Each year, the Porres family uses paint, dried flowers and herbs, dabs of glue, insulation sheets and hundreds of Italian figurines to create their own little town of Bethlehem. Water cascades down a miniature mountain and flows beside a vineyard and an olive grove. Merchants sell their wares, shepherds tend their flocks, birds fly on thin wires while worshippers gather around the replica of a first-century synagogue. At the edge of the scene, a cave shelters Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.
The family tradition first started as a father-daughter project for Sergio and Sofia-Alexa, 21. They started simply, but when the U.S. Air Force family moved to Italy, they were inspired by the elaborate creches they found there.
“There was a street in Naples dedicated to Nativity figurines and so we went to one store and that’s where my parents bought a lot of the figurines,” said Sofia-Alexa.
“We went crazy,” joked mom Alejandra. Now the whole family — including sons Santiago-Andres, 11, and Sergio-Alejandro, 24 — help create the Christmas display.
Their sprawling Nativity scene has become a way to raise money for charity, too. While at Mass at their parish, Nativity Catholic Church in Burke, they heard a priest from the Diocese of Mandeville, Jamaica, preach about need there. So, after the creche received a blessing from Father Robert C. Cilinski, pastor, they invited friends to see their handiwork and contribute to the cause. The open house raised more than $1,100. “We work so hard knowing that we are getting money so we can help someone else, and I think that’s what inspired us to do it and make it prettier,” said Santiago-Andres.
In the weeks it takes to build the creche, Sergio tackles the construction. “I follow a couple of master Italian or Spanish artists, and that’s where I get my ideas,” he said. The rest of the family helps with painting the set and arranging the figurines. From baby Jesus to brooms, this year’s creche has more than 450 tiny pieces. It’s not always easy finding a place for them, said Alejanda, who works at Santiago-Andres’ school — St. Thomas Aquinas Regional School in Woodbridge.
“I pray and I’m like, ‘Please just inspire me, please Holy Spirit help me to get this done and to finish the section,’ ” she said. “And honestly, my mind just starts coming up with the stories and the pieces start flowing.”
For the past few years, Sofia-Alexa and Sergio-Alejandro have been away at college, and now both are studying for their master’s in Texas. “We’ve mostly helped through video calls, (providing) opinions,” said Sofia-Alexa.
“It’s been cool to see how every time I come back there’s always more detail and it always gets bigger,” said Sergio-Alejandro. He also enjoys the family game. “My parents always have a tradition — they have little rat figurines and they put them in different places so there’s always been a small activity to find where they’re at, and it gets harder every time.”
The Porreses see building the Nativity scene as a treasured family activity, a way to give back, and a chance to enter deeply into the Advent season. “When it’s finished, it’s like I lived the story,” said Alejandra. “It’s very magical to me.”
Maraist is a freelancer in Reston.
