The Southern Cross | December 2024

Father Fred Farrugia isn’t one to turn his back on a creative challenge. In the lead-up to Christmas, the Adelaide Hills parish priest spent months meticulously restoring a nativity set to its former glory.

The set was originally donated to St Michael’s College Chapel, Henley Beach, by the Oswald and Taylor families during the 1960s.

During advent, the figures would be carefully taken from their wrapping and set up in the church to tell the story of the birth of Christ with Baby Jesus being placed in the manger during midnight Mass. Soon after the feast of the Epiphany, the crib would be dismantled, the individual pieces gently re-wrapped and placed in storage ready for next Christmas.

The set found itself homeless during chapel renovations and the figures, including Joseph, Mary and an angel, ended up in disrepair and gathering dust in a parishioner’s garage.

Two decades later, in 2023, Fr Fred was contacted with a query about how to appropriately dispose of statues that have been blessed but are no longer wanted.

When he looked at the badly damaged set, he saw potential.

“It was a disaster. They were broken and scratched,” Fr Fred said.

“But it’s a beautiful set. I had never seen this kind before.”

Originally from Malta, Fr Fred devotes Monday afternoons to painting and carpentry. He paints using acrylics, with Dolly, his little West Highland White Terrier, watching on.

“Some of them took a long time to fix but thank God, nothing was lost,” he said.

“All the pieces were there but they had a lot of scratches and breaks. I used plaster to fix them then painted them.”

This isn’t Fr Fred’s first foray into ambitious creative projects. He also renovated Stations of the Cross and made a miniature replica of his church back at home in Malta. The tiny church is full of intricate detail and takes pride of place in his home.

“When I first came to South Australia I was based in Noarlunga,” Fr Fred said.

“It was a bit difficult until I got used to life in Australia so that’s when I started making it.”

Fr Fred hopes the new-look nativity scene will bring joy to parishioners. It will be on display at St Matthew’s in Bridgewater this Christmas.

“We haven’t fully recovered from COVID and people not being able to go to church,” he said.

“Some families didn’t come back. My message for this time of year is let’s bring Jesus back to Christmas. We lose that when it all becomes too commercial.”