Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Cultural Diversity in the Nativity Scene

Cultural Diversity in the Nativity Scene

Last updated on: January 6, 2024 at 8:55 pm by Mark Wilson

Cultural Diversity in the Nativity Scene 2024-01-06T20:55:00-05:00 Mark Wilson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What was it like for the shepherds to witness the glory of the heavenly choir only to find a silent night in the barn with a couple and their baby? Things were now calm after witnessing all that was bright. They might have asked themselves “Is this what the angels were singing about?”Sometimes we take the scene displayed in the Crèche for granted.

There’s Mary and Joseph kneeling before baby Jesus. There are shepherds , some angels, some sheep and the 3 wise men and their camels. A cut and dry scene that we see every Christmas season. We see it over and over and sometimes miss the deeper meaning. The baby in the manger is God almighty, creator of heaven and earth. Sometimes we need to let our curiosity linger on the mystery and think of new ways to think about this all too familiar scene.

For example why didn’t the angel wait till Mary and Joseph were together before making the big announcement about Jesus? It could have saved some trouble and created less confusion. But as Mary and Joseph talked to one another they learned something new about the greatest mystery of history about to happen in their very midst. They not only learned from each other but they learned more of the plan from Elizabeth. They learned from Simeon and Anna in the temple. Every new bit of information they gathered they kept and pondered in their hearts.

That is how God wants it. He wants one person with one perspective to share with others and give them that perspective and in turn take from them their perspective. This is why we have 4 gospels telling the same story of Jesus. Each gospel, each revelation, every perspective is a piece of the puzzle and we share that good news with our brothers and sisters to form a complete picture of the providence of God.

A place where this is on full display (literally) is at the La Salette Creche Museum & Judea/Galilee Panorama in Attleboro Mass.

The National Shrine of our Lady of La Salette has been a spiritual, social, and human service home to thousands of people from all walks of life for over 60 years. The words “come near my children” are not only the words Mary spoke at La Salette in 1846, but are words we live by here at La Salette.

Our doors and grounds are open to all who need a place to quiet down, relax, and find the strength to begin again. Our weekly soup kitchen feeds about one hundred people a week and our various prayer groups give people direction and depth. In addition to this, the many faith formation programs (youth retreats, seminars, workshops, guided retreats, days of prayer, etc.) have been a treasured source of spiritual renewal since the La Salette Retreat Center’s doors opened more than 50 years ago.

No matter who you are, we invite you to come and visit us.About the Shrine – National Shrine of Our Lady La Salette – Attleboro, MA (lasaletteattleboroshrine.org)

One of the main attractions that brings visitors to the shrine is the huge big humongous lights display they have every Christmas. It brings long lines and many victors. The crèche museum opens along with the light display. It was opened in 2000 by La Salette Missionary Fr. Manuel Pereira (1929 – 2022) from the Azores. He wanted to share his love of Christmas and customs of his native home.

There are roughly 1561 Nativity Sets representing 78 countries displayed in the Museum. Their is also a collection of 90 Santons from Provence in France.

In 2021, a collection of pieces depicting the life and times of Judea and Galilee at the time of Jesus were donated to the Shrine. In 2023 this collection was arranged and displayed as a biblical panorama.

What makes the number of Nativity sets impressive and worthy of reflection is the cultural diversity of the many different people who have one common faith of belief. The different manger scenes show how God is reflected personally and individually in each person, culture and country and yet telling the same story in a different way.

One way to take the mundane out of the Nativity scene is to look at it from the eyes of another believer baptized in the faith but not in our own backyard. May the light of Epiphany help us all to see the Christmas Story from another perspective and culture.

Click on the video to learn more.

Christmas

Previous Post

January 2, 2024

Reflections on 14 Years of Marriage

Next Post

January 11, 2024 New Year New Catholic Writing: Writing Write Now 2024 # 1

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1889 abortion adoption Advent After Life Angles apologetics Art Awards BCCT bible book review books business Carmelite Catechetics Catholic Actors catholic authors Catholic Bard Catholic Faith Catholic List Catholic Rigorous Vortex Christian Authors Christmas church teaching civil conversation coronavirus Current Events death Different Religions Divine Mercy Easter Education encouragment Entertainment Eucharist Evangelization Event faith Family Life famous people feast day food Fun Stuff Global Church God guest post Harry Potter healing Heck of a Ride Around the Sun history holiday Holy Family Holy Orders Holy Spirit Holy Week hope Humor Interview Ireland Jesus kindle unlimited reflections Last Things Lecto Divina with Kristin Lent Lent/Easter liturgy love marriage Mary Meet the Author Mission Month in Advance Movie Review Movies Movies of the Month Music Narrative Older Writings patheos authors personal Philosophy podcasts poetry political Politics pope prayer Private Revelation pro-life public domain Quotes racial relations racism reflection Religious Life Saints science Scriptural Meditation social justice Social Media spirituality suffering supernatural theology Topics Travel Trivia Tweeting to the Choir Uncategorized universal church Vatican virtue war Week in Review women world religions writing Writing Write Now

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many verses are in the shortest chapter in the Bible?

Select your answer to see how you score.

7 10 2 5

Books by This Author Books by Catholic Bard

See All Titles »