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Handcrafted Saint
Statues
Made in the USA
The Process
This is the process the artist and his wife use to
make the pieces: He carves
the original of each image in clay, using dental tools. Before making each piece
he reads extensively about
the saint, but once he begins
carving he doesn't look at any other depictions. As to
the statues, when the original carving seems to be finished,
he makes a latex mold. Once the mold has cured,
he begins to cast the pieces
himself. He uses
cast stone (gypsum with some metal powders and other materials), painstakingly
working a slurry of the substance into each mold by hand in order to get all the
details. Once the piece sets, he demolds
it, trims it, and hands it
over to his wife, who paints and glazes each piece by
hand. All the statues can go outside. The process for the medals is roughly the
same, though they are cast in lead-free pewter. Nicely gift
packaged as shown below:
Each statue comes in a box with a history card
click on images for larger
views
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St. Andrew, Patron of
Fishermen, Golfers, and Scotland
St. Andrew was a fisherman and one of the apostles. He is the patron of
Scotland and golfers* because of his connection with the town of St.
Andrews. Stories hold that relics of the saint were brought to Scotland
sometime before the 8th century and were eventually enshrined at the
medieval cathedral at St. Andrews. From the towers of the cathedral one
can see the Old Course–the birthplace of golf–and early histories of
golf mention players entreating the saint for assistance as they played
the windblown links. In this statue, Andrew in one hand holds an image
of part of the remains of his cathedral, much of which was destroyed
during the Reformation; in his other hand he holds a stick of the type
shepherds and fishermen have often used in work and play.*On Andrew as
the patron of golfers, see, e.g., J. S. Wood, “Golf for the Literary,”
p. 719; E. McCarthy, cited in National Catholic Reporter, December 23,
2005; on the beginnings of golf in Scotland and its relation to saints,
see esp. Browning, History of Golf (1955). The crest of the Royal and
Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews bears the image of St. Andrew and the
saltire. Dimensions: 7.5 (h) x 2 (w) x 1.5 (d)
inches
(Item #15143) $45.00 |
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St. Anne, Patron of
Grandmothers; Patron of Women Hoping to Become Pregnant
Information about Anne comes from the apocryphal Gospel of James. That
text relates that Anne and her husband, Joachim, were childless late
into their lives, though they both desperately wanted a child. In
desperation, Joachim went into the desert to fast and pray for a child.
At home, Anne bewailed her fate until one day, with Joachim in the
desert, she looked up to see an angel descending to tell her that she
would conceive a child who would become famous throughout the world. At
that same moment, Joachim, the story says, received the same vision in
the desert. He rushed back toward the city to find Anne waiting for him
at the city gate. Soon thereafter, Anne became pregnant and later gave
birth to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Anne is the patron of grandmothers
because she was the grandmother of Jesus of Nazareth. She is the patron
of women hoping to become pregnant because her long patience was
rewarded. The shell above Anne’s head is an ancient symbol of listening
patiently for the word of God. The book in her hand represents the Old
Testament, where Anne found the story of Hannah, a hopeful story much
like her own. Dimensions: 10 (h) x 5 (w) x 1
(d) inches
(Item #15228) $45.00 |
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St. Anthony, Finder of
Lost Things
Anthony of Padua (1195-1231), a disciple and friend of St. Francis of
Assisi, became known as the finder of lost things because of a simple
story from his life: a Franciscan novice took Anthony's Psalter (book of
Psalms) without permission. Anthony prayed for its return. The novice
had a frightening apparition and rushed to return the book. Many people
view Anthony as the finder not only of lost articles but also of lost
intangibles: he is invoked to return lost health, lost happiness, lost
peace.... In this plaque, Anthony in one hand holds his Psalter; in the
other he holds a medieval key: medieval keys, like their modern
brethren, were often lost. Dimensions: 5.25 (h)
x 2 (w) x 1 (d) inches
(Item #15061) $28.00 |
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St. Brigid of Kildare,
Patron of Infants and Ireland; Saint for House-Blessing
As a young woman, Brigid (ca. 450–525) was a slave. However, because she
gave away her master’s goods so readily to the poor, he gave her
freedom, lest she bankrupt him. She was baptized by St. Patrick and
began to perform miracles. Some of these protected or cured infants: for
this reason christening robes and babies’ blankets bearing an image of
Brigid or St. Brigid’s cross are common gifts in Ireland. Brigid’s
wisdom (thus she is the patron of students and scholars) was also widely
admired. This small statue of Brigid incorporates two symbols often
associated with her. First, between her arms she holds St. Brigid’s
cross: a legend holds that, as a teaching device, Brigid wove a cross of
reeds or rushes, to use in explaining Christianity to Irish pagans. The
cross, over the years, became a symbol of hope and is often used to
bless houses in Ireland. Second, at the base of the statue burns St.
Brigid’s flame. The story here is that in the pre-Christian era a sacred
flame was tended year-round by Druids on a hill near Kildare, where they
invoked a Celtic goddess named Brigid. When St. Brigid built her church
and monastery at Kildare, she kept the tradition and the flame alive,
saying that the flame represented the new hope offered by Christianity.
Brigidine Sisters kept the flame burning until at least the 12th
century, but it was extinguished during the suppression of the
monasteries in the 16th century. In 1993, the flame was relit in Market
Square in Kildare, and since then the flame has been lovingly tended by
nuns. Dimensions: 9 (h) x 4 (w) x 2 (d) inches.
(Item #15205) $45.00 |
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St. Catherine of
Alexandria, Patron of Teachers
The story of
Catherine of Alexandria (ca 4th century) has a long and rich history.
