The celebration of Greccio: 800 years of the beloved Nativity scene.
Francesco Bernardone, son of a wealthy merchant in Assisi, was born in 1181. He was an outgoing and popular young man, enjoying an active social life. He eventually began a journey of discernment and conversion about the meaning of his life. Francis eventually renounced his inheritance and gave himself over to Christ and the Church. He became known as “Il Poverello,” the little poor one, spending the rest of his life living the Gospel message of Christ.
Francis preached to the people about penance, brotherly love, and peace. In 1223 feeling that people had forgotten the Gospel story that Jesus came as a poor child, born in a stable, not as a rich king, he wrote to his friend, Giovanni, “I want to do something that will recall the memory of that child who was born in Bethlehem, to see with bodily eyes the inconveniences of his infancy, how he lay in the manger, and how the ox and ass stood by.” He created a living Nativity scene in a cave at Greccio, a small town on a hill in Italy, inviting the villagers to visit while he preached about “the babe of Bethlehem.”
When
12:00 p.m. – Mass
1:00 p.m. – Presentation about St. Francis and Greccio by Reverend Tim Daly accompanied by a light lunch
2:00 pm. – Procession to the Day Star Chapel in the Basilica housing a beautiful Nativity scene
Where
Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe