On Saturday, November 30 after the 5:00 PM Mass, the parish community of St. Bartholomew the Apostle Church in Scotch Plains will celebrate the unveiling and lighting of its new life-size Christmas Creche. Sponsored by parishioners and their families, the fourteen life-size figures of the Creche which are hand painted and imported from Italy will sit on a platform that is sixteen feet wide, thirty-two feet long, and twenty-one feet high. All materials and construction of the platform have also been donated by parishioners of St. Bartholmew’s. The Creche will sit at the front of the Church property along Westfield Avenue so to be enjoyed by the entire community.
The celebration on Saturday will be led by Newark Archdiocese Auxiliary Bishop Manuel Cruz who will bless the Creche and light the scene for the very first time. The St. Bartholomew Church choir will sing spirited Christmas tidings, hot chocolate will be served, and children under the age of 12 will receive blessed keepsakes to mark the occasion. All members of the community are invited to what promises to be a moving and spectacular event.
Salvatore Perillo, chairman of the Creche project, hopes that this event will create fond Christmas memories for the children of St. Bartholomew’s and the entire community. The life-size creche will remain lit until the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6. St. Bartholomew the Apostle Church is located at 2032 Westfield Avenue, Scotch Plains.
