1. Introduction
  2. PRIMARY SECTOR
  3. SECONDARY SECTOR
  4. TERTIARY SECTOR
  5. Conclusion

FARM ANIMAL STORIES AND LEGENDS





The Legend of St. Francis and the Nativity of Greccio

This is the story that the Polish children learn at their lessons of Religious Education. Then, they go to the franciscan monastery (situated in the neighbourhood of the school) to see the live manger.

St. Francis was visiting the historical place of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land—the humble stable in a cave. Probably this event made his devotion to the Child Jesus stronger.
St. Francis recreated the scene of Christ’s birth in a special ritual inside of a cave in Greccio, Italy. He invited other friars and the people who lived in the town. He wanted everyone to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Later he told a friend why he wanted to create the first nativity scene in his town. He said:

"I want to do something that will recall the memory of that Child who was born in Bethlehem, to see with bodily eyes the inconveniences of his infancy, how he lay in the manger, and how the ox and ass stood by."

St. Francis took an empty manger and put it inside a cave. Then, he took a live ox and donkey and asked them to stand beside the manger, just as it was believed to have happened on that first Christmas night. This way, he wanted everyone to understand better how Christ came into the world in such poverty and simplicity. This was a typical perspective of St. Francis’ idea of simple, poverty-centered spirituality.

It is also said that St. Francis—who was devoted to the virtue of evangelical poverty—was inspired to recreate the original nativity scene to overcome the greed and materialism which he could observe around him.