Skip to content

creche

Crèches light up the scene at Catholic Christmas festival

on December 20, 2010

For Christmas this year, Leo Keegan set out to create a nativity spectacle at the Cathedral of Christ the Light, the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Oakland. The result was the Starlight Festival: seventeen unique displays of the crèche, or nativity scene, each an interpretation of the biblical story of Jesus’ birth. From traditional ceramic sculptures to a pop-up style paperboard scene, the displays came from churches throughout the diocese.

“I like the way we connected it to the scripture,” said Yolanda Carter, a parishioner at Saint Columba Church in Oakland, of her parish’s creation. The Saint Columba crèche featured small sculptures of all the key figures—Mary, Joseph, the three wise men, shepherds, and of course baby Jesus. A sign detailed the scripture verses that inspired the wooden frame of the stable, the miniature olive trees, and various rocks that formed the scene’s landscape.

Four local businesses also created crèches, which were on display in four of the cathedral’s chapels. Oakland’s J. Miller Flowers and Gifts donated a nativity scene surrounded by white flowers for display in the Chapel of the Suffering Christ.

Keegan chaired the festival, in which all parishes in the diocese had the chance to submit a crèche. Festival committee member Denise Kogler said the display was meant to embody the cathedral’s mission to “shine a light.” Gesturing to the crèches around her, Kogler said, “Our cathedral’s all about light.”

The Starlight Festival crèches are no longer available for public viewing, but Christmas décor will adorn the cathedral for mass throughout the holiday season. The Cathedral of Christ the Light is located on the edge of Lake Merritt at 2121 Harrison St. in Oakland.

Oakland North welcomes comments from our readers, but we ask users to keep all discussion civil and on-topic. Comments post automatically without review from our staff, but we reserve the right to delete material that is libelous, a personal attack, or spam. We request that commenters consistently use the same login name. Comments from the same user posted under multiple aliases may be deleted. Oakland North assumes no liability for comments posted to the site and no endorsement is implied; commenters are solely responsible for their own content.

Photo by Basil D Soufi
logo
Oakland North

Oakland North is an online news service produced by students at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and covering Oakland, California. Our goals are to improve local coverage, innovate with digital media, and listen to you–about the issues that concern you and the reporting you’d like to see in your community. Please send news tips to: oaklandnorthstaff@gmail.com.

Latest Posts

Scroll To Top