This Grail Nativity was born out of the deep experiences of my first years at Grailville.

That was a long time ago but those years still feel timeless and relevant to me. As part of the Grail's effort to let the cultural and spiritual richness overflow to others, we attempted to express spiritual values in music, literature and the visual arts. We then began to share these expressions beyond our own community. After all, one did not come to Grailville to stay here, but to prepare to make a difference in the world! I was charged with helping create an Art Production Program: "To make religious art with good artistic quality and good theology behind it, available for homes." We made Christmas cards, posters, plaques and statues. The statues were my special domain. Art production was a successful Grailville outreach and money-earning work for about 15 years. Anne Burke, Fran McLaughlin, Jeanne Heiberg, Rosaline Kew, Angela Erskine and many others helped make this collective work successful.

A time came when there were just not enough folks at Grailville to adequately continue this effort (and I was in Egypt). We then sold our whole line to Abbey Press. Abbey produced our sculpture foranother 10 years until they stopped making any sculpture themselves. Around 1980, the rights, theold molds, and whatever originals were still around, were returned to me. I remember going to St. Meinrad's with my mother and seven-year-old son, and helping good Brother Maurus pack everything in a wooden case. This huge crate was trucked to New Jersey. It was pried open outside and gradually emptied into my basement. The old molds sat there until requests for the Nativity became so intense that I pulled those out and began again to make them in my basement. It is a lot of work to cast, trim, paint, pack and keep orders straight. All is by hand. No mass production is possible. It's not a cottage project to begin lightly! As the molds got ever older, each statue needed ever more work. Four years ago the old molds and I gave up! But thanks to my son, now grown, who successfully took on the challenge to learn to make new molds, we are now back in production of the Grail Nativity!

The Creation of the Shepherd Set -10 Pieces

The first statues Grailville produced and offered for sale were the Fiat, Holy Family, andAdsum, . These sold well. Then I was asked to make a nativity. For a year I tried. Nothing worked. Mary was "lumpy," and Joseph - what a problem! With a long robe, he looked like a fat baker and hardly manly. I had little confidence. Who was I to add anything new to such a long and rich tradition?

It got to be the last week in August and my leader, Janet Kalven, told me to just stay in the corncrib next to St. Brigid's, the art shop, where I lived and worked, so I could focus on this project. This was not a punishment and I loved the chance to be so clear of purpose. I think they even brought me food so I wouldn't be distracted. And I just worked. I did not think I could do it, but I prayed and surrender came. Out of my fingers the clay figures seemed to flow, and the idea of each figure having a gift to bring, which has meant so much to children of several generations, emerged naturally. Mary with her empty lap to wait through Advent in expectation until a child puts the little baby into her arms on Christmas Eve, the girl with her basket which can be filled with seeds or berries, the boy bringing his dove, the shepherd comes with a lamb, and Joseph, the watcher and guardian - all these were there. And most astonishing to me was that each figure was in correct proportion to each other. Nine figures had been born when Janet came to see the week's work. Ah, relief! She liked it and only suggested adding a sheep. A sheep? How do I make a sheep? I don't know how I knew to do this, but a proper sheep came out of the clay.

I consider this corncrib week one of my most graced times. From somewhere I had the good sense to work on the whole before going into final details like faces. Everything just worked! I finished the 10 pieces, hollowed them out, set them to dry and went on a Grail retreat. Then I fired them and took the precious 10 by bus to the little statue factory in Cincinnati, "Cincinnati Doll Factory," which helped us with molds and casting. I think I took photos of the originals before my trip. Since we were so late in the season to get out our advertising, we could not wait for the molds to yield first casts so we could photograph the reproductions before getting out our brochure! What faith to advertise before production! And the set sold - we produced that very year!

The Challenge Of The "Kings"

