Vol. 1, No. 1
creche herald
for all who love, own or collect a creche
A Creche Signifies a New Beginning
As a child I attended the summer religious school run by our local church When I was in about third grade, our craft project was making plaster molds of Mary, Joseph and the Infant Jesus With a lot of help, we kids mixed and poured, and a few days later labored over painting the small statues.
The figures I took home were the beginnings of our family's creche. That Christmas, we added shepherds with lambs, kings and camels, stable animals and angels. If my parents noticed these finely detailed Italian figures were grander than my summer school contributions, they never mentioned it.
At Christmas, each child at home had a task in the tree decorating. My sisters hung the Christmas balls, my brother put on the tinsel--strand by strand-and I was in charge of arranging the creche.
I took great pride in my role. First I rummaged through the bookcases finding just the right sized books. Then the books were arranged in varying stacks around the base of the tree Lastly, I covered the whole with shimmering brown flecked "mountain paper," molding the covering to the irregular stacks of books; a "cave" was in the foreground.
Shepherds and magi were carefully posed on mountainsides and near the Baby Jesus. Over the manger scene a heralding angel "flew," dangling by string on an overhanging branch
My older sister now has the family creche and when I married, I gathered another. Each creche represents a beginning, a new time in my life.
For some of our readers, memories of childhood and arrangement of the family creche evoke feelings of nostalgia not too dissimilar from mine At the same time, the joys of collecting a new creche or adding just the right new piece creates continuing joy and excitement.
Our hope is that the creche herald, like the creche we all love, will represent a new beginning in your life, a new pleasure in the sharing of the creche experience
Rita B Bocher, Publisher
International Creche Competition Opens
Dr . George F . Drake, President of the International Creche Festival Association (ICFA) in Bellingham, Washington, has announced the fifth annual creche competition "International interest in this contest is extremely high," said Drake, " with local competitions in regions as diverse as the United States , Africa, South America, and Europe "
Entries are due in Bellingham November 1. Works may be handcrafted three dimensional or two dimensional renditions, such as tapestries or paintings. They must include the figures of Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus, and as many other figures as the artist wishes.
Individual figures may not exceed 15 inches (38 cm) high. Two dimensional works may not exceed 24 inches by 48 inches (61 cm x 122 cm).
There is no entry fee to participants. Pieces may be for sale; those not sold are returned to the artist. All entrants will receive a printed certificate of participation .
*****
First prize in the contest is $1000; second prize is $500, and third prize is $300 . Travel awards of a 10-day all-expense trip to Bellingham also are given. Sometimes, additional recognition results. In 1994, the first place winner from Slovakia, Peter Palka, saw his winning creation portrayed on Slovakia's Christmas stamp.
"This contest is just one way of preserving folk art and generating a wider understanding and appreciation of world cultures," said Drake. By the year 2000, ICF A hopes to have the largest display of nativity scenes anywhere in the world.
Further information may be obtained by contacting ICFA at 1421 Cornwall Ave #B Bellingham, WA 98225
Tel: 360-734-9757; Fax 360-734-9830
E-mail: gdrake@creche.org
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN.
Inthose days Caesar Augustus published a decree ordering a census of the whole world. This.first census took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone went to register, each to his own town. And so Joseph went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to David's town of Bethlehem--because he was of the house and lineage of David to register with Mary, his espoused wife, who was with child.
While they were there the days of her confinement were completed. She gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the place where travelers lodged
There were shepherds in that region, living in the fields and keeping night watch by turns over their flocks. The angel of the Lord appeared to them as the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were very much afraid. The angel said lo them: "You have nothing to fear! I come to proclaim good news to you--tidings of great joy lo be shard by the whole people. This day in David's city a savior has been born to you, the Messiah and Lord. Let this be a sign to you: in a manger you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes."
Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in high heaven, peace on earth to those on whom his favor rests."
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another: "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this event which the Lord has made known to us." They went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger.
