Merry Christmas from the Sun Herald

JOHN FITZHUGH/SUN HERALD
Deacon Richard Henderson helps Olivia Ford, 5, of Biloxi as she places the Baby Jesus in the Nativity Scene at St. James Catholic Church in Gulfport on Thursday Dec. 24, 2015. The tradition of the Nativity Scene, La Creche de Noel in Italian, was born in 1223 when St. Francis of Assisi gathered people to portray the scene of JesusÇÙ birth. For many, another tradition is to wait until Christmas Eve to place the statue of the Baby Jesus into the crib to signify the beginning of the celebration of His birth. — JOHN FITZHUGH/SUN HERALD Deacon Richard Henderson helps Olivia Ford, 5, of Biloxi as she places the Baby Jesus in the Nativity Scene at St. James Catholic Church in Gulfport on Thursday Dec. 24, 2015. The tradition of the Nativity Scene, La Creche de Noel in Italian, was born in 1223 when St. Francis of Assisi gathered people to portray the scene of JesusÇÙ birth. For many, another tradition is to wait until Christmas Eve to place the statue of the Baby Jesus into the crib to signify the beginning of the celebration of His birth. JOHN FITZHUGH SUN HERALD

Deacon Richard Henderson helps Olivia Ford, 5, of Biloxi, as she places the baby Jesus in the Nativity scene before Mass at St. James Catholic Church in Gulfport on Thursday.

The tradition of the Nativity scene, La Creche de Noel in French, was born in 1223 when St. Francis of Assisi gathered people to portray the scene of Jesus' birth.

For many, the tradition is to wait until Christmas Eve to place the statue of the baby Jesus into the crib to signify the beginning of the celebration of his birth.

This story was originally published December 24, 2015 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Merry Christmas from the Sun Herald ."

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