Are you preparing for the Christmas season? Check out the video above for some help.
The new video, produced by the Office of Communication of the Diocese of Wilmington, presents a montage of photographs of Nativity crèches from the Catholic churches of Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The video includes beautiful instrumental Christmas hymns as a background.
Last Christmas, the diocese invited each of its 56 parishes and 18 mission churches to submit a photograph of their crèche to be included in the video that celebrates the 800th anniversary of the very first Nativity scene. In 1223, wanting to emphasize the humble circumstances of Jesus’s birth and to inspire the local people to more deeply appreciate the Christmas story, St. Francis of Assisi set up a live Nativity scene in a cave in the quaint Italian village of Greccio.
The scene, also called a crèche, included live animals and a hay-filled manger to recreate the birth of Jesus as described in the Gospels. Today, the tradition of the Christmas Nativity scene is practiced in churches, homes and even in public squares around the world.
“When watching this video, one can’t help but be struck by the beauty and simplicity of the story of Christ’s birth artistically represented in these scenes from our churches,” said Robert Krebs, director of communications for the Diocese of Wilmington. “Some are very elaborate, featuring dozens of pieces, while some simply depict the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and the child Jesus. All are beautiful in their own way.”
Krebs suggests that families watch the 12½ minute video together, discuss which scene they like best and why, maybe try to be the first to identify the scene from their parish. Also, the video could be played in the background of Christmas gatherings so everyone can enjoy the holy music and images.
