By Lois Rogers | Features Editor
In the rectory of Sacred Heart Parish, Trenton, the road to Bethlehem winds miraculously through almost every continent in the world thanks to the crèches collected by Father Dennis Apoldite since his priestly ordination in 1978.
Threading through more than 100 countries and most of the United States, each and every crèche in this testament to the universality of the Church and the universal love of the Babe in the manger, was personally situated by Father Apoldite, pastor of Sacred Heart and coordinator of the House of Formation in the rectory, early in Advent.
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It’s a task, he said, that he looks forward to every year, one that begins right after Thanksgiving, when he brings the boxes down out of the attic and carefully unwraps the contents. “Everyone offers to help, but I like to unwrap them myself,” he said. “As I take them out, I remember each person or event connected with them and each one becomes new again.”
The collection was inspired by his parents’ gift to him in his ordination year of Holy Family figurines from the classic Boehm porcelain nativity set, which he pointed out on top of the Victorian china closets that line one wall of the dining room.
The second year, they added the shepherd to the set, he said. When his father passed away, his mother gave him one of the three kings. “That was the inspiration for the collection. I thought, why not nativities from all over the world.”
And thus, more than three decades ago, the collection began to grow.
Seeking out sets that reflect the many faces of Christianity around the globe, the collection includes nativities worked by artisans in faraway places – Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Nepal – and just around the corner – painted on a slate from the Trenton armory or crafted out of wood from the pine barrens – will remain in place until “at least” the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, said Father Apoldite.
Over the year, he has enlisted friends and former students in his Nativity search when they traveled.
Among many who fulfilled that mission was a student from Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, where he was chaplain for 13 years. She managed to find a Nativity set in Egypt that met all his qualifications on the day she was departing that country and carried it out in a sack, he said.
Seminarians from Colombia brought a crèche back from a visit to their homeland that was made of many natural elements including orange leaves.
He took real pleasure in pointing out a one-of-a-kind set made by a potter in the Scottish highlands who had no familiarity with the concept of nativities.
It was a thank-you gift of a bride and Scottish groom who were married in Sacred Heart Church, he explained.
The Scottish potter worked primarily in crafting beer mugs. Using the forms he had he inverted the mugs and formed the likenesses of the Virgin Mary, Joseph and the rest from the traditional scene as busts according to the directions of the groom’s Scottish mother.
Throughout this season of waiting and the joyous days of Christmas to come, Father Apoldite says it is a real pleasure to share this display and some of the stories with all who come to the rectory/House of Formation. “If someone comes to the door on parish business, I always ask if they would like to see the crèches.”
And, he says, most often, they are happy to take the tour. Among those savoring the collection each year are the children from the parish religious education, he said. “They go through and they take their time. They really enjoy it.”