So guess what! For next year I was supposed to make "kings." For months I was stumped! I simply could not imagine mixing fancy kings with the simple humble style of the shepherd set. Finally I surrendered again. When I finally did, I went to the scripture readings for Epiphany, and realized that "kings" were not the original idea at all. Those who came to worship were wise men, Magi from the East. Their "coming" in the liturgy was part of a many layered expression of the great wedding feast of God with humanity. The enfleshing of God himself in Jesus is an event of such sublime and daring mystery that I feel it is almost too bold to speak or write about it. The Eastern Church does not emphasize the shepherd scene. That emphasis came much later to the West with St. Francis. The Eastern and early church were all caught up in this unspeakable marriage of "God with us" which the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany part of the liturgical year attempts to celebrate annually. These feasts are meant to call the whole world, all peoples, all creation, to this wedding feast, this "wonderful exchange." Wow! Epiphany means "manifestation" and 3 events are specially part of this "manifesting" of God's glory wedded to flesh. The Baptism at the Jordan - where all humanity, in the flesh of Jesus - was washed in the Baptism of the Jordan waters; the Wedding Feast at Cana, where the water of our ordinariness is transformed into wine; and the coming of the Magi. These wise men from the East came to the "Royal Nuptials." The antiphon, "we have seen his star in the East and have come with gifts…" is a call to all of us to come to God with our gifts, led by whatever light we have. Isaiah proclaims, "A light has shined upon us and all peoples walk in its splendor."

At the time I was trying to figure out how to translate all this into clay, I came across a story by Lowell Thomas about how the new Dali Lama was chosen. When the old Dali Lama died, the monks searched the heavens for a star to indicate the birthplace of the new one and went there with gifts. When they found a baby boy who seemed to be "the one," they would spread out gifts including items used by the old Lama. If he were the true new incarnation, the baby would reach for those. Eastern wise men bringing gifts to a holy baby and led by a star has a basis even in our own time! I liked this! This idea of all peoples coming to God, becoming one in God, inspired me greatly. The Arab, with the Moslem gift of prayer rising like INCENSE five times a day, the African, with the rich sense of the GOLD of all creation, and the begging, celibate monk of the East bringing the sacrificial gift, MYRRH.

It just all came together - again! Again I saw what surrender can do! Besides these wise men and their gifts, I made a new Epiphany child, older and open armed, to sit in Mary's lap as in a throne welcoming those wise men and each of us. I thought a less cuddly child turned toward us might help families better understand and celebrate the global meaning of this great Manifestation feast (my Regina Pacis statue also depicts this idea - the Eastern Church names her Theotokos - God bearer).

My Present Hope

That was a lot to put into clay, but I did what I could and hoped that families could at least touch some of the beauty of this incredible mystery through these simple figures. I doubt if much of this is in anyone's mind as s/he unpacks and arranges this Nativity each year, but something in this simple set seems to have touched hearts in way that has made it a perennial favorite. Over the years it has been featured in newspaper and magazine stories and was exhibited in the Cincinnati Art Museum and World's Fair. I am grateful to have helped this Nativity come into existence those many years ago. It is with renewed joy, and with the new commitment by my son, that I am able to again share something that expresses so much of what Grailville was and is for me as I attempt to grow toward God and service to others.

Some tips have emerged over the years to enhance your joy with your Grail Nativity. Probably the smartest is my mother's who glued Joseph to a 4"x 4" firm, flat black plastic (perhaps it was metal) piece to keep him from breaking his neck by falling over with all the grandchildren handling the figures. She covered his base with straw that she stored in a jar with the set. She also had some real myrrh and frankincense that she brought out for the feast of Epiphany to burn for the specialness of this feast. And of course she then replaced the tiny infant with the larger Epiphany Baby. Mom is also an expert in camouflaging the little chips that over-eager little hands sometimes create. She's a whiz with Elmer's glue! A full set of water-based magic markers or shoe polish work wonders. A small container of spackle makes larger repairs. Hydrocal is strong, but this nativity gets hard play sometimes!

In my own home, I have never had an official Christmas tree. Instead I arrange all my indoor plants in a living mound of green, reaching almost to the ceiling from a table in front of the window. I swirl a lightweight red bedspread to cover pots and table. With cascading tiny lights supported by a string from the molding at the top of the window I get a tree-like effect visible inside and out. During Advent I sometimes put the wise men on shelves in other parts of the house and let them arrive gradually to the place saved for the crèche. Usually though, I arranged them among my plants at a little distance from the shepherd figures gathered around for the Christmas feast and bring them close for Epiphany. Little seeds or berries can go into the girl's basket. Most families hide the baby Jesus until Christmas Eve when the youngest child brings it to the mother's lap. During Advent I usually put Mary alone into the middle of my Advent Wreath to express waiting and expecting. The rest of my Nativity set and lights would then go up Christmas Eve. I love Advent and attempt to wage an often unsuccessful struggle to hold Christmas back to just begin on the 25th. Good luck if you try! There are wonderful books to help.

Enjoy

~Trina Paulus, Advent, 2000