EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The Museum of South Texas History will feature a special nativity collection, one owned by the former bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville.
On his passing in September 2021, the Bishop Rarmundo Peña willed his collection of nativity scenes to the Museum of South Texas History and to the Historic Brownsville Museum.
The Bishop Emeritus Raymundo Peña Nativity Scene Collection will go on display, beginning Dec. 6, and it will include bishop’s nativity scenes that he kept open year-round.
Peña considered them not just a seasonal theme, but a reminder of God’s divine love.
He enjoyed sharing them with those who visited, using them as a medium through which to express his faith. Inspired visitors often gifted Peña with additional nativity scenes.
When Daria Martínez Ramírez walked into the museum in 2021 to celebrate Fiesta de Nochebuena with her daughter, she was immediately drawn to the nativity scenes.
“I knew Bishop Peña since the 1970s,” she said. “I got to know him through the years, and I knew about these nativity scenes.”
Peña was an advocate for immigrants and the poor. He lived by a personal creed that became his motto: “Do everything with love.”
The exhibit will be on display until Jan. 8, 2023, which is included in the regular museum admission fee.
