Page 6 - Michael Journal March 2020

Why There Is an Ox and Ass in the Nativity Scene

When creating the first living crèche in Greccio in they now recognize the voice of their Master, the
1223, Saint Francis of Assisi added an ox and ass al- voice of their Lord.
though the presence of these creatures was not men- When we place the ox and ass beside the crib,
tioned in the Gospels. Pope Benedict XVI explained in we must remember the whole passage in Isaiah,
his third book on the life of Christ, “Jesus of Nazareth: which is not only good news — in the sense of the
The Infancy Narratives,” released in 2012, that the ox promise of a future knowledge - but also a judgment
and ass appear in other parts of the Bible (Isaiah 1:3). pronounced on contemporary blindness. The ox and
These references could have been the inspiration for ass have knowledge, “but Israel does not know, my
Christians to use them in representations of the birth people [do] not understand.”
of Jesus and that today “no representation of the
manger is complete without the ox and donkey.” In Who is the ox and ass today, and who is “my
the book “The Blessing of Christmas”, published by people” without understanding? How can we rec-
Ignatius Press, and written before he became pope, ognize the ox and the ass? How can we recognize
Cardinal Ratzinger elaborated on the topic: “my people”? And why does the lack of reason rec-
ognize, while reason is blind? In
Francis directed that an ox order to discover the answer, we
and an ass should be present in must return with the Fathers of
the cave of Greccio on Christmas the Church to the first Christmas.
night. He had told the nobleman Who recognized him? And who
John: “I wish in full reality to failed to recognize him? And
awaken the remembrance of the why was this so?
child as he was born in Bethle- The one who failed to recog-
hem and of all the hardship he nize him was Herod, who did not
had to endure in his childhood. I even understand when they told
wish to see with my bodily eyes him about the child: instead, he
what it meant to lie in a manger was blinded all the more deeply
and sleep on hay, between an ox by his lust for power and the ac-
and an ass.” companying paranoia (Mt 2:3).
From then on, the ox and
ass have had their place in every Those who failed to recog-
crib scene — but where do they nize him were “all Jerusalem
actually come from? It is well with him” (ibid.). Those who
known that the Christmas nar- failed to recognize him were the
ratives of the New Testament “people in soft garments” - those
do not mention them. When we with a high social position (Mt
investigate this question, we 11: 8).
discover an important factor in Those who failed to recog-
all the customs associated with nize him were the learned mas-
Christmas and, indeed, in all the Saint Francis of Assisi ters who were experts in the
Christmas and Easter piety of the and the first living crèche Bible, the specialists in biblical
Church in both liturgy and popu- interpretation who admittedly
lar customs. knew the correct passage in Scripture but still failed
The ox and ass are not simply products of the to understand anything (Mt 2:6).
pious imagination: the Church’s faith in the unity of Those who recognized him were the “ox and the
the Old and New Testaments has given them their ass” (in comparison to these men of prestige): the
role as an accompaniment of the Christmas event. shepherds, the Magi, Mary and Joseph. But could
We read in Isaiah: “The ox knows its owner, and the things have been otherwise?
ass its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my In this night, then, the faces of the ox and the ass
people [do] not understand” (1:3). look at us with a question: My people do not under-
The Fathers of the Church saw in these words stand, but do you perceive the voice of your Lord?
a prophecy that pointed ahead to the new people of When we place the familiar figures in the crib scene,
God, the Church consisting of both Jews and Gen- we ought to ask God to give our hearts the simplicity
tiles. Before God, all men, Jews and Gentiles, were that discovers the Lord in the child - just as Francis
like the ox and ass, without reason or knowledge. But once did in Greccio. v
the child in the crib has opened their eyes so that Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

8 MICHAEL January/February 2020 www.michaeljournal.org