Tuesday, April 1, 2014

What are the statues on the altar at St. Joesph's? I know that the one on the left (hanging on the wall) is Mary, and the one the middle is obviously Jesus, but who on the right, and who is the statue on the "shelf" on the right??

I got over to St Joe's today.  The statue on the wall to the right of the Crucifix is St. Joseph. The lilies sprouting from the rod honor his virginity and purity. Legend has it that when Mary was 14 and living in the Temple, the high priest gathered together all the male descendants of David of marriageable age and ordered them to bring a rod.  Whoever's rod blossomed into flower would become her spouse.  The Holy Spirit descended as a dove and caused Joseph's rod to blossom.  




I had to do some research to discover who the statue is on the shelf.  It is St. Francis of Assisi!
Note that he has the stigmata of Jesus - ie:  his wounds. I found an almost exact copy of the statue online.  I've added it here.  The reason for the skull is that it represents the brevity of life and the necessity to meditate on death. St. Francis constantly contemplated death.  I was flabbergasted to discover that answer, but I am 100% sure it's him.


1 comment:

  1. Interesting, thank you for taking the time to look those answers up for me!

    ReplyDelete