È la notte di #Natale del 1223. A #Greccio, un borgo vicino a Rieti, viene rappresentato per la prima volta il #presepe. È la scena, straordinariamente viva, della nascita di #Gesù. Ma la storia della sua ideazione è complessa e si intreccia con quella di un uomo: San #Francesco di #Assisi.
| #Dio #Gesú #Religione #Santi #Santo #SpiritoSanto #Santa #Maria #Madonna #Preghiera #Preghiere #Chiesa #Chiese #Papa #Papi #Amen
| #Dio #Gesú #Religione #Santi #Santo #SpiritoSanto #Santa #Maria #Madonna #Preghiera #Preghiere #Chiesa #Chiese #Papa #Papi #Amen
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00:12The story of the first nativity scene begins here, inside a sanctuary perched on the rock like an eagle's nest.
00:21Francesco's idea for the nativity scene is revolutionary because it truly aims to represent the birth of an ordinary child.
00:30A newborn baby laid in a manger contrasted with the triumphant Christ.
00:38The manger is the heart of the nativity scene, after all, in Latin manger is presepium.
00:51The fresco that decorates the walls of the chapel of the Nativity in the sanctuary of Greccio takes us back to two moments.
00:58On one side Bethlehem on December 24th of the year zero and on the other this same place on December 24th of the
01:071223.
01:08That night he wanted to show how Jesus was born.
01:26Across the miles and centuries that separate Bethlehem from Greccio, a message.
01:32If Greccio is like Bethlehem, then it is no longer necessary to go to Bethlehem to liberate the places of the Holy Land.
01:43Behind this message, a man.
01:46Thank you all.
02:35Thank you all.
02:57Thank you all.
03:24Thank you all.
03:51Thank you all.
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04:22Thank you all.
04:30medieval and the encounter with the lepers caused a change in him which in 1206 became a
04:38true conversion. It will be in the plain below Assisi that Francis begins a new
04:48life, he renounces his father's wealth and lives on charity. Initially he is alone but is reached
04:55then by some companions. The Franciscan order thus took its first steps. Ultimately, Francis
05:04What does he want and what is his program? It is precisely to live the Gospel. A Gospel without syneglossa
05:10commentary in its bare literalness. Francis is one who strips everything, he is one who begins his
05:16vocation by stripping itself, stripping churches, stripping homes, stripping the word. And living the Gospel
05:23It means living it as it is, without adjustments, without medications, without additives.
05:32Without dwelling on the interpretation because this is what Francis feared.
05:41The risk of a distorting interpretation that Francis fears for the words of the Gospel
05:48it becomes concrete in the posthumous account that some theologians will give of the life of the saint of Assisi.
05:54A paradox that will often transform the figure of Francis in biography and iconography.
06:01The Franciscan sources tell us, they describe to us the physical appearance of Saint Francis as that
06:08of a small man with delicate features, dark skin and hair. Iconography tells us this
06:15returns in rare cases, precisely with these traits.
06:22Among the images that best describe the real face of Saint Francis, it is preserved in
06:28Greccio the painting commissioned by Jacopa dei Sette Soli, friend of the saint, who wanted it
06:34portrayed in recent years, suffering from eye disease.
06:42Even the well-known Cimabue, in the painting preserved in Assisi, succeeds in the intent of describing
06:48Francis's physical appearance, probably after seeing his death mask.
06:58But it is in Subiaco that a special portrait is found, perhaps even the oldest.
07:09It was around 1223 that Cardinal Ugolino dei Conti di Segni, protector assigned by the
07:16Pope to the nascent Franciscan order, climbs the holy stairs of the monastery of Subiaco to
07:22head of a solemn procession. He is about to consecrate the altar inside the cave where St.
07:29Benedict lived as a hermit.
