From Father Nathan...

Dear Friends at Saint Frances Cabrini Parish and Saint Mary’s Immaculate Conception Parish:

Praised be Jesus Christ!  Merry Christmas!  One of the most familiar visuals of this time of the year is that of the nativity scene or manger scene.  In the world of art it is among the most popular of subjects to paint, draw, sculpt, or depict in some fashion, and for this reason its typical layout of the Christ in a manger surrounded by adoring parents and visitors, in a stable, is deeply ingrained in our minds.  We can all picture this scene.

It is interesting to note that this familiar way of depicting the Christmas birth scene is relatively modern.  Over the many centuries of the Church’s liturgical, devotional, and artistic life, the visual way of depicting the Lord’s birth has shifted substantially.  Part of the reason for this is that the actual description of his birth in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke are remarkably short on details.  The Gospels simply say he was born, that he was swaddled, and placed in a feeding trough (a manger), and that there was no room for the Holy Family in the customary lodging places.  We also learn that shepherds eventually come to view the child in the manger along with Joseph and Mary.  We also learn that at some point Magi from the East arrive, enter “the house,” and find the child with his parents.  The rest of the details are left to conjecture and to artistic license.  

In earlier Christian centuries, up through the High Middle Ages, most depictions of the Christmas Scene in Europe (typically found in church windows) did not look at all like our customary Christmas card scenes.  The depictions were meant to communicate doctrine rather than to look like a real-life scene.  Customarily in those depictions, the Blessed Mother was depicted lying on a royal couch (she’s a queen), in a royal interior chamber, often without animals or Joseph around (animals are not mentioned in the Gospels and Joseph is downplayed).   Where is Jesus?  He’s depicted wrapped up tight like a mummy (swaddling clothes and tomb burial cloths are very similar), and he’s lying on an altar.  No straw, no wood manger… an altar.   This is because Jesus is Eucharistic food and because he is a sacrificial offering.  
It’s not a very sentimental, Hallmark Card type scene.  However, it makes total doctrinal sense and it reflected the Church’s need to reinforce our most important teachings to the faithful who would stare at those church windows across many years.   At Christmas we celebrate the birth of the Savior, who is King, and God, and sacrifice, and who describes himself as food.  The Church teaches that Christ is food in the Eucharist.  He is placed in a manger not merely because it was at-hand, but because of who he is.  He is given to be eaten.  

Moreover, he is to be adored.  Saint Bridget of Sweden (died 1373) was a major driver in the changing of our depictions of the Christmas scene into what we know it as today.  Near the end of her life she received a vision of Christ’s birth that showed Jesus as a baby in a manger, emanating light, with Mary and Joseph kneeling in adoration over him, transfixed by the power of who they were looking at.  This vision of hers became a wildly popular way to depict the Nativity, effectively bringing to an end the Medieval, doctrinal image that had been in force up to that point.  His Eucharistic identity is downplayed in Saint Bridget’s vision, however, the act of adoring him is crystal clear.  As a child, as God, as Savior, and as the Bread of Life, he is to be worshiped and adored.  He is to be understood as the light in our dark world.  

With all of this in mind, I am pleased that this will be our first Christmas at the parish with a re-located Eucharistic Exposition and Adoration chapel that is now complete.  The chapel is a mini-Nativity Scene that blends both the old and the new depictions.  Our Lady is prominent, and she is a royal figure in our chapel, as is her Son opposite her and also on her lap.  Central is the Eucharist which is the Word made flesh, dwelling among us.  Atop the altar in Latin is a phrase beckoning the faithful to come and adore the Lord.  Even the code to enter the chapel is an intentional nod to all of these themes (you may obtain it from the parish office if you wish to adore after hours).  Christ is born, he is food, and he is to be adored, worshiped, honored, and ultimately lovingly consumed in order to enter into our hearts, so that he can be born anew, over and over again.   I pray you will come to find him in our little nativity scene chapel over and over again.   

This year, for Christmas, we were given a new chapel.  Praise God.  
Merry Christmas!

(The Chapel is pictured below and will re-open on Monday, December 26, at 7am)