Nativity Scenes

Here are a sampling of nativity scenes (precepi) that I have seen during the Christmas season.

 A Madonna and Child surrounded by Angels on the corner of a building across from the Emergency Entrance of Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital on the Janiculum Hill.

The precepio in Richard Meier's Jubilee Church.

The precipio in Piazza San Pietro.

A fashionable precepio in Bologna.

The Holy Family in a skip loader bucket

on scaffolding above the Lungotevere.

Bread Machine

Babbo Natale brought Vincenzo a bread machine for the first day of Christmas. Here is his first loaf on the table for breakfast on the feast of St. Stephen, the second day of Christmas.

Merry Christmas

I found this presepio in Bologna two weeks ago. It is part of an international collection of Nativity scenes assembled by the Augustinian friars at the Oratorio of Santa Cecelia.

Advent Calendar: Roman Door 24

Door in a presepio by Mario Ceroli, "La Sacra Famiglia,"

on display in Piazza de Spagna.

I have enjoyed sharing Roman doors with you

during this Advent season. 

Have a Blessed Christmas!

Advent Calendar: Roman Door 23

Door at Via del Teatro di Marcello, No. 40. This door is on the right side of the road that goes downhill from the Capitoline Hill to the Theater of Marcellus. (The road continues into the area of the Forum Boarium, and ancient cattle market of Rome.

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster,
exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum:
veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14

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The hymn O come, O come, Emmanuel (in Latin, Veni Emmanuel) is a lyrical paraphrase of these antiphons.

Advent Calendar: Roman Door 22

Door in Piazza Sant' Egidio. This piazza in the Roman neighborhood of Trastevere has not changed much in appearance since the 17th century and has been part of the "beaten track" since ancient times when it was on the ancient consular road known as the Aurelia Vetus, leading travelers and troops to the sea. At the center of the piazza is the small church dedicated to Sant' Egidio which has become the center of the Comunità di S. Egidio. The police car stationed permanently in the square is to there protect the Community from threats received several years ago when it was involved in peace negotiations in Mozambique and Africa and in the Middle East. 

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum,
lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:
veni, et salva hominem,
quem de limo formasti.

O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.

"For a child has been born for us, a son given us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
"He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." Isaiah 2:4

Advent Calendar: Roman Door 21

The front doors to the Church of Santo Volto di Gesù. This 21st century church was built in 2006 for the Parish of the Holy Face of Jesus. It was designed by architects Piero Sartogo and Nathalie Grenon.
O Oriens,
splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:
veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Morning Star,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined." Isaiah 9:2

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The Benedictine  monks had a purpose in the way they ordered the "O Antiphons." The first letter of the Latin title of each one when  taken backwards (Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia) form a Latin acrostic of "Ero Cras" which translates to "Tomorrow, I will come."