The essentials are that at 18 she had a vision so powerful that she
converted to Christianity. During the persecution of Maximus, Catherine,
still a young woman, offered to debate the leading pagan philosophers.
The story holds that Catherine’s ability to teach and explain was so
compelling that she converted many of the opposing philosophers.
Enraged, Maximus tried to have Catherine broken on the wheel; it was,
however, the wheel, not Catherine, that broke, though she was later
martyred by other means. Catherine became one of the most popular saints
in the Middle Ages. (Later, Joan of Arc claimed that one of the voices
of inspiration she heard was that of Catherine.) Catherine’s skill in
explaining new ideas to a diverse audience is what made her one of the
patrons of teachers and all those (like librarians) associated with
learning and wisdom. This small depiction of Catherine,
incorporates two key symbols associated with Catherine. As in William
Morris’s famous stained glass window of Catherine, she is here depicted
with a book in hand. The wheel above her head echoes that in
Caravaggio’s painting of her. Catherine is now widely considered to be
legendary, but that matters little: what matters is her example and
inspiration to those who teach and those who emphasize the importance of
wisdom. Dimensions: 4.25 (h) x 2.5 (w) x .75
(d) inches.
(Item #15076) $28.00 |
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St. Catherine of Siena,
Patron of Nurses
Catherine (1347-80), the
twenty-fourth child of a dyer and his wife, decided as a young girl not
to marry. She spent several years in prayer and virtual solitude in a
back room of her parents’ home. At the end of this period she
experienced a mystical marriage to Christ. She emerged from the room and
went into the world: nursing the sick in local hospitals and unceasingly
offering care during the plague of 1347. She also aggressively worked to
reform the church, cajoling bishops and popes to give their riches to
the needy. Catherine is often shown, as in this plaque, wearing a ring,
which symbolizes her mystical marriage to Christ, and carrying a cross.
The two symbols suggest that her work in the world to relieve suffering
had a basis in a powerful spirituality.
Dimensions: 6 (h) x 2.5 (w) x 1 (d) inches.
(Item #15146) $45.00 |
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St.
Cecilia, Patron of Music and Musicians
Cecilia was a fourth-century
martyr. Her association with music and musicians stems from a story
about her wedding feast. The story tells that Cecilia did not want to
get married but was forced to by her parents and others who had power
over her. At the celebration, as wedding music was playing, Cecilia
tuned in to a higher level of art: she heard "celestial music," and thus
became the patron of people with a sense of true music as an art that
transcends the secular and mundane. Many performers–ranging from Luciano
Pavarotti to Aaron Neville of New Orleans–have been known to ask St.
Cecilia for guidance before they begin a performance. The plaque, like
many depictions of Cecilia over the last five hundred years, shows her
playing a lute. Dimensions: 6 (h) x 3 (w) x 1
(d) inches.
(Item #15145) $35.00 |
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Chi Rho
Cross, Symbol of Good Fortune and Hope
The Chi Rho cross, one of
the earliest Christian symbols, combines the first two Greek characters
in Christ’s name: Χ (Chi) and Ρ (Rho). It is associated with good
fortune and hope largely because of a story about the emperor
Constantine: the night before the Battle of Milvian Bridge (in 312),
Constantine dreamed of the symbol and heard a voice say, “In hoc signo
vinces” (By this sign, you shall win). On waking, Constantine ordered
his soldiers to put the cross on their shields. Constantine’s army then
won the battle. From then on, the Chi Rho cross was thought to bring
good fortune and protection to those who kept the symbol in their
presence. This piece also bears the Greek letters alpha (Α) and omega
(ω), the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, which are
associated with Christ (“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the
last, the beginning and the end”) and the infusion of goodness
throughout all of reality. The letters often appear in ancient
depictions of the Chi Rho cross. Finally, the storks and acorns atop the
piece are both linked in many cultures with new beginnings and good
fortune. Dimensions: 11inches (h) x 7.5 (w) x
1.75 (d)
(Item #15204) $55.00 |
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St.
Dorothy, Patron of Gardeners and Brides
Of all the garden saints,
Dorothy makes the most explicit link between gardens and paradise (the
root of the word paradise means “a walled garden”), a theme that runs
throughout virtually all religions and literatures, from the ancient
world to the present. St. Dorothy (d. ca. 304) was, according to legend,
martyred in Cappadocia, in modern-day Turkey, under the Diocletian
persecution. Her story is this: after her arrest for being a Christian,
the Roman magistrate said he would spare her if she worshiped the Roman
gods; Dorothy refused; the magistrate gave her a second chance: if she
would marry a pagan, she would be freed. Dorothy defiantly replied that
her only bridegroom would be Jesus. As she was being led to her
execution, a lawyer named Theophilus taunted her from the crowd: “Bride
of Christ,” he yelled, “send me some fruit and flowers from your
bridegroom’s garden.” As Dorothy knelt before her executioner, a young
boy miraculously appeared with a basket of three roses and three apples.
Dorothy took the fruit and flowers, wrapped them in her cloak, and told
the boy to take them to Theophilus. When the lawyer saw the fruit and
flowers, he converted and proclaimed that he wished to join Dorothy in
her bridegroom’s garden-paradise. This depiction of Dorothy, with apples
and roses, was hand carved in clay and then cast in a resilient
architectural material that can go outside.
Dimensions: 6 (h) x 4 (w) x 1.75 (d) inches
(Item #15206) $35.00 |
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St.
Dymphna, Patron of Those Seeking Mental Peace; Patron of Psychiatrists
The legend of St. Dymphna
(ca. 7th c.) evolved in two parts, one a tragedy, one a tale of healing.
