Saint Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first living nativity scene. According to the available accounts, he is said to have re-enacted a Christmas scene in a cave near Greccio in Italy in 1223. The aim was to make the humble birth of Christ not only heard about but tangible.
The report was prompted by a paid press release from the spiritual psychologist Dr. Bruce Davis. In it he promotes his book about Francis and Clare of Assisi. Davis claims that Francis wanted to experience the story rather than merely retell it. He also attributes relevance to the saint's teachings for today's commercialized Christmas season. However, this interpretation rests on the author's own interpretation and cannot be independently verified. Whether and in what wording Francis formulated such an intention is not evident from the available information.
Davis points to his professional background. He holds a doctorate from Saybrook University and has been leading retreats around the world since 1983. Already in 1977 he published a book on nurturing the inner child. For twelve years he lived with his wife Ruth in Assisi. Together they founded the Assisi Retreat Center, which has been mentioned by the broadcaster CNN and the travel magazine Travel & Leisure. These mentions show the center's reputation, but they do not substantiate the historical claims of the press text.
The text should be classified as advertising rather than independent historical reporting. The statements about Francis's motives come from an author who is himself selling a book on the subject. The publisher also notes that no guarantee is given for the accuracy and reliability of the content. The publication date is given as November 2026, fitting the Advent season, when such texts are usually published.
For readers who want to understand the origins of the Christmas crèche, it is important to distinguish between the traditional core of the story and the interpretive commentary. The tradition of Greccio is regarded in the history of piety as one of the defining sources of crèche devotion. What is historically documented there and what has been added as later interpretation cannot be reliably determined from this promotional text alone.