Reflections on Nativity – The 21st Annual Mepkin Abbey Creche Festival 2024

Reflections on Nativity

I’m creating space for Reflections on Nativity – what it means and why it means that to me. Every December I attend an annual Creche Festival. Not only do I look forward to the time with friends, but also the serenity this particular event evokes.

The Virgin with Child at Mepkin Abbey’s 2024 Creche Festival.

Tucked along a riverbank, Mepkin Abbey attracts pilgrims and visitors all year round. However, this annual tradition is intended for reflections on nativity. While I love twinkle lights and jingle bells, family time, and the cookies that the Christmas season brings, there’s something holy about this particular holiday fun.

Each season affords its own enjoyment for me at Mepkin Abbey. However, I think the Creche Festival tops my list. I turn down the quintessential drive flanked by sweeping live oaks and their well-manicured grounds welcome me. Once parked, volunteers escort me via golf cart to the entry desk. I check in and browse the gift shop. Christmas carols ring. I love the handcrafted items and artsy gifts. A personal favorite anytime I visit is the homemade cinnamon honey – simply excellent on buttered toast!

Inside the Creche Festival at Mepkin Abbey

My assigned time arrives and I receive a program and a golf pencil. Our group starts down the sidewalk where the first creches are outdoors. Some are crafted of metal, others marble, one even incorporates mixed media with modern faces and textiles in life size appearance. This wooden nativity in white lets the imagination wander.

One of the largest nativities in the 2024 Creche Festival displayed on an interior lawn at Mepkin Abbey.

Around several curves of the tree-covered sidewalk is the Mepkin Abbey library. Most of the nativities are inside. Another Creche Festival volunteer told us this library houses some of the rarest books in the area. Another day I’d love to come back and while away a few hours… I researched American Wild on the Mepkin Abbey grounds, and my family spent precious time with Fr. Joe Tedesco.

Some of my favorite glass nativities at Mepkin Abbey 2024

One of my favorite reflections on nativity for its everyday use and eternal inspiration.

Incidentally, each nativity has a number and I mark the ones that inspire me most. It’s so hard to choose! Nativities from various continents are delightful – highlighting viewpoints and material selections available from Europe, Africa, North and South America,  and Asia. Of course, American artists from a multitude of states are included. But this year’s theme is Nativity in Glass, so many of the nativities – not all – have incorporated glass.

Illuminated hurricane candles flanked by clay representations of the nativity story.

Whoever designs the Creche Festival each year does a phenomenal job at setting each piece for maximum reflection. Some nativities line the hallway or fill in window nooks. Live evergreens decorate the library’s open spaces, capturing the outdoor scent of winter and bringing it inside.

Stained Glass Triptych of baby Jesus and the Nativity scene.

Please create a little time for reflection on nativity this year for yourself. Set aside the hustle and bustle of life. Let Immanuel – God with Us – solace you.

Natural Oyster Shell Nativity creation detail from the Mepkin Abbey Creche Festival 2024.

My Christmas Prayer for You

Eternal Creator, spark life in our darkness once again. May my Readers be made whole where they are hurt, and see light where they haven’t before. Illuminate your will for each of us and help us put aside our will in exchange for your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

This year’s program listing each of the artists or donors whose nativity appears in the festival.