New American Bible Version: Luke 2
After Jesus' birth in Bethlehem ofJudea during the reign of King Herod, astrologers from the east arrived one day in Jerusalem inquiring, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We observed his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage." At this news King Herod became greatly disturbed, and with him all Jerusalem. Summoning all of the chiefpriests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. "In Bethlehem ofJudea," they infonned him. Here is what the prophet has written:
'And you, Bethlehem, land ofJudah are by no means least among the princes ofJudah, since from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel."'
H.rod called the astrologers aside and found out from them the exact time of the star's appearance. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, after having instructed them: "Go and get detailed information about the child. When you have found him, report it to me so that I may go and offer him homage too."
After their audience with the king, they set out. The star, which they had observed at its rising went ahead of them until it came to a standstill over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house, found the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their coffers and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
New American Bible Version: Matthew 2
Spring 1997
CRECHE Has a Multinational Ancestry
Tcreche herald
St. Francis spreads a tradition
hough now primarily used to denote the Nativity scene, "creche" originally had the same limited meaning as "manger." Manger in strict usage--though today also used for the Nativity scene-- actually refers to the trough or open box used for livestock feed in which the Infant Jesus rests.
Both creche and manger entered English from the French, but beyond that, their ancestries differ, reflecting something of the history of the French language as a whole. French, a Roman derived language, is descended from the popular Latin of ancient Roman soldiers and settlers who dominated the area now known as France. Mandeoire--the present form of the French word for manger--derives from the Latin verb, mandere, to chew.
In contrast, the word, creche, springs from a German cousin. In the vocabularies of some Romance languages, there are a number of words of Germanic origin. These words, many having to do with agriculture, descended from the languages of the Germanic tribes who conquered much of the Roman territory, including France. Creche is one such word. Were its first letter not "c" but "k," its German forebears would be more evident.
During the Middle Ages, the words creche and manger spread from France to England. In its tum, English, a language of AngloSaxon or Germanic tribes, contributed its own relative, crib, to the terms, creche and manger. As expected, all three words have come to describe the Nativity scene.
Interestingly, although Italian, another Romance language, includes the words, mangiatoia and greppia--relatives of manger and creche/crib respectively, Italians use neither word to denote the Nativity model. They use instead presepio, a descendent of the Latin praesaepe. Despite the seemingly different word, presepio has some equivalence with the others. In the ancient word, a combination ofprae, "in front," and saepire, "to enclose," meant, among other things, a manger or stall.
ALTHOUGH NOT THE FIRST·TO CREATE A CRECHE AT CHRISTMAS, ST. FRANCIS OF Assisi's CHARISMA DID MUCH TO SPREAD THE JOY OF DEPICTING THE BIRTH OF JESUS. THE NARRATIVE BELOW OF FRANCIS 1 CRECHE IS DRAWN FROM THE WRITINGS OF HIS FIRST BIOGRAPHER, THOMAS OF CELANO.
It was mid December of the year 1223. Christmas was coming and the monk; Francis, wanted all people to share in the wonder of the miracle of the birth of Christ. He sent a message to his friend, Giovanni Velita, a nobleman from the nearby town of Greccio: "If you want us to celebrate the present feast of our Lord at Greccio, go with haste and diligently prepare what I tell you. For I wish to do something that will recall to memory the little Child who was born in Bethlehem and set before our bodily eyes in some way the inconveniences of his infant needs, how he lay in a manger, how, with an ox and an ass standing by, he lay upon the hay where he had been placed."
n Christmas eve, people from all over the countryside came to Greccio to see and hear Brother Francis say mass. They came dressed in their holiday best, walking, riding on donkeys, or crowding into little carts drawn by oxen. As the winter darkness fell, the light of the candles and torches lit the way, and their singing warmed the frosty air.
When the faithful arrived at the appointed place, they saw that in a natural cave, Francis had prepared a manger filled with hay Alongside were an ox and an ass. As the service began, the good brothers sang songs of praise for God Then Francis spoke about the Nativity and the Child of Bethlehem. At the end of the "solemn night of celebration," the people left and "each one returned to his home with holy joy "
It was claimed that many wonderful things happened that night. One of the onlookers said he saw a little child lying in the manger lifeless, and then Francis went up to it and "roused the child as if from a deep sleep ." In other parts of the region, people and animals that had been sick got well, women in difficult childbirth were delivered safely.
Deenactment of the Christmas story 1'....spread and grew into a great tradition. In the place where the manger had stood, a church was later erected.
Mary Bonaccorsi Herzel.
creche herald
A CRECHE FOR EVERYDAY OF THE WEEK
U. of D ayton's creches exceed 400
Imagine a place where marvelous new creches appear on display all the time. Man)' have exotic looking figures; some are of precious materials, some of unusual ones. That place is the Marian Library of the University of Dayton, in Dayton, Ohio.
"Every new creche is my favorite," Rev Johann G. Roten told us in a recent interview. Fr. Roten is the director of the University's Marian Library-International Marian Research Institute.
"Our collection was started in about mid 1994," he said. "We have an international library in rare books specializing on the Virgin Mary, and we wanted to look at one aspect of her life. We felt the birth of Jesus would be the most appealing for our visitors."
Despite such recent beginnings, the University's collection now boasts about 400 creches, some donated, many purchased from the priest's personal funds. "It's not a matter of price or objective beauty It's more the discove1y of something special in the work, or perhaps where you happened to find it."
Arotating selection of 40-50 creches is always on display in the Iibra1y's reading room. While some creches have only Maiy, Joseph and Jesus, larger works might have 30-40 figures. Those, like the bread dough creche from France, require special humidity controls.
"At Christmas," Roten explains, "I usually select creches with a special theme or count1y. At times, my theme is the special material of which creches are made, such as fabrics. Many pieces include images of the people where the crib was made. For example, one from the Iv01y Coast shows village women carrying pineapples on their heads. Often, the figures have ethnic features."
"Different cribs," Roten notes, " serve different purposes. Some emphasize the gifts of the Magi; those of ordinaiy villagers or tradespeople remind us that we all have a role to play in the drama of the Incarnation. One showing a clown unn1asking teaches us to take off our masks to see Jesus."
A true creche collector like Roten finds grace in most creche collections, even those that children love but make adults cringe. "A child has an amazing capacity for transfer," he says. "A creche showing mice or bears can help small children see some of the more important values, for the time being. There will be time to go to something more historical or realistic."
As in any art collection, each creche is photographed, labeled with the source and country of origin, and name of the artist if known.
TheMarian Library, on the 8th floor of the university library, is open 8:30a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays when the university is open. Admission is free and open to the public.
Stained glass and lead creche by Jeff and Chris Ann Mowell, Collection of the Marian Library
APACHE FUMC: It Started With Dinner
It all started in 1993 when the women of the Apache, Oklahoma, First United Methodist Church wanted to enliven their December church dinner. According to Charlene De Yong, wife of the pastor, someone suggested bringing in some creches to decorate the dining area.
"About 40 came in that first year," stated Oe Yong, "and a few more the following year. In 1996, we had 97 different creches. Some were handmade; some were of fine crystal or porcelain, a few came from the Holy Land."
Among the creches this past year was one from Mexico where the figures were made of seed pods. Another was a one-piece creche reflecting American Indian visages carved from pink granite by a Caddo County artist-- De Yong described that one as representing a loving family with all the figures nestled together." We expect even more creches for our display this coming year," she added.
Apache is a rural community near Lawton Oklahoma. Creche Open House starts the second Sunday in Advent and continues for one week. <i><i><i>
CRECHE EXCHANGE:
A Place Where You Can Sell, Trade or Exchange Creche Figures or Entire Creches.
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creche herald
Editor/publisher : Rita B. Bocher OFFICE: 1 I 7 Crosshill Road Wynnewood, PA 19096-3511
E-MAIL ADDRESS : crecher@op.net WEB: http://www.op net/--crecher
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The Santon Legend of the Three Shepherds as told by Betsy Bisson, Woolwich, Maine
God had resolved that the greatest event in the world should be made known to the very humblest and the poorest.
Agne!, the shepherd in charge of the flocks was on duty that night. A bright star appeared Singing filled the air . Agne! woke up Cabrier, the blind shepherd and Pastroule, the deaf mute All at once, the blind man could see the new star and nothing else; the deaf mute could hear the angels singing and nothing else. Cabrier described the angel as it came toward them from the star Pastroule repeated the angel's words. Then the miracle ceased Agne! sounded his horn to announce the great news of Christ's birth.
