The Vatican unveiled its annual Nativity scene earlier this evening, paying special tribute to the origins of the beloved tradition on its 800th anniversary.
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 village of Greccio on Christmas Eve in 1223.
Cardinal Fernando Végez Alzaga, the president of the Governate of the Vatican City State, presided over the December 9 inauguration ceremony.
More than a thousand people gathered in the square for the event, which included moments of catechesis, an explanation of how the scene was put together and the signing of seasonal hymns.
The Vatican’s Greccio-inspired Nativity scene does not include live animals and people, as St. Francis’ original did, but it does feature life-size terracotta figures, crafted by renowned Neapolitan sculptor Antonio Cantone.
At the center of the scene is the now-empty manger, where a figure of the Newborn Savior will be placed on Christmas Eve.
On one side of manger, a statue of Mary kneels, flanked by a rendition of St. Joseph, while on the other side, a statue of St. Francis of Assisi stands in a pose of wonder.
In addition to the figures of Mary, Joseph, St. Francis, and the traditional ox and donkey, the 13th-century mayor of Greccio who helped organize the first Nativity scene, Giovanni Velita, is featured in statue form, along with his wife, Alticama.
Three Franciscan friars, whom St. Francis had tasked with setting up the first Nativity scene as a place where local faithful could come and contemplate the poverty of the Incarnate Lord, are also depicted.
The backdrop of the scene is a replica of the fresco that decorates the Chapel of the Nativity in Greccio, which is built into the grotto where St. Francis set up the first Nativity scene.
On one half of the fresco, the saint is shown kneeling in adoration of the Christ Child; on the other side, Mary is depicted feeding the Newborn Savior, while the figures of Joseph, the ox and the donkey look on.
Underneath the fresco, a Franciscan friar is depicted celebrating Mass in the grotto.
The friar elevates the Body of Christ directly behind the manger.
In another fitting tribute to the Nativity scene’s origins, this year’s Vatican display was provided by the Diocese of Rieti, which is where Greccio is located.
The Vatican’s Christmas tree was also lit at the December 9 ceremony.
The tree, an 80-foot-tall fir, had been donated by the Italian community of Macra, located in the northwest of Italy.
The tree was adorned with edelweiss flowers that are native to the Alpine region.
Upon lighting, it glowed with ever-changing patterns of green, blue and red.
After the tree’s use in St. Peter’s Square, its wood will be used to make toys for children in need.
Earlier in the day, Pope Francis spoke to delegations of the two communities that had donated the Nativity scene and the Christmas tree.
The Pope said that meditating in front of any Nativity scene should “awaken in us the nostalgia for silence and prayer, in our often so-hectic daily life.”
The Pope also said that the Vatican Nativity scene’s connection to Greccio should in turn prompt people to think and pray for the inhabitants of the Holy Land amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, especially children and their parents affected by the conflict.
“These are the ones who pay the real price of war,” Pope Francis said.
Both the Nativity scene and the tree will remain in St. Peter’s Square until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord on 7 January 2024.
Source: National Catholic Register
Highlights: Inauguration of the Nativity scene and lighting of the Christmas tree on 9 December 2023
10 December 2023
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Saying “superficial” marriage preparation programs leave many couples at risk of having invalid marriages or unprepared to cope with the struggles that arise in every marriage, Pope Francis endorsed suggestions for a yearlong “marriage catechumenate” drafted by the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life.
“With too superficial a preparation, couples run the real risk of having an invalid marriage or one with such a weak foundation that it falls apart in a short time and cannot withstand even the first inevitable crises. These failures bring with them great suffering and leave deep wounds in people,” the pope said.
The pope wrote the introduction to the dicastery’s “Catechumenal Itineraries for Married Life,” a document released in Italian and Spanish by the Vatican June 15.
Pope Francis said he hoped the document would be followed by another providing guidance and clear suggestions for accompanying couples “who have experienced the failure of their marriages and live in a new relationship or have been remarried civilly.”
While providing guidance, the pope said, the document also must be adapted for local situations and for the people involved. “It is an outfit that must be ‘made to measure’ for the people who will wear it.”
The document is not a marriage preparation course, the dicastery said, but provides indications for launching “a catechumenal itinerary for married life,” designed to help young people understand the sacrament, prepare engaged couples to celebrate their marriage and support newlyweds in the first years of their married life.
