THE MANGER & THE MONSTRANCE: WHAT ST. FRANCIS’ MANGER SCENE CAN TEACH US ABOUT THE BREAD OF LIFE IN THE YEAR OF EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL

The manger scene evokes our memories of Christmas: sharing delicious holiday dishes with family members, sitting around a Christmas tree with hot cocoa, or roasting chestnuts on an open fire. However, on this night, St. Francis did not partake in the feasting typical at Christmastime in the Middle Ages. Instead, he desired to “…enact the memory of that babe who was born in Bethlehem: to see as much as is possible with [his] own bodily eyes the discomfort of [Christ’s] infant needs, how he lay in a manger, and how, with an ox and ass standing by, he rested on hay”. Thus, the manger scene was born.

On Christmas Eve in 1223, St. Francis of Assisi had the first live manger scene created in the town of Greccio. He gathered the townspeople from near and far to celebrate Mass and recall the origins of Christ’s humble birth.  

Francis saw Our Lord’s birth as fundamental. His Birth is intimately tied to His Death. The two bookends of Christ’s Life on earth form the basis of Francis’ spirituality and today’s Franciscan Intellectual Tradition, as Francis “scarcely wanted to think of anything else”.  Francis saw intimately the connection between the humility of the Babe born in hay and the One Who stays with us in the Eucharist. The relationship between Christ’s birth and death teaches us many valuable insights as we strive to deepen our reverence for Our Eucharistic Lord in this time of revival in the United States.

In the thirtieth chapter of the first book of The Life of Saint Francis by Thomas of Celano, there is a striking similarity between how Celano writes about the manger scene and how churches prepare for adoration:

·       Altar servers who set the altar with candelabras are like those “…men and women of that land [who] with exultant hearts [prepared] candles and torches to light up [the] night”.  
·       Just as the faithful give God praise by singing “O Salutaris Hostia” during exposition and “Tantum Ergo” during benediction, “the brothers sing, giving God due praise” at the manger.  
·       When the Eucharistic host is placed in the monstrance, “simplicity is given a place of honor, poverty is exalted, humility is commended, and out of Greccio is made a new Bethlehem”.

Though we cannot say with certainty that any of these similarities were intended by Thomas of Celano, it is fruitful to meditate on the seemingly not coincidental connection between the manger and the monstrance. As Celano stated, “out of Greccio is made a new Bethlehem”, a new “house of bread.” The manger was the first monstrance. It cradled Our Lord as the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, the Magi, and the shepherds adored Him.  

In St. Francis’s time, his manger scene offered a new way of presenting and adoring Our Lord. For centuries now, the devotion to the tiny Babe of Bethlehem has been enkindled by this display. This devotion also reminds us of the simplicity of Eucharistic Adoration. As with a newborn child, there is not much to do but simply bask in the tiny babe asleep in your arms. He asks us to sit with Him, to hold Him close, and to allow Him to grow in our hearts as a child grows in our arms.  

The Lord became Incarnate for the same reasons He offers Himself to us in the Eucharist: to redeem us; to give us the graces “to go and sin no more” (John 8:11), to demonstrate his compassion, to soften our hardened hearts, to transform us to become more like Him, and to be fully united to Him. May the words of Thomas of Celano on the miracle of Greccio be our inspiration in sharing its’ message in this year of Eucharistic Revival:

“The gifts of the Almighty are multiplied there, and a virtuous man sees a wondrous vision. For the man saw a little child lying lifeless in the manger and he saw the holy man of God approach the child and waken him from a deep sleep. Nor is this vision unfitting, since in the hearts of many the child Jesus has been given over to oblivion. Now he is awakened and impressed on their loving memory by His own grace through His holy servant Francis”.

As you gradually prepare your heart for the approaching Christmas season, reflect on the Incarnate Lord in the manger. Ask God to awaken you from a deep sleep and impress on you the mystery and beauty of the Holy Eucharist in the monstrance through His humility in the manger.

Samantha Oswald
Class of 2024
Franciscan University of Steubenville

 

All quotations can be found in:

Armstrong, Regis J., J. A. Wayne Hellmann, and William J. Short. Francis of Assisi: The Saint. New City Press, 1999.