Plenary Indulgences for Nativity Scene Jubilee

by Admin · Published December 5, 2023 · Updated December 5, 2023

A recreation of the first Nativity Scene by St Francis in Greccio, displayed in the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi, Italy. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher)

This Christmas marks the 800^th anniversary of the first Nativity Scene being staged by St Francis of Assisi in the small town of Greccio in central Italy. To celebrate the anniversary, Pope Francis has granted a plenary indulgence to all who pray before a Nativity Scene displayed in a Franciscan church, anywhere in the world.

This applies to all Franciscan parishes, including those run by the Friars Minor (OFM), Capuchins (OFM Cap), Conventuals, and Third Order Regular (TOR).

The faithful will receive a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, between December 8 2023, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and February 2, 2024, the feast of the Presentation in the Temple of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by visiting the churches run by Franciscans and stopping in prayer in front of the nativity scenes set up there.

Those who are sick or unable to participate physically can equally benefit from the gift of plenary indulgence by offering their sufferings to the Lord or carrying out practices of piety.

Pope Francis prays at the spot where St Francis of Assisi staged the very first Nativity Scene on December 24, 1223, at Greccio in central Italy. Pope Francis, who visited the site in 2919, has granted a plenary indulgence to all who pray before a Nativity Scene displayed in a Franciscan church, anywhere in the world. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

What’s an indulgence

According to canon law, “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.”

These conditions require that the person must be a Catholic (not excommunicated or in schism) in the state of grace at least at the time the indulgenced work is completed. A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day. In order to obtain it, the faithful must, in addition to being in the state of grace have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin; have sacramentally confessed their sins; receive the Holy Eucharist, and pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.

St Francis’ innovation

St Francis decided to tell the Nativity story, familiar to him through paintings, by setting up a tableau vivant (or living picture), involving actual people, animals, and even a new-born baby. He obtained the approval of Pope Honorius III, who granted indulgences to all who would be involved in creating the scene.

It was staged on Christmas Eve 1223 in the woods of Greccio, where St Francis and his companions lived in a monastery.

The Greccio celebration caused a sensation, and within a century, every church in Italy had a creche, but with figurines and statues gradually replacing human beings and livestock.

The full story is told at https://www.scross.co.za/2016/12/history-nativity-scenes/