By Tom Dalton
The holy family is black, brown, white and several other colors. It has been carved in wood by the Amish, made from Irish crystal and molded from the mud of the Nile. It is so large that some figures take two hands to lift, and so small a single set can fit into the palm of one hand.
The holy family — Mary, Joseph and the Christ child — is seldom seen the way it will be shown to the public the next two weekends at St. Thomas the Apostle Church.
The Catholic church on the Salem/Peabody line has assembled a display of nearly 200 nativity scenes from around the world. There are so many they fill four rooms of the parish center at 5 Margin St., which is the former St. Thomas School.
One set alone, Fontanini figurines from Italy, takes up one whole side of a room. They depict the village of Bethlehem at the time of Christ's birth, with the manger nestled into a hillside populated by shepherds, fishermen, farmers, carpenters, bakers, Roman soldiers, high priests and animals.
"Almost each (nativity set) has a story to it," said Brother Tom Petitte, 64, who lives at the rectory and assembled the collection over the past five decades.
Brother Tom's collection began with six pieces his parents gave him when he took his religious vows. Those six pieces grew to the 200-piece Fontanini set.
He says he did not intend to be a collector, certainly nothing as massive as this, even though it was in his blood. His mother collected Disney music boxes, and his father had beer steins. But as the years passed, and Christmases and birthdays came and went, the presents Brother Tom unwrapped from friends and family were, more often than not, nativity sets.
"I can't think of any that I bought because I didn't have the money," the Marist brother said.
While nearly all the sets are deeply religious, a few are more whimsy than worshipful.
There is one with all Peanuts characters. Lucy is the Blessed Mother.
There is one with dogs, one with cats and another of teddy bears.
"Anything that gets the kids asking questions about Jesus is OK," said Brother Tom, who teaches theology at Malden Catholic High School.
There is nativity art from Russia, Egypt, Guatemala, South Africa, Slovakia, France, Greece and a dozen other countries. There are creches made of porcelain, banana leaves, olive wood, glass, pewter, clay, corn husks and almost anything imaginable.
As he led a tour of the exhibit, Brother Tom pointed to nativity scenes with a special connection to his life: a set made by a homeless woman at Lazarus House, a shelter he founded in Lawrence; his grandmother's Irish nativity set; a replica of the Renaissance nativity scene in the Vatican; and one made by a boy from Egypt, a former student, using mud from the Nile.
As he walked from room to room, Brother Tom stopped and pondered all that he had collected, this multidimensional view of the birth of Christ through so many eyes living in so many different corners of the globe.
"The interpretations, I think, are very striking," he said. "It's a reflection of cultures, interests and ideas. ... It's timeless. It speaks to all nations and all cultures."
The exhibit debuted last year with little publicity. But as people came, the word spread and the church raised more than $3,000 through admission donations.
"We didn't expect to make money ..." Brother Tom said. "It was done to get people together to help them refocus on the real meaning of Christmas."
The nativity display opens tonight.
If You Go
What: Christmas nativity display
Where: St. Thomas the Apostle parish center, 5 Margin St. (Route 114, Salem/Peabody line)
When: Fridays, Dec. 4 and 11, 6 to 9 p.m.; Saturdays, Dec. 5 and 12, 5 to 9 p.m.; Sundays, Dec. 6 and 13, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Cost: $5 for adults, free for children
