The story goes that in 1223, St. Francis of Assisi sought and received permission to recreate the scene of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. He did so in the Italian village of Grecio, using live people and animals. Done to help people learn about and experience the birth of Jesus for themselves and to inspire their worship, the tradition soon spread throughout Europe. Over time, statues and figurines complimented the many “live” nativities that people still create at Christmas time and let these scenes move inside of people’s homes.

Whether this story is completely factual or not doesn’t really matter, someone, perhaps even Saint Francis, began this tradition in the early 1200’s and it has spread not just throughout Europe but indeed the whole world. Many Christians have at least one and sometimes multiple beautiful, fragile, and expensive nativity scenes that they lovingly set up and display in places of honor during the Advent and Christmas seasons. Ironically out of this love for the story of Christ’s birth, and a desire for people to learn about and experience it for themselves, when it comes to these nativity scenes, you will often hear these words directed at the most open and curious minds of all, “DON’T TOUCH THAT!”