This one is totally new to me. This debuted in 1975 and was written by Jules Bass himself under the pseudonym Julian P. Gardner. It appears to be a wholly original story.
The special opens in an abbey in southern France, where Sister Theresa (voiced by Angela Lansbury, who also serves as narrator) paints Christmas cards, featuring snowy images of her hometown or the First Christmas. However, it begins to storm and they see a shepherd boy get struck by lightning. Theresa and the other nuns head out to rescue him.
The boy, Lucas, awakens and is going to be fine, but is blind. The nuns help him care for his flock, and his dog Waggles. As Lucas recovers, he learns about snow from Theresa. He's never seen it because the town is close to the sea. He wishes he could see snow so much, he begins to dream of it. Meanwhile, Father Thomas (voiced by Cyril Richard) plans to take Lucas to an orphanage.
Lucas joins the Christmas pageant as an angel, becoming friends with Louisa, another angel. They talk about snow, and he reveals he's been dreaming of snow. However, not all the children are compassionate, and the three boys playing the wise men prank Lucas by hiding his sheep. The sheep get out, however, and head into a dangerous forest. Being a good shepherd, Lucas goes after them and begins to round them up. The boys confess to Theresa, who has them go after Lucas, who is still missing one lamb, who's fallen in a pit. The boys help Lucas rescue it and get back to the Abbey in time for the pageant.
After the angels sing their song, it begins snowing. Louisa explains to Lucas what the snow looks like, and her description makes him tear up. Surprisingly, his tears restore his sight permanently.
As the abbey winds down after the pageant, Lucas offers his flock to Theresa as he won't be able to take them to the orphanage. Instead, Father Thomas and Theresa agree that Lucas should stay at the abbey.
At 24 minutes, this one was another sweet little Christmas story written for those with a religious preference. It's not really bad, but doesn't really reach the same strength as the previous religious-themed special, The Little Drummer Boy.
The most frustrating part is the title. According to the wikis, the title is supposed to refer to the snow at the pageant, but I wonder why the unwieldly title couldn't at least be reduced to The First Christmas Snow. Regardless of the subtitle, one would expect The First Christmas would be a retelling of the Nativity story.
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