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Giotto’s Nativity fresco projected on the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. / Shutterstock/CNA
Assisi, Italy, Dec 17, 2021 / 15:17 pm (CNA).
Saint Francis’ hometown of Assisi has once again been illuminated with Giotto’s frescoes this Christmas season.
The frescoes from the interior of the Basilica of St. Francis are being projected each night onto the town’s churches from Dec. 8 to Jan. 10.
Giotto (1267-1337) is the medieval artist credited with painting frescoes of the life of St. Francis as well as biblical scenes in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
Painted on the walls and ceilings, these images inside the basilica can be difficult to see. The light display allows passersby and virtual viewers to see Giotto’s work in greater detail.
Giotto’s Nativity is projected on the facade of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, while the Annunciation is illuminated on the Cathedral of San Rufino. Both scenes also have life-size figurines displayed in front of the churches.
An adaptation of Giotto’s Visitation has been projected on the facade of the Basilica of Saint Clare and Assisi’s Abbey of Saint Peter features an illumination of the “Adoration of the Magi.”
Assisi first debuted its Giotto Christmas light display in December 2020, but Italy’s coronavirus restrictions last year prevented people from outside the region of Umbria from visiting Assisi during the Christmas season.
The Franciscan friars of Assisi have created a website that allows people unable to see the lights in person to view the Christmas display virtually with videos and spiritual reflections.
Assisi has a special connection with the tradition of nativity scenes. St. Francis of Assisi created the first nativity scene in 1223 in the nearby town of Greccio.
Pope Francis traveled to Assisi in 2019 to sign an apostolic letter, “Admirabile signum,” calling for nativity scenes to be more widely displayed in family homes and public places throughout the world.
The letter also details the story behind St. Francis’ first nativity scene, or crèche. The saint asked a friend 15 days before Christmas to help him prepare “to bring to life” the memory of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem.
“When St. Francis arrived, he found a manger full of hay, an ox and a donkey. All those present experienced a new and indescribable joy in the presence of the Christmas scene. The priest then solemnly celebrated the Eucharist over the manger, showing the bond between the Incarnation of the Son of God and the Eucharist. At Greccio there were no statues; the nativity scene was enacted and experienced by all who were present,” the letter explains.
Thomas of Celano, the first biographer of St. Francis, wrote that someone present at the Mass had a vision of the baby Jesus himself lying in the manger.
“In a particular way, from the time of its Franciscan origins, the nativity scene has invited us to ‘feel’ and ‘touch’ the poverty that God’s Son took upon himself in the Incarnation. Implicitly, it summons us to follow him along the path of humility, poverty and self-denial that leads from the manger of Bethlehem to the cross,” Pope Francis wrote.
Pope Francis meets with the Seraphic Institute of Assisi on Dec. 13, 2021. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Dec 13, 2021 / 14:00 pm (CNA).
In a meeting with disabled children and their caregivers at the Vatican on Monday, Pope Francis said that a … […]
Students at The Catholic University of America posing with Delilah the Camel at the school’s annual “Greccio” live nativity event on Dec. 12, 2021. / Patrick Ryan/The Catholic University of America
Washington D.C., Dec 12, 2021 / 22:29 pm (CNA).
You knew this wasn’t your average live nativity scene when you saw the camel.
Delilah, to be more precise.
On Sunday night, Dec. 12, she was the B.M.O.C. (Biggest Mammal on Campus) at The Catholic University of America — and the scene-stealing star of this year’s “Greccio,” a popular Advent event that pays homage to St. Francis of Assisi’s first-ever re-enactment of Christ’s birth, in Greccio, Italy, in 1223.
“Big” does not adequately convey Delilah’s dimensions. She measures 7 feet tall, from her well-cushioned feet to her impressive-looking hump, and tips the scales at approximately 900 pounds (not counting the 12 pounds of dormant grass she munched off the quad during her breaks.)
Delilah brought more than sheer size to the role of 1st century dromedary, however. With extraordinary patience, she let people stroke her surprisingly soft coat to their hearts’ content, and she posed like a pro for hundreds of selfies, looking directly into the camera with what looked an awful lot like a smile.
“Steady … cheese!” her handler, Jennifer Caton of Bar C Ranch, prompted her. Delilah got an animal cracker each time she complied, which was almost always. (This wasn’t her first rodeo — er, nativity scene.)
Catholics in St. Francis’ day had become consumed with worldly cares. Reenacting the nativity at a cave out in the countryside, he hoped, would re-focus their attention on God’s profound humility and love.
The Conventual Franciscan friars in charge of the university’s campus ministry had a similar goal in mind when they initiated the first Greccio event on campus seven years ago. Coming at the end of the semester, it serves to remind students that there is more to celebrate this time of year beside the end of finals.
Held outside the St. Vincent de Paul Chapel, Sunday’s observance featured carols and scripture readings; costumed shepherds, wise men, and the Holy Family; hot chocolate and humongous home-baked cookies … and one very cool camel, among assorted other animals.
There were lots of little kids in attendance — the free event is a huge hit with young families from the surrounding Brookland neighborhood — but nobody seemed more overjoyed to see Delilah than The Catholic University of America students, who welcomed the interruption from their exam week studies.
“I didn’t know there was going to be a camel here,” said Emily Thomas, 19, a freshman from Baltimore who was taking a break from writing a 10-page paper on the Beatitudes.
“She’s like the coolest animal I’ve ever seen,” said a smitten Ben Rees, 19, a sophomore from Smithfield, Rhode Island, who had already knocked out two papers on Sunday but still had one to go.
“I love this,” said Susan Gibbs, the university’s interim executive director of communications, as she watched the festive scene unfold.
This was her first Greccio, and she seemed as delighted to be there as the students. “I mean, how often do you get to meet a camel?” she said.
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