The story of Mary and Joseph inspires artists in New York City

Centered around the relationship between the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, “The Miracle of Christmas” is a musical recounting the events that the two saints experienced leading up to the birth of Christ.

The show was produced for the third year by the Preachers of Christ and Mary, a community of sisters who are originally from Colombia and who now serve the Diocese of Brooklyn. Their goal is to evangelize through the arts.

Mother Superior Maria Amador, P.C.M., the show’s director, described the show as a way to “make the Gospel more visible and human—through the arts we can make God who is invisible, visible.”

“I think it’s really important to be telling this story right now,” said actress Hannah Duran, who was raised Catholic and plays the Virgin Mary. “It’s a message about love and acceptance.” The message of love can be seen in the meticulous planning of the production’s moves, sights and sounds.

“The harmonies are different and richer. There are more details in the songs,” said cast member Melissa Bijur, a former cantor at St Joseph’s Co-Cathedral, Prospect Heights, who plays Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary. “I think that during this show, there are many things that people can relate to. In the first scene, people are feeling darkness,” she said. “We enter a transition to a place of light and hope. And I can relate to that, reflecting on myself.”

Cast members come from all around the world, including from Finland, Greece, India and Spain. “We have a very international cast,” Mother Maria said. “People from different nations, trying to say that salvation is for everyone.”

Adapted from an article by Wandy Ortiz in The Tablet on December 11, 2019