Advent
History of The Christmas Manger
St Francis of Assisi (1182–1226), deacon, founder, mystic, stigmatist, put up the first manger ever in our Catholic world
Cultural Historian from the Philippines, Louie Nacorda and a regular Ave Maria contributor, shares this beautiful story about one of the best traditions during Christmas time:
We owe our beautiful tradition of setting up Nativity scenes during Christmas to St Francis, who put up the first manger ever in our Catholic world.
It was on Christmas Eve of 1223, in the hillside town of Greccio in Italy, that St Francis thought of holding the Midnight Mass in the town plaza, to accommodate all the attendees, since the Franciscan hermitage is too small for a large congregation.
He found a shallow cave nearby and filled the floor with hay. Next, he brought in a live cow, ass, and some sheep inside the cave. In the middle of the cave, he placed a rock manger, with no image of the newborn Child Jesus.
Then he invited all the towns folk and the villagers to attend the open air Midnight Mass, with the express permission of the bishop.
At Midnight Mass, he read and preached the Gospel, being the deacon. During the sermon, he could not say the…
