib at home can be a simple but effective way of presenting faith, to pass it on to one’s children. The crib helps us contemplate the mystery of God’s love that was revealed in the poverty and simplicity of the Bethlehem Grotto. Saint Francis of Assisi taken by the mystery of the Incarnation that he wanted to present it anew at Greccio in the living nativity scene, thus beginning an old, popular tradition that still retains its value for evangelisation today. Indeed, the crib can help us understand the secret of the true Christmas because it speaks of the humility and merciful goodness of Christ, who was rich, but he became poor for your sake (2 Co 8:9). His poverty enriches those who embrace it, andChristmas brings joy and peace to those who, like the shepherds in Bethlehem, accept the angel’s word: And here is a sign for you: you  will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger (Luke 2:12). This is still the sign for us too, men and women of the third millennium. There is no other Christmas.