Boston Church Nativity

BOSTON CHURCH NATIVITY

Painted cast stone

Early 20th Century

This cast-stone Nativity, made in the early part of the 20th century, was purchased in the 1970s from a Roman Catholic Church in Boston, Massachusetts, by Antonio Morales. Morales and his family lived in Lynn, a suburb of Boston. Each year, during the first week of December, he would build a wooden stable for the figures on the family’s front porch.

For forty years Morales and his sons carried the large figures—which together weigh approximately half a ton—up the stairs from the basement. A spotlight was installed, which shone down on the Christ Child, intended to represent the Star of Bethlehem. Fresh straw was provided each year. The display remained on their front porch until the weekend after Epiphany (January 6th), traditionally the day on which the wise men arrived bearing gifts for the Christ Child.

According to Dwayne, one of Antonio’s sons, “I am beginning to see just how much my Father always appreciated this set and how much time we spent together every year, sharing hour upon hour, talking together, laughing and putting it together for the love of the final product: ‘a picture in time’ of how the Three Kings or Wise Men, ventured following the North Star to meet Jesus, the Son of God, who had been born in a stable in Bethlehem so many miles away from them, to bring him gifts out of respect and faith that he was truly the Son of God.”