"We live in a world infused by technology, with 3-D animation of everything and where everything is fake," said Ra'id Shomali, Elias' nephew. "To build a crib like this to remind people brings a real sensibility to the world. At Christmas, we should go back to the basics and what really matters."
He and other volunteers spent most of Thursday and Friday following directions of where and how to staple.
"Puff it out more, before you staple," his uncle told the volunteers. "We have to make this look like a cave."
Once the crinkled bags were in place, they were painted - brown to simulate rocks, green for moss and black to look like walls made sooty by fires.
Statues, which many say date to the church's founding 60 years ago, re-create the Nativity scene. A shepherd, carrying a lamb, stands nearby as Mary and Joseph contemplate an empty crib. The grotto will be blessed and the infant added on Christmas Eve. The Magi will complete the scene Jan. 6, the feast of the Epiphany.
The display is open to the public in conjunction with the daily Mass schedule at the church, 8501 Loch Raven Blvd.
St. Francis of Assisi revived devotion to the creche in the 13th century, when he re-enacted the Nativity in a cave, Swetland said.
"It is to remind people of the simplicity and poverty of the birth of Christ," he said.
For Immaculate Heart of Mary parishioners, creating the creche "is a labor of love that we all enjoy doing," Mrozinski said.
"It is so big we can't save it, and it's too large to get out of the church," he said. "We tear it apart and start over the next year."
