NACIMIENTO IS THE NAME given in Spain and Spanish America to the plastic representation of the Nativity of Christ at Yuletide. These Nacimientos are of very ancient origin; they go back, in fact, to the days of St. Francis of Assisi in the thirteenth century. In December, 1223, St. Francis, who had just obtained from Pope Honorius III the approval of the Order he had founded, left his abode and set out for the Monastery of Monte Colombo, where, shortly after his arrival, we are told that he addressed his friend, Giovanni Vellita, in the following manner:

I am desirous of celebrating with thee the feast of the Nativity of our Lord in a special and hitherto unusual way. Go, therefore, to the cavern that is near this monastery and set up therein a manger full of hay, having taken with thee an ox and an ass, which thou wilt place close by, as they were in Bethlehem that blessed night, for I wish to recall with due solemnity the coming of the Son of God into this world, and to see with my own eyes how poor and miserable He appeared, and all for the love of us men.