The tragedy: Dymphna was an Irish princess; her mother, who was very
beautiful, died, driving her father into near madness; the father,
seeking someone who matched his wife’s beauty, settled upon Dymphna, and
he made advances to her; she fled Ireland with an old priest named
Gerebernus. They finally settled in Gheel, Belgium. The father pursued
them to Gheel with soldiers; there, in a rage, he ordered the soldiers
to kill both the priest and his daughter. The story continues that a
group of troubled souls and epileptics witnessed the scene and were
miraculously cured. Building on that tradition, a sanitarium was
constructed near the site of the killings, and it quickly became–and
still is–one of the most progressive hospitals for the treatment of the
mentally and emotionally troubled. Thus the transition from Dymphna’s
tragedy to healing. In her left hand Dymphna holds a book, a symbol of
wisdom, one of the cures of mental and emotional distress. In her right
hand she holds a butterfly, the ancient symbol of Psyche and of the soul
and mind, the attributes that St. Dymphna is reputed to help cure.
Dimensions: inches 7 (h) x 3 (w) x 2 (d) inches
(Item #15209) $45.00 |
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St.
Elizabeth of Hungary, Patron of Nurses
Elizabeth (1207-31) was a
queen of Hungary. Throughout her time at court she, however, lived a
separate life. For a time she smuggled so many provisions out of the
castle to the poor in the village below that she was severely rebuked.
Her association with roses (one tops the enclosed small plaque) comes
from a story about a member of the court catching her, cloak full of
food meant for the poor, and demanding she show him what she had beneath
the cloak. When she opened it, roses fell forth. Against the wishes of
those in her class, she built a hospital in the basement of the castle
and regularly fed and tended to the poor and suffering herself,
providing the poor food, money, and work. In 1227 her husband died and
Elizabeth moved to Marburg, where she received the habit and chord of
the Franciscans and, with what remained of her inheritance, established
a hospital for the sick, aged, and poor. At this time, care of the sick
usually was performed in hospitals only by men, but Elizabeth went
against this norm and labored as a nurse. Her work was so strenuous that
her health broke and she died several years after establishing her
second hospital. All this work for the sick and suffering resulted in
her being one of the patrons of nurses. One of the most extraordinary
things about her was not simply her generosity and work to heal and
comfort the sick but also the fact that she chose to do this work when
other areas of life (for instance at court) were open to her. In other
words, she gave up much in order to give to others.
Dimensions: 4.25 inches (h) x 2.5 (w) x
.75 (d) inches
(Item #15102) $28.00 |
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St.
Fiacre, Patron of Gardeners
Fiacre was born in County
Kilkenny, Ireland, in the seventh century. After being ordained a
priest, he established a hermitage in Ireland. Word of his holiness
spread, and disciples came to him. He fled to France, looking for
greater solitude. There, the bishop of Meaux offered him use of all the
land he could till in one day. Fiacre miraculously used his staff to
turn over acres of land, which the bishop granted to him. He built a
hermitage with a substantial garden. He lived a life of great
mortification and hard manual labor, tending the garden, growing fruits,
vegetables, and medicinal herbs. From his garden he fed pilgrims and the
poor. Dimensions: 9 (l) x 3 (w) x 1 (d) inches
(Item #15202) $35.00 |
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St.
Francis, Patron of Animals
Among the stories
associating Francis (1181--1226) with animals are the one about him
giving a sermon to a group of rowdy birds and another about him taming
the wolf of Gubbio, a creature who had attacked and killed a number of
villagers before Francis spoke to him and took him on as a kind of
disciple–after that the wolf never again harmed another living thing and
peacefully followed Francis like a tame dog. The saint's rapport with
nature, however, was hard won: Francis lived a rigorous ascetic life of
long fasts, absolute poverty, and abandonment of attachment to all
desires and material things. Through extremely strict discipline and
self-denial Francis attained the mystical paradox of destroying the
attachment to the self in order to be absolutely open to the world: the
world of nature. Dimensions: 6 (h) x 2 (w) x 1
(d) inches
(Item #15237) $28.00
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St.
Francis with Medieval Trees
In 1967, Lynn White, a professor of history at the University of
California, wrote an article for Science magazine about the underlying
causes of the environmental crisis. White argued that the root of the
crisis was the dogma of human beings’ dominion over nature, as stated in
the book of Genesis. Although White concluded that this central
Christian attitude was one of the major causes of the crisis, he also
looked to at least one Christian, St. Francis, for hope. White wrote:
“The greatest spiritual revolutionary in Western history, Saint Francis,
proposed an alternative Christian view of nature and man’s relation to
it: he tried to substitute the idea of the equality of all creatures,
including man, for the idea of man’s limitless rule of creation.” There
are abundant stories of Francis being a close friend with animals and
living with them as equals: stories of a pheasant who for years strolled
in and out of Francis’s cell, of Francis’s sermon to the birds, of his
bond with the wolf of Gubbio, of Francis ordering Franciscan brothers to
“see to it that the bees would be provided with honey in winter, lest
they should die during the cold weather,” stories of his caring for
worms, of his persuading hunters to release turtledoves after they had
caught them in nets, of a crow that sat next to Francis as the saint ate
his meals and followed him when he went about his rounds visiting the
sick, of birds taking flight and circling his cell as Francis died.
