What's your creche story?

Last year Pope Francis issued a short document (an "Apostolic Letter") on the humble Christmas creche, the little (or big!) Nativity scenes that appear under so many Christmas trees, or on so many mantels during the Christmas season (which only began on Friday).

The stable, the hay, the star, the statues of Mary, Joseph, the baby, the animals and shepherds and kings (and sometimes a whole host of extras) are like a visible meditation on the Gospel. In his letter, Pope Francis offers a reflection on each element of the typical Christmas scene. I urge you to read it while sitting near your own creche. It's only about two pages long.

My Mom's preferred gift for weddings was a really nice Nativity set. Oh, she would get something from the couple's bridal registry, too, but she knew that a Nativity set would actually be used year after year.

The creche scene in this post has a unique history that I only learned about this year, thanks to the marvels of Facebook. Every year, my high school classmate, Maureen, brings the tiny pieces out and sets up the Christmas scene in her home. (Clearly, it doesn't require much space.) And not to reveal too much about either myself or Maureen, but she has been setting this particular tiny crib scene up for well over 50 years, because it was a Kris Kringle gift from me in third grade. (They don't make 'em like that any more!) 

Our family's original Nativity set had heavy plaster statues that gradually lost all their paint and, bit by bit, their limbs (which revealed wire under the plaster). They were replaced by rubberized Italian-style figures that would never break (but which could...suffer if the dog found them). Various types of angels took turns atop the sheltering shed, along with a star that looked suspiciously like a misplaced tree ornament.

Here in my office I have a stylized Nativity of stained glass. The Sisters of St Joseph ran a women's shelter in Florida, and the women created art to help support themselves. One of the sisters told me, "For some of these women, it's the first beautiful thing they have been able to make." I also have an Italian bambino in a plastic manger with a toy camel and sheep from my nieces long-ago Happy Meals greeting him, and a wooden jigsaw Nativity made by my brother-in-law.

What is the story behind your Nativity scene? Please share it in the comments!