Pope Francis takes us back to the Italian town of Greccio, which Saint Francis visited in the
year 1223. The caves he saw there reminded him of the countryside of Bethlehem.
On 25
December, friars and local people came together, bringing flowers and torches, writes the
Pope.
"When Francis arrived, he found a manger full of hay, an ox and a donkey." A priest
celebrated the Eucharist over the manger, "showing the bond between the Incarnation of the
Son of God and the Eucharist."
This is how our tradition began, continues Pope Francis, "with everyone gathered in joy
around the cave, with no distance between the original event and those sharing in its
mystery." With the simplicity of that sign, Saint Francis carried out a great work of
evangelization, he writes. His teaching continues today "to offer a simple yet authentic means
of portraying the beauty of our faith."
Pope Francis explains that the Christmas creche moves us so deeply because it shows God's
tender love. From the time of its Franciscan origins, "the nativity scene has invited us to 'feel'
and 'touch' the poverty that God's Son took upon Himself in the Incarnation", writes the Pope.
"It asks us to meet Him and serve Him by showing mercy to those of our brothers and sisters
in greatest need."
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