Cradle Catholics: the tradition of Nativity displays
During Advent, shepherds wait near an empty manger at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)
Terry David loved Christmas. The holiday season, with its festive lights and comforting traditions, was his favorite time of year.
“He loved the Nativity set our church always put outside,” said Monica David, remembering her husband who died just before Christmas 2018. “It was always a great reminder of what Christmas is all about.”
So when high winds badly damaged the 32-inch resin statues last year, the longtime member of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Pilot Point became part of the effort to replace them. Her generosity, along with other donors, helped purchase a new 12-piece Nativity set for the church in memory of deceased loved ones.
David’s late husband grew up in the rural faith community and did all the electrical work in the church and parish hall.
“Buying a few pieces for the Nativity set is a great memorial to him,” she explained.
The church’s outdoor display is a public witness to the true reason for the season, according to Father Jason Allan, St. Thomas Aquinas’ pastor.
“The Nativity statues are a beautiful reminder, not just to us but to everyone who drives past the parish, of our Lord, who took on humanity to reconcile us back to God,” he said in a thank-you message to parishioners. “As we enter the season of Advent, make sure to visit the Nativity and say a prayer to our Incarnate Savior.”
Contemplating the Christmas story
Setting up a crèche is an essential part of celebrating Christmas for Christians around the world. Whether made of wood, wax, or marble, renderings of Mary and Joseph caring for a newborn surrounded by farm animals evokes a sense of wonder, joy, and belief in salvation history.
In his December 2019 apostolic letter, Admirabile Signum, Pope Francis said a Nativity scene is like “a living Gospel rising up from the pages of sacred Scripture. As we contemplate the Christmas story, we are invited to set out on a spiritual journey, drawn by the humility of the God who became man.”
The Holy Father encouraged families to not only continue the beautiful tradition of placing a manger with Jesus in the home, but to share the custom with others in the workplace, schools, hospitals, prisons, and town squares.
“The Christmas crèche is part of the precious yet demanding process of passing on the faith,” he explained. “At every stage of our lives, it teaches us to contemplate Jesus, to experience God’s love for us, to feel and believe that God is with us and that we are with Him.”
Sharing joy and redemption
When Advent approaches, parishioners at Christ the King Church in Iowa Park start preparing for an event that attracts families from across North Texas. Every December, organizers exhibit more than 200 creative, culturally diverse Nativity sets with the hope of highlighting the universal meaning of Christmas joy and redemption.
“They’re big or small, and made from different types of materials,” enthused Marilyn Putthoff, project coordinator. “We’ve had elaborate ones made from fine porcelain to hand-painted clay sets from Mexico.”
Over the event’s 20-year history, some of the more unusual figurines were crafted from chocolate, paper, cotton balls, and matchsticks. Adding a layer of interest to the collection are cards from participants describing a family story or history connected to each display.
A Nativity set made by Karla Faye Tucker, who in 1998 was the first woman executed by Texas in 135 years, receives a lot of attention. Tucker waited on death row for 14 years, during which time she announced her conversion to Christianity.
The late prison counselor Roger Hinesh befriended the death row inmate who gave him the decoration as a Christmas gift in 1997. The manger scene, made with tiny sticks, was donated to Christ the King Parish with a request to display it every year.
“Setting up the Nativity sets marks the beginning of the holiday season for us,” Putthoff observed. “Sunday school classes from other churches come over, so it’s a wonderful way to share the true meaning of Christmas.”
Experiencing Bethlehem
Holy Trinity Catholic School in Grapevine invites families to become temporary citizens of Bethlehem as they walk through the events leading up to Christ’s birth during a live Nativity program.
Since 2019, students and their teachers have brought the Christmas story to life by re-creating scenes from the Gospel in their classrooms. Volunteers from the school’s three sponsoring parishes — St. Michael in Bedford, St. Francis of Assisi in Grapevine, and Good Shepherd in Colleyville — participate.
“In one of the scenes, an angel visits Mary, and another is about Joseph’s dream,” explained Julie Schwebel, the school’s business manager and event volunteer.
“There’s music playing as the children act out the Bible verses. It helps you picture what it was like.”
Weather permitting, the final three Nativity sites are housed in the school’s outdoor nature center enhanced by lights, a gazebo, and real farm animals, including a llama. Traditional Christmas carols, sung by the school’s choir, add a feeling of warmth and nostalgia to the evening.
“The children wear beautiful costumes, and the images just transport you to Bethlehem,” Schwebel commented. “It gets everyone into the Christmas spirit full force.”
The crèche and St. Francis
Only two animals — a donkey and ox — were part of the first live Nativity scene prepared by St. Francis of Assisi in 1223 to explain the birth of Jesus to followers. An icon of the Christ child, placed in a straw-filled manger, completed the re-creation in a cave near Greccio, Italy, during midnight Mass.
Frustrated by the growing materialism consuming Italy in the 13th century, the patron saint of animals used the stark, thought-provoking environment to emphasize how Christ’s entry into the world was marked by poverty, exile, and persecution. He feared that worshippers, who received little education at that time, didn’t understand Christ’s lowly birth reflected His humility and understanding of the human experience.
Buoyed by St. Francis’ passionate preaching as well as the poignancy of the setting, some visitors claimed to see the statue of Christ move in its manger and “everyone went home with joy” from the Mass, according to Thomas of Celano, the first biographer of St. Francis.
The impact of that first Nativity scene reverberated throughout the region. Within a century, every church in Italy adopted the practice. Today, creating Nativity images remains the country’s most popular Christmas tradition, an art form in itself.
When statues replaced a living version of Christ’s birth, in-home Nativity sets became a Christmas staple in churches and homes around the world.
