To celebrate the birth of Christ, Saint Francis of Assisi decided to make it "real" for his people and his friars who lived in the hills around the hermitage of Greccio. St Francis sent a message to an old friend, Giovanni Vellita, telling him of his plan to re-create the scene at Bethlehem. "If you want to celebrate the Feast of the Lord at Greccio, hurry and diligently prepare what I tell you. For I wish to recall to memory the little child who was born in Bethlehem, I want to set before our bodily eyes the hardships of his infant needs, how he lay in the manger, how with an ox and ass standing by he lay upon the hay."
Giovanni and his friends worked hard and succeeded in re-creating in the cave the first crib scene surrounded by candles. The villagers and friars were completely overwhelmed as they celebrated the Christmas mass at which St Francis preached, bringing the Christmas story to life in a very special way.
After the death of Saint Francis, the custom of having a crib at Christmas spread throughout Europe. The crib in the house also became popular by the seventeenth century owing much of its popularity to the enthusiasm of the Franciscans. In England, the symbol of the crib was taken further in the baking of a Christmas mince pie in an oblong shape to cradle the image of the infant Jesus. This was very much a pre-Reformation practice and by the time of the Puritans, mince pie making was outlawed as "idolatry in crust."
When we have a crib scene in our home it is not only a reminder of the first Christmas, it is also a link with all other Christians who have celebrated the joy of the birth of Christ through the ages.