April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
CHRISTMAS IN RAVENA
Broken baby Jesus
As very young sisters on our first mission in the late 1940s, Sisters Mary Luke, Catherine Ryan and myself were very excited about the upcoming celebration of Christmas at St. Patrick's parish in Ravena. Because we also taught on weekends in nearby towns, we knew the Christmas season would be very busy. We decided to begin our preparations early.
For days, we worked after school. We polished the brass candle holders, washed the linens and then carefully brought out the stable and placed it on wooden horses. Trees were lovingly placed, hay and animals readied. There were angels, greenery and poinsettias, all in their proper place in anticipation of the holy day. It was lovely!
On Christmas Eve, all that was left to do was place the infant in the scene. We sent one of the young boys to fetch the statue from the basement. Not realizing the baby was not attached to the manger, the child hurried in, calling out, "Here you go, Sister!"
As the words left his mouth, we watched the baby Jesus fall and smash into what seemed like a million pieces before our eyes! Christmas would be ruined without a "bambino."
Just then, the pastor came by and remarked on the beauty of the church that Christmas Eve. But he wondered, "Where is the bambino? You can't have Christmas without the baby Jesus."
When the situation had been explained, he chided us for not smashing the donkey and declared a disaster, lamenting that "we might as well take all the decorations down, because we can't have Christmas without the bambino."
We were heartbroken, but we vowed to save Christmas! But what could we do? We called O'Connor's Religious Goods in Troy: No luck. It was, after all, Christmas Eve.
And so our Christmas Eve saga began, on this, the coldest and snowiest Christmas Eve of our lives. With the enthusiasm of youth and the faith of Mercy foundress Mother Catherine McAuley, we began our quest, with the pastor's words stinging in our ears.
After we secured permission and bus fare, Sister Luke and I set out for Albany in search of a replacement baby Jesus large enough for the church display. It was freezing! It was snowing as we approached the first religious goods store.
"Sorry, sisters," said the gentleman: He was fresh out of baby Jesus statues, but he could order us one from New York.
In the snow and cold, in full habit, with only winter shawls to warm us, we walked back into Albany and up Central Avenue. There, we found another shop owner who had a small Hispanic baby Jesus to offer us. It was lovely, but much too small to meet our needs. We thanked him for his kindness and walked back out into the cold.
Sister Luke called her brother, Tom, who insisted we stop in for food and warmth. After eating, we made our way down the snowy, steep State Street hill with barely enough bus fare to get home. We were totally dejected at our failure to secure an infant for our empty manger. Through the snow, we watched the last bus from Albany to Ravena pull away! Christmas was ruined - or so we thought.
Sister Luke remembered that there were many baby Jesus statues on display at the Motherhouse. Dare we ask? Could we possibly borrow one? We called, and Mother Adrian assured us that we could. Sister Luke's brother took care of transportation to the Motherhouse and back to Ravena. We, and the borrowed baby Jesus, made it back to St. Patrick's in time for midnight Mass.
Tired, happy and relieved, we celebrated a most meaningful Christmas Eve Mass. The pastor even commented on how lovely the church and the "bambino" looked.
The travels of Mary, Joseph and the infant carried a whole new depth of meaning for us after our journey that day. Like them, we had been blessed by the kindness of others.
More blessings would follow. A few days after Christmas, a package came to our convent. Enclosed was a note that read, "To the two little sisters who were seeking Jesus on Christmas Eve. I am sure they have found Him."
The package contained a new infant Jesus statue for the crib. We never knew who sent it. [[In-content Ad]]
250 X 250 AD
250 X 250 AD
Events
250 X 250 AD
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