The Christmas Nativity Tradition
Every since Saint Francis of Assisi celebrated Mass at a specially constructed manger in 1223 at Greccio, Italy, Nativity scenes have been an important part of Christmas celebrations. This tradition spread quickly in both the church and home observations of the season.
By the eighteenth century, building a model crib, or praesepio, had become a popular craft in Naples. The people who made the cribs were known as figuarari, and the figures they produced were named pastori. King Carol III, fascinated by anything mechanical, built his own lavish Nativity scenes for his castle, and the queen and her ladies-in-waiting made costumes for the figures. Soon elaborate Nativity scenes be came very popular at court. At the same timee, Fra Gregorio Rocco, a civic crusader, began a campaign to fight crime by urging every family to built its own praesepio.
As time passed and the custom of building Nativity scenes spread through Italy and into Germany, it developed into the construction of entire model towns, villages, and castles containing the manger. Thus the modelers displayed the everyday life of their time with Jesus at the center of it all
This custom spread from Europe to America and Africa and throughout the world and continues to be a meaningful part of the observance of Christmas
by Anne Dorlon Cybis
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