During the month of December, many Salesian houses transform their place into the village of Bethlehem. The courtyards come alive and approach the situation at the time when Jesus was born and students, families, educators and staff carry the message # YoPongoElBelén (# IMakeTheCrib) even beyond social networks.
Houses such as Cartagena, Trinidad, Rota, Cádiz, La Línea de la Concepción, Burriana, Huesca, Algeciras, Córdoba, Alicante, Monzón, Valencia San Antonio Abad and Alcalá de Guadaíra, among many others, stage these shows of living cribs in their courtyards or in the streets of the city. In some houses, this initiative is open to the people of the neighborhood, who can visit the different shops and workshops, which are really working, and spend a pleasant time, thanks to the voluntary work of a multitude of people from the Salesian Family.
But there's more. For example, in La Línea, all the proceeds of the living nativity scene are destined for the "Sales" project to feed the city's homeless. In this way, the crib becomes the means to also offer a Christmas lunch to the most needy people.
In Rota, thanks to the Salesians, the streets of the historic centre are transformed, with the permission and collaboration of the neighbours, into a Jewish village to stage the most representative scenes of the birth of Jesus. It is the only living nativity scene in the entire Province and attracts more than 2,000 visitors.
In the case of Cordoba, the living Nativity scene has reached its sixth edition. It is made by the students themselves and brings to life the steps of the Gospel in the courtyard.
While the former students of Huesca made an evocative nativity scene inspired by the war situation in Gaza, which they placed next to the church of Mary Help of Christians, and where a banner reads: "Peace, a dream of all".
From the Salesians in Badalona, for 17 years, the students from the optional course of visual and plastic arts have been preparing the Nativity scene in the school. This year they prepared it under the theme "A dream for you" of the pastoral campaign, and it was set at the Becchi, in the stables of the house where Don Bosco spent his childhood. The students were also rewarded at the school crib competition organised by the Christian School, with the collaboration of the "Catalunya Religió" Foundation, on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the first crib made by Saint Francis of Assisi in Greccio.
Christmas concerts are also a widespread tradition and this year was an important moment for the houses in Cartagena, Trinidad, Mérida, Úbeda, Puebla de la Calzada, Rota, Cádiz, Villena, Morón, Horta, La Almunia, Las Palmas, Badajoz, Carmona, Algeciras, Martí-Codolar, La Cuesta, Alcalá de Guadaíra, Ourense, Villamuriel, Santander, Los Boscos in Logroño, Vigo, Nueva Montaña in Cantabria or Barakaldo, among others. Distributed by class, students sing and dance to songs typical of this time of year to showcase their talent to families.
Some Salesian houses, such as those in Huesca and Mérida, take their students to sing in retirement homes, where guests are always very grateful for the visit; while for the young participants it is a very enriching experience, which, moreover, sometimes falls within the Learning-Service initiatives of the Salesian house.
Similar initiatives are also carried out by the San Antonio Abad houses in Valencia and Cadiz, which also have a campaign called "we remember you", to share messages with people who spend Christmas in hospitals.
Throughout Spain, then, Salesian parishes create cribs of every shape and size, often setting up exhibitions and accompanying these achievements with pastoral initiatives with families and children, such as the traditional "blessings of children".
All these representations are just a small sign that Salesian houses are waiting for Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus and thus open the way for God and others.
