By Jessica Easthope
Fr. Lou Scurti doesn’t hide his addiction — he’s been feeding it for close to 70 years. And now it’s bigger than himself.
“Oh Madonn’ it’s the presepio!” Fr. Lou said.
This is Fr. Lou’s addiction come to life — his personal collection of Nativity figures, called a presepio. Now it lives at the Italian American Museum in Lower Manhattan.
“Yes, it’s a passion, yes it’s a hobby. But it might be also addiction. But that’s alright, I enjoy this addiction,” Fr. Lou said.
It’s Fr. Lou Scurti’s gift to New York City this Christmas and every Christmas to come.
“I’m ecstatic! And I invite the public to come and visit it, to get a flavor for our history and the very sacred story of the birth of Jesus,” he said.
Fr. Lou is a retired priest from the Diocese of Paterson now ministering at St. Anthony of Padua in SoHo. Over the years, finding the perfect statues for the presepio has taken him to all corners of the globe. But it started under his uncle Jimmy’s Christmas tree in Jersey City.
“My uncle Jimmy Scurti, he would put the Christmas music on, my grandmother would come out and feed me, and I’d be under the tree playing with these figures,” Fr. Lou reminisced.
In the faces of these figures Fr. Lou sees the main figures in his own life. This gift that flows through generations of family tradition is in memory of them.
“All of my family’s presepii, my own presepio, my grandparents, pieces from all of our traditions are here,” he said.
Fr. Lou says there’s beauty in the imperfection and the details are what really shine. But the focus remains the same.
“Jesus is the root of all of this,” he said. “So this is a celebration of the word made flesh.”
As tourists flood New York City this Christmas season, Fr. Lou has high hopes for the museum’s visitors.
“When people come, I think it should warm their hearts, bring them back in history to their own origins, and, of course, to the birth of Jesus,” Fr. Lou said.
The presepio belongs to the museum now — but Fr. Lou’s heart lives among these statues. His love for them, for Christmas and his collection still grows.