The first known Nativity ... a manger full of hay, an ox, and a donkey,” the pope wrote. “All those present experienced a new and indescribable joy in the presence of the Christmas scene.

Among the most common Christmas traditions are small sets of figures depicting Joseph, Mary and Jesus that are displayed in individual homes, and live reenactments of the manger scene in communities ...

Around the Christmas season, it is common to see a display of the Nativity scene: a small manger with the baby Jesus and his family, shepherds, the three wise men believed to have visited Jesus ...

The Christmas 2023 Nativity scene at the Vatican will evoke the first-ever live manger, which was created by St. Francis of Assisi in Italy in the 1200s, the Vatican said Monday. The Vatican’s ...

St. Francis then invited the villagers to visit the manger while he preached about Jesus’ birth. The tradition took root across Europe, and within the next couple of centuries, nativity scenes ...