Dressing and adorning statues

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I was curious if anyone out there likes to dress statues of the Lord Jesus (other than Infant of Prague), our Blessed Mother and the saints. I personally like to have my statues dressed and adorned with crowns and halos. Also does anyone out there like statues with real hair?
 
Please excuse my ignorance, but aren’t the statues already clothed when they are created? I never saw a statue with real hair.

If you’re speaking about adorning statues with crowns or garlands, I can see that happening on special occasions. As for halos, that might be somewhat more difficult.

Perhaps you can explain more.
 
When I say dress statues, I mean making little outfits for them. For example, the International Pilgrim Virgin wears a special cape made of cloth over her normal wooden dress. As far as real hair on statues, some statues in addition to being dressed have real hair.

By the way, halos as in round metal halos that can be placed on statues.
 
Perhaps you can explain more.
Here are some photos showing nuns changing the clothing on the Infant of Prague statue. karmel.at/prag-jesu/english/eng/saticken.htm

In the Vatican a statue of St. Peter is dressed up every year on Feb 22 - the feast of Peter’s Chair.
But for his feast day the regal figure of the fisherman is cloaked in a heavy red robe. This mantle is fastened with a large gilt pin in the form of a dove. A large jeweled tiara is placed on his head and the parts of the statue left visible besides the head are the arm raised in blessing, the hand holding the keys and the worn little foot peeking out from under the hem of the robe.
zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=67216
 
I personally don’t like to dress any statues, but I’d like to quote from the bible which explain that those “adornments” mean GRACE :

Proverbs 1:9
They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.

Proverbs 3:22
they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.

Proverbs 4:9
She will set a garland of grace on your head and present you with a crown of splendor."

This is a symbol of God who adorn us with grace so that we can do good works, so that He then crown and adorn us for and with more grace and good works, and so on.
 
I would like to mention that in Chaldean Rite churches that just about every statue in the church has a gold crown on their head.
 
They tape gold crowns on the normal plaster hair. The cultures that have statues with real hair are generally Spanish or Filipino and some isolated European groups
 
Isnt that a sin?
Although I’m a Catholic myself, I came a cross this verse in the book of Jeremiah and I felt so guilty in putting a halo on the statue of Mary in my house.

For the customs of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.

They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter.

Like a scarecrow in a melon patch,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them;
they can do no harm
nor can they do any good."

They are all senseless and foolish;
they are taught by worthless wooden idols.

Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made
is then dressed in blue and purple—
all made by skilled workers.

(Jeremiah 10:3-5, 8-9)

Here Jeremiah in prophesying against Israel to change.

In my Church, the church of St. Peter, Melaka, we have a place called the Chaple of the dead Lord in the church itself, beneath the chapel’s altar there is a big statue of the dead Lord lying there in a red covering, that covering will be changed on good friday to a black covering. On the left corner of the chapel on the wall in a statue of Mary with her hands in a praying possition, She herself has three sets of robes, blue, black and purple.
 
I think using the word “Adorning” statues might be very well misleading others. We don’t adore statues. We adore our God, and venerate Saints.

Dressing Statues is not a sin, but considering a statue as a god is.
Don’t we all decorate the Church - the House of God - with many beautiful things?
 
I was curious if anyone out there likes to dress statues of the Lord Jesus (other than Infant of Prague), our Blessed Mother and the saints. I personally like to have my statues dressed and adorned with crowns and halos. Also does anyone out there like statues with real hair?
Statues should dignified works of art, so other than some simple, dignified ornamentation such as a crown or floral garland, no. Anything beyond this is too much like playing with dolls.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
 
Did anyone notice that this thread is over a year old? It is not likely the OP may even see it in order to respond. Perhaps it would be better to begin a new thread, rather than resurrect one this old.

Nevertheless, to the student who is concerned about Jeremiah’s words, I noticed you failed to consider the entire chapter, which begins with verse 1:

1 Thus says the LORD: Learn not the customs of the nations, and have no fear of the signs of the heavens, though the nations fear them.

For the cult idols of the nations are nothing, wood cut from the forest, Wrought by craftsmen with the adze, adorned with silver and gold. With nails and hammers they are fastened, that they may not totter.

Israel lived among pagan nations who all had false gods and idols and had not the revelation of one true God as did Israel. It was a warning to Israel not to adopt or learn the idolotry of their neighboring nations. To take Jeremiah’s words a step further and apply them to adorning true representations of our faith is to misinterpret that scripture and take it out of context. Here is some very good teaching with respect to images in the Church from St. John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church:
And hence it comes that, as the contemplation of the image at that time enkindles devotion and makes us to continue in prayer (both these being means whereby God hears and grants that which is asked of Him), therefore, at that time and by means of that same image, God continues to work favours and miracles because of the prayer and affection which are then shown; for it is certain that God does it not because of the image, which in itself is no more than a painted thing, but because of the devotion and faith which the person has toward the saint whom it represents.
Where there is devotion and faith, then, any image will suffice; but, if there is none, none will suffice.
The soul must on no account set store by these accidents, nor even regard them, but must raise up its mind from the image to that which it represents, centering the sweetness and rejoicing of its will, together with the prayer and devotion of its spirit, upon God or upon the saint who is being invoked; for that which belongs to the living reality and to the spirit should not be usurped by sense and by the painted object.
If the soul does this, it will not be deceived, for it will set no store by anything that the image may say to it, nor will it occupy its sense or its spirit in such a way that they cannot travel freely to God, nor will it place more confidence in one image than in another. And an image which would cause the soul devotion by supernatural means will now do so more abundantly, since the soul will now go with its affections directly to God.
And to settle your mind with regard to use of images being a sin, no it is not, especially when one uses them as St. John outlines.
 
I personally beleive that statues are too overrated. Don’t get me wrong I love being catholic but some people just take the statue and sain thing too far at times. They are there just for reminders.
 
We have a lovely statue of Our Lady of Fatima in our home. We don’t “dress” the statue… but to honor her… on special Feast Days of Our Blessed Mother, we place a wreath of pink and white roses on her head. Otherwise, she wears a small gold crown. Over her folded hands, there is draped a tiny, crystal Rosary.

We also keep flowers of the season, below the statue. We currently have some pine boughs and holly there. 🙂
 
Isnt that a sin?
Although I’m a Catholic myself, I came a cross this verse in the book of Jeremiah and I felt so guilty in putting a halo on the statue of Mary in my house.

For the customs of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.

They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter.

Like a scarecrow in a melon patch,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them;
they can do no harm
nor can they do any good."

They are all senseless and foolish;
they are taught by worthless wooden idols.

Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made
is then dressed in blue and purple—
all made by skilled workers.

(Jeremiah 10:3-5, 8-9)

Here Jeremiah in prophesying against Israel to change.

In my Church, the church of St. Peter