By Caroline Smith
One of the more enduring traditions of the Christmas season which helps people reflect on the story of Jesus’ birth is the setting up of cribs, or nativity scenes, in the home or local Church.
Saint Francis of Assisi was believed to have started the tradition in 13th century Italy, after visiting the Holy Land and seeing the cave, or grotto, where Jesus was born.
On his return, he set up a ‘living’ nativity scene in the town of Greccio, in 1223, with real animals and people playing the parts of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and three wise men. This received the blessing of Pope Honorius III, and encouraged the practice of placing nativity scenes – or in Italian: ‘presepi’ – in most Italian towns and parishes.
The tradition has since spread to many other countries, including Australia, with many parishioners in the Archdiocese of Perth setting up their own nativity scenes, and visiting those at their local church.
Kelmscott resident Jiby Joy – along with wife Kavitha and children – has been building cribs in his home for several years, and this year constructed one which included several different locations connected to Jesus’ birth.
“We make them every year, and they are sometimes very simple. This time I was inspired by Bible readings about the nativity, and evidence from the Holy Land about where Jesus was born,” he said.
“I included scenes from the Bible story, including Mary’s house where she received the visitation from an angel, and Elizabeth’s house.
“This was to show the great devotion of Mother Mary, who travelled many kilometres to see her relative, and then travelled with Joseph to take the census in Bethlehem.”
Mr Joy added that including these aspects of the story had helped him tell neighbours and friends – including those of other faiths – about the nativity.
“I have some friends who are not Christian but Hindu, and they called me up and asked me to show and explain the nativity scene to their children,” he said.
This year, Mr Joy also won a crib competition organised by the Indian Catholic community in Perth’s southeast, and judged by Kelmscott Assistant Parish Priest, Father Crispin Witika.
But he said his main inspiration in creating the crib was to emphasise Jesus’ role in the celebration of Christmas by telling the story of His birth, adding that it would be great to see other parishes and groups encouraging the practice.
“It would be a great idea if we could organise a crib competition in our Archdiocese with all parishes included,” Mr Joy said.
“Somehow we need to reinforce the tradition of crib-making which is in a symbolic way to show our preparation for Jesus in our heart and in our family.”
Since the times of St Francis of Assisi, the crib-building tradition has spread around the world, with many countries developing their own unique designs and practices.
In Italy, cribs are known as ‘presepi’ and come in many different forms, with some elaborate designs including local villages and cityscapes.
Poland has ‘Krakow szopka’, multi-coloured nativity scenes which include famous buildings from the city of Krakow.
In the Czech tradition, they are called ‘betlem’ or a paper version known as ‘papirovy betlem’ or crib of the poor.
In the Provencal region of France, nativity scenes often feature terracotta figures knowns as ‘santons’ which represent characters from regional village life.