One of the most remarkable saints of any period of Christian history was Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, born in 1181. He was nicknamed Francesco (“Frenchy”) by his Francophile father, a prosperous merchant of Assisi in Italy.
Francis was a popular young man of no particular distinction until a sudden religious experience in his teens convinced him to live a life of poverty. He consorted with lepers, dressed as a beggar, gave away his own clothes, and donated so much of his father’s wealth to the poor that the older man objected. In a spectacular act of renunciation, Francis stripped himself naked in the public square and gave back everything he possessed to his father.
For a time he lived as a hermit, but in 1209 he began to preach and began a mission that soon attracted followers eager to imitate his example. Francis sought the permission of Pope Innocent III to begin a new religious order dedicated to poverty and contact with the poor. He and his followers became the Order of Friars Minor, soon to be known as the Franciscans.
In the early 13th century, the Church was at its highest point in terms of political power and wealth; Pope Innocent III was the dominant figure in Europe, deposing kings and emperors at his pleasure. The Church hierarchy, however, had lost touch with the spiritual needs of the faithful, many of whom were defecting to heretical groups such as the Waldensians or Cathars. Priests were imperfect expositors of the religion, serving primarily as dispensers of the sacrament and ignorant of doctrine and preaching. In the Franciscans, the Church hoped to find a way to reach the poor again.
Francis and his followers embraced poverty. They lived and begged for their keep as poor men; they sought to explain the Gospel in ways that the least of society could understand. It occurred to Francis in 1223 that one way to do this was to present the circumstances of the birth of Jesus in the plainest manner possible.
It was exactly 800 years ago in a cave in Greccio, Italy, that Francis tried to duplicate the events of the nativity in Bethlehem, arranging for a manger, straw, an ox and an ass over which he would conduct a Mass and preach before his fellow friars and the peasants of the area. This is how Thomas of Celano, the first biographer of Francis, described the scene:
“The day of joy drew near, the time of exultation approached. The brothers were called from their various places. With glad hearts, the men and women of that place prepared, according to their means, candles and torches to light up that night which has illuminated all the days and years with its glittering star. Finally the holy man of God arrived and, finding everything prepared, saw it and rejoiced.
“The manger is ready, hay is brought, the ox and ass are led in. Simplicity is honoured there, poverty is exalted, humility is commended and a new Bethlehem, as it were, is made from Greccio. Night is illuminated like the day, delighting men and beasts. The people come and joyfully celebrate the new mystery. The forest resounds with voices and the rocks respond to their rejoicing. The brothers sing, discharging their debt of praise to the Lord, and the whole night echoes with jubilation. The holy man of God stands before the manger full of sighs, consumed by devotion and filled with a marvelous joy. The solemnities of the Mass are performed over the manger and the priest experiences a new consolation. ... Then he preaches mellifluously to the people standing about, telling them about the birth of the poor king and the little city of Bethlehem.
“The gifts of the Almighty are multiplied here and a marvelous vision is seen by a certain virtuous man. For he saw a little child lying lifeless in the manger, and he saw the holy man of God approach and arouse the child as if from a deep sleep. Nor was this an unfitting vision, for in the hearts of many the child Jesus really had been forgotten, but now, by his grace and through his servant Francis, he had been brought back to life and impressed here by loving recollection. Finally the celebration ended and each returned joyfully home.”
A chapel was built over the site in Greccio. The very hay which had been placed in the manger performed, according to legend, miracles when it was distributed, curing sick animals and helping women in difficult deliveries. Franciscan brothers went on to popularize the erection of nativity scenes in churches and homes and to write the first Christmas carols.
