“800 Years of Wonder,” a special exhibit at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America features an impressive array of creches and images of the first Christmas as envisioned by artists from around the world.
With many of the creches on display from the private collection of Marguerite and Roger Sullivan, this exhibit at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C., of more than 150 Nativities from every continent except Antarctica offers a silent, yet powerful, call for the faithful to contemplate with their hearts and minds the Incarnation of Christ.
Using a variety of materials – including fabric, wood, clay, glass, ceramics, cornhusks and mother of pearl – artists and craftsmen depict Nativity scenes that have the Holy Family, the Magi and shepherds in traditional dress native to the countries from which the artworks come. Thus, visitors to the exhibit see creches populated with people who look like the faithful for whom the artworks were created.
There are Nativity scenes set, for example, in New Mexico pueblos and Alaskan Aleut villages. The exhibit includes Holy Families that are Asian and African and European and Latino and many other ethnicities. They hail from Ukraine and Ghana and Iceland and Ethiopia and India and Poland and Colombia and Macedonia and a host of other nations.
Although the creche scenes differ in style, the figures depicted remain the same: The Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, the angel, the three kings, the animals and the shepherds, all gathered around Baby Jesus, showing how the lowly and the important have equal status as they are side by side in their adoration of the baby king.
This exhibit shows that when facing God, great kings, the wealthy, the famous and the powerful have no greater claim or right to His love than others. There is no station, no position, no rank that is greater than any other when kneeling in adoration before Jesus. All are equally beloved of the Father, and all are equally invited and welcomed to come to the manger, to marvel at the Baby Jesus, to thank God for the gift of His Son.
In a side exhibit near the Nativity exhibit is a showing of creches made by students at three Catholic schools in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington: Little Flower School in Bethesda, Maryland; St. Anthony Catholic School in Washington, D.C.; and St. Jerome Academy in Hyattsville, Maryland.
The display of Nativity scenes has been a tradition at the Franciscan Monastery for several years. What makes this year special is that this year is the 800th anniversary of the first Nativity scene created by St. Francis of Assisi in 1223.
When he created the very first Nativity scene in the town of Greccio, Italy, St. Francis of Assisi said he wanted to recreate the manger because, “I wish to recall to memory the little child who was born in Bethlehem. I want to set before our bodily eyes the hardships of His infant needs, how He lay in the manger, how with an ox and ass standing by, He lay upon the hay.”
That very first nativity is a far cry from the ones on display at the monastery. Eight hundred years ago, St. Francis placed a carved baby Jesus statue on a pile of hay that was placed on a rock. There were no likenesses of Mary and Joseph, but there was a live ox and donkey.
Thomas of Celano, Francis’s contemporary and biographer, said that when St. Francis beheld that first Nativity scene, he was “overcome with love and filled with a wonderful happiness… and spoke charming words concerning the birth of the poor King.”
In a message to mark the 800th anniversary of the first creche, Pope Francis said Nativity scenes show "the beauty of our faith."
"Awe and wonder are the two feelings that move everyone, young and old, before the Nativity scene, which is like a living Gospel overflowing from the pages of Holy Scripture," the pope said in that message.
“800 Years of Wonder” will be on display in the visitor center at the Franciscan Monastery through Jan. 7, 2024. The monastery is located at 1400 Quincy St. in Northeast Washington. There is ample free parking.
