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Milton church members create shining Nativity for season of light
By LINDA M. LINONIS
LAKE MILTON
The end result makes the hours of unpacking Christmas items, decorating trees, arranging poinsettias, fluffing greenery and positioning the Nativity set worthwhile.
Then there’s the cleaning before and after the decorating.
Worshippers who attend Christmas Masses at St. Catherine Church, 1254 Grandview Road, will be “star struck” by the white-lighted form with a dramatic cascade of white lights that illuminate a Nativity scene set up on the altar platform.
The Rev. David W. Merzweiler, pastor of Our Lady of the Lakes Parish that includes St. James Church, 50 Rosemont Road, North Jackson, credited parish member Jerry Milo with crafting the statement-making star.
The star is attached to the ceiling light fixture. The 25-foot-long eye-catching star arrangement is probably the first decoration to capture people’s attention as they enter the church and find seats in pews that surround the altar on three sides.
The Nativity figures are positioned on the left side of the altar area, where a fountain and small pond usually operate. The Nativity set is Italian-made and crafted from olive tree wood.
The set includes a statue of St. Francis of Assisi, who, along with shepherds, comes to see the newborn baby in the manger. St. Francis is credited with originating the idea of a Nativity scene in 1223; he created one outdoors for a large gathering at a midnight Mass, and it caught on.
The set was acquired by St. Catherine’s first pastor, the late Monsignor Joseph Galganski, who established the church in 1956, Father Merzweiler said. The current church building was constructed in 1962.
The pastor noted the shepherd figures will move to the right side of the altar as the Three Wise Men arrive at the Nativity scene for the Feast of Epiphany on Jan. 6. Father Merzweiler said he liked how the figures of the shepherds are “curious” about the baby, peering into the stable.
Four candles in hurricane lamps are positioned on four large tree trunks, cut to uniform size, that were repurposed when a willow tree on church property was cut down.
The manger also was crafted from salvaged wood from another manger scene. The manger is not a complete building, the wood only suggests a structure so that worshippers can see into the stable.
Decorating began Sunday and continued into Tuesday when some 50 red and white poinsettias were arranged around the altar.
Debbie Mound, housekeeper and church member, Mary Ann Leonard, a 20-year member, and Elaine Samblanket, a 21-year-member, were putting on the finishing touches. On Sunday after Mass, the pastor said a decorating crew of about 10 did a lot of work.
Tapestry fabric with a poinsettia design, flanked by runners of green and red, accent the wall behind the altar. As church members enter the sanctuary, they see a small tree with white and gold lights to the left and a larger one on the right that repeats the light colors. Both have angel figures on them.
“A lot of work goes into this,” Samblanket said, adding “it is worth the result.” Leonard added that “pink is my color” and she likes to sit near the pink poinsettias.
The pastor said he planned to cut some holly from bushes on church grounds that will add another festive touch to the decorations.
“I like to get people involved,” Father Merzweiler said. “It creates an environment that speaks the story that we’re celebrating.
He said parish members like the new looks with the seasons. “We change the decorations seasonally,” Father Merzweiler said. “We try to bring the outdoors inside. It helps people to realize the cycle of celebrations as we follow the church calendar.”
“In the end, it’s so rewarding to see the finished decorations,” Mound said of the hard work that goes into the Christmas decorations. “It warms your heart.”
St. Catherine’s Christmas Eve Mass will be at 9 p.m. with the choir singing at 8:30 and St. James’ Christmas Eve Mass at 5 p.m. There is one Mass Christmas Day at 10 a.m. at St. Catherine.