07:34The scene is immortalised in a lunette of the current chapel of San Gregorio by a
07:40modest painter, friar of the monastery. It's like a snapshot, Ugolino and Chino on the altar,
07:48there are the crucifix bearers and the clerics, but among them a hooded character stands out in a
07:54faded robe observing the scene. Who is it? The answer is on the next wall,
08:04where the friar portrays himself kneeling before the figure of a man. A man who does not
08:10He is a saint, but he deserves devotion as if he were one. As the inscription reads,
08:18it is Francis, without stigmata and halo, devoid of the connotative elements of sanctity that
08:25will characterize the subsequent portraits. It is the portrait of an eyewitness,
08:32probably the true image of the saint of Assisi. A generation later, the historical memory
08:44of the suffering man, small, thin and dark, who had been portrayed by contemporaries,
08:53is almost forgotten. At the basis of many depictions of the life of St. Francis,
08:59including Giotto's frescoes in the Upper Basilica of Assisi, there is the Major legend,
09:05published by San Buonaventura da Bagno Reggio in 1263.
09:11Buonaventura is a theologian, he is a Franciscan, he is a Franciscan who has the fate of humanity at heart.
09:17of the order. However, the order is seriously endangered, because it is internally divided.
09:22between a soul who wants to follow Francis's will, Francis's example to the letter,
09:28and another part of the order that instead pushes for clericalization. Francis was born as a
09:37secular and will remain secular by choice. The movement that Francis wanted was a fundamentally secular movement.
09:43of lay people. Buonaventura is the one who wants to lead the order towards clericalization.
09:49In this work of revision, in 1266, Saint Buonaventura orders to burn all
09:57the writings prior to the Major legend. Among these, important texts such as
10:03Life before Thomas of Celano and The Legend of the Three Companions.
10:09Buonaventura wants to impose a single vision of Francis. It is clear that this operation of his
10:15It has immediate repercussions, not only on his biography. This image is reflected
10:19also in iconography because iconography, which is Giotto's, is an iconography
10:25who will therefore now accept the image of Francis as an angel, mystic, contemplative.
10:32Even though Giotto distances himself from the representation of Francis of Assisi, according to a historical truth,
10:40he is also capable of profoundly interpreting the Franciscan message.
10:46and gives to his painting, to the invention of the stories of Saint Francis, a dimension
10:52which anticipates Renaissance art in many respects, and not only in its perspective choices.
11:23Francis arrived in the Valle Santa Ariadina in 1209.
11:27in the Holy Valley he lives for long periods of time.
11:31He comes here after the climate towards him in Assisi has become incandescent.
11:38The renunciation of possessions and the need to live on emosin exasperates his fellow citizens,
11:45who cannot understand why he, who comes from a wealthy family, has to live off the community.
11:51Perhaps there is also another reason which is linked to the fact that in that period Rieti was a city
11:56papal.
11:57It probably also explains a sort of custom, of meetings between Saint Francis and the Pope,
12:03especially when he has to draft the famous stamped rule.
12:12Francesco Rassisi finds hospitality in the old hermitages abandoned by the Benedictines.
12:19And around these primitive nuclei, such as the sacred cave of Poggio Bustone
12:24or like the settlement of Fonte Colombo, the first companions of Francis then come to gather.
12:31Poggio Bustone, Fonte Colombo, La Foresta and Greccio.
12:36These are the essential nuclei around which the four Franciscan convents will be born
12:42which tradition says were erected in the shape of a cross on the edge of the Rieti Valley.
12:49As regards the convent of Greccio, we have a special bond of friendship and mutual trust
12:57which is established between Francis and the lord of the place, Giovanni Velita.
13:05There was a man in that area named John.
13:08About two weeks before the feast, Blessed Francis called him to him and told him
13:13«If you want us to celebrate Christmas in Greccio, go ahead and prepare what I will tell you».
13:36In 223, when Francis decided to celebrate Christmas in Greccio,
13:42It's a moment of despair because we are three years away from death.
13:46So Francis tried a lot, he fought a lot, he experienced the crusade
13:53but he gets very little out of that experience.
13:57It is a time of great suffering for those who are tribulations
14:02that are passing through his order, his order and his creature.
14:05The order is in a half-riot.
14:08The vicars he had left had made decisions
14:12which had not met with general approval,
14:16decisions that worry Francis himself.
14:18Plus he contracted a terrible disease.
14:23From the East he brings back eye disease.
14:27Francis will gradually become blind.
14:30And perhaps in this moment of darkness, which is a real darkness,
14:34he finds great comfort in this specific passage of the Gospel
14:40which is precisely the story of the birth of this child.
14:50Now the manger is set, the hay is scattered
14:54and the ox and the donkey are introduced.
14:57In that moving scene, evangelical simplicity shines,
15:02poverty is praised, humility is recommended.
15:07It's a kind of sacred representation
15:09which instead of taking place in the churchyard of the parish church
15:14it will be located in a very humble cave.
15:18It was not a nativity scene as we understand it.
15:22There were no puppets, no figurines, there were none.
15:28The child wasn't there either.
15:31There was only, yes, one element that is not in the Gospel,
15:34the donkey and the ox.
15:36Meaning that they then took on the meaning of the two peoples,
15:40the Jewish people and the pagan peoples.
15:45That night Francis makes a sort of pilgrimage
15:48in the direction of midnight mass
15:52during which he, who was a deacon, took the floor.
15:56Francesco is a storyteller.
15:58His is a dynamic preaching,
16:01it is a preaching that tends first of all to change hearts.
16:07Francis brings about an authentic revolution in two directions.
16:11A revolution in the theological, spiritual sense
16:14and then he makes another revolution, more on a social level.
16:17If Greece is like Bethlehem, then there is no need to go to Bethlehem anymore.
16:23to liberate the places of the Holy Land.
16:25So, in a way, it disarms this logic.
16:29which, as we know, has historically often been
16:33only an instrumentalization of the religious fact
16:36in the name of other, more concrete interests
16:40political and economic type.
16:42In 19, Francesco, who had tried to make the transition several times,
16:49he manages to travel, he sails to overseas lands.
16:55In the East he was not very convinced by what he saw happening in the Crusader camp
17:03and he, there in the East, matures, in my opinion, the awareness
17:10what else should be the way we relate to non-Christians.
17:16Why then, in the unstamped rule, Francis and the friars
17:21They describe the way in which the friars who want to go among the Sariceni
17:26they can stay among them.
17:28And Francis says that these friars must do nothing,
17:33they have to stay there, simply, without making any noise,
17:36without arguing and just saying that we are Christians.
17:40Religion can never be defined in relation to war and violence.
17:45He, first of all, had experienced it.
17:48and now he is no longer willing to procrastinate or cause any more misunderstandings.
17:55And with the night of the 23rd, a transposition almost takes place,
18:01we could say as if the East, the land where Jesus was born,
18:06moved to the West.
18:08Thomas himself will say it.
18:10It seems that Greccio is becoming almost like a new Bethlehem.
18:15There is almost no longer any need, we might say, to go to the Holy Land.
18:25People flock and enjoy a joy they have never experienced before.
18:30The forest resounds with voices and the imposing rocks echo with festive choirs.
18:35The friars sing select praises to the Lord and the night seems to be a joyful experience.
18:44The event is first told by its first geographer, Thomas of Celano,
18:53which is his, the oldest and, let's say, most beautiful story.
18:59Thomas also speaks of Francis' devotion to the word Bethlehem.
19:06Francesco has an almost magical relationship with certain words.
19:10He doesn't call the child Jesus, he calls him the child of Bethlehem.
19:18That strong and sweet voice, clear and sonorous, enraptures everyone with desires for heaven.
19:26Then he speaks to the people and with very sweet words recalls the poor newborn king and the small town of Bethlehem.
19:33The sweetness of this term which is almost kneaded, repeated and becomes almost a sweet bleat,
19:42a bleat that almost makes you hear the breathing of this animal and which then brings you back to breathing,
19:52to the breath of the ox and the donkey which are the only source of heat that keeps this community together in
20:00an Apennine night.
20:02These are absolutely realistic details because Francis, from what we know, preached with his whole body.
20:15One of those present has an admirable vision.
20:19It seems to him that the baby is lying lifeless in the manger
20:22and Francis approaches him and wakes him from that kind of deep sleep.
20:27The vision speaks volumes because, thanks to Francis, Christ has awakened in the hearts of many.
20:35It is a spiritual miracle of emotion.
20:42For Francis, there can be no faith without emotion.
20:48Thomas sees Francis' life up until Christmas.
20:53Then the second part of the work describes the last need.
20:58Then in the third and last one the canonization and the miracles.
21:02So the 23rd, we could say, this year,
21:06which sees in its final phase the Christmas experienced in Creccio,
21:10it becomes almost like a watershed,
21:14as a moment, I would say, almost a transitional one in Francesco's life
21:19which ends, we could say,
21:23closes a phase of life
21:24and dedicates himself even more to the encounter with God.
21:36Until Christmas in Greccio
21:38the episode of the birth of Christ
21:40it is not particularly central in Christian iconography.
21:47In the previous iconography
21:49rather than the nativity, the adoration of the Magi is described.
21:54We see a Mary who is fundamentally
21:59an ateutokos on the throne
22:01with a child, a newborn,
22:04which amazes because it blesses.
22:07Instead, Francis turns all this upside down.
22:10It really wants to represent the birth of an ordinary child.
22:14Today you can see it on that manger
22:18a child, on that altar in the little chapel of Greccio
22:23a child who is hanging on to his mother's breast.
22:27It's a remarkably human image.
22:31Extraordinarily ordinary.
22:33Of course, this can be seen in some respects.
22:37more enriched,
22:40but also in the big movie,
22:45I would say the greatest film about Francesco's life,
22:49which is Giotto's.
23:00In the pictorial cycle of Assisi,
23:04Greccio is depicted by Giotto
23:09as a real church already,
23:12with a very rich iconostasis,
23:15with richly dressed characters.
23:18Instead, we find ourselves in a much more intimate and realistic dimension
23:24in what will be the interpretation
23:27that an anonymous painter will give of the nativity scene of Greccio.
23:31Meditation and spirituality
23:34which was born with Francesco
23:36have an impact on art.
23:40With Francesco a process is born and started
23:43which leads to a new anthropology.
23:49Description of the Greccio nativity scene
23:52it is also taken up in other texts.
23:54Thomas' words are quoted almost verbatim.
23:59by Giuliano Taspira.
24:01Certain details are cumbersome for Giuliano
24:05and are therefore tempered by him.
24:08The same will happen with Bonaventura.
24:12Bonaventura takes up the story again in the Major legend,
24:18but in the meantime he worries about saying
24:21that Francis had asked the Pope for permission.
24:24When Bonaventura will have to bring this step back
24:27he will feel compelled to justify himself
24:31and he will say
24:31But Francesco was afraid
24:34to seem like the one who wanted to bring something new
24:37and then asks for the necessary authorizations.
24:41Before making this representation let it be clear
24:45he asked for permission
24:47otherwise it would have seemed
24:49like a strange thing
24:51great news.
24:57It is certain, however, that Bonaventura
25:03He has a strength that Thomas didn't have.
25:07After 1266
25:09Bonaventure becomes the only authorized text
25:14we will say so.
25:15While the story of Thomas of Celano
25:18it will only be printed in 1768
25:23the story of the Major legend
25:26will have instead
25:27a great influence in the spread of the nativity scene
25:31because they will be the Franciscans
25:34to spread
25:36over time and centuries
25:38this very beautiful devotion I would say so
25:41this devotion which has then taken on over the centuries also
25:45artistic peaks of notable level.
