Marking the months of Christ in the womb, the nine formative Stations of the Crèche help us follow the Holy Family along the path of scripture to Christ’s Advent.  For each main station, there is an accompanying “little station” where we follow St. Francis of Assisi as he walked in the footprints of Christ, mirroring his life to the Gospel. We learn how St. Francis created the first crèche to arouse the people in his time who were drowsy in their faith.  And, we contemplate anew the great miracle that occurred in that first nativity scene.

A Eucharistic thread weaves the stations together and points to our ultimate end, union with God. Guided by probing questions, we enter into a deeper understanding of the state of our hearts, especially in our openness to our Eucharistic Lord.    

We are invited into the stillness of the crèche, to be fed meditation and prayer, and to let the depths of His Love and Light rise within us.  We, like Francis, are to live out our baptismal call to holiness and to awaken any aspect of ourselves that has grown too comfortable with the miracle of the Eucharist.  As we prepare our hearts for Christ, we pray to be transformed, so we may bring Jesus into a world so in need of His Light.