It’s not often that I’m glad that I’m late for Mass, but this morning was one of those days.

Starting back to work, I planned to go to mass at the church of Santa Maria in Traspontina, a baroque church in the same road as St. Peter’s. Normally, it’s not my first choice of venue as the baroque is a bit overdone, but sometimes the times of Mass are convenient. Well, this morning I discovered I’d miscalculated and had 20 minutes to spare, just long enough to nip up to St. Peter’s, to take a look at the Crib. It is beautiful!

This year’s crib is the largest ever in the Square, with the greatest number of figures, increased, I think, from 13 to 20. There’s a fountain, a fireplace and all sorts of details, making the whole thing a complete work of art. Unfortunately some of my photos are darker than I’d thought as they were taken in the early morning, but I’ll try to fix them up and put them on the website at http://pauseforprayer.com/ over the weekend.

The lovely thing about a Crib is that the whole focus of attention is on a baby. People understand babies and respond to them. They become gentle and don’t mind looking foolish as they make silly noises and funny faces in an effort to make the baby smile. They aren’t threatened by a baby, not feeling that they have to put on airs and graces. God couldn’t have found a more appropriate way for making his way into human hearts.

God bless,
Sr. Janet