Christmas has come and gone, but parishioners at St. Maron's in Youngstown can still experience quite a sight.
"A lot of our families have been affected by cancer this year," said the Rev. Gary George, pastor of St. Maron's, "so we wanted to do something really special to dedicate healing."
Sitting on the church's alter is a complex manger scene, complete with running water and real trees and leaves. The idea was first sparked by a Lebanese man whose family attends the church.
"Nothing of this extent was in his mind, but with my ideas and my enthusiasm, we created something really spectacular for our families," said George.
Three men assembled the manger in just four days. It was most recently used Wednesday to celebrate the Festival of Little Christmas, a Maronite Catholic tradition. During Mass, George actually stands inside the manger to deliver his sermons, attempting to almost transport parishioners back to Bethlehem.
"It was a beautiful celebration, yes," George said, "just as much as Christmas was on the 25th. We try and keep our tradition and teach the children to appreciate the small feast days."
The life-size manger has been up since before Christmas Eve, and it's going to stay up just a little bit longer.
"It will probably be up for another weekend," said George. "People are begging me to keep it up for another weekend."
Whether a Maronite Catholic or a parishioner of St. Maron's, George said anyone can benefit from the display.
"Our doors are always open," George said "We've welcomed many families of many traditions and many cultures. We're just so happy to have them because everyone is affected by this illness, and we want to reach out and help our families."
Services this weekend will be held at noon on Friday, 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday.
