Day 10 – Nativity Plays and Cribs
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of the world.
The word nativity comes from the Latin word ‘natal’ which means birth.
It is traditional in many countries, such as England for young children in primary schools to perform a nativity play. They perform for their parents and local people associated with the school. The nativity play recreates the scene of Jesus’ birth. It tells of how Mary and Joseph were visited by the shepherds and wise men. Churches often have some form of the nativity story as well and although we include the wise men, we recognize that they did not come to the stables but to a house when Jesus was about 2 years old.
In the past, it was common for live animals including an ox and donkey and other farm animals (but not pigs) to be used in the plays. Sometimes they still are, but it is now more common for children to dress up as the animals in costumes or to have animal props.
The first nativity play was not performed by children, but in a cave by monks in Italy. St. Francis of Assisi and his followers acted in the first play in 1223 to remind the local population that Jesus was born for them, as he was born into a poor family like theirs and not to a rich family.
St. Francis told the part of each character in the story himself using wooden figures in the play. After a couple of years, the play had become so popular that real people played the parts of the characters in the story. Songs were sung by the people taking part and they became what we call Christmas carols today.
The city of Naples, in Italy, has used to nativity scenes to decorate houses and churches since the 1020s! That’s even before St. Francis of Assisi put on his play.
Naples is also the home to the world’s largest nativity crib scene. It’s in the ‘Museo Nazionale di S. Martino’ and has 162 people, 80 animals, angels, and about 450 other smaller objects.
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
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