St. Mark Church in Vienna, Virginia, celebrates the Epiphany by having parishioners display their nativity scenes in the Activities Center. The annual Crèche Exhibit is a nice tradition that I would enjoy seeing catch on at more places.
Before Christmas, my family visited the Way of Lights at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Illinois. The gift shop sold nativity figurines, including two animals I hadn’t seen in that context before: horses and elephants. The Bible doesn’t say how many Magi visited Jesus and it certainly doesn’t mention their mode of transportation. It made me wonder, are elephants mentioned anywhere in the Bible? Yes, in the second book of Maccabees, elephants are used by warriors in chapters 11, 13 and 14.
