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For Advent: Away in a Manger: St Francis and the Nativity
CatholicExchange.com ^ | December 23, 2014 | Fr. William Saunders

Posted on 12/23/2014 6:06:30 PM PST by Salvation

Away in a Manger: St Francis and the Nativity

Giotto_-_Legend_of_St_Francis_-_-13-_-_Institution_of_the_Crib_at_Greccio

As we learn each week from the saints, one must wonder, “How did the saints celebrate Christmas?” One of the best examples whose celebration lives on in our own is St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226). Thomas of Celano, one of the first biographers of St. Francis, wrote, “More than any other feast, he celebrated Christmas with an indescribable joy. He said that this was the feast of feasts, for on this day God became a little child and sucked milk like all human children. Francis embraced with great tenderness and devotion the pictures of the child Jesus and stammered words of tenderness, full of compassion, in the way children do. On his lips, the name of Jesus was sweet as honey.”

In the year 1223, St. Francis, a deacon, was visiting the town of Greccio to celebrate Christmas. Greccio was a small town built on a mountainside overlooking a beautiful valley. The people had cultivated the fertile area with vineyards. St. Francis loved the quiet and simplicity of the little town; it may well have reminded him of Bethlehem where he had visited.

St. Francis realized that the chapel of the Franciscan hermitage would be too small to hold the congregation for midnight Mass. So he found a niche in the rock near the town square and set up the altar. To make this Christmas celebration even more memorable, St. Francis borrowed an ox and an ass from a farmer and set up a manger; he also placed there the statues of St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother along with a little baby doll to serve as Jesus. However, this midnight Mass would be very special.

St. Bonaventure (d. 1274) in his The Life of St. Francis of Assisi tells the story the best:

It happened in the third year before his death, that in order to excite the inhabitants of Greccio to commemorate the nativity of the Infant Jesus with great devotion, (St. Francis) determined to keep it with all possible solemnity; and lest he should be accused of lightness or novelty, he asked and obtained the permission of the sovereign Pontiff.

Then he prepared a manger, and brought hay, and an ox and an ass to the place appointed. The brethren were summoned, the people ran together, the forest resounded with their voices, and that venerable night was made glorious by many and brilliant lights and sonorous psalms of praise. The man of God (St. Francis) stood before the manger, full of devotion and piety, bathed in tears and radiant with joy; the Holy Gospel was chanted by Francis, the Levite of Christ.

Then he preached to the people around the nativity of the poor King; and being unable to utter His Name for the tenderness of his love, he called Him the Babe of Bethlehem. A certain valiant and veracious soldier, Master John of Greccio, who, for the love of Christ, had left the warfare of this world, and become a dear friend of this holy man, affirmed that he beheld an Infant marvelously beautiful, sleeping in the manger, Whom the blessed Father Francis embraced with both his arms, as if he would awake Him from sleep.

This vision of the devout soldier is credible, not only by reason of the sanctity of him that saw it, but by reason of the miracles, which afterwards confirmed its truth. For the example of Francis, if it be considered by the world, is doubtless sufficient to excite all hearts which are negligent in the faith of Christ; and the hay of that manger, being preserved by the people, miraculously cured all diseases of cattle, and many other pestilences; God thus in all things glorifying His servant, and witnessing to the great efficacy of his holy prayers by manifest prodigies and miracles.

One can only imagine the ineffable joy of holding Baby Jesus, the Incarnate Word. Pope Benedict XVI in his homily at midnight Mass in 2006, preached:

God’s sign is simplicity. God’s sign is the baby. God’s sign is that He makes Himself small for us. This is how He reigns. He does not come with power and outward splendor. He comes as a baby — defenseless and in need of our help. He does not want to overwhelm us with His strength. He takes away our fear of His greatness. He asks for our love: so He makes Himself a child. He wants nothing other from us than our love, through which we spontaneously learn to enter into His feelings, His thoughts and His will — we learn to live with Him and to practice with Him that humility of renunciation that belongs to the very essence of love. God made Himself small so that we could understand Him, welcome Him and love Him.

If we would just simplify our own lives and become like little children, who with love and excitement want to hold any baby, then we too could hold Baby Jesus in our hearts this Christmas and each day.

Therefore, gaze upon the Nativity scene which rests under the Christmas tree at home or in Church. It is a visible reminder of that night when Our Savior was born. See the little Babe of Bethlehem, who came to save us from sin. Moreover, never forget that the wood of the manger that held Him so securely would one day give way to the wood of the cross.

His arms that were outstretched to embrace His own Blessed Mother Mary, St. Joseph, the shepherds and the Magi were the same arms that were outstretched on the cross to embrace anyone who seeks forgiveness and new life. St. Francis knew this mystery.

Interestingly, almost one year later, on Sept. 14, 1224, on the feast of the Holy Cross, St. Francis received the stigmata, the first saint known to have this privilege. He who held the baby Jesus with such tender love also bore His wounds. This Christmas, may we too embrace Our Lord with all of our love and devotion as did St. Francis of Assisi.



TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; History; Theology
KEYWORDS: catholic; christmas; joy
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To: defconw

Have a Good Morning Kitten, just cause it's teh Interwebs.

21 posted on 12/24/2014 2:44:07 AM PST by Tax-chick (Remember Malmedy!)
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To: Tax-chick

Good Morning. I should be getting ready for work. :) When I get to work I will actually read the article. I see it must have mentioned the Blessed Mother. Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. :)


22 posted on 12/24/2014 2:49:09 AM PST by defconw (If not now, WHEN?)
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To: defconw

She loved her son and suffered when He did. You know, like a mother whose child is suffering.

I hope you have a successful and safe day at work. I’m trying to come up with things my 5-year-old can do, since it’s going to pour rain all day, but anything that’s not outdoors will be closed.

Maybe I can persuade him that cleaning is fun.


23 posted on 12/24/2014 2:51:22 AM PST by Tax-chick (Remember Malmedy!)
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To: Tax-chick
Ah! Looks like my Simba. You can see the M on his head. A sister told us that the reason Tabby cats have an M on their heads is because there was one in the barn and Mary kissed him on the head.

Wait for it!.....

24 posted on 12/24/2014 4:07:17 AM PST by defconw (If not now, WHEN?)
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To: Tax-chick

Ha Ha! Good Luck with that. Maybe you could have him watch for Santa. :)


25 posted on 12/24/2014 4:08:18 AM PST by defconw (If not now, WHEN?)
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To: Tax-chick
"She loved her son and suffered when He did. You know, like a mother whose child is suffering".

Bingo! People in the Bible were real people. They had lives. It did not all get recorded. Some was handed down orally. But you know that.

26 posted on 12/24/2014 4:09:55 AM PST by defconw (If not now, WHEN?)
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To: defconw
That one took me a moment. Funny! :)

It took me a moment too, and I needed the hint she included.

:-)

27 posted on 12/24/2014 4:13:00 AM PST by Mark17 (So gracious and tender was He. I claimed Him that day as my savior, this stranger of Galilee)
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To: Salvation
My favorite memory is of the Children's Mass. The kids were dressed as Mary and Joseph and the animals. Live infant and all. But anyway after the Mass almost concluded Santa Claus makes his appearance. He kneels with the priest at the Nativity scene and gives baby Jesus a present. Then finish the Mass. The kids received candy on their way out.
28 posted on 12/24/2014 4:30:10 AM PST by defconw (If not now, WHEN?)
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To: Salvation
Now what is special to me about the Manger scene as an adult? The trust. The trust that Jesus had that his immaculately conceived Mother and Joseph his foster father would keep him from harm. It blows me away that He chose to be that vulnerable for us. The love that takes is so mind blowing.
29 posted on 12/24/2014 4:33:40 AM PST by defconw (If not now, WHEN?)
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To: Iscool

Merry Christmas to you and may God show you the same kindness and mercy that you have shown others.


30 posted on 12/24/2014 4:52:12 AM PST by verga
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To: caww
What utter nonesense.....to claim that Mary bore Christ’s wounds.

The article did not claim that Mary bore Christ's wounds. It referred to the Stigmata that St. Francis bore.

A good rule of thumb is to actually read the article before you take shots at it.

31 posted on 12/24/2014 4:56:25 AM PST by verga
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To: Salvation

Merry Christmas, Thank you for this Advent series.


32 posted on 12/24/2014 4:59:11 AM PST by verga
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To: verga

Yep! LOL MARY! She’s like the boogy man to some on here. :)


33 posted on 12/24/2014 5:19:35 AM PST by defconw (If not now, WHEN?)
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To: verga

You owe me a keyboard.


34 posted on 12/24/2014 5:33:17 AM PST by defconw (If not now, WHEN?)
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To: defconw
You owe me a keyboard.

It will be under your tree tonight.

35 posted on 12/24/2014 6:48:08 AM PST by verga
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To: verga

Thank You most kindly! :)


36 posted on 12/24/2014 6:50:13 AM PST by defconw (If not now, WHEN?)
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To: Salvation
One Solitary Life

"Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. . .

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.

I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built, all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life."

Dr James Allan Francis © 1926.

37 posted on 12/24/2014 7:42:20 AM PST by verga
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To: verga

Amen.


38 posted on 12/24/2014 7:43:14 AM PST by Kackikat ('If it talks like a traitor, acts like a traitor, then by God it's a traitor.')
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To: verga

The three names of the author of this piece are the names of three of my sons.

*cue spooky music*

Merry Christmas, hon. Since you’re predicting presents, tell me, will I get the pencil sharpener of my dreams?


39 posted on 12/24/2014 7:51:37 AM PST by Tax-chick (Remember Malmedy!)
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To: Tax-chick
Merry Christmas, hon. Since you’re predicting presents, tell me, will I get the pencil sharpener of my dreams?

Only if you are dreaming of one of those big ole Jim Bowie knives.

40 posted on 12/24/2014 8:42:37 AM PST by verga
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