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Book Review
St. Francis of Assisi
and the gift of Christ
Reviewed by Andrew Junker, The Catholic Sun
December 6, 2007
Displaying a crèche or manger scene is something most Catholics do for the Christmas season.
Life-size Nativity scenes take a prominent place in many churches, but there are also the small plastic, wooden or even marble types that sit on families’ tables.
Like so many of the Church’s traditions, most Catholics probably don’t know when the manger scene originated, but if pressed to guess, they’d probably say it’s very old.
And they’d be right.
Tradition credits St. Francis of Assisi with the invention — or at least the popularization — of the manger scene in 1223, in Greccio, an Italian town.
Early biographers of St. Francis, his followers Thomas of Celano and St. Bonaventure, both write that Francis asked permission from Pope Honorius III to celebrate the Feast of the Incarnation in his own way.
The pope acceded to his request and Francis and his fellow friars built a manger on some land in Greccio. It was built so that Mass could be celebrated directly on the manger. Francis himself sang the Gospel and preached on the Nativity of Christ.
Though historically that narrative is more likely true, another story grew out of that Christmas at Greccio — one that is more fanciful and wondrous, and the subject of local author Jeffrey Campbell’s “Saint Francis and the Christmas Miracle at Greccio.”
His book — beautifully illustrated by local artist Francesca Bianco — opens with St. Francis and a few of his followers praying and resting at the Carceri, or hermitage that sat above Assisi on Mount Subasio.
It was a favorite spot of Francis’ to get away from the town and enter into meditation. As he lay outside on the snow, he saw a star dancing in the night.
Sound familiar?
Getting up, Francis rushed back to Assisi and gathered more friars to follow the star and find out where it would lead them. They walked by night and rested during the day.
The interaction between the saint and his first followers is wonderful in the book. Campbell portrays the young religious order as filled with fraternal love.
At the same time, there are humorous moments in which some of the brothers aren’t exactly skeptical of Francis, but at least constantly surprised by his overwhelming joy and trust in God. The dialogue gives a sense of what it must have felt like to be part of such an exciting moment in the Church.
The friars eventually arrive at the little town of Greccio, where Sir John, a nobleman and patron to the order, greets them. That night, the star hung low over the town and stopped dancing. Francis was sure that they had arrived at the right spot.
He took his brothers to the local church and prayed that God would tell him what to do. After a few hours, he instructed his brothers to gather timber to make a manger, to find some livestock for the scene, and to ask a family with a newborn son to play the Holy Family.
This last task was given to Brother Leo who simply couldn’t find a family with a newborn boy anywhere. Feeling despondent, he lied to Francis that he had succeeded.
What follows is the “miracle” part of the book’s title, and I won’t spoil it here. Suffice it to say that God provided, as Francis knew He would.
This locally published book is attractively produced with Bianco’s lively illustrations peppering and sometimes integrated into the text. It makes a wonderful children’s book and could be read out loud as a family puts up their nativity scene.
But more important, the joy and childlike wonder St. Francis had for Christmas is infectious. He knew the wonderful and unfathomable gift given to the world in the manger.
And even though we know it too, it never hurts to be reminded.
Andrew Junker is a staff writer for The Catholic Sun. Comments are welcome. Send e-mail to letters@catholicsun.org.
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