The scene in St. Peter’s Square depicts not only Mary and Joseph standing beside the manger, but also St. Francis of Assisi, who organized the first Nativity scene in a cave in the Italian ...

Christmas is year-round in Greccio, a small cliffside village in Lazio. The reason? This is where St Francis of Assisi created the first-ever nativity scene in a cave in 1223.

Each year, Greccio, Italy, reenacts a living Nativity scene paying homage to Saint Francis of Assisi, who is credited with starting the exhibition that represents the birth of Jesus.

Bethlehem’s bombed-out nativity sculpture sends a powerful message. The scene of a devastated nativity cave symbolises the plight of Christ’s family — and Palestinians now.

One of the world’s most beloved saints, St. Francis of Assisi, loved Christmas so much that he created the first Nativity scene to make the birth of Jesus more real.

This first living Nativity scene – which was famously depicted by Italian Renaissance painter Giotto di Bondone in the Arena Chapel of Padua, Italy – ushered in a new tradition of staging the ...

The Church of the Nativity, seen here in 2012, purportedly marks the spot where Jesus Christ was born in a Bethlehem cave, though debate over the Messiah’s exact birthplace continues.

The assembly of the Nativity Scene is accompanied by moss, sawdust, plants, trunks, rocks, cypress branches, and Baby Jesus, Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph are placed in a barn or cave structure. While ...

On December 7, Pope Francis attended the opening of Nativity of Bethlehem 2024, a nativity scene exhibition in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. One scene featured olive wood sculptures of Mary ...