Simply in time for Christmas.
A Manhattan priest gave a New York Metropolis museum the best vacation reward this season — donating his sprawling, Nativity scene assortment that he spent a lifetime cultivating from across the globe.
Father Louis Scurti, 80, gifted greater than 100 little picket collectible figurines of Jesus, handcrafted angels and vintage Clever Males to the Italian American Museum in Decrease Manhattan, in what he stated was a “bittersweet” second.
“It was a pleasure to find them and to know that they are going to be shared by greater than the Scurti household,” the reverend informed The Submit.
“They’ve tons of holiday makers yearly, and so they have kids going to the museum, and that’ll be an important training and publicity for them,” he stated of the cultural group, which known as his reward a basic image of the Italian American Christmas.
“You come to a degree in your life when issues are timed, and timing is necessary,” Scurti added.
Scurti’s fascination with the “Persipica” — the Italian custom of the Nativity scene — started when he was a younger boy in Jersey Metropolis, NJ.
Every Christmas, he would forgo GI Joes and Sizzling Wheels in favor of taking part in beneath the tree along with his household’s delicate Nativity scene that he would in the future inherit, a passion his kin inspired.
When his dad and mom gave him and his brothers money to purchase themselves treats on the vacation markets, Scurti as a substitute opted to buy extra items, like sheep or a bridge.
“My brother did the comedian books. I did the Persipica,” stated Scurti. “My dad and mom supported my habit.”
Scurti’s ardour was unwavering, whilst he started a profession as a trainer earlier than realizing his true calling was the priesthood, and he turned a wedding and household remedy physician earlier than finally going into semi-retirement at St. Anthony’s in Little Italy.
Journey turned one other main passion for Scurti in his grownup years, and he at all times made certain to scoop up an extra piece in every nation he visited, with many coming from Rome and the Center East, the place the real-life Nativity performed out.
Whereas most of the items are within the basic type, Scurti additionally scooped up loads of canine, like a German Shepard and a Border Collie, and even a miniature turkey. There’s even a Greyhound dressed extravagantly as a Clever Man providing up some gold to the little child Jesus.
The costliest piece within the assortment is the towering columns Scurti grabbed throughout a visit to Rome for a clear $500.
Scurti turned so synonymous with the Persipica that associates would carry him again items as souvenirs from their very own journeys overseas, which he fortunately caught subsequent to ones that dated again to his grandparents’ Nineteen Forties marriage.
By the point Christmas 2024 rolled round, the hodgepodge assortment had grown to greater than 100 items — and was turning into noticeably tougher to show for the vacation.
“It was attending to be a whole lot of work to set it up annually. It obtained to be a burden,” stated Scurti.
Scurti was not too long ago transferred to evangelise in Little Italy, and whereas exploring his new neighborhood, stumbled throughout the Italian American Museum’s new residence, which opened on Mulberry Road final 12 months.
He provided Director Joseph V. Scelsa his complete assortment on his first go to — save for a couple of small picket items the Persipica addict couldn’t bear to half with.
“The remainder was historical past. The Holy Spirit runs the entire present. I’m simply an actor,” he stated.
Between the household heirlooms and among the pricier items, Scurti stated the gathering was really “priceless” — and that he wanted to get an appraisal to know its true price.
However for Scelsa, the worth lies in what Scurti’s Persipica represents: “A cultural piece of the Italian American neighborhood.”
“Nearly each Italian American residence has a Persipica in it. It’s simply one thing that reminds us and brings us again to our household and our roots,” the museum’s founder stated — including that scores of holiday makers have been emotional upon seeing the show over the past two weeks.
The sprawling scene is the museum’s first very personal Persipica at its new residence, after renting one for the vacations final 12 months.
The hodgepodge side of Scurti’s assortment is what actually offered Scelsa, he stated.
“I like it as a result of it’s so indicative of what we’d do as an Italian American neighborhood. We put each attainable factor into it after which he’s obtained so many various, totally different items,” stated Scelsa.
“It’s extra consultant of the folks individuals versus a Lennox nativity scene … It’s not at all times lovely individuals,” he stated. “Typically they’re younger, they’re very disfigured and so they’re lame. And everyone is beneath God’s eyes and everyone is welcome to take part.”