Simone Weil, a Jewish philosopher, picked up on these themes and wrote
of Francis: “He stripped himself naked in order to have immediate
contact with the beauty of the world.” Weil’s point is that Francis, a
country boy, came to this close relation to nature through hard
discipline: his years of ascetic practice–of long fasts, living in the
open, and prayer–broke down his self-centeredness until he was open to
God’s presence in all things. Dimensions: 11.5
(h) x 6.5 (w) x 2 (d) inches
(Item #15236)
$65.00 |
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Hildegard
of Bingen, Patron of Gardeners, Musicians, and Artists
Hildegard (1098-1179) was a
Benedictine abbess and visionary. Through much of her life, she
experienced powerful visions, some of which she dictated and which are
contained in three volumes. She illustrated these texts herself, in
works of unique power and originality. She also wrote poems, plays,
hymns (many of which today can be found in recordings), and works on
medicine and natural history. She advised popes, kings, and bishops.
Hildegard was widely known for her knowledge of the curative powers of
natural objects, especially herbs, and is sometimes regarded as one of
the sources of modern medicine. She did all this during a time in which
women were accorded little respect as artists and intellectuals, yet the
effects Hildegard’s experiments and advancements in music, art, and
healing continue to this day. It is made of a resilient architectural
material and can go outside. Dimensions: 9.5
(h) x 4.5 (w) x 2 (d) inches
(Item #15207) $45.00 |
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St. James, Patron of
Walkers, Runners, Pilgrims
St. James the Greater was one of the twelve apostles and one of Jesus’
closest disciples. His connection with walking and running long
distances arose because the alleged site of his relics, in Compostela,
Spain, became one of the most important pilgrimage destinations of
Christianity. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, for instance,
half a million or more people per year made the thousand-mile pilgrimage
from western France to Compostela, in the extreme northwest of Spain.
The pilgrimage lasted for months (sometimes years) and involved extreme
danger and hardship, the terrain being rugged and remote, shepherds and
their flocks abounding. Today, thousands of people each year continue to
make this pilgrimage on foot, carrying backpacks and making the
thousand-mile walk (sometimes run) across the same paths people have
been taking for eight hundred years. A connection between extreme
physical exertion and spirituality lies at the deepest level of many
religions. An example is the Buddhist marathon monks of Mount Hiei,
Japan. As part of a spiritual practice, some of these monks walk/run
38,632 miles over 1,000 days, the course going up and down the sides of
rugged mountains. That is, the monks, wearing primitive straw sandals,
run/walk an average of 38.6 miles (= 1.5 Olympic marathons) per day for
1,000 days. One of the goals of these extreme physical trials in a
religious context is that by extending the repetitious act of walking or
running one becomes so immersed in the present and so weary that
ordinary categories of thought (good and evil, weariness or
exhilaration, worry about the past or future...) begin to fall away and
one experiences the world and oneself from a stripped-down but fresh and
enlightened perspective. James is here shown as he often is in sacred
statuary: as a pilgrim, walking. The shell he wears was the symbol of
the medieval Christian pilgrim. In his left hand he carries a gourd, the
medieval canteen. He strolls with one of the other creatures who, like
pilgrims, inhabit the route to Compostela.
Dimensions: 8 (h) x 3.5 (w) x 2.5 (d) inches
(Item #15142) $45.00 |
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St.
Jerome, Patron of Booklovers and Librarians
Born in what is now Croatia,
Jerome (ca. 345-420) became a monk around the age of 25. After a dream
in which he was told he was not Christian enough, he moved to the Syrian
desert to become a hermit. The desert hermits were a group of men, and a
few women, who lived focused on extreme physical austerity but spiritual
abundance. Jerome went to the desert like others, with the intention of
abandoning attachment to certain things so that he might embrace All,
but he could not detach himself from learning: while others took nothing
but rags with them to desert, Jerome brought his entire library. For
this, and other reasons, he is the patron of booklovers, librarians, and
scholars. In the desert, Jerome taught himself Hebrew (he already knew
Greek) so that he could be closer to the original languages of the
Bible. After four or five years in the desert, he returned to Rome,
where Pope Damasus asked him to take on an immense task: to translate
the entire Bible into Latin. Working from the Hebrew of the Old
Testament and the original Greek version of the New Testament, Jerome
spent the rest of his life on the project, a work (the Vulgate) of
almost unimaginable breadth. (For this he is also the patron of
translators.) Besides his scholarship, Jerome was a ferocious social
critic, especially when it came to the lives of fellow clergy. Finally,
Jerome is often depicted, as here, with a lion. The story is that a lion
one day limped into the monastery where Jerome was at work. Other monks
fled. Jerome, lion-like himself, stayed calm. The lion handed Jerome its
paw. Jerome withdrew a thorn. For the rest of its life, the lion
protected the scholar. This story is the reason that statues of lions
often appear before libraries: those are Jerome’s lions.
Dimensions: 7.5 (h) x 2 (w) x 1.5 (d) inches
(Item #15192) $45.00 |
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St. John
of the Cross: Patron of Poets and Mystics
St. John of the Cross
(1542-1591) was one of the greatest mystics and religious poets in
Christian history. One of his most famous works is “The Dark Night of
the Soul.” The dark night refers both to a period of intense suffering
and to a stage in a life devoted to contemplative discipline. John, like
his close associate St. Teresa of Ávila, was a Carmelite who tried to
reform the order. For his efforts, John was imprisoned for nine months
by fellow Carmelites in horrendous conditions: he was beaten, nearly
starved, and allowed to see light only a few moments a day. After living
this dark night, he, near death, miraculously escaped. The dark night,
then, refers to a period of suffering and alienation, at the end of
which one gains enlightenment. This statue incorporates many of the
symbols in John’s poem “The Dark Night of the Soul,” a poem about the
stages of mystical prayer, the final level being unification with “the
beloved” (the divine), here depicted as a child. The poem, thus, is
ultimately about rising from suffering to knowledge and peace.
