A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

The World's Largest Nativity


The nativity pictures are a favorite subject of artists. Many American artists have drawn their inspiration from the classic European paintings and early Bible illustrations. The nativity scene is not only represented through illustrations and paintings, but around the world the nativity is brought to life by churches and other groups. The first live reproduction of the outside Christmas nativity of a church is given to St. Francis of Assisi for the event he staged in Greccio, Italy, in 1223. Since then, the practice has spread around the world in pageants, church reproductions, neighborhood rituals such as the posada, professionally staged plays where huge casts including live animals are utilized, and of course the school plays where sometimes the imaginative interpretations of the script provides highly original versions of the events. There are several vast collections of the nativity in palaces and museums.

The worlds largest is a Swiss nativity production, the Diorama Bethlehem in Einsiedeln, http://www.diorama.ch/english/default.htm which reproduces the Bethlehem and stocks it with hundreds of carved figures. It not only illustrates the birth of Jesus, but also the message of the angel to the shepherds, the journey by the three kings, and the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt.
Although the story is long old, the message is clear for us. Our own Nativity scenes which rest under our Christmas trees are a visible reminder of that night when our Savior was born. May we never forget to see in our hearts the little Babe of Bethlehem, who came to save us from sin. We must never forget that the wood of the manger that held Him so securely would one day give way to the wood of the cross.
Balisha

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Balisha, what an amazing sight that must be! Your blog is so full of the Christmas spirit, from the header to the wallpaper, that I particularly like. I have a collection of nativities, haven't gotten them out in years since we have been traveling to our children's homes for Christmas for the last ten years. This year they are coming here. Hooray! :-)

Frances

Noelle Johnson said...

Hello Balisha,

I do love nativity scenes and had no idea that they had such large ones. I had a great time visiting the website. I would love to see this one in person some day.

Elenka said...

My parent's church does a living Nativity in Florida. I have never been fortunate enough to be there at that time.

Margie's Musings said...

The Presbyterian church in Bartlesville does a living nativity too and it is lovely.

Roses and Lilacs said...

I would love to see the Swiss nativity. How beautiful it must be.

Enjoyed you previous posts about the spiced oranges and the dried oranges. I can remember as a child sitting at the kitchen table putting cloves in oranges. Never tried drying the slices but I may this year. I like to have one Christmas tree with natural ornaments.
Marnie

Anonymous said...

Hi Balisha, I love clove studded oranges, too, and they remind me of my childhood. You never forget that smell. Your Christmas Story brought tears to my eyes. I loved it and the nativity scene must be an awesome sight. We had our first real snow this morning and it is cold today. I am sitting here in my pj's and have no desire to get dressed but may just curl up with a book or make a new recipe!

Balisha said...

It seems we all have a memory of making these scented oranges. Christmas is full of wonderfull smells...isn't it.
I would love to see that Nativity. I watched a program Sat. on Christmas in Europe...they celebrate Christmas so beautifully.