Priest’s collection of Nativities on display

By Alfonso Aguilar
Arlington Catholic Herald
December 20-31, 2007

A collection of more than 200 Nativity sets from around the world in on exhibit at the Diocesan Center in Arlington through Jan 6.

The collection belongs to Father José Eugenio Hoyos, director of the Spanish Apostolate Office, who said he started his collection more than 20 years ago when he was a seminarian.

Father Hoyos said he bought the majority of them during trips around the world, and many others were gifts from parishioners and friends.

“Every year I receive as a Christmas present two or three new Nativities,” he said.
In recent weeks parishioners from St. Philip Parish in Falls Church added nativities from Chile, Puerto Rico and Spain.

The collection already includes sets from Algeria, Belgium, Tanzania, Italy, El Salvador, Bolivia, China, the United States, Philippines, Ecuador, Greece, Paraguay, Mexico, Poland, Guatemala, Cameroon, Portugal, Malaysia, Morocco, Ireland, Vietnam, Haiti, Japan, France, Palestine and Colombia.

The oldest Nativity in the collection was made in Argentina in 1857. Another genuine antique was made in Chile in 1872. The largest is an American Nativity with 12 pieces, some of them approximately 40 inches high. The smallest, a silver set made in Germany, is no taller than two inches, nestled inside a red jewel-box.
The “miniature collection,” is displayed in a special section, which includes Nativities made with matches, cotton balls and corks.

“My favorite one is that colorful Nativity inside a bottle. It was made in Ecuador,” said Josefina López from El Salvador. “However, I was also impressed with the Nativity inside a shell, made in El Salvador.”

The Congo Nativity is intricately carved from rosewood, stained black and polished to a sheen, and the Colombian Nativity was designed by internationally acclaimed sculptor Fernando Botero.

“The Nativity from Palestine is olive wood and was carved in the Holy Land where Christ was born,” said Father Hoyos, explaining the story of each Nativity to visitors during the Christmas party held last Saturday at the Diocesan Center.

The collection is open to the public:
Monday through Friday
9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
until Jan. 6.
Diocesan Center
80 N. Glebe Rd.
Arlington
703/841-3883