Dimensions: 9 (h) x 4 (w) x 2 (d) inches
(Item #15174)
$45.00 |
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St.
Joseph, Patron/Protector of Houses
Joseph has become the
patron/protector of houses because he was a carpenter, working in the
small Galilean towns of Nazareth and Bethlehem in the first century. A
carpenter at that time did both small jobs–fixing doors, etc.–and larger
projects like building houses. Because Joseph is viewed as a protector
of houses and those who live in them, his image is often placed near the
entrance or inside houses to watch over the occupants and their guests.
It is made of an architectural material that can go outside.
Dimensions: 10 (h) x 3.5 (w) x 1 (d) inches
(Item #15211) $45.00 |
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St. Joseph,
Patron/Protector of Houses
Joseph has become the
patron/protector of houses because he was a carpenter, working in the
small Galilean towns of Nazareth and Bethlehem in the first century. A
carpenter at that time did both small jobs–fixing doors, etc.–and larger
projects like building houses. Because Joseph is viewed as a protector
of houses and those who live in them, his image is often placed near the
entrance or inside houses to watch over the occupants and their guests.
It is made of an architectural material that
can go outside.
Dimensions: 6.5 (h) x 2 (w) x 1 (d) inches (Item
#15212) $28.00
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St. Jude, Healer
and Patron of Those in Difficult Times
Of the original twelve apostles, St. Jude is the one most
commonly invoked in prayer. Jude is cited only once in the Gospels and
is probably the author of the Letter of Jude, the shortest book in the
New Testament. Robert Ellsberg has written that Jude may have become the
patron of those in difficult times because of “the similarity of his
name to that of Judas Iscariot. For a long time this evidently inhibited
supplicants from invoking the name of St. Jude. It might be supposed
that this had the effect of storing up a good deal of efficacious
power.” Jude has evoked considerable attention and even amusement over
the years because of his association with “lost causes,” but there is,
as millions know, a far more serious side to his patronage: Jude’s
association with healing and bringing comfort to those in any type of
difficult situation is one of the reasons so many hospitals and clinics
have been named after him and why shrines to him are filled with symbols
of his healing power of the body, mind, and spirit. In early Christian
sculpture, Jude was often, as here, depicted with a boat because he was
one of the first Christian missionaries and would have traveled
extensively by ship.
Dimensions: 6.5 (h) x 3 (w) x 1.5 (d) inches
(Item #15231) $40.00 |
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St. Jude,
Healer and Patron of Those in Difficult Times
Of the original twelve
apostles, St. Jude is the one most commonly invoked in prayer. Jude is
cited only once in the Gospels and is probably the author of the Letter
of Jude, the shortest book in the New Testament. Robert Ellsberg has
written that Jude may have become the patron of those in difficult times
because of “the similarity of his name to that of Judas Iscariot. For a
long time this evidently inhibited supplicants from invoking the name of
St. Jude. It might be supposed that this had the effect of storing up a
good deal of efficacious power.” Jude has evoked considerable attention
and even amusement over the years because of his association with “lost
causes,” but there is, as millions know, a far more serious side to his
patronage: Jude’s association with healing and bringing comfort to those
in any type of difficult situation is one of the reasons so many
hospitals and clinics have been named after him and why shrines to him
are filled with symbols of his healing power of the body, mind, and
spirit. In early Christian sculpture, Jude was often, as here, depicted
with a boat because he was one of the first Christian missionaries and
would have traveled extensively by ship.
Dimensions: 6 (h) x 1.5 (w) x 1
(d) inches (Item #15235) $28.00 |
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Julian of Norwich,
Patron of Cats
Julian, born in England in 1342, was an anchoress in the
medieval city of Norwich. A medieval anchoress like Julian lived in a
cell built into the wall of a church. Julian's function was to pray, to
be still, and to give counsel to any who sought her advice. Many
medieval anchoresses kept cats as mousers, and a longstanding legend has
it that Julian too had a cat in her cell: a stained-glass church window
in Norwich, for instance, shows Julian with her cat. Cats, being great
masters of stillness and contemplation in their own right, would have
been fitting companions for those who, like Julian, prayed for long
hours. We can imagine the two contemplatives–Julian and her cat–still
and at peace together. Julian died in 1416, and the site of her and her
cat's cell is a place of pilgrimage to this day.
Dimensions: 5 (h) x 5 (w) x 1.5 (d) inches
(Item #15118) $30.00 |
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Julian of Norwich,
Patron of Cats; Teacher of Being Well
Julian, born in 1342, was an anchoress in Norwich,
England. A medieval anchoress like Julian spent her life in a cell
attached to the wall of a church. Julian's function was to pray and to
give counsel. Many medieval anchoresses kept cats as mousers, and a
longstanding legend holds that Julian had a cat in her cell. Julian was
also a mystic and the first woman to write a book in English. Her book,
Showings of Divine Love, is a description and analysis of her visions.
In one passage she writes: “He [God] also showed me a little thing, the
size of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand. I looked at it with
the eyes of my understanding and thought, `What can this be?’ My
question was answered in this fashion: `It is everything that is made.’
