Students bring Christmas to life at West Valley parish

By Janice L. Semmel | January 15, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

YOUNGTOWN — As children dressed as angels flitted around the room wearing white gowns, gossamer wings and sparkling halos, teachers helped shepherds don their robes.

They were preparing for the St. Joachim and St. Anne Parish Christmas Eve youth Mass.

The parish, largely made up of retired Catholics, continued its new youth focus with 32 children participating in the Mass, said Karen Ratti, parish religious education administrator. High school students performed readings while younger students served as shepherds, angels, Mary and Joseph.

For the first time in its nearly 50-year history, the Youngtown parish kicked off a religious education program for children last fall.

Ratti scoured thrift shops and picked up remnants to make costumes.

“I made all the angels’ costumes as well as all the shepherds’ and Mary and Joseph’s — about 21 in all,” Ratti said. “We wanted every child doing the Christmas reenactment to be properly dressed without costing a small fortune. The high school kids, who did the narrating, were told to wear their Sunday best.”

Shepherds clutched staffs and held white, stuffed sheep. Mary, portrayed by seventh-grader Tori Kaup, worked to secure her costume.

She confessed some nervousness since she had never been in a play. Jericho Meno, the sixth-grader portraying Joseph, said he was more excited than nervous since he previously played a shepherd. 

The Mass began with strains from “O Holy Night.” Children took turns reading from the Gospel of Luke, and Mary carried Baby Jesus down the center isle of the church, followed by Joseph. The Holy Family settled before the altar among poinsettias. Shepherds knelt before them and angels flanked the family as a soloist sang “Mary Did You Know?”

After the song, Mary placed Baby Jesus in the manger of the Nativity scene. All of the children joined their families for the remainder of the Mass.

“I usually begin the homily with a story,” Deacon Weiss said, “but as I thought about these readings on Christmas Eve, there really is no story that can compare with the story of this Gospel.”