From those first representations around the cradle of Jesus, with songs, dialogues, rites and stagings - so linked to the primitive theatrical forms - would derive the living nativity scenes, much earlier than those that, halfway through the 13th century, began to be performed with round figures, first in monasteries and convents, then in churches, later in royal or noble palaces and already in the 17th century in the houses of the nobility, began to be carried out with round figures, first in monasteries and convents, then in churches, later in royal palaces or palaces of the nobility and, already in the 17th century, in the houses of the wealthy bourgeoisie, a preamble to the absolute democratization of nativity scenes; when the people, the simple and humble people also made this manifestation their own in their own homes, giving rise to the popular nativity scene that, in its various versions, has reached our days.
So full of ingenuity, sympathy and imagination. A Nativity Scene "of proximity", especially for the children who play and enjoy it, because there is nothing closer to the Love that Jesus redefines and projects than the joy and happiness around his generous coming.
Talking about the nativity scene is to speak of faith, history, culture, art, craftsmanship. And to submerge ourselves in an infinity of ethnographic, anthropological and, above all, poetic, symbolic and religious clues, because there is nothing in it that does not obey a learning purpose, a doctrinal didactic. On the contrary, everything conforms to a code that must be rediscovered in order to understand how many keys it treasures.
And so, in a nativity scene, the river is not just any riverbed, but the river of Life itself, which is also home to its main fish, the ICTYSwho comes to redeem all the other little fishes we drink and drink and drink again, without ever being satiated with his baptismal water.
The mill becomes the place where the harvest, the wheat, the ears of corn - always metaphors of Jesus and the Christian community - are transformed into the flour with which the Bread that Christ wants to share with us is made, even if none of us is worthy to enter our home. A process that, in the mill, also marks sequence and destiny. That is why, when we see its blades turning in a nativity scene, we will know that they indicate the inexorable passage of time. But if they remain static, they will be a hopeful sign of eternity.
The bridge is always an evocation of Jesus Himself, Who, by His hand, leads us from one shore to the other: from the earthly to the heavenly, from the natural to the supernatural, from sin to forgiveness and fraternity.
Fountains and wells represent the essential figure of the Virgin Mary. The first, as an allusion to purity and the generation of life, as every nativity scene is also a tribute to motherhood. The others, as elements of transition, of connection and intermediation between the hidden and the diaphanous. And what else is Mary if not a link par excellence, our most loving protector, always conciliation, always shelter, always refuge?
This allegorical condition is also present in many of the figures that populate our nativity scenes. Like those shepherds who carry on their shoulders a bundle of firewood, a direct allusion to fire and, by extension, to the fogarTo the home; to that special warmth that can only be breathed in the heart of the family.
And what about those who carry all kinds of fruits: chestnuts of virtue, cherries of marriage (which are always born in pairs) and of marital fidelity, figs of fertility and good fortune, pomegranates of friendship, apples of sin redeemed, oranges evocative of one of our most beautiful Christmas romances? Or what of those who represent the most varied trades, the most diverse labors - blacksmiths, carpenters, fishermen, spinners, washerwomen, carters, reapers, sowers... -, that work must be a permanent offering in response to all that God has granted us.
The palm trees are full of legend. Abrupt the mountains, as arduous as the difficulties we have to face in life. Narrow the gorges, deep the valleys, so often copious in tears. And winding roads, always winding, traced by the doubt that accompanies us as humans, only frank and open when they reach the Portal; when they bring us closer to the Love that resides in it, because only in the Love of Jesus does life widen, the light dissipates the darkness and the cold gives way to the warmest beat of the heart.
Everything in the crib is there because He wants it. And he does it as he has always taught us: through simplicity and humility. That is why we will only be able to go through his proposal if, as the classical saying goes, we lower ourselves. How generous he was when, without ceasing to be God, he wanted to become man! And, in this way, to dwell not only in, with, with, from, from, to, before, under, under, for, by, towards, to, until, after, over, and never against or without, but, above all and endearingly, "among us".
A prepositional choice that is the most expressive testimony of His grace and blessed benevolence.
D. in Hispanic Literature from the Complutense University of Madrid.
