December 16, 2023 / 05:40 PM
Pope Francis encouraged this Saturday to understand the meaning of live births, a devotional tradition that takes place in the days before Christmas and that was born 800 years ago thanks to Saint Francis of Assisi.
The Pontiff made this invitation when receiving the people who will participate in the live nativity scene this afternoon in the Basilica of Santa María Maggiore, in Rome.
“It is important to remember the reason for its invention, to understand the meaning so as not to reduce it only to a folkloric fact,” said Pope Francis. in the audiencereferring to the live birth that Saint Francis of Assisi carried out in Greccio (Italy) in 1223.