Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate an exhibition on St Francis of Assisi, the “patron saint of environment” and the “originator of the tradition of cribs,” on Christmas Eve.
The exhibition, showcasing various images of St Francis, will be held on the premises of the Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary.
The chief minister will attend the Mass at the cathedral after inaugurating the exhibition.
“The origin of the Christmas Crib or Manger or Nativity scene is often first ascribed to Saint Francis of Assisi, who, in 1223 AD, celebrated the ‘Feast of the Nativity’, in a new way that led to a new practice popular even today,” said Father Franklin Menezes, the pro-vicar of the Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary.
According to the release shared by the archdiocese of Kolkata and the cathedral on Thursday, history says that St Francis of Assisi was inspired by his visit to the Holy Land in 1219 where he had been shown Jesus’s traditional birthplace.
The release says that it was in 1223 that the first creche was celebrated in the woods of Greccio near Assisi, on Christmas Eve. “It is reported that Francis commissioned a local holy man by the name Giovanni (John) Velitta, about two weeks before Christmas to enact the memory of the Infant who was born at Bethlehem and how he was bedded in the manger on hay between a donkey and an ox...,” the release says.
Nativity scenes exhibit figures representing the infant Jesus, his mother Mary and Joseph. “Distinctive Nativity scenes and traditions have been created around the world and are displayed during Christmas in churches, homes and at public places and buildings,” said Father Dominic Gomes, the vicar general of the archdiocese of Calcutta.
Father Menezes said through the exhibition the idea was also to pass the message that “human beings are the custodians of Mother Earth” and have to protest her.