Traveling Nativity in Vermont recalls reason for Christmas season

Published: 2005-12-19

MORRISVILLE, Vt. (CNS) -- Although the Virgin Mary and her husband, Joseph, traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem on foot and by donkey more than 2,000 years ago, a "traveling Nativity" went by motor vehicle in Vermont this year as a way to remind people to keep Christ in Christmas. The nearly life-size plywood Mary and Joseph made their way from the lawn of Blessed Sacrament Church in Stowe to Holy Cross Church in Morrisville, traveling only a small part of the distance the real Mary and Joseph traveled. They made stops along the way. The display was strategically placed for a few days or a week to remind all who passed by that Christmas was coming and that Christmas is all about the birth of Christ. The idea for the traveling Nativity began with Connie Cooney, daughter of Deacon Tom and Connie Cooney of Holy Cross Parish. She told her parents during a Christmas visit about a New Hampshire town where people had made silhouettes of camels and kings to move throughout the town as Christmas approached.

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