25:58At Santa Maria Maggiore
26:00the Roman basilica built on the relics of the manger of Bethlehem
26:05the mosaics of the apse arch were created in the 9th century
26:10confirming the iconographic tradition of the time
26:14in the part concerning the adoration of the Magi
26:17the baby Jesus is portrayed in the guise of a king
26:20he wears the senatorial toga
26:23and blesses the court that surrounds him.
26:29but since 1288
26:31with the ascension to the papal throne of Nicholas IV
26:35the first Franciscan pope in history
26:38the interpretation of the nativity
26:41find new inspiration.
26:45They work on commission from Nicholas IV
26:49Jacopo Torriti
26:50and also Arnolfo di Cambio
26:52and create mosaic works
26:56or stone sculpture works
26:58that will have an influence
27:01and a massive importance
27:04on what is the history of the nativity scene.
27:08Inspired by the nativity scene by Arnolfo di Cambio
27:11a few meters from the adoration of the Magi
27:13in 1292
27:15the painter and mosaicist Jacopo Torriti
27:19decorates the apse of Santa Maria Maggiore
27:22with the episode of the nativity.
27:24With the same intent as Saint Francis
27:27Torriti undresses the child
27:29senator's clothes
27:30wraps him in swaddling clothes
27:32and places him in a manger
27:34warmed by the presence of the ox
27:37and the donkey.
27:38And this happens
27:40maybe it's not a coincidence
27:41in Santa Maria Maggiore
27:43where is the relic
27:45believed to be so
27:46of the manger
27:48that is, the relic of the nativity scene.
27:58In the territory of the Holy Valley
28:00echoes every Christmas
28:02the memory of that night
28:04and over the years
28:05even the popes
28:07they brought their homage
28:08to this sacred place.
28:10Greccio was visited
28:12in recent years
28:13several times
28:14even from the Pope
28:16John Paul II
28:17which among other things
28:19he was at home
28:20here on Via Terminillo
28:22where he went skiing
28:23even as a Cardinal.
28:25But it was above all
28:26Pope Francis
28:27which has as desired
28:30come and go
28:31here in Greccio.
28:33The first time
28:33in one form I would say
28:35anonymous
28:35because it was January 4, 2016
28:38in an absolutely surprising way
28:41that we found ourselves here in front of him
28:44in this square
28:45in the early afternoon.
29:02Three years later
29:03December 1, 2019
29:05he wanted to return to Greccio
29:07this time in official form
29:08to sign
29:09his letter on the nativity scene
29:11titled
29:11Admirabile Signum.
29:16The poor
29:17actually I am
29:18the privileged
29:19of this mystery.
29:20The poor
29:21and simple
29:22in the nativity scene
29:22they remember that God
29:23he becomes a man
29:24for those who feel most
29:25the need for his love
29:26and ask for his closeness.
29:32It's something of
29:35ancestral
29:35in every man
29:36and of every woman
29:37to succeed
29:39to feel tenderness
29:40in front of
29:41to a helpless person
29:43and what is more helpless
29:44of a child
29:45who is born naked
29:46and who is born poor.
29:51A tenderness
29:53a humanity
29:53an emotion
29:54which is also found
29:56in that
29:57great tradition
29:58of the nativity scene
30:00contemporary
30:01which he described
30:02so good Edward
30:03at Christmas
30:05at Cupiello's House
30:06when Tomasino
30:07keep saying
30:08that the nativity scene belongs to him
30:09I don't like it
30:09and it doesn't matter
30:10at a certain point
30:12Luca Riello
30:12he has a rebellious streak
30:14and says
30:14how you don't care
30:15but the nativity scene
30:16it moves
30:16what he
30:17scolds his son
30:19we can't stay
30:20indifferent
30:21to what moves us
30:22because what moves us
30:24it moves us.
30:27The child Jesus
30:28he was resurrected
30:29in the hearts of many
30:30who had forgotten it.
30:33Finished
30:33that solemn vigil
30:34everyone went home
30:36full of ineffable joy.
30:48Thank you all.
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