Last year Fr Philip preached about the crib at Christmas. He was speaking of how God became small, entering into our not-so-perfect world. He mentioned in his homily that he had been helping to set up the crib in the church and noticed that many of the figures had broken necks, chipped feet and hands, damaged paintwork, the angels had broken wings and even the baby Jesus was covered with bandaging. Fr Philip explained that Jesus had entered into our broken world, and even took our brokenness onto himself, and became broken himself in the gift of his body and blood, in the gift of himself on the Cross. The homily clearly touched a chord, and out of nowhere, donations began to flood into the church for the restoration of the figures. A company called Lewis & Lewis came to pick up the figures, repaired them and repainted them. They discovered that the figures of Mary and Joseph were from Bavarian workshops and were over one hundred years old. Today we are able to present a selection of photos of before and after the restoration work. I am sure you will be delighted at the result and at the craftsmanship of Jeanette & David Lewis.

Broken Bodies

Fractured wrist, not good for blessings!

Earlier in the year, the figures made a trip to Liverpool, all wrapped up in foam for their journey…

Jeanette and David then got to work with the statues and restored them to their pristine condition and toned down some garish painting.

St Joseph’s would like to thank all those who donated so generously to the restoration of the crib figures, and to David and Jeanette for doing such a great job. It is wonderful to see the levels of their skill and artisanship. The crib set will be shortly set up again for the coming of the nativity of the Lord and the celebration of Christmas.

Following on from the crib work, the parish also restored the processional statue of Our Lady which was used by the children in their May procession. Again, we thought you might like to look at the photos.