Chiara Center will host its annual Franciscan Nativity Festival Dec. 2-4 at 4875 LaVerna Road in Springfield, on the grounds of the Motherhouse of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis. Hours for the event are 2-7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2; noon-4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3; and noon-4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4.

"The event has welcomed more than 1,000 people each year," said Brian Blasco, director of communications for the Hospital Sisters. Over 100 Nativity sets are on loan from individuals, but one woman is contributing 14 sets, he said. Hope Wright of Springfield has a collection of more than 300 Nativities and will be displaying sets that represent the culture of several countries, including Liberia, Zimbabwe, China, Indonesia, Mexico and Argentina.

"One of her entries is a totem-pole design that was made by a United Methodist missionary to the Tsimshian tribe of southeast Alaska and British Columbia who came to understand the people well enough to tell the Christmas story using their cultural symbols," said Blasco.

Students of the National Art Honor Society at Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in Springfield are contributing a Nativity set that they fashioned especially for the festival, said Sue Metroth, visual arts chair and advanced art teacher at SHG. "The students in this club do assorted projects to benefit the school community as well as the Springfield community at large. We are constantly busy with service projects, but the kids are really great about generously putting in countless hours. I am very proud of them."

The SHG students made a seven-piece sculptural set in mixed media including paper clay, wire, paper maché, cardboard and acrylic paint. "We had not done this project before and so it was definitely a learning project," said Metroth. "The most difficult issue with this project was keeping the figures compatible in both style and size."

The figures were each rendered by individual student artists and then painted by the group so that they would seem more uniform, Metroth explained. "While I think the kids were satisfied with the set, I heard several of them comment about making them 'be a set' was much more difficult than they anticipated," she said.

Sister Renita Brummer, OSF, Chiara Center program director said highlighting Nativity sets is a good way to honor St. Francis. "The tradition of displaying a Nativity set began in 1223 with St. Francis of Assisi in Greccio, Italy," she said. "Since that time Christians have interpreted Christ's birth through their culture — thus we see the internationality and individuality expressed in this moment when God became Man."

All programs, services and hospitality at Chiara Center, a ministry of the Hospital Sisters since 2007, are grounded in the spirit and heritage of Francis and Clare of Assisi. The Nativity event is free and open to the public and includes a tour of St. Francis of Assisi Church, the 1920s Romanesque church of the Hospital Sisters.