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The story of Christmas
The little figures of the crèche tell the well-known Christmas story. The baby Jesus was born in a stable and slept in a manger alongside the animals, because there was no room for Mary and Joseph at the inn. In a Christian home, you may find a little wooden stable carefully placed amid the presents beneath the Christmas tree, with figures representing Mary and Joseph, the baby Jesus, angels and shepherds, even sheep, cows and a donkey. Kids often love to play with the small figures, acting out the seasonal story.
For centuries, the figures of the crèche have been used to tell the story of Christmas. Nativity scenes became popular in Europe in the Middle Ages, and the idea came to Canada with French settlers. Ursuline nuns in Quebec made figures out of wax for their churches as early as the 1640s, and eventually families began putting similar clay or wood figures in their homes.
This Christmas season, Canada Post issued a set of three stamps, one at the domestic rate (50¢), one at the U.S. rate (85¢) and one at the international rate ($1.45), showing Canadian crèches from the collection at St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montréal. |
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