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 ...

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.

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.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Whether simple or elaborate, the same every year or constantly changing, a Nativity scene echoes “the beauty of our faith,” Pope Francis wrote. Marking the 800th ...

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.

In the year 1223, St. Francis of Assisi first arranged a manger scene with live animals inside a cave in the town of Greccio, Italy, where he told the villagers the story of the birth of Christ. A ...

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — A life-size crèche representing the Nativity will be unveiled at St. Peter’s Square on Saturday (Dec. 9), celebrating the 800th anniversary of a Catholic tradition long ...

St. Francis’ meditations on the life of Christ led him to create the first-ever Nativity scene in Greccio, Italy, in 1223. Fresco by Giotto of St. Francis of Assisi embracing the Child Jesus at ...

Around the Christmas season, it is common to see a display of the Nativity scene: a small manger with the baby Jesus and his family, shepherds, the three wise men believed to have visited Jesus ...

Berry said the Nativity scene was in the park every Christmas from 1950 through 2019. It was sponsored by the Eureka Springs chapter of the Beta Sigma Phi sorority.

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 ...

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 ...