Come, see a baby born
His fascination for the belen started at age 5 with a gift from his grandfather.
Today the collection of Msgr. Cristobal Garcia counts over a hundred sets of the belen or nativity scene from around the world—Germany, England, Pakistan, Spain, France, Poland, Africa, Mexico, the Untied States, Latin America, and Peru, among others.
Figurines of the classic stable scene of the baby Jesus with his parents Mary and Joseph, surrounded by shepherds, the three Wise men and angels are on display in the Archdiocesan Shrine of Hesus Nazareno compound in Cansojong, Talisay City, south Cebu.
The Christmas season runs till Jan. 8, the Feast of the Three Kings.
Garcia’s collection shows a variety of materials. The birth of Jesus Christ is portrayed in wood, ceramics, clay, crocheted string, cartolina paper and stuffed toys.
One set given by a Polish tourist guide is made of chocolate wrappers.
“The belen is a way of remembering. It’s a way of storytelling. It’s a way of making present,
said Garcia, chairman of the Commission on Worship of the Cebu Archdiocese.
“When you make present a story, the reality is there. When you see a belen, you are not just brought to ‘what was’ but also the hope that the message of the birth of Jesus brings.”
After Jan. 8, the infant Jesus is still the center of attention for Cebu as the Sto. Niño, whose annual religious fiesta and celebration in the Sinulog festival signals new revelry on Jan. 15.
Garcia said his grandfather gave him his first image of the Sto. Niño at age 5.
From there, he started his collection.
“It was really my wish that I would get a piece of the belen. I never lost those pieces,” he said.
Garcia, who is the founder of the Society of the Angel of Peace, had an early fascination for the baby Jesus.
“There were instances when I was given toy guns to play with. After two minutes, I would abandon them and look for images of saints,” he recalled.
His grandfather brought him to several churches and institutions where beautiful sets of the belen were put up.
“I grew up looking at these. To me, it made Christmas. My grandfather used to bring me to these places and I would always be fascinated. I would always feel like ‘Yes, Christmas was true!’” Garcia said.
Most of the items in Garcia+’s collection were gifts from persons who knew about his passion.
He showed Cebu Daily News a wax image of the infant Jesus lying on its side and encased in a music box.
As a lullaby plays, the eyelids of the baby Jesus open and close, while one arm rises to impart a blessing.
The monsignor said the image was about a hundred years old and was given to him by an elderly woman who knew about his belen collection.
A Cebuano designer also gave him a belen, which was the winning piece in the International Furniture Design competition in Copenhagen.
In one of his trips abroad, a foreign companion gave him a bag and asked him to open it once he arrived home.
Garcia said he was surprised to see a belen made of chocolate wrappers.
The Talisay shrine has a Filipiniana-themed belen and a set from the Amazon showing the infant Jesus riding a raft. The shepherds are represented by a monkey and a turtle while three kinds of fishes were presented in lieu of the Three Kings.
Other sets include images of workers in a vineyard and a wedding feast, Bible scenes from the parables narrated by Jesus.
When Garcia studied in the United States, he bought a belen set for five dollars in a rummage sale.
“I bought it so I would still have a belen with me although I was in a foreign land,” he said.
One time, a Filipino based in the US gave him a belen and he had to sign a legal document acknowleding it was considered real property.
Garcia’s collection is open for viewing by the public.
Outside the Talisay shrine is a long center table with figures depicting Jesus’s birth and various ways of celebrating Christmas around the world.
“The scenes emphasize that Jesus really participated in our human life,” said Garcia.
“The birth of Christ is really coming into a family, the entry of Christ in the human family. “.
