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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a

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Speaker 1: show for those who can never know enough about history.

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Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier and today we're looking at the Franciscan

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Speaker 1: origins of the Nativity scene, a beloved Christmas tradition practiced

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Speaker 1: by people around the world for eight centuries. In County,

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Speaker 1: the day was December twenty fifth, twelve twenty three. Saint

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Speaker 1: Francis created the world's first Nativity scene in Gretzo, Italy.

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Speaker 1: Whether performed by children, set up as figurines on a mantle,

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Speaker 1: or installed as a life size display in front of

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Speaker 1: a church, scenes depicting the birth of Jesus Christ have

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Speaker 1: long been a fixture of the Christmas season. Also known

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Speaker 1: as a cresh, the Nativity scene is a visual expression

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Speaker 1: of devotion to the holiday's namesake, and that's been the

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Speaker 1: case ever since the tradition began some eight hundred years ago.

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Speaker 1: It was first conceived by Saint Francis of Assisi, one

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Speaker 1: of the most revered saints in Roman Catholic history. He

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Speaker 1: was born into a wealthy merchant family in the town

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Speaker 1: of Assisi in modern day Italy. Sometime around eleven eighty

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Speaker 1: one a d. As a young man, Francis abandoned the

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Speaker 1: comfortable lifestyle afforded by his status in favor of spreading

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Speaker 1: the Gospel as an impoverished, wandering preacher. In twelve o nine,

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Speaker 1: he founded the Franciscan Order, a religious group devoted to

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Speaker 1: works of charity in service of the poor and the

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Speaker 1: socially marginalized. Ten years later, Francis traveled to the Holy

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Speaker 1: Land and visited the alleged sites of Christ's birth, life, death,

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Speaker 1: and resurrection. It was this pilgrimage that reportedly inspired him

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Speaker 1: to stage a live recreation of the birth of Jesus.

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Speaker 1: Seeing the biblical location's first hand made the accounts of

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Speaker 1: them feel all the more real to him, and he

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Speaker 1: wanted to share that experience as best he could with

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Speaker 1: people who weren't able to make the trip themselves. In

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Speaker 1: November of twelve twenty three, three years before his death,

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Speaker 1: Saint Francis put his plan into action. He met with

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Speaker 1: Pope Honorius the Third in Rome and asked his permission

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Speaker 1: to stage the scene of Christ's humble birth in Bethlehem.

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Speaker 1: The Pope granted the request, and after completing his business

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Speaker 1: in Rome, Francis set out for the hilltown of Greccio,

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Speaker 1: about fifty miles to the north. He had preached there

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Speaker 1: often in the previous decade and was so well respected

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Speaker 1: by the villagers that they built a hermitage for him

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Speaker 1: and his disciples a short distance from town. Francis was

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Speaker 1: headed back there in early December when he rode ahead

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Speaker 1: to his friend Geovanni Velita, asking him to prepare a

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Speaker 1: cave just outside of Gretcho. I want to do something

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Speaker 1: that will recall the memory of that child who was

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Speaker 1: born in Bethlehem, he said, to see with bodily eyes

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Speaker 1: the inconveniences of his infancy, how he lay in the manger,

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Speaker 1: and how the ox and ass stood by. By the

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Speaker 1: time Francis arrived at the hermitage, Velita had found a

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Speaker 1: suitable cave in the countryside and stocked it with a

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Speaker 1: hay lined manger, as well as two live animals, an

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Speaker 1: ox and a donkey. Once everything was ready, Saint Francis

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Speaker 1: invited both his fellow friars and all the farmers in

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Speaker 1: the region to come see the simple scene. During Christmas Mass,

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Speaker 1: Francis himself preached the homily that evening right alongside the Nativity,

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Speaker 1: which was illuminated by firelight. Crowds arrived from miles around,

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Speaker 1: bearing candles and torches, and several of those in attendants

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Speaker 1: claimed to witness miracles at the mass. The details we

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Speaker 1: have come from biographies written by contemporary friends and followers

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Speaker 1: of Francis, such as Saint Bonaventure and Brother Thomas of Celano.

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Speaker 1: According to them, there were no figures or actors present

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Speaker 1: in the scene, yet witnesses reported that a real infant

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Speaker 1: appeared in the empty manger, and that Saint Francis then

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Speaker 1: picked up the child and embraced him. Brother Thomas wrote

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Speaker 1: that everyone present was moved to tears by the scene,

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Speaker 1: and that they returned to their homes filled with joy.

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Speaker 1: In the weeks that followed, Miraculous healings were said to

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Speaker 1: take place in the grotto where the Mass had been held.

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Speaker 1: Sick animals and pregnant women were said to be cured

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Speaker 1: of their illnesses simply by touching the straw of the

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Speaker 1: manger where the baby Jesus had appeared. Saint Francis's recreation

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Speaker 1: of that first Christmas night prompted other churches in Italy

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Speaker 1: to stage their own Nativity scenes. In the following years.

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Speaker 1: Eventually the practice spread to churches in other countries, as

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Speaker 1: well as to town squares and into private homes. The

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Speaker 1: cast of characters featured in a nativity scene has greatly

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Speaker 1: expanded over the years. Baby Jesus and his parents Mary

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Speaker 1: and Joseph are present in just about all of them,

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Speaker 1: but many also include angels, shepherds, a trio of wise men,

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Speaker 1: and a whole slew of barnyard animals, typically sheep, donkeys, oxen,

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Speaker 1: and cattle. Nativity purists may balk at those editions, and

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Speaker 1: they kind of have a point. For instance, the Bible

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Speaker 1: makes no mention of animals being present for the birth

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Speaker 1: of Christ, though it's reasonable to assume they were since

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Speaker 1: they were staying in the part of a house where

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Speaker 1: animals were usually kept. Another detail that strays from scripture

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Speaker 1: is having the shepherds and the three wise men appear together.

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Speaker 1: The Book of Matthew mentions the wise men and the

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Speaker 1: Book of Luke mentions the shepherds, but neither gospel describes both.

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Speaker 1: Of course, strict biblical accuracy isn't really the point of

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Speaker 1: a nativity scene, and most people don't seem to have

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Speaker 1: a problem with the little artistic license. Take the adoration

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Speaker 1: of the magi. For instance, that famous fifteenth century painting

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Speaker 1: by Fra Angelico and Filipo Leppi depicts not only sheep

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Speaker 1: and cattle, but a bright blue peacock as well. Still,

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Speaker 1: for those who prefer a more old school Nativity, you

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Speaker 1: could always make the trip to where the tradition began.

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Speaker 1: The Franciscan hermitage where the First Nativity was held, is

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Speaker 1: still there outside the town of Grecio. Each Christmas, the

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Speaker 1: townspeople gather there and stage a live historical reenactment of

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Speaker 1: Saint Francis and the First Nativity. The yearly event serves

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Speaker 1: as a call for those in attendance to practice humility, empathy,

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Speaker 1: and self denial, virtues exemplified both in the story of

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Speaker 1: Christ's birth and in the life of the saint who

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Speaker 1: sought to recreate it. I'm Gay Bluesier, and hopefully you

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Speaker 1: now know he a little more about history today than

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Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you enjoyed today's episode, consider keeping

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Speaker 1: pass along your feedback directly by writing to this Day

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Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. To those who celebrate Merry Christmas,

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Speaker 1: and to everyone else, compliments of the season. Thanks as

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Speaker 1: always to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks

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Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again

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Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in History class