Nativity scene captured by Nuala makes front page again

A picture taken by Mullingar's Nuala Higgins depicting St Joseph holding the infant Jesus as Mary rests, has once again featured on the front cover of a magazine, the December edition of St Patrick's Mission magazine 'Africa'.

It is the second time the photo of the stained glass window, which was designed by Sue Klayman and is installed in the St Joseph the Worker Church in Ozark, Missouri, featured prominently, as last year it also featured in the December edition of the St Martin magazine.

Nuala, who has won 'gold' awards for photos in the past, has also had her photo of Joseph and the infant Jesus used on a Christmas card by another Irish religious group in Roscommon.

"I took the photo while visiting the US on holiday in May 2019. My good friends who are Baptists took me to Mass in St Joseph's the Worker Church in the small town of Ozark," Nuala told the Westmeath Examiner.

"I saw the stained glass window of St Joseph holding the infant Jesus in his arms as Mary rested and it struck me as a most unusual piece. You rarely see a young St Joseph, he's usually depicted as an old man. And you also rarely see him holding the baby, the infant Jesus," continues Nuala, who explains how she had discovered a newfound admiration for Joseph some years ago, while also visiting the US.

"Prior to that I had been in Santa Cruz, California, after viewing the shrine of St Joseph the Redeemer. It really awakened to me St Joseph, and from that I realised that he had a very important part to play in the life of Christ, and we overlook that.

"I discovered a new admiration for the role played by Joseph in the Holy Family. The prayer garden attached to the shrine together with the devotion to Joseph was heavenly and it struck a great chord with me. I feel the foster father of Christ is often forgotten. In fact, as far as we know, Jesus in his public life never mentioned him."