I marveled at how this could be, for it seemed to me that it might
suddenly fall into nothingness, it was so small. An answer for this was
given to my understanding: ‘It lasts, and ever shall last, because God
loves it.’” Julian had seen in the hazelnut what mystics in all faiths
(and many scientists) have stated: if one can view any one thing–no
matter how lowly or despicable–with absolute clarity, then all things
and the basis of reality are revealed and one can be at peace. Another
well-known passage from Julian summarizes the peace that resulted from
her revelations: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all
manner of things shall be well.” In this statue, Julian holds the
revelatory hazelnut in her right hand and a contemplative cat in her
left arm. Dimensions: 9.5
(h) x 4 (w) x 2 (d) inches (Item #15111)
$45.00 |
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St. Luke, Patron
of Doctors
In Colossians (4:14), St. Paul refers to Luke as “the
beloved physician,” and thus he is the patron of doctors. Luke also
happens to one of the patrons of writers because he wrote both the
Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, two of the most important
texts in the last two thousand years. Both texts contain precise
descriptions of illness and healing, thus further suggesting Luke’s role
as physician. Luke accompanied St. Paul on many of his journeys and was
with him during the last days of his imprisonment. His Gospel emphasizes
the role of the poor, the stricken, and the outcast in the ministry of
Jesus. Dimensions: 4.25 (h) x 2.5 (w) x .75 (d)
inches (Item #15092) $28.00 |
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St. Luke, Patron
of Physicians, Artists, and Writers
In Colossians (4:14), St. Paul refers to St. Luke as “the
beloved physician,” and thus he is the patron of doctors. Luke is one of
the patrons of writers because he wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the
Acts of the Apostles, two of the most important texts in the last two
thousand years. Luke is the patron of artists because a legend states
that he painted several portraits of the Virgin Mary. He is often
depicted, as here, painting, drawing, or writing.
Dimensions: 7 (h) x 3 (w) x 1 (d) inches
(Item #*COS-S080) $45.00 |
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Madonna and Child:
Mary, Patron of Mothers
Mary was a Jewish peasant woman from the insignificant
town of Nazareth. She was married to Joseph, a laborer, a carpenter. One
of the most significant statements attributed to her in the Bible is the
Magnificat, a soaring song that says, in part: “God has scattered the
proud in the imagination of their hearts,/has put down the mighty from
their thrones,/has exalted those of low degree,/has filled the hungry
with good things,/and has sent the rich away empty.” According to the
Gospels, her relation with her son was sometimes complex, but she was
absolutely devoted to him and followed him with extraordinary courage
and love until the moment of his death. She was, in short, a poor,
steadfast, and intelligent woman who supported her child through all of
his tempestuous life. Dimensions: 6.5 (h) x 2.5
(w) x 1.5 (d) inches (Item #15144)
$30.00 |
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St. Michael,
Patron of Soldiers and Policemen
In the Old Testament (Dan. 10; 12), Michael is called the
leader of the ranks of angels and the protector of the people. In the
New Testament (Rev. 12:7-9), Michael and his angels fight a
dragon–symbol of evil–and hurl him and his followers from heaven.
Because of these and other references and associations, Michael has
become the patron of soldiers and policemen and a figure who is appealed
to for protection of individuals. While he is the patron of soldiers in
general, he is more specifically also appealed to as the patron of
paratroopers. Michael’s feast day is September 29.
Dimensions: 7 (h) x 3 (w) x 1
(d) inches (Item #15055) $30.00 |
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St. Monica, Patron
of Mothers of Difficult Children
Monica is the patron of mothers of difficult children
because she was the mother of St. Augustine. Although Augustine was one
of the most influential thinkers in all of Christian history, he devoted
much of his early life to sensuality: he, for instance, lived for years
with a woman out of wedlock and had a child by her. Throughout the years
of her son’s experiments with pleasure and non-Christian religions,
Monica, a devout Catholic, patiently and persistently poured out a
string of prayers and tears. Soon after Augustine converted to
Christianity in 387, Monica–knowing the prayers for her wayward son had
been answered–died in his presence. After her death, Augustine wrote of
her: “This was the mother, now dead and hidden awhile from my sight, who
had wept over me for many years so that I might live.” In this small
image of Monica she is shown holding a cup, the cup of tears she wept
for her son, now a saint like her.
Dimensions: 7 (h) x 3 (w)
x 1 (d) inches (Item #*COS-S110) $45.00 |
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St. Monica, Patron
of Mothers of Difficult Children
Monica is the patron of mothers of difficult children
because she was the mother of St. Augustine. Although Augustine was one
of the most influential thinkers in all of Christian history, he devoted
much of his early life to sensuality: he, for instance, lived for years
with a woman out of wedlock and had a child by her. Throughout the years
of her son’s experiments with pleasure and non-Christian religions,
Monica, a devout Catholic, patiently and persistently poured out a
string of prayers and tears. Soon after Augustine converted to
Christianity in 387, Monica–knowing the prayers for her wayward son had
been answered–died in his presence. After her death, Augustine wrote of
her: “This was the mother, now dead and hidden awhile from my sight, who
had wept over me for many years so that I might live.” In this small
image of Monica she is shown holding a cup, the cup of tears she wept
for her son, now a saint like her.
Dimensions: 6 (h) x 1.5 (w) x1 (d) inches
(Item #15195) $28.00 |
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St. Nicholas
(Santa Claus): Patron of Children, Christmas, and Wedding
Nicholas was a fourth-century bishop in Myra, a city in
what is now Turkey. In this image, Nicholas holds three bags of gold in
one hand and a cup in the other. Both symbols refer to stories in which
a gift from Nicholas changes young people’s lives from hardship to joy.
In one story, Nicholas throws three bags of gold through a window into a
house where a poor man lives with his three daughters, all of whom are
too poor to have a dowry and therefore be ready for marriage. The gift
from Nicholas allows the three girls to be wed and live happily with
their husbands. It is for this reason that Nicholas is the patron of
newlyweds and weddings. The cup evokes a story in which the saint helps
a child. Because of other stories about him, Nicholas is also a patron
of fishermen and sailors.
