By Jo Garcia-Cobb
This Christmas, St. Mary Catholic Church’s nearly century-old crèche (nativity scene) will be displayed for the first time in its original glory, after major repairs and refurbishing by its original maker, the Stuflesser Studio in Ortisei, Italy.
“There are only a few churches in the world that have the luck to have such a beautiful, expressive, and stunning crèche!” said Roberto Stuflesser, fourth-generation descendant of Ferdinand Stuflesser, whose team of artisans created the commissioned crèche in 1914, two years after the dedication of St. Mary Church.
Stuflesser said all five generations of his family have been creating fine religious sculptures and altars for churches around the world for 135 years.
What makes the créche special is that it was a gift from the children who pooled their pennies to commission a fine work of art for their church. Then students at St. Mary Parochial School in Mount Angel, these children are the ancestors of families in Mount Angel and surrounding areas.
The crèche is displayed at St. Mary Church Dec. 18 to Jan. 6, the traditional Feast of the Epiphany.
Nativity scenes are an important aspect of Christmas observance in Catholic churches and homes.
St. Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first nativity scene in 1223 in Greccio, Italy. It was an attempt to place the emphasis of Christmas upon the worship of Christ.
Besides the centerpiece figurines of the infant Jesus, Mary, Joseph, an angel, several shepherds, and the three magi, St. Mary Church’s crèche includes animals, including sheep, a cow, a donkey, and an impressively large camel. The major figurines stand about a foot tall. All of the figurines were carved out of a variety of pine wood, called “zirble” in Italy, and were oil painted.
In 2009, some of the 29 hand-carved wooden figurines were discovered to have been damaged in storage when chemicals stored above them leaked and dripped on the figurines.
The figures that were damaged by cleaning solvents were beyond the ability of the parish to clean and repair and many of the other figurines showed the wear and tear of nearly 100 years’ use.
At first, the parish community didn’t quite know where to send the crèche for repair, until a parishioner pointed out that a metal tag etched with the name Ferdinand Stuflesser, found on the bottom of the St. Joseph figurine, identified who the maker was. A few minutes of online research revealed the company was still in business.
Jerry Lauzon, sacristan, volunteered to facilitate communication with the Stuflessers. The images of Mary, Joseph, and a shepherd were shipped to Ortisei in the summer of 2010 for evaluation and estimates. Fourteen other images with minor damages, such as missing fingertips, a missing shepherd’s staff, a broken crown, and cracked bases were shipped in the summer of 2011.
Writing to St. Mary’s parishioners, Stuflesser expressed his sentiments regarding his receipt of the first shipment of figurines.
“It is a special feeling to hold these figures that an ancestor of mine carved and decorated with love. I am so happy to see them!” He then assessed the needed work and estimated costs. To conclude, he wrote: “You will have your statues as they were back in 1914!”
Stuflesser noted that the creation of the figurines involved many sculptors, painters and gilders. He figured that it took four to five months to complete the set.
In researching the créche’s history in the parish archives, Lauzon ran into the difficulty of understanding material that was written in old German.
“One thing I got was the great excitement over the arrival of the crèche from Ortisei which, at the time, was part of Austria, before boundaries were redrawn after World War I.” The crèche was most likely shipped by sea, as the advent of commercial aviation was still in its infancy.
Lauzon was deeply moved when he saw the refurbished figurines for the first time since their arrival from Italy last fall. He felt the excitement that the children who commissioned it must have felt on the day it first arrived in Mount Angel. Stuflesser had done what was promised. Not only was all the damage repaired, but the rich and deep colors of the figurines were restored with great attention to detail.
“We’re so happy we found the studio that originally made the set to repair it. They put their best craftsmanship and lots of love in the restoration. It is one of the most beautiful nativity scenes that I have seen anywhere in the world. It’s a masterwork. It’s also a very important historical artifact,” Lauzon said.
He marveled at how the joy, the reverence and the wonder surrounding the Incarnation were infused from the makers’ hearts into the creation of the figurines.
The crèche is of special interest to the descendants of the children donors, including Mount Angel resident Carol Piatz. In researching its history, Piatz came upon a photo of these children from the Mount Angel Benedictine Sisters’ archives. Piatz’s mother, Rose Wachter Schwab, then 11 years old, is in the photo that was taken in 1915.
The list of students on the photo has family names that are as familiar today as they were then including Beyer, Butsch, Duda, Eberle, Fessler, Hauth, Kraemer, Miller, Schwab, Seifer, Wachter and Zollner.
Piatz said the crèche, by today’s standard, probably cost a pittance to purchase, considering the minimum wage at the time was anywhere from 25 cents to $2.50 a day for skilled labor. Stuflesser said he knows “it was very inexpensive for its quality. At the time, European handmade creations didn’t cost much.”
Each figurine cost an average of 300-400 euros to repair, a total of more $5,000 plus shipping and insurance. To date, donations for the repair cost are still about $2,200 short.
Rev. Philip Waibel, OSB, St. Mary Church pastor, was concerned about the cost, but realized it was a priceless gift of faith from Mount Angel’s ancestors, as well as the church community’s way of helping to pass on the true spirit of Christmas to future generations.
“It was costly and took many steps, but now our precious nativity scene has 100 more years of life,” Waibel said.