ANN ARBOR Exhibit Expects 900 Creches
Over 900 creches representing more than 70 countries are expected at the exhibit of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1385 Green Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Admission is free. Dates in 1997 are Friday through Monday, December 5,6,7,8 Hours: 10a m.-9p.m., except Sunday, l la m.-7p.m. Free concerts Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday 3p.m In its 15th year, the event attracts about 5000 visitors. Contact person is Betsy Christensen.
The three shepherds were the first to reach the creche with their humble gifts Agne! brought a jug of ewe's milk. Pastroule presented a newborn lamb When Cabrier presented his gift of cheese, he cried silently. "You poor man!" said Agne!. "You can't see Jesus ." "But I can see him. That is why I am crying," answered Cabrier. "And I can hear his prattle," cried Pastroule, the deaf mute Both were cured forever.
COMING NEXT ISSUE
:
THE SPECTACULAR ANGEL TREE AND 18TH CENTURY CRECHE AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART IN NEW YORK CITY. *****
THE SANTON FIGURES FROM FRANCE. *****
CRECHES BEFORE ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. *****
CRECHE EVENTS . CRECHE PRODUCTS.
An integral part of the wonderful story of the Birth of Jesus is the creche representing the stable where the Divine Infant was horn. And now the artists of LENOX have created a very special creche for your collection. The LENOX Nativity Creche is lovingly hand crafted by skilled artisan• working in fine hardwood. Perfectly made to enhance your Nativity figures. Hand finished and burnished to a soft patina. And crafted with a simple, beautiful line to capture that special night so long ago in the town of Bethlehem.
ORDER NOW. $136 plus s/h or eight monthly payments of $17.
CALL 1-800-233-0313, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. E.S.T.
Bethlehem, PA traces its origins to Christmas
"While there might be other Bethlehems in the nation, our community really traces its roots to Christmas Eve," proclaim this city's top booster, Mary Anne Stinner, Administrator of the Bethlehem Tourist Authority. In 17 41, a band of 17 Moravian missionaries held Christmas vigil services in the settlement's first house. The structure was a log building sheltering people on one side and livestock on the other. "It seemed to be so like the stable in which Jesus was born that the group named the town Bethlehem," she added.
A Moravian custom imported from Germany is theHerrnhut (or Moravian star) for which Bethlehem has become famous. A 26-point Herrnhut star, glows year round at the top of South Mountain. Christmas creches created by Moravians in their homes and churches are called putz (Putz comes from a German word "to decorate"). "We make these scenes from natural materials like moss, rock and logs, with carved wooden figures," explains Stinner. Above all, at least one thing must be "hidden" within the putz (often it is a mountain lion or wolf). In that way, people linger and reflect on the meaning of the season. While visitors enjoy Bethlehem year round, Christmas festivities begin the day after Thanksgiving and continue through December 31. Contact the Bethlehem Tourist Authority, 52 West Broad Street, Bethlehem, PA 19018-5775. 1-800-360-8687.
? ? ? 'S and Comments
Q.Is
there any tradition that the Virgin Mary should be on the left and St. Joseph on the right side of nfant Jesus in creches?
A.According to Rev. Johann ?· R~ten, Director of the Marian Library at the Umvers1ty of Dayton, that tradition became popular after the Council of Trent in the 16th century when Mary's altar in Catholic churches frequently was on the left of the main altar. However, today, placement of figures in the Nativity scene is very personal, he states, and Mary and Joseph appear on either side of the Infant Jesus.
Q.Is it true that in some very early Nativity scenes St. Joseph is omitted?
A.In some very ancient artistic depictions of the Nativity, Joseph indeed was omitted. According to Roten, he apparently was not too popular with early Christians because he hesitated about his pregnant fiancee. Later, Joseph appeared in the rear of the Nativity scene, sometimes as a smaller figure than Mary. St. Joseph's role today is acknowledged as protector of the Holy Family, and he sometimes carries a staff or a lamp. From about the fifth century, he has been imagined as an old man. * * * * *
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