Background on Nativity Sets

Also know as a Crib, Presepio or Crèche, devotion to Nativity scenes has ancient origins. The popularity is due however, thanks to St. Francis who reenacted what was the first living Nativity scene. When St. Francis visited Rome in 1223, he asked for permission from Pope Honorius III to hold a special celebration during Christmas. He constructed a Nativity and around it stood figures of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, the donkey, the ox, and the shepherds who came to adore the new-born Savior. On Christmas night a child was placed in a crib as an ox and donkey stood nearby.