Christmas 2024: Know the meaning of each element of the manger

In each Catholic home, the assembly of the manger has begun these days, a tradition that Saint Francis of Assisi began on Christmas in 1223 in the Italian town of Greccio and with which humanity now celebrates the birth of Jesus.

The nativity scene is usually assembled at the beginning of Advent and is kept in a special place until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which in 2025 will be on January 12, and with which the Christmas Season concludes.

Regarding the general meaning of birth, Pope Francis states in your letter An admirable sign of 2019 that this tradition is a simple and joyful way of announcing “the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God.”

“The nativity scene,” explains the Pontiff, “makes us see, makes us touch, this unique and extraordinary event that has changed the course of history, and from which the numbering of the years is also ordered, before and after the birth of Christ.” .

Next, we explain the meaning of each of the elements of birth:

1. The star

The Evangelist Saint Matthew (2, 1-12) is the one who mentions that a star guided the wise men to Bethlehem. “Where is the born king of the Jews? Because we have seen his star in the east and we have come to worship him”, is the question they ask Herod. Pope Francis explains that the star is “the sign that we too are called to set out to reach the grotto and worship the Lord.”

2. The manger

In his gospel, Luke (2, 7) narrates that, upon giving birth to her son, Mary “wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in her manger because there was no room for them in the inn.” In this way, the Son of God found a place “where the animals go to eat” and hay was his first bed. The Pope explains that the manger becomes an invitation to feel and touch “the poverty that the Son of God chose for himself in his incarnation,” as well as to follow him “on the path of humility, poverty, dispossession.” , which from the grotto of Bethlehem leads to the Cross.”

3. The Virgin Mary

The figure of the Virgin Mary reminds us of obedience and total surrender to the will of God. Let us remember that with her yes, she accepted to be the mother of the Son of God. Thus, in the manger it is the mother “who contemplates her son and shows him to all who come to visit him.”

4. Saint Joseph

The adoptive father of Jesus is usually represented with the staff in his hand or holding a lamp. As Pope Francis says, “Saint Joseph plays a very important role in the life of Jesus and Mary”, he is the custodian “who never tires of protecting his family” and he is the one who carries “in his heart the great mystery that “It involved Jesus and Mary his wife, and as a just man he always trusted in the will of God and put it into practice.”

5. Baby Jesus

The central figure of the manger is that of the Child Jesus. This reminds us that God wanted to break into history through the fragility of a child and from there “reveal the greatness of his love,” as Pope Francis teaches.

For his part, Juan, in his first letter (chapter 1, 2) assures that with the birth of Christ “life became visible”, a statement with which the apostle “summarizes the mystery of the incarnation”, affirms the Pope.

6. The shepherds

The shepherds were the first to arrive at the grotto where the Baby Jesus had been born. Luke relates in his gospel (2, 15) that after hearing the angel’s announcement, the shepherds say: “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem, and see what has happened and that the Lord has communicated to us.” Pope Francis explains to us that they represent “the most humble and the poorest who know how to welcome the event of the incarnation.”

7. The Three Wise Men

The figures of the Three Wise Men—which tradition has baptized as Melchior, Gaspar and Balthazar—take on relevance in the Epiphany festival. Matthew relates that when they saw the Child with the Virgin they prostrated themselves, worshiped him and offered him gold, incense and myrrh. They are not the chosen people, but represent the other peoples who are also invited to set out to meet the Lord.

8. Animals

As Benedict XVI explained in his book Jesus of Nazarethalthough the gospels do not speak of the presence of animals, Christian tradition has placed the ox and the donkey “as representatives of humanity”, based on the texts of Isaiah 1, 3; Habakkuk 3, 2; y Exodus 25, 18-20; and in the meaning of the manger.

“In itself stripped of understanding, before the Child, before the humble appearance of God in the stable, this humanity comes to knowledge and, in the poverty of this birth, receives the epiphany that it now teaches everyone to see. Christian iconography has embraced this motif from very early on. In no representation of the manger will the ox and the donkey be renounced,” wrote Benedict XVI.

9. Prayer to bless the manger

In it Blessing Families are invited to make a short blessing rite of the manger in order to give “more religious meaning” to this tradition. Within the rite it is proposed to recite any of the following two prayers:

Lord God, our Father, who loved the world so much that you gave us your only Son born of Mary the Virgin, deign to bless this birth and the Christian community that is present here so that the images of this Nativity scene help to deepen the faith adults and children. We ask this through Jesus, your beloved Son, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

or:

Oh, God, our Father, who loved the world so much that you gave us your only Son Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, to save us and bring us back to you, we ask that with your blessing these images of the birth help us to celebrate Christmas with joy and see Christ present in all those who need our love. We ask this in the name of Jesus, your beloved Son, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.