Francis X. Rocca on Italy’s Nativity scenes –

Also called presepi, they are far more than just a stable and a few animals. They are social panoramas, often quite elaborate, and an essential part of Italian Christmas traditions:

And yet, disturbing as all this sensuality may be to the Puritan who dwells inside every American (even one, like this writer, who was born and raised a Roman Catholic), the context lends it an authentically Christian meaning. The gospels teach that the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He even dined with publicans and sinners. And Christmas has never been about just straw and swaddling clothes; it is also about gold, frankincense and myrrh. In their celebration of the carnal under the rubric of the redeemer’s birth, Italy’s spectacular crèches reflect the mystery of the incarnation.