“O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie,” begins a beloved Christmas carol sung since 1868.

Many may dream of being there during this holy time when Jesus was born.

Yet for many, closer to home, the little town of Bethlehem, Connecticut, has two places that connect beautifully to that Miraculous event of over 2000 years ago

With just over 3,400 residents, this rural town is the home of the Regina Laudis Abbey where the nuns have a magnificent early 18th century Neapolitan Crèche. This masterpiece is displayed in a restored barn nearly as old, and specifically donated and used to house the Crèche.

This is no small Neapolitan Crèche. It spans 16 feet wide and 6 feet deep. The Nativity scene takes place before a backdrop mural of an 18th century seaside and an azure sky.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are at the heart of the Crèche where our Savior’s birth is set vividly in a Neapolitan mountainside village. Overhead, angels hover in wonderment and awe. In the town and surroundings, loads of villagers react in different ways to the overwhelming presence of the Holy Family.

Simple peasants close to the Holy Family stand in awe and mingle with the Three Kings. There are the curious wondering as to what’s going on, the joy-filled who somehow realize this is a life-changing spiritual event, but even a few who are inattentive, like the peddlers and merchants who haven’t the slightest interest in looking at what’s going on.

Some villagers stop to contemplate Jesus’ birth. Others go on with everyday life as if nothing unusual or life-changing is happening.

The scene and their reactions should get us to stop and think of the comparable attitudes we see around us today, whether it’s in a store, on the street, in the media, or hundreds of other situations, and how we ourselves should react.

The animated scene’s 68 figures and 20 animals of carved wood, ceramic, metal and plant fiber stand up to 16 inches high. They’re dressed in their original early 18th century dress that Met Museum specialists carefully restored to pristine condition. A little over a decade ago, the whole Nativity scene (AbbeyofReginaLaudis.org/Visit-Creche.html) and the building which houses it received a meticulous four-year restoration by long-time experts who worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

From all indications and evidence, this Crèche was a gift to Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia on his coronation in 1720. In 1948 it was brought to America, then in 1949 the woman who owned it gave it to the Abbey to preserve and display.  Later, the same woman gave the Metropolitan Museum a very similar Crèche which is the centerpiece of their Medieval Galleries annual Christmas display.

On the ground of the Abbey visitors might even spot a sheep or two.

Later during the Christmas season, you might want to watch the 1949 film Come to the Stable that tells the story of Regina Laudis Abbey and whose main characters, two nuns played by Loretta Young and Celeste Holm, are based on the actual Benedictine nuns who came from France after World War II to establish it. It’s a much neglected classic.

 

Another Major Nativity

In nearly a straight line 2.2 miles away, and a few yards from Bethlehem center, sits the Church of the Nativity which remembers the Birth of Jesus not just at Christmas time but all year. The church edifice was built in 1992 and constructed of fieldstone and wood, explicitly designed to look like a crèche. The church is topped with a star that is lit at night and directs people here like the star directed the Magi.

Stepping into the church brings a big surprise. The permanent, year-round focal point of the vestibule is a larger than life-sized Manger scene presenting the Holy Family and one sheep.

All the figures were carved from a single pine tree by an artist in Maine. Joseph draws our attention because of the way he kneels and contemplates Mary and the Baby Jesus. The Virgin Mary stands cradling Jesus to her shoulder. Because the walls of the vestibule are all of glass, Jesus looks over His Mother’s shoulder into the church toward what will come — the cross and a figure of his Resurrection high over the altar.

Behind the Holy Family, a panorama of the town of Bethlehem is etched high on the glass wall.

The stone, wood and large beams of the church interior are meant to remind us of a manger. So, too, the words, “O Come All Ye Faithful,” acting like a frame behind and above the altar.

On the lawn in front of the church there is also a 20-by-15-feet Crèche, built like a shed-stable with heavy beams and stone walls.

A little over 500 feet away is the Bethlehem Post Office that sees extra traffic as people come to get their Christmas cards postmarked from “Bethlehem” and envelopes stamped with a Christmas greeting from the town. How many, we can wonder, know of these two Nativity treasures, so very near, in the church and at the abbey?

But those who do visit, once they discover the beauty of the Nativity both at the church and at the abbey’s Crèche, can continue singing Little Town of Bethlehem’s later verses which are so often forgotten:

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
 

O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel!