A couple will gift Pope Francis a pair of glasses that they will personally hand over to him on Wednesday to congratulate him on his high jubilee.
Pope Francis, for his 80th birthday next week, will receive an interesting but also original gift from Croatia: a pair of glasses with a wooden frame, carved from the branches of a 1,600 year old olive tree from the island of Brijuni, reports Dalmacija News on 11 Decembr 2016.
The gift will be delivered to the Pope by couple Viktor and Sanda Jeromel who live in the village of Prezid in the municipality of Čabar. They have lived in the Gorski Kotar area for thirty years after they moved to Croatia from Slovenia.
Both have long been engaged in the manufacturing of sports equipment, and Viktor is particularly skilled at working with wood.
The idea to make a pair of wooden glasses was compiled by the ideas of friends, and so far the local craftsman has made a few hundred pieces.
“The whole time I dreamed of how nice it would to make a pair of wooden glasses for the Holy Father, but I sought the right material for so long, and now we eventually succeeded. In Brijuni I found a broken branch from a 1,600 year old olive tree. In agreement with the management of Brijuni I managed to get a small piece, and so began the story,” Viktor said in an interview for Slovenian television.
“Viktor has invested all of his knowledge, love, and perseverance in these glasses. This is normal, when something starts it has to end and then he will forget all about himself in the process,” praised his wife.
