The idea of making a crib to commemorate the birth of Our Saviour Jesus Christ came from St Francis. Il Poverello di Assisi, in keeping with his vow and policy of poverty, did not propagate a luxurious representation of the Holy Birth.

The main reason is that it would not have been correct or true. Baby Jesus was born in a stable in the town of Bethlehem, today the scene of clashes between Israeli forces and its Palestinian residents. So that even after so many centuries since the idea of creating a crib, the setting is still more or less the same - poverty and misery.

It is the triumph of the Divine Word made flesh that makes Christians eager to commemorate the divine birth. According to the Gospel of St Luke the birth took place during a cold night in miserable surroundings by the Virgin Mother in the presence of her spouse Joseph of the House of David and some animals surrounding the manger. Mary "wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the living space".

The herald angel

Baby Jesus was visited by the shepherds to whom the Angel of the Lord announced his birth. In St Luke's words: "In the countryside close by there were shepherds out in the fields keeping guard over their sheep during the watches of the night. An angel of the Lord stood over them and the glory of the Lord shone round them.

They were terrified but the angel said 'Do not be afraid. Look, I bring you news of great joy to be shared by the whole people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger,' and all at once with the angel there was a great throng of the hosts of heaven praising God with the words: Glory to God in the highest heaven. And on earth peace for those he favours."

Now it happened that when the angels had gone from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another: 'Let us go to Bethlehem and see the event which the Lord has made known to us.'

So they hurried away and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him. And everyone who heard them was astonished at what the shepherds said to them.

As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.

And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as they had been told."

The idea of St Francis in making a representation of the birth of the Baby Jesus, the Saviour of the world, was exactly that of glorifying and praising God for what the evangelist had narrated.

The Three Wise Men

The evangelist Matthew takes up the narration of the birth and infancy of Christ Jesus: "After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judea during the reign of King Herod suddenly some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east asking 'Where is the infant King of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.' King Herod enquired of the priests and Scribes of his kingdom where the Christ Jesus was to be born. They told him, 'In Bethlehem in Judea for this is what the prophet wrote:

And you, Bethlehem,
In the land of Judea,
You are by no means the least
Among the leaders of Judah,
For from you will come a leader
Who will shepherd my people Israel.'

"Then Herod summoned the Wise Men to see him privately. He sent them to Bethlehem with the words: 'Go and find out all about the child, and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.' Having heard what the king had to say they set forth. And suddenly the star they had seen rising went forward and halted over the place where the child was. The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gold and frankincense and myrrh."

The crib tradition

There is no doubt that the tradition of making the crib and exhibiting it at Christmastime has a singular meaning. This is to prove that Christmas must be celebrated as a religious feast. In other words Christ must be restored to Christmas and not exclusively to merrymaking.

The idea of the crib is to glorify and render homage to the newborn King, the Saviour of Mankind, God made man to take away the sins of the world.