The Sanctuaire du Sacré-Cœur de Beauvoir perches high above the City of Sherbrooke on the eastern shore of the Saint-Francis River and, if one knows where to look, it can be spotted from almost everywhere in town. Seeming, until one gets close, like a tiny white model of a church on its hilltop, it is somehow appropriate that the local pilgrimage site is also home to an annual exhibition of nativity scenes and miniature Christmas villages. “These are just a few,” reflected Father Michel Bouffard, the rector of the Sanctuaire du Sacré-Cœur de Beauvoir and owner of the items on display. Although there are roughly 100 crèches out for this year, Bouffard said that he owns over 300 in total, along with an equivalent number of Christmas village buildings, which he and a team of volunteer organizers rotate from year to year on different themes. “It is never the same exhibition from one year to the next,” he said. Although one might think that there is a limit to the number of ways that one can portray the Christmas story, Bouffard’s collection gives that idea a run for its money. See full story in the Monday, Dec. 23 edition of The Record.