Dimensions: 6 (h) x 2.5 (w) x 1 (d) inches
(Item #15179) $28.00 |
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St. Paschal Baylon,
Patron/Blesser of Cooks and Their Kitchens
Paschal Baylon (1540-92) was a Franciscan lay brother.
Born on the border of Castile and Aragon of a poor shepherd family, he
tended flocks as a youth. In his early twenties, he joined his religious
order. His charity to the poor and afflicted and his humility and
courtesy were extraordinary even by Franciscan standards. He worked as a
gardener, doorkeeper, and cook, feeding the other friars and vast
numbers of the poor who came to the door of the friary. His ability as a
baker and cook–his capacity to take simple ingredients and make
delicious food–became legendary. Poorly educated, his counsel was sought
by the rich and poor alike. In this image, Paschal is shown at work in
his kitchen, assisted by St. Martha, another patron of cooks (her image
is in the tiny niche on the mantle).
Dimensions: 9 (h) x 4 (w) x 2 (d) inches
(Item #15054) $45.00 |
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St. Patrick,
Patron of Ireland
St. Patrick (389-461) first entered Ireland against his
will: the son of a petty Roman official on the west coast of Britain,
Patrick was kidnapped at the age of sixteen by Irish raiders and taken
to Ireland as a slave. He was sold to an Irish king who employed him as
a shepherd. During his long periods of solitude as a shepherd, he began
reciting Christian prayers he had memorized as a boy. After six years in
captivity, he escaped and returned home. He was eventually consecrated
and then returned to Ireland as a bishop (a shepherd). His work in
Ireland was astounding: baptizing tens of thousands and establishing a
native clergy and church. His work was a sign of tenacity and love given
in a land that had once held him in slavery. In very old sculptures of
Patrick, he is sometimes, as here, shown holding a sheep: a symbol both
of the work he performed when he first came to Ireland and of his work
as a shepherd of the people.
Dimensions: 7.5 (h) x 4 (w) x 1 (d) inches
(Item #15060) $35.00 |
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St. Patrick, Patron of
Ireland
St. Patrick (389-461) first entered Ireland against his will: the son of
a petty Roman official on the west coast of Britain, Patrick was
kidnapped at the age of sixteen by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland as
a slave. He was sold to an Irish king who employed him as a shepherd.
During his long periods of solitude as a shepherd, he began reciting
Christian prayers he had memorized as a boy. After six years in
captivity, he escaped and returned home. He was eventually consecrated
and then returned to Ireland as a bishop (a shepherd). His work in
Ireland was astounding: baptizing tens of thousands and establishing a
native clergy and church. His work was a sign of tenacity and love given
in a land that had once held him in slavery. In very old sculptures of
Patrick, he is sometimes, as here, shown holding a sheep: a symbol both
of the work he performed when he first came to Ireland and of his work
as a shepherd of the people.
Dimensions: 7 (h) x 2 (w) x
1 (d) inches
(Item #15059) $28.00 |
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St. Rita of Cascia:
Healer of Women; Patron of Those in Difficult or Impossible Situations
As a child, St. Rita (1377-1457) wanted to be a nun. Her parents,
however, forced her into an unhappy marriage when she was twelve. She
bore twin sons while living with an abusive husband. The husband was
killed in a vendetta, and both her sons died before they could get
revenge. Following that, Rita became an Augustinian nun. This statue
employees three symbols associated with Rita. In one story, the superior
of Rita’s convent tells her to take a dead stick, plant it, and tend it.
Every day for years, Rita waters and tends the dead stick until one day
it begins to grow into a grape vine. To this day, the grapes from that
vineyard are used to make a wine that is served to the pope, and leaves
from the vines are used for healing. It is this story that, in part,
made Rita the patron of those who pursue difficult goals. A second story
tells that when Rita was born, a swarm of bees appeared, some flying in
and out of her mouth, none hurting her. The bees and their honey are
symbols of purity and sanctity. A third story holds that as Rita was
dying in the middle of winter, she asked an attendant to get her a rose.
The attendant knew the request was absurd, but went off into the garden,
and there grew a single rose, which she gave to Rita on her deathbed.
Dimensions: 8.5 (h) x 3 (w) x 2 (d) inches
(Item
#15213) $45.00 |
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St. Roch, Patron
of Dogs Large
Saint Roch was born in France in 1295. When as a young man he heard that
the plague had reached Italy, he walked from Montpelier to Rome to help
the victims. While in Rome, Roch himself caught the plague. Believing he
was soon to die, he went into the forest at the edge of the city, built
a small hut, and began to pray and prepare himself for death. As he was
praying, a small dog came to him holding a piece of bread in its mouth.
Roch took the bread from the dog. The dog then licked the plague wounds
on Roch's leg, and the wounds were healed. Roch ate the bread, and,
brought back to wholeness by the dog and his gifts, he and the dog
returned to Rome, where they worked to heal others and comfort the
dying. The story demonstrates both the bond between humans and dogs and
the power of each to heal and rejuvenate the other. At the top of this
image of St. Roch is a sentence from a sermon by the Rhineland mystic
Meister Eckhart (1260-1329). The full quote is: "Every single creature
is full of God and is a book about God. Every creature is a Word of God.
