蜜柚直播

Just in time for Christmas, worshipers at the 240-year-old church can say a prayer in front of the Nativity and rock the baby Jesus in his cradle, thanks to restoration work on the Tohono O鈥檕dham holiday display that has graced the mission for decades.

The refurbished Nativity scene went up in the east transept of the main chapel on Wednesday.

San Xavier custodian Ivan Burrell oversaw the setup as usual. The task means a lot to him, so he鈥檚 only missed doing it once in the past 23 years.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very special to me, and I鈥檓 very glad to have the honor to put this out for the people,鈥� Burrell said.

The Nativity includes the usual cast of characters, all of them with Native flourishes. It also features several O鈥檕dham villagers in traditional dress, including a woman with a burden basket on her head.

Watching the celestial scene from above is an angel with pressed tin wings, a headband and a brightly painted rattle in his hand.

There鈥檚 a specific order to how Burrell placed the figures, in keeping with the biblical story. 鈥淛oseph goes first,鈥� he explained.

Burrell talked to the figures as he arranged them, thanking them for being there for another holiday season. Then he said a prayer in front of the finished scene.

The three wise men 鈥� with their little ceramic pots of gold, frankincense and myrrh 鈥� looked on from a nearby altar, where they will wait for their turn to travel to the manger. San Xavier Pastor Ponchie Vasquez said that won鈥檛 happen until the Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day, on Jan. 6.

Artist Thomas Franco of San Xavier village created the Native Nativity out of mesquite and saguaro ribs. He donated it to the church in the early 1980s, and it has been on display there each Christmas ever since.

The late 蜜柚直播 icon and folklorist 鈥淏ig Jim鈥� Griffith described Franco鈥檚 鈥渓ovely scene鈥� for the 蜜柚直播 in 2013: 鈥淭he dark-skinned holy family is under a ramada, with native pottery and baskets on the ground. The baby Jesus lies in a hanging cradle with a string leading to the edge of the altar. People may pause, say a prayer, pull the string and rock the baby.鈥�

Burrell said Franco鈥檚 wife, Elsie, made the clothes for the figures. The black hair glued to their heads reportedly came from trimmings the couple collected after their children鈥檚 haircuts.

Franco came from a family of artists. His parents, Domingo and Chepa Franco, carved wooden figures and built dioramas in the 1950s and 鈥�60s depicting daily life for the O鈥檕dham.

The Nativity was restored by Susie Moreno from the nonprofit that oversees preservation and fundraising for the historic building on Tohono O鈥檕dham land.

鈥淚t was a special project to me, because it kind of hit close to home,鈥� said Moreno, a mission-based preventive conservation specialist. 鈥淚 kind of had a personal connection to it.鈥�

Feels like home

Moreno was born in the San Xavier District and baptized at the mission.

She studied at the mission school through eighth grade and regularly attended Mass at the iconic church next door.

At Christmastime, she remembers watching people line up to pray in front of the O鈥檕dham version of Bethlehem and pull the string. The uniquely interactive display was the only Nativity she ever knew as a child.

鈥淓veryone knows to kind of rock him back and forth. Everyone is very gentle when they do it,鈥� Moreno said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tradition. It鈥檚 just normal to me.鈥�

Repairing the Nativity was the first solo project for the 30-year-old, after about seven years of training under Tim Lewis and Matilde Rubio, the husband-and-wife conservators who have overseen the artwork at the mission for decades.

Moreno is Lewis鈥� niece. She said she didn鈥檛 have much interest in art or her uncle鈥檚 work growing up. She would spend time with him at the mission after school when she was little, but she didn鈥檛 really understand what he did until years later, when she started learning at his side.

She thought a conservator was just a fancy name for an artist who restores old work by painting over it. She soon learned the science and the technical skill that goes along with the artistry.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e not creating anything. You鈥檙e saving and preserving history,鈥� she explained.

Moreno originally planned to become a nurse after she graduated from San Miguel High School, but she was working a retail job in August of 2016, when her uncle asked her if she wanted to come join him at the mission.

A month later, she started there as a part-time conservation apprentice.

Moreno has had a hand in every major restoration project since, including plaster repairs on the entire east tower and conservation work on the mission鈥檚 main altar and 17th-century bells.

Earlier this year, she was part of a crew that spent weeks on scaffolding more than 50 feet above the floor, cleaning and stabilizing centuries-old artwork on the inside of San Xavier鈥檚 dome. To reach their lofty work area, she said, they had to go up on the roof and climb into the church through one of the decorative windows near the ceiling.

Moreno still lives in her childhood home, about two miles from the mission. In addition to her now full-time job, she鈥檚 taking classes for the bachelor鈥檚 degree in heritage conservation she hopes to earn in a year or two from the University of 蜜柚直播鈥檚 College of Architecture.

Most days, her work involves regular maintenance of the historic decorations inside the mission, where dust is a constant challenge. 鈥淭he doors are open seven days a week,鈥� she said.

The rest of her time is spent on rapid repairs to damaged or deteriorating items or on special projects like the Nativity.

Manger makeover

Moreno said she started work on the display in June and finished it in November.

Everything was cleaned, dusted and repaired as needed.

She had to nail one of the angel鈥檚 wings back on and fix broken legs on Joseph, a wise man and one of the villagers. Several of the figures, carved from mesquite and saguaro ribs, had to be reattached to their bases.

The glued-on dirt covering the ramada鈥檚 plywood floor was refreshed with bits of straw from the nearby San Xavier Co-op Farm.

Moreno also replaced the Nativity鈥檚 brown leather hammock, which had been torn and patched with duct tape. The baby Jesus鈥� new cradle is a piece of saddle blanket printed with a Southwestern pattern.

To preserve Franco鈥檚 original Sonoran Desert backdrop, which used to be tacked to the back of the ramada, Moreno glued the painting to a thicker canvas and had it stretched over a sturdy frame. Then she touched up the work with special paints favored by conservators.

Finally, the old bulb that once lit the scene was replaced with an LED light that won鈥檛 damage the artwork.

Moreno documented her work throughout the process and came up with a new, more protective way to store the Nativity when it鈥檚 not in use. The figures used to be wrapped in newspaper and packed into cardboard boxes. Now they are kept in clear bags and carefully arranged like 鈥渁 game of Tetris鈥� inside hard-sided plastic containers, Moreno said.

鈥淚t was a lot of work but a very good experience,鈥� she said of the project. 鈥淚 really enjoyed it.鈥�

The only thing missing on Wednesday was the star of the show. As tradition dictates, the baby Jesus won鈥檛 be placed in the manger until local parishioners gather for midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

The display is scheduled to stay up until the Feast of Candelaria on Feb. 2. That鈥檚 when Burrell will carefully pack up the figures, thank them for watching over the people of San Xavier and say goodbye to them for another year.

He knows they鈥檙e just going back into storage, but he likes to imagine a different journey for the Natives of San Xavier鈥檚 Nativity.

鈥淚 always picture them walking off into the desert,鈥� Burrell said.