In Saint Peter’s Square, a Neapolitan Nativity Scene Depicting the Works of Mercy

The Benedictine monks of Montevergine, in the vicinity of Naples, were commissioned to produce the crèche, which is inspired by the corporal works of mercy and includes about twenty polychrome terra cotta figures, slightly larger than life-sized. Their glass eyes and cloth garments give them a genuinely human appearance.

A 28-meter [92-foot] fir tree is set up beside the obelisk on Saint Peter’s Square; it came from the Elk region in northeastern Poland. The decorations on it were made by children who are cancer patients and by children from Central Italy, which was struck by earthquakes in 2016.

“Every year the nativity scene and the Christmas tree speak to us in their symbolic language” and are “signs of the Heavenly Father’s compassion, of His involvement with and His closeness to humanity,” Pope Francis explained while addressing the donors that same morning. “In the simplicity of the crèche we encounter and contemplate God’s affection, manifested in that of the Infant Jesus.” “The crèche is the place where we contemplate God who, in taking upon Himself the miseries of man, invites us to do the same, through works of mercy.” “The tree that tends toward the heights stimulates us to tend toward ‘the greater gifts’” so as to “immerse ourselves in the light of Christ”. Francis also expressed the wish that Christmas “may be the occasion to be more attentive to the needs of the poor and of those who, like Jesus, find no one to welcome them.”

According to a Neapolitan tradition, Father Abbot Riccardo Luca Guariglia recalled, the crèche is set in the ruins of a pagan temple, thus showing the superiority of Christianity. Alongside the traditional figures, the crèche depicts the corporal works of mercy. Despite the Pope’s explanations, the realism of the figures and the overall production gave rise to contrasting opinions. Some denounce the lack of modesty and sacredness to the point of being soulless, thus eclipsing the mystery of the Nativity.

The seven corporal works of mercy are: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirst, clothing the naked, sheltering strangers, visiting the sick, visiting prisoners, burying the dead. They have often been the inspiration for painters, including Brueghel the Younger (1564-1636), whose painting while simple does not lack realism, and Caravaggio (1571-1610), whose enigmatic, less accessible depiction may surprise the viewer by its audacity.

There are also seven spiritual works of mercy: counseling the doubtful, instructing the ignorant, admonishing sinners, consoling the afflicted, forgiving offenses, bearing wrongs patiently, and praying for the living and the deceased. All these works of mercy are presented by Saint Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologiae (II-II, q. 32, art. 2).

The first nativity scene is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi in 1223, as described by Thomas de Celano in the biography that he wrote after the saint’s death, entitled Vita Prima.

(Sources: cath.ch/imedia/vatican/zenit/narthex – DICI no. 367 dated December 22, 2017)