‘It’s Love’: Nativity display grows, reflects the hope of the holidays
Published 7:30 pm Tuesday, December 17, 2024
At the heart of the St. Augustine Catholic Church Nativity display is the virgin birth. Photos by Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The vast Nativity scene at St. Augustine Catholic Church plays out the story of Jesus’ birth and the whole of Bethlehem. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Handouts in both English and Spanish are available for those who visit the Nativity display at St. Augustine Catholic Church, which acts as a guide thorugh everything the Nativity contains. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Throughout the St. Augustine Nativity display are Bible versus that coorespond with parts of the display. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Francisco and Lizett Rosas stand in front of the ever-changing Nativity display they put up each year at St. Augustine Catholic Church. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Some parts of the display at St. Augustine Catholic Church corresponds with a handout provided that takes people through the Nativity story. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
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For several years now, Lizett and Francisco Rosas have worked to bring the spirit of Christmas to life through the Nativity, a recreation of the birth of Jesus Christ.
But it is more than just a story of the holy birth, as the scene set out before the devout at St. Augustine Catholic Church is a faithful recreation of the birth as well as the entire town of Bethlehem.
Not only that, but the display guides people through the entire story, starting from the Annunciation when the angel Gabriel announced the news to Mary.
“From the first time (seeing it) people know they are loved,” Lizett said Monday as she looked over the scale representation at the center of Christendom. “That’s the same message since the first time until now. Every time we put a piece together we are thinking of the people who are going to come and look at all of these things.”
“It’s love,” she later added
And there is a lot.
The display features over 2,000 pieces, ranging from figurines as tall as six inches down to individual bottles of food barely bigger than the tip of a finger.
This year, the display, which is ever-evolving to include something new each year, took a large part of one day on Dec. 8, starting at around 9-10 a.m. and going until 4 a.m. the following morning with breaks interceded within.
“As a traditionalist, I remember my grandma had a Nativity,” Francisco said. “When I come and see this thing, I say this is my opportunity to get back to that tradition again.”
“I see a lot of tradition lost and it never comes back,” he added. “That’s why we’re trying to remember. I told a lot of people, don’t remember me. Remember your family. When you look back it’s your story.”
The story of this particular display began around seven years ago, when the couple accumulated a display from Father Raul Silva at Queen of Angels Catholic Church, where it was set up for the first time.
Eventually, they were able to join that collection with items from St. Augustine Catholic Church and Father James Steffes, who was looking for a new home for the items because there was nobody to tend them.
It was a gold mine for the Rosas’s who knew all too well how hard it was to find pieces that fit the scene.
“I know how hard it is to find those,” Lizett said. “He trusted us, Father Steffes. After that, little by little, we were doing it every year.”
The display will be up through Christmas and until Jan. 12 in the entry way of St. Augustine Catholic Church.
For the couple, part of the joy for them is watching others react and remember their own traditions that stretch between kids all the way through to grandparents.
“Every year we’re trying to put in something different for the children,” Francisco said, pointing out three Roman soldier figures that were added. “Every year, the children come and they look at something different.”
And that connection is one of the strongest allures of the display.
“The Nativity is pulling families together,” Lizett said. “Many people have been inspired by this and they send us pictures of their Nativities.”
“Many people come back to their roots and they are bringing their families — that is the main point,” she added.
