St. Emma Monastery celebrates Christmas with outdoor light display in Hempfield

The sisters of St. Emma Monastery will not let the trials of 2020 take away their Christmas spirit.

“Christ is stronger than covid,” said Mother Mary Anne Noll, prioress of the Benedictine women’s monastery in Hempfield. “Covid does not overcome Christmas, it only makes us more creative in the ways we celebrate.”

The monastery is known for its collection of more than 350 Nativity scenes, which it displays to the public indoors every year.

“This year it was obvious that we could not do the same thing, we could not invite people in,” Noll said.

Instead, the monastery bought and erected several outdoor Nativity scenes, including one about 10 feet tall. The grounds are decorated with Christmas lights, and passersby are encouraged to drive up for a closer look.

Starting this weekend or early next week, drivers who visit the monastery will be able to pick up a program featuring QR codes that can be scanned by a smartphone. As they drive from one light display to another, drivers can scan the codes to play music videos featuring Christmas carols performed by Greensburg’s Alabaster Performing Arts.

“They can actually come and experience a virtual Christmas concert in the car,” Noll said. “You need the Christmas carols with the Nativity, it just fits together.”

Mary McCormack, director of Alabaster Performing Arts, said her organization has been looking for innovative ways to create a Christmas concert experience in the age of coronavirus.

“We’re trying to really think outside the box,” she said. “This is a great way to be able to have somewhat live music along the way. We don’t need a sound system. We don’t need people standing out in the cold.”

Information about the drive-up concert, including its start date, will be on stemma.org once details are finalized, according to Noll. The displays will remain up through Jan. 10.

Like many others, the St. Emma Monastery had an unusually difficult year, Noll said. The pandemic curtailed many of its income sources, including group retreats and the Christmas shop.

On Saturday, a car lost control and crashed near the monastery, severing a gas line. The sisters have been without heat ever since, but they’re taking it in stride, Noll said.

“It’s an awful good reminder of what people suffer through,” she said. “It’s a reminder of just how blessed we are, and what we take for granted. In that sense, I want to say it’s been a good experience.”

The heat is expected to be restored Wednesday.

Noll said this year has emphasized the importance of faith.

“Faith is not a life insurance policy against life,” she said. “Faith is a way of living life and saying, ‘we’re not alone in this, Jesus is with us.’”