Young—Officium Pastorum . 
341 
St. Francis the very originating of the Prcesepe, 1 probably no 
one has overestimated St. Francis’ influence in the tradition of 
the Christmas Crib from the beginning of the thirteenth cen¬ 
tury onwards. 
Of St. Francis’ association with the Prcesepe we have two 
famous accounts. 2 The record left to us by Saint Bonaventura 
(1221-1274), in his Legenda Sancti Francisci, may be suim 
marized as follows: 3 
In the year 1'223, in order to stir the people to a more 
devout observance of the Nativity, Francis obtained the 
papal permission to erect at Greccio a prcesepium, for which 
he supplied provender, and at which he stationed a live ox 
and ass. Crowds gathered, and the Holy Night was made 
festal with clustered lights and glad sounds. Before the 
prcesepium, which served also as an altar, stood Francis, suf¬ 
fused with tears of joy. At Mass, celebrated super prcesepe, 
Francis himself sang the Gospel and preached a sermon on 
the Nativity. A certain Sir John of Greccio reported that 
he had seen sleeping in the crib a beautiful child, whom the 
Saint roused from sleep' and embraced. The hay from, this 
holy manger was preserved as a miraculous panacea for dis¬ 
eases of animals. 
The account of Thomas of Celano (fl 1250) runs as follows: 4 
With the help of a certain John of Greccio, Francis pre¬ 
pared a prcesepium for which he supplied provender, and 
at which he stationed an ox and an ass. M'en and women 
1 Kellner, p. 156 : Moroni, Vol. XXVI, p. 63, Vol. LV, p., 177; H. 
Malleson and M. A. R. Taker, Handbook to Christian and Ecclesiasti¬ 
cal Rome, Vol. II, London, 1897, p. 212; Evelyn Martinengo Cesaresco, 
in The Contemporary Review, Vol. LXXVII (1900), pp. 117-123. 
2 Concerning this episode in St. Francis’ life see Acta Sanctorum ; 
Octobris, Vol. II, Antwerp, 1768, pp. 643-644, 706, 770; P. Sabatier, 
Vie de S. Francois d ’ Assise, Paris, 1896, pp. 328-329; Wetzer and 
Welte, Kirchenlexikon, Vol. VII, col. 1196-1197; N. Tamassia, S. Fran¬ 
cesco d- Assisi e la sua Leggenda, Padua and Verona, 1906, pp. 83-87. 
See also the fresco by Giotto in the Upper Church at Assisi, repro¬ 
duced, for example, by H. Thode, Franz von Assisi und die Anfdnge 
der K'iinst der Renaissance in Italien, Berlin, 1885, p. 417. 
3 For the complete text of Bonaventura’s account see Appendix F. 
Concerning the validity of this account see Sabatier, pp. LXXXI— 
LXXXVIII. 
4 For the complete text from Thomas of Celano see Appendix EL 
Concerning the validity of this account see Sabatier, pp. LI-LVI. 
