Ave Maria!
Pope Francis chooses a very Francisan image for his Christmas card showing the Immaculate Virgin Mary with the Holy Child wrapped in swadling clothes as depicted by Giotto in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. The article from the Register mentions how St. Francis was instrumental in making the nativity set a common Christmas devotion, starting with a live nativity scene in the cave at Greccio. Certainly, for us Franciscans of the Immaculate, this is very endearing. I like the donkey the best. He looks so happy to be there. This is especially interesting given that St. Francis called himself Brother Ass and the holy, firey joy with which the saint filled the cave at Greccio at this first Nativity set.
Holy Father chooses 14th century fresco by Giotto, located in the lower basilica of St. Francis in Assisi.
Edward Pentin
Pope Francis has chosen Giotto’s 14th century fresco of the Nativity in Assisi for his Christmas card this year, accompanied by a verse from Isaiah on its reverse.
The 1313 masterpiece, located in the lower basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, is the only one of its kind in the world where a nativity scene has two baby Jesuses to express the human and divine nature of Christ.
Giotto interprets the divine aspect through the blue that shines in the night of Bethlehem, and the painting itself “broadens and expands” his narration of the scene “to tell a true story, not a fairy tale,” according to Enzo Fortunato, press officer of the Sacred Convent of Assisi.
He added that the use of blue “moves and captures everyone, pilgrim or tourist. Those who enter the basilica remain fascinated. A deep, luminous color, above all royal and real.”
More from the Source: Pope Francis’ 2016 Christmas Card | ncregister.com