In addition to general presentations to children and teens about marriage as a vocation, the actual “marriage catechumenate” for couples should last about a year and begin with a celebration or “rite of engagement,” the dicastery said. The second phase should include a few months of more immediate preparation and a pre-wedding retreat just before the wedding. The third phase of assisting newlyweds should last two or three years.
The parish pastoral team, it said, will have to be sensitive and discerning in situations where the engaged persons or just one of them refuses to participate in the catechumenate.
The dicastery suggested dioceses and eparchies first establish a “pilot project” or consider the design of their marriage preparation itinerary to be “experimental,” with a fixed time for reviewing and making necessary adjustments.
“The dwindling number of people, in general, getting married, but also and especially the short duration of marriages, even sacramental ones, as well as the problem of the validity of celebrated marriages, constitute an urgent challenge, which puts at stake the fulfillment and happiness of so many lay faithful in the world,” the dicastery said, explaining why the guidelines were necessary.
Citing calls in the church going back to the 1950s for a more serious preparation to celebrate the sacrament of matrimony, the dicastery said that, like with the preparation of adults for baptism, time and energy should be devoted to helping couples prepare to live the Christian vocation of marriage.
By speaking of a marriage “catechumenate,” the dicastery said, it wanted to make clear that the goal is not simply to pass on church teaching about sexuality, marriage and married life — although those are essential — but to help couples recognize and thrive in “the mystery of sacramental grace, which belongs to them by virtue of the sacrament: to bring to life the presence of Christ with them and among them.”
After all, it said, for Catholics matrimony is not a one-day celebration, but “it is a vocation, a journey to holiness that embraces one’s entire life.”
Just as preparations for living the vocations to priesthood or religious life extend over time — years, not a few weeks — so should preparations for the vocation of marriage, the document said.
While not presenting a complete curriculum, the dicastery said preparation should:
last long enough to allow couples time for real reflection and maturation;
place faith and an encounter with Christ at the center;
be “articulated in stages, marked — where possible and appropriate — by rites of passage to be celebrated within the community”; and
include “formation, reflection, discussion, dialogue, liturgy, community, prayer and celebrations.”
“The marriage catechumenate is not preparation for passing an exam but for living a life,” it said, adding that the challenge can be greater in countries where many, or even most, couples live together before marriage.
The preparation should include encouraging couples to observe “premarital chastity” so that rather than “becoming fixed on the physical instrumentalization of the other,” they focus on dialogue and getting to know each other better, it said. “Even in the case of cohabiting couples, it is never useless to speak of the virtue of chastity. This virtue teaches every baptized person, in every condition of life, the right use of one’s sexuality.”
In most cases, the dicastery said, preparing for marriage will “require gradualness, welcome and support, but also the witness of other Christian spouses to welcome and be present along the way. Therefore, it is important that more space be given in communities to the active presence of spouses as spouses, as agents of marriage ministry, and not just as individual believers.”
The couples engaged in ministry need training and education, however, the document said. “Some complex issues pertaining to marital sexuality or openness to life — such as responsible parenting, artificial insemination, prenatal diagnosis and other bioethical issues — have strong ethical, relational and spiritual repercussions for spouses and require specific formation and clarity.”
Getting to know the couples and their beliefs is crucial, the document said.
“In the event that they explicitly and formally reject what the church intends to accomplish when celebrating marriage, the couple cannot be admitted to the sacramental celebration,” it said. However, if there is an “imperfect disposition,” they can be married, but the priest and couples charged with ministry to families must follow up and help them grow in faith and their understanding of what the church teaches.
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MRAs: What are you going to do to prevent women from lying about the identity about their children’s father?
Me: Catechize my daughters. I will tell them that intercourse with men who are not their husbands violates the seventh commandment, that lying about the identity of the father of their children violates the ninth commandment (and, if this lie makes its way to a birth certificate, a federal crime), and that extracting money from men who did not father their children or for purposes other than taking care of their children violates the eighth commandment. I will tell them that all these things are cosmic treason. And when catechizing my sons, I will tell them to avoid entanglement with women whose character demonstrates they might do these things. That is all I as one man can do to prevent others from engaging in sin.
MRAs: Oh, we won’t do that, because we intend to let the public school system and the tablet do our catechizing.
Me: So, what you’re telling me is that you expect civil magistrate to punish behavior in independent adults that you won’t tell your own children is wrong when they are young and under your headship?
MRAs: Yes. Because legislation always solves sociocultural problems.
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