A 33-foot, 8,400-pound statue of the Blessed Virgin is coming to town.
The three-story stainless steel sculpture, called the Our Lady of the Millennium statue, will be on display at SS Peter and Paul Church, at 36 N. Ellsworth Ave. in Naperville, from Sunday to Aug. 21.
Delaware artist Charles Cooper Parks tried to capture the religious figure’s reverence and faith that inspires the many people who view it, said the organizers of the statue’s arrival at SS Peter and Paul.
Carl Demma of Oak Lawn and his wife, Frances, commissioned the statue. He sold his business to have the statue designed and shipped it to St. Louis in January 1999 to have visiting Pope John Paul II bless it. On Mother’s Day 1999, Cardinal Francis George of the Archdiocese of Chicago blessed it at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago.
Since then, the statue has toured 170 parishes. [Source]
You never know what to expect when you read "three-story stainless steel sculpture," so it is nice to be pleasantly surprised.
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20 comments
This visited my parish; it is gorgeous!
I saw it when it was displayed at the University of Notre Dame this summer. Awe inspiring! My small children also found it very moving.
Whoa… it truly is a beautiful (and impressive) image. God bless the ones responsible for building it!
Thank goodness — you’re right, the description sounds a little scary!
But it’s beautiful!
Our Lady of Peace parish in Santa Clara, CA has a 32 ft statue of Our Laday in Stainless.
http://www.olop-shrine.org/
How do you move a 33 ft 8,000 pound statue?
I was just going to add my note about the Our Lady of Peace Shrine as well. It is so worth the visit– the statue of our Lady presides over a grassy hill with a paved footpath. It is an absolutely perfect place to say the rosary. It’s like getting an embrace from your mom, because she stands there with her arms outstretched. Additionally, the church is open to visit Our Lord 24/7, and there’s a truly wonderful, young order of priests (and nuns! in habits!) the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE.) Great place…
I saw this statue several years ago in Milwaukee, no less. And no, she wasn’t weeping–at least exteriorly.
She was beautiful against the deep blue of Lake Michigan behind her!
Our 3-story statue at Our Lady of Peace is actually the work of the same artist. I guessed that it was from the picture, because both statues use the technique of welded strips of steel, with space between. They also have similar features.
I love our statue so much; you can see it from the freeway and it is lit up at night. People are always putting money and flowers and prayers and things through the spaces in the statue, so there is a door underneath to clear it all out. The statue is on a sort of hill, and there is a big grassy dell in front of it where children play all the time. I remember rolling down the hill when I was little. OLoP is the best!
Wow that is nice! It shows that good, modern art is possible.
It is moved on a flat bed trailer. In fact, it is attached to a flat-bed, if I remember, and moves up and down with the assistance of hydraulic components (not exactly deus ex machina!) It truly is a beautiful statue. I had thought by now that it would have found a permanent home (when I was in the seminary at Mundelein, there was word that the Cardinal offered to place it at the seminary, as did the conventual Franciscans at Marytown next to the seminary!)
For another larger than life experience go to http://www.mothersshrine.org – you will see the National Shrine of Mary, Mother of the Church in Laurie, MO. The statue is large (I don’t know that it is three stories) but I find it less appealing that the millenium statue. The really quirky part is that fact that it is on a pedastal – which in itself is not a terrible thing – but a rotating pedastal – now that is just plain bizzare! Yes, this statue of “our lady” rotates 360 degrees! amid the dancing of the waters!
It is quite something to behold!
I saw it here in Michigan at the new house of St. John Cantius Association. It was sitting in the woods on a flatbed truck–very beautiful there.
http://www.charlesparks.com/liturgical.html shows a really nice Christ the King, too. (And of course he’s got a gallery full of bronzes and wood sculptures for those with smaller space and cash….)
Honestly, I’m impressed. His faces are stronger and more expressive than those I’ve gotten used to seeing from modern sculptors trying for realism.
You also definitely want to check out the “Finished Works” page. It not only has a photo sequence of how the statue of Our Lady was made, it also includes a really powerful statue of St. John Neumann.
Also, the “Resume” page has a photo worth seeing.
I believe that the statue at OLoP spent some time in front of my high-school in the 1980s. I went to a seminary high-school, so it was appropriate. I know that they wanted to find a permanent home for it after it toured, so I guess it was OLoP. I have seen this new one several times, and it finds a winter home in the Chicago suburbs, at the church that my mother-in-law attends, so we get to see it again there soon.
I was at mass at the cathedral in chicago when it was blessed. It really was a sight to behold. What was really touching was to see all of the women who left or or all of their roses/carnations at the foot of the statue that they had got from their families because it was mothers day.
+JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU.
Dear my Brothers and Sisters,
I made the medal of our Lady of Akita in Japan.
Please click it.
http://www.newlifejm.net/catego_akita_1.html
I am look forward to request about medal or rosary.
God Bless You !
Sincerely yours in Jesus Christ the Savior!
15/Aug/2005
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101 New Life Network
Francis Tetsuya Kobayashi
B-612,2174, KOYOCHO, TOKOROZAWA CITY,
SAITAMA, 359-1103, JAPAN
Tel,Fax :+81 04-2928-8075
E-mail : info@newlifejm.net
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Our Lady of Peace’s Statue was in fact made by the same man as this one. It has been erect at OLOP and never traveled. I used to roll down the grass on the hill too….but I even remember playing and parking when She wasn’t there. The day they brought her, and the crane went up by our dearly departed Father(monsignor)Sweeny, still has find memries of awe and wonderment, as well as an excitement one can not decribe. These statues become Our Lady embracing us….I pray all the churches around the world could have a statue so notable, to know the love our Lord has for us, in giving us his most Holy mother! Peace and Life!
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