Blessing for the Christmas Tree
(When the Christmas Tree is decorated, just before the lights are turned on for the first time on Christmas Eve, the tree may be sprinkled with Holy Water as the following prayer is said.)

Holy Lord, we come with joy to celebrate the birth of your Son, who rescued us from the darkness of sin by making the Cross a tree of life and light. May this tree, arrayed in splendor, remind us of the life-giving Cross of Christ, that we may always rejoice in the new life that shines in our hearts. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Blessing for the Christmas Crib
(A Blessing prayer for Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, when the Christ Child is placed in the manger. The Crib may be sprinkled with Holy Water as the following blessing is said.)

O God of every nation:

From the very beginning of creation you have made manifest your love: When our need for a Savior was great, you sent your Son to be born of the Virgin Mary. To our lives He brings joy and peace, justice, mercy and love.

Lord, bless all who look upon this manger; may it remind us of the humble birth of Jesus, and raise up our thought to Him, who is our Emmanuel and Savior of all,

Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Origin of the Christmas Crib
The origin of the Christmas Crib (or Manger or Nativity scene - or French, crêche; Italian presepio; German krippe; Spanish, nacimiento) is often first ascribed to Saint Francis of Assisi, who in 1223 celebrated the Feast of the Nativity in a new way that led to a new devotional practice. Saint Francis sent for his friend, Giovanni Vellita, a landowner in Greccio where Francis had a favorite hermitage. "If now it seems good to thee that we should celebrate this feast together, go before me to Greccio and prepare everything as I tell thee. I desire to represent the birth of that Child in Bethlehem in such a way that with our bodily eyes we may see what He Suffered for lack of the necessities of a newborn babe and how He lay in a manger between the ox and ass."

Saint Bonaventure, Francis's biographer, said of the scene, "Many brothers and good people came at Francis's bidding, and during the night the weather also was beautiful. Many lights were kindled, songs and hymns were sung with great solemnity so that the whole wood echoed with the sound , and the man of God stood by the manger, filled with the utmost joy, and shedding tears of devotion and compassion. By his order the manger had been so arranged that Mass was celebrated on it, and blessed Francis...sang the gospel and preached to the people on the Nativity of Christ our King, and whenever he pronounced his name with infinite tenderness he called Him the 'little Babe of Bethlehem.'" (Nesta Robeck, The Christmas Crib, Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company, 1956, p. 45-47.)In the liturgical drama known as the Officium Pastorum, which took shape in the 11th century, we find a praesepe behind the altar as the center of the action. But long before this, something similar seems to have been in existence in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Here Pope Gregory III (731-741) placed a "golden image of the Mother of God embracing God our savior in various gems." The Church was meant to provide a special home for the new festival of Christmas introduced by Pope Liberius (352-366). An important part of the early Christmas ritual was the celebration of Mass over a "manger" in which the consecrated host was laid, just as the body of the Holy Child had lain in the manger at Bethlehem.

The Crêche in the Home
In the 16th century the crêche scene was no longer confined to the churches. It still remains common in the Catholic regions of Europe to arrange the krippe underneath the Christmas tree. Setting up the manger figures is a favorite family activity. Children like to arrange the figures of Mary and Joseph in the stable, and the shepherds, animals and other figures who are moved closer to the stable each day in anticipation of the arrival of the Christ Child. In many families, the figure of the Baby Jesus remains hidden until Christmas morning, when the children "discover" Him in the manger. It is also a custom to have the figures of the wise men begin their approach towards Bethlehem on Christmas Day after the star has appeared, to arrive at the stable on the Epiphany. The animals traditionally part of every Nativity scene, usually an ass and an ox, are not mentioned in the New Testament. However, as early as the 4th century these animals were represented in pictures of the Nativity. The tradition originates in two Old Testament passages foretelling the birth of Christ: Isaiah 1:3 --"The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel hath not understood"; and Habakkuk 3:2 -- "In the midst of two animals Thou shalt become known."

Preparing the Manger for the Christ Child
In the 16th century the crêche scene was no longer confined to the churches. It still remains common in the Catholic regions of Europe to arrange the krippe underneath the Christmas tree. Setting up the manger figures is a favorite family activity. Children like to arrange the figures of Mary and Joseph in the stable, and the shepherds, animals and other figures who are moved closer to the stable each day in anticipation of the arrival of the Christ Child. In many families, the figure of the Baby Jesus remains hidden until Christmas morning, when the children "discover" Him in the manger. It is also a custom to have the figures of the wise men begin their approach towards Bethlehem on Christmas Day after the star has appeared, to arrive at the stable on the Epiphany. The animals traditionally part of every Nativity scene, usually an ass and an ox, are not mentioned in the New Testament. However, as early as the 4th century these animals were represented in pictures of the Nativity. The tradition originates in two Old Testament passages foretelling the birth of Christ: Isaiah 1:3 --"The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel hath not understood"; and Habakkuk 3:2 -- "In the midst of two animals Thou shalt become known."

The Custom of "Cribbing"
It is a challenge for Catholic families to celebrate all twelve days of Christmas while all around us the season is being taken down, boxed up, or put on sale at half price. If you live in a city, one way of keeping Christmas with children is to visit Jesus in the Mangers of other parishes. (The custom of Catholic families visiting the Cribs of many parishes on New Year's Day, although rapidly disappearing in the United States, is still evident in European cities.) Most churches have a beautiful display, and children will be impressed to see the care that each parish takes with its Nativity scene.

Reprinted from Celebrating Advent and Christmas - A Source for Families, Woman for Faith & Family, PO Box 8326, St. Louis, MO 63132

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