A treasured tradition
St. Andrew Parish, shepherded by members of the Third Order Regular Franciscans, displays the story of St. Francis and his role in the “Beginning of the Christmas Crèche” next to its manger scene. The figures of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, and a reposing lamb were made by the Italy-based Fontanini company known for its high-quality, intricately detailed workmanship. Placed on broad steps to the left of the altar, the crèche includes a white baby blanket crocheted by the late Kathleen Luffman and ornate boxes representing gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Father Damian Vincent Amantia, TOR, an assistant pastor at St. Andrew in the mid 1990s, purchased the Nativity set for the parish.
Seeing baby Jesus placed in the crèche for the first time at midnight Mass is a treasured tradition for parishioners, according to Christina Alves.
“Following the chanting of the Christmas proclamation at midnight, the presider carries the baby Jesus to the crèche. Others follow in the procession with the blanket and boxes,” explained the director of music and liturgy. “Our Nativity is very simple, but parishioners love it.”
Creating wonder
The Nativity ensemble gracing the sanctuary of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Keller is also crafted by the four-generation House of Fontanini.
“They’re hand-painted by Italian artisans so we handle them with gloves,” explained John Wolf, who oversees the care and placement of the 11-piece set every holiday season.
Some of the pieces are life-size and measure five feet in length. The three kings — one standing, one bending, and one kneeling — are accompanied by a 100-pound dromedary camel that requires four people to lift. Hoping to make the display seem as realistic as possible, baby Jesus rests on a bed of real, fire-retardant hay.
“We have a large church with an open altar, so we needed large figures for Christmas,” explained Wolf who expects as many as 14,000 worshippers at Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services. “We take great pride in how the birth of Jesus is presented.”
A floating angel hovers over the manger from a wire and is a favorite with youngsters.
“Kids at the school wonder how it got up there,” the organizer said, admitting the flying figurine has had some tense moments.
“At one Mass, the altar server went the wrong way with the cross and it caught the wire,” Wolf recalled. “People held their breath as the angel shook and wobbled for a couple of minutes. That’s one of the dangers of trying to be creative.”
Placing wreaths and 550 feet of garland on the church’s 28 pillars takes two days and a committee of helpers to complete.
“It’s an amazing undertaking, but our church is extremely beautiful at Christmastime,” Wolf said proudly. “I love watching the kids stare at the animals and the kings.
It’s just pure joy. Children remember the Christmases of their childhood. It leaves an impression.”
A daughter’s memory
Some people look back on a Christmas when they were young and remember presents, holiday dinners, or decorating the tree. One of Betty Chew’s favorite memories is helping her mother, Janie Lemley, carefully unwrap the Nativity set she purchased for St. John Church in Strawn sometime in the mid-1960s.
“The box was delivered to the post office, and my mom and a friend took it to the church,” said the Stephenville resident. “They unwrapped every figure looking for damage. Mother paid for it, and she was going to make sure everything was okay.”
A member of the altar society, the late Mrs. Lemley cleaned and took care of the linens for the rural church along with several other women. Decorating the sanctuary for Christmas and setting up the wooden stable, handmade by Charlie Kostiha, was a task she looked forward to every holiday season.
“My mother grew up in that church and her family lived in Strawn since the 1920s,” she explained. “The Nativity set was always put on a large table in front of the organ.”
Visualizing her mother removing the Baby Jesus from a cardboard box and holding it up for the first time is still a cherished memory for Chew, now a member of St. Brendan Parish in Stephenville.
“It was summer when the Nativity arrived, but I remember feeling like it was Christmas,” she mused. “Seeing it always brings home the meaning of Christmas and memories of my mom for me.”
Leaving a legacy
A 76-year-old bearer of the Magi, an elephant, is a sentimental piece of the Nativity collection at St. Patrick Cathedral. Purchased in 1948, it now accompanies a new set of Italian-crafted figurines procured through F.C. Ziegler, a church supply company.
Older replicas of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, made from plaster in the 1950s, had degraded with cracks and flaking over the years and are now displayed in the parish hall.
“The new set holds a special place in our hearts as it was one of the last projects our beloved historian, Kathryn [Kay] Fialho, contributed to the cathedral before her passing in March 2022,” said Edward Smith, the cathedral’s chief of staff. “Kay’s dedication and love for our community are forever etched in this Nativity set chosen for its harmony with a hand-carved elephant that has graced our space since 1948.”
A symbol of continuity and remembrance, the new Nativity set is a bridge between young and older generations of parishioners.
“It’s a testament to the enduring spirit of our community,” Smith emphasized. “It not only honors Kay’s legacy but also celebrates the rich history and traditions that bind us together.”
A family tradition
Gathering with family members to create a Nativity scene, or nacimiento, is a tradition Brenda Garza remembers from her childhood in Monterrey, Mexico.
“People would get together at Grandma’s house over the weekend and set up Bethlehem,” said the communication director at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Grapevine.
“Some of the figures were passed down over the years or given as gifts at Christmas. The scenes were very creative with some featuring different levels and even running water.”
A contest hosted by St. Francis of Assisi Parish in 2024 hoped to inspire parish families to adopt the Latin American custom and design their own Christmas-night scenes during Advent. Judges viewed photographs of both indoor and outside Nativity sets designed by parishioners to select the winner.
Franciscan missionaries brought their love of the crèche to the Americas where it continues to be the primary Christmas decoration in many Hispanic homes, Garza said.
“When you put a Nativity scene outside your home, you’re telling onlookers who you are,” Garza pointed out. “You’re sharing your identity as a Catholic family. It’s a form of evangelization.”