How St. Francis of Assisi Started the First Nativity Scene

Where did all these Nativity scenes come from? Although they’re common today, they represented a radical innovation for their time. In the early 13th century, many within the Church had become indulged in opulence, leaving many poor laymen feeling alienated. St. Francis of Assisi sought to rectify this. He meditated on the Incarnation, where the King of Kings came not in the grandeur of an earthly king, but as a poor, vulnerable child. He not only loved the poor, he was one amongst them. This wa