If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature - even a caterpillar -
I would never have to prepare a sermon, so full of God is every
creature." Dimensions:
7.5(h) x 8 (w) x 1.5(d) (inches) (Item
#15105) $45.00 |
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St. Roch, Patron
of Dogs
Saint Roch was born in Montpelier, France, in 1295. When as a young man
he heard that the plague had reached Italy and was causing great
suffering, he walked from Montpelier to Rome to help the victims. While
in Rome, Roch himself caught the plague. Believing he was soon to die,
he went into the forest at the edge of the city, built a small hut, and
began to pray and prepare himself for death. As he was in prayer, a dog
came to him holding a piece of bread in its mouth. Roch took the bread
from the dog. The dog then licked the plague wounds on Roch's leg, and
the wounds were healed. Roch ate the bread, and, brought back to
wholeness by the dog and his gifts, he and the dog returned to Rome,
where they worked to heal others and comfort the dying. The story
demonstrates both the bond between humans and dogs and the power of each
to heal and rejuvenate the other. Dimensions: 6
(h) x 2 (w) x 1.5 (d) inches (Item
#15108) $28.00 |
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St. Rose of Lima,
Patron of Gardeners and Birds
Rose, born in Lima, Peru, in 1586, bore many resemblances to Francis of
Assisi, the most striking having to do with her relation to nature. Rose
was a member of a religious order but lived most of her life at her
parents' residence in Lima. There she had a garden from which she helped
to feed the household and the poor of the city. People in Lima recorded
that when Rose, who had a beautiful voice, worked in her garden, birds
came and sang spontaneous duets with her. This harmonious relation with
nature extended to other animals and the plants and trees she tended.
Rose died in 1617, her funeral attended by thousands of people (and
birds). She was the first person from the Americas to be proclaimed a
saint. Dimensions: 11 (h)
x 3.5 (w) x 1.5 (d) inches
(Item #*COS-S160) $45.00 |
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St. Thérèse, Patron of
Rose Growers, Florists, and the “Little Way”
Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–97) was a Carmelite nun who died in obscurity
in her convent at the age of 24. She became known to the world after her
death when her spiritual autobiography (The Story of a Soul) was
published. The book became hugely popular in part because Thérèse, in
contrast to the then-dominant Catholic practice, offered a spirituality
based on finding God and the holy in the most mundane and human acts and
situations: scrubbing floors, tilling earth, suffering. This is her
“Little Way,” a path of “holiness in everyday life,” a “way of spiritual
childhood.” Because of the profound influence of her spirituality, Blessed John Paul II in 1997 declared her a doctor of the church, a title held
by only two other women (Catherine of Siena and Teresa of Ávila).
Thérèse’s association with roses comes largely from something she once
said: “After my death I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my
heaven in doing good upon earth.” This promise is the basis of the
thousands of miracles that have been attributed to her. The bird perched
on Thérèse’s left hand is a symbol of herself and her soul (in her
autobiography she wrote: “O Jesus, Your little bird is happy to be weak
and little”). Birds also symbolize those who, like Thérèse, are able to
fuse the spiritual (the air, the heavens) and the tasks of everyday life
on earth.
Dimensions: 7.5 (h) x 4 (w)
x 2 (d) inches
(Item #15226)
$45.00 |
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St.
Thomas More, Patron of Lawyers
St. Thomas More
(1477/78-1535) was lord chancellor of England under Henry VIII, an
author, and a martyr. Born a commoner, his brilliance was recognized
early (one friend said he mastered Greek so quickly it was as if “by an
instinct of genius”). After Oxford, he studied law in London, was called
to the bar, and rose rapidly through the ranks, quickly becoming an
ambassador, a member of the court, and then lord chancellor. According
to all sources, More was a brilliant and efficient lawyer and judge,
able to see all sides of issues and discuss them with clarity and wit.
During this period, he wrote his most famous work, Utopia (More coined
the word, which means “no place”), a description of a communal society
in which, among other things, no one owns property. More’s career began
to turn when Henry VIII became determined to annul his marriage to
Catherine of Aragon so that he might marry Anne Boleyn. More tried to
avoid the controversy over Henry’s divorce and papal jurisdiction.
However, in 1534 an Act of Succession was proclaimed, which required all
subjects to take an oath disavowing the validity of Henry’s marriage to
Catherine and repudiating “any foreign authority, prince or potentate”
(i.e., the pope). More, like most Englishmen at the time, was Catholic
by heritage and refused to give up his beliefs and faith. He was quickly
taken to the Tower of London as a prisoner, where he remained in horrid
conditions for 15 months, all the while, his jailors recorded, retaining
his “habitual gaiety.” In 1535, More, based on perjured evidence, was
charged with perjury. He was beheaded at Tower Hill on July 6, 1535. The
story of his last days is one of the most tender and heart-rending
accounts of injustice in all of literature, especially since More was so
determinedly cheerful and forgiving: as he was attempting to move up the
scaffold, he said to his guard: “I pray you, master lieutenant, see me
safe up, and as for my coming down, let me shift for myself.” From the
scaffold, he let it be known that he bore no one ill will, giving a
blessing to the king, his torturer. More became the patron of lawyers
because he so thoroughly held to the importance of precedent and law
over the will of the powerful. It is loosely based on the famous
portrait of More by Hans Holbein the Younger.
(Item
#15078)
$28.00 |
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Louisiana Tiled Niche
These niches are made by hand from recycled cedar from old fences in the
countryside of Southwest Louisiana. The wood is old, weathered, and has
imperfections, enhancing the rustic and antique appearance. The tiles
are handpainted Talaveras. The niches can stand or hang: there is a hook
on the back of the niche and another hook inside that is used to secure
the statue. The statues that can fit in the niches are these: Hildegard
of Bingen (#15207); St. John of the Cross (#15174);
and Julian of Norwich (#15111). The niches all
come with blue and white tiles, though other colors will be available
later. Being from Southwest Louisiana, the niches don’t like prolonged
freezes and should be brought inside during the winter in colder
climates: the tiles can be damaged by long freezes.
Dimensions: 14.5 (h) x 10 (w) x 5 (d) inches
(Item #15238)
$100.00 |
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