Nativity set questions

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I hope this is the right place to post this. Last year, our parish priest admonished us to not put the baby Jesus on display until Christmas. As a convert, I had never heard of this.

Question: the nativity set my wife bought a while back has Mary holding the baby Jesus (one piece). Should I put Mary & Jesus away until Christmas?

Is it a Catholic tradition to not put the baby Jesus in the nativity until Christmas, or was this just something the priest came up with?

Thanks!
 
That’s what they do with the Nativity scene at our parish, and I like the idea. I bought my kids the Fisher-Price Nativity set this year and DD was looking around frantically - “Where’s baby Jesus?” I said, “When does baby Jesus come?” She understood, but was not happy!

So, I guess I would leave Mary & Jesus our until Christmas, but I don’t know if this is a common tradition or not. Our priest is quite traditional, so it may be.
 
It’s a very common Catholic tradition to reserve the baby Jesus figure from the Nativity until his actual Birthday.

He’s fixed in his crib in my set. I have to cover him up.😦
I keep promising myself to get a new set but we’ve had this one for 24 years.

It’s also a way cool pius tradition to send the wise men on a journey through your house . Move them to a different room each night or morning setting them down closer and closer from Dec 25 until their arrival on January 6th.
 
wartee said:
I hope this is the right place to post this. Last year, our parish priest admonished us to not put the baby Jesus on display until Christmas. As a convert, I had never heard of this.

Question: the nativity set my wife bought a while back has Mary holding the baby Jesus (one piece). Should I put Mary & Jesus away until Christmas?

Is it a Catholic tradition to not put the baby Jesus in the nativity until Christmas, or was this just something the priest came up with?

Thanks!
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This is Catholic (small “t”) tradition. Advent ends at sunset on Christmas Eve, and that is when it begins to be appropriate to have a Christmas tree and a nativity set displayed. The Christmas season runs until January 6th, and (by custom) it’s okay to leave the decorations and lights up as late as February 2nd (Candlemas).

The secular custom of having the Christmas tree up during Advent and then throwing it out or putting it away on December 26th is a complete disregard of the Christian calendar.

At our parish, our priest has given us permission to start putting up Christmas trees as of today, the Third Sunday of Advent.
 
I grew up a cradle Catholic raised by two cradle Catholics, neither of whom ever heard of the tradition of reserving the baby Jesus for placement in the manger till Christmas. It was a Protestant family who introduced me to the tradition. 🤷

I started saving the baby Jesus for Christmas day only last year when I bought a Nativity set that has a baby Jesus that you can remove from the manger. But then I ran into a problem of where to keep the little baby till Christmas, cuz I knew I’d forget where I put him.

For me it’s kinda silly, but I didn’t grow up with it as a tradition like so many people did. To each his own on this one…
 
When our kids were little, I kept baby Jesus in my room until after Christmas Eve Mass.

Of course, fighting over who got to put him with the nativity after Mass took away from the spirit of things. 😛
 
In our priory, we just put up our Christmas decorations this afternoon. Tree, candles in the windows, stockings over the fireplace, and our Nativity Scene. It is all very beautiful.

As per tradition (in my family at least), we left the baby Jesus out. We will place him in the manger after the Midnight Mass.

In Carmel,

Br. Allen
 
This is a tradition, nothing to do with sin or obligation.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=118318
You can put up your tree whenever it pleases you, as well. We put the decorations on slowly because, it lends itself to Advent, it is incentive for kids to behave, and well, there’s just so much a family with older parents and two small businesses can get done in a day.

However- I not only have the Infant secured away from prying hands. I have CAMELS for the 3 Kings. They are way back by the TV, away from the tree, at the oasis somewhere between the cat pan (hidden) and the bar.
 
I never heard of that tradition, and I’d be afraid of losing the baby Jesus if I tried it. (I have the 5 inch Fontanini nativity set), When we were children, we used to put the Three Kings WAY far away and move them closer and closer till on Epiphany, they were right at the nativity set.
 
We have always put baby Jesus on the altar and only placed him in the manger at midnight on the Christmas day ( or before going to midnight mass) , that is how I remember it since I was little… well sometimes on Christmas morning;)
Grandparents, parents and me are all cradle Catholics

Now we have 2 indoor mangers and both the baby Jesus statues are on our altar.
However, on my outdoor light set Mother Mary is carrying baby Jesus so we do not worry about that one and just put it out.
 
jmcrae said:
This is Catholic (small “t”) tradition. Advent ends at sunset on Christmas Eve, and that is when it begins to be appropriate to have a Christmas tree and a nativity set displayed. The Christmas season runs until January 6th, and (by custom) it’s okay to leave the decorations and lights up as late as February 2nd (Candlemas).

The secular custom of having the Christmas tree up during Advent and then throwing it out or putting it away on December 26th is a complete disregard of the Christian calendar.

At our parish, our priest has given us permission to start putting up Christmas trees as of today, the Third Sunday of Advent.
Click to expand...
This is how we were raised back home, on the 24th we cleaned the house, put up the manger and tree and got ready for Christmas. The kings and camel came on Jan 6 to the manager After Jan 6 everything was packed away.
However, since coming to Canada, we now have the Advent Wreaths and mangers with Mary and Joseph at the opposite end of the room and the kings in a different room. And we start to put up our decorations and tree around/after Dec 15.
Our parish only has the Advent Wreath now, the manger and tree will be put up on the 24th.
 
Honestly, all this stuff is a great way to prepare for Christmas and to be mindful of the coming of the Christ child but it hardly ranks at the level of “right” and “wrong.” Our bambino goes into the Nativity scene the minute we put it up because I would forget to put it in on Christmas! If I had kids at home, I am sure we would make a big deal of putting the bambino into the creche.

Anybody here save blessed straw from year to year and add it to the scene? I think it’s an old Italian custom. We’re not Italian but we do that.

I’d be especially cranky about a pastor telling me when I can put up my tree. I have a LOT to do before Christmas and usually put it up on Gaudete Sunday (Advent 3) but if I need to do it earlier, then I doubt it is matter for confession. One might simply not turn on the lights . . .
 
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