SAINT Joseph with a sombrero and a nativity scene made out of bread are just some of the unusual sights in a Festival of Christmas Cribs being hosted by a convent.
Almost 200 cribs from around the world have been put on display by the Sisters of Mercy at Derry’s Thornhill.
The festival, which runs this weekend, is raising funds for Thornhill Ministries which aims to help people in their search for God through spirituality.
Sister Perpetua said the idea arose from a visit to a friend, Helen McNicholl, last year.
“She had eight cribs and I remarked on it and she told me of similar festivals in a Protestant church in Limavady and I said right, we’re going to do that next year."
As well as the Costa Rican Joseph, other unusual cribs include one made from a loaf of bread with the holy family cut from toast - an A-level project by Clodagh Quigg and Aida Nemeth from Loreto Convent, Coleraine.
“It’s highly symbolic because the name Bethlehem means house of bread and Jesus Christ for Christians is the bread of life,” Sr Perpetua said.
The cribs are displayed throughout the huge Thornhill convent house on Derry’s Culmore Road, taking visitors on a tour of how the nativity is portrayed around the world.
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A crib from northern Canada depicts the nativity characters as Inuits, complete with a seal instead of farm animals.
All of the cribs were donated to Thornhill Ministries by people from across Ireland and come from countries including Italy, Vietnam, Japan, Ethiopia and Senegal.
“There are two ladies, Gabriel Stuart and Mary Harrington, who travel around the world facilitating international conferences and part of their interest is that they buy cribs wherever they go and they’ve given us 18,” Sr Perpetua said.
The Mercy nun said her order was particularly pleased with a crib dedicated to its founder, Catherine McAuley, in which the figures are all faceless and the Christ child covered by the “Mercy Cross”.
However, Sr Perpetua said one of her favourites is the Costa Rican crib.
“It’s so beautiful and funny and it very genuinely shows the culture; you’d know it was from Costa Rica because Joseph has a moustache and sombrero and Mary is still carrying a wee bit of weight and then – without being sacrilegious – the baby Jesus is lying as any new born baby would, with his bum stuck in the air.”
The Festival of Cribs is open to the public from 11am to 7pm today and 11am until 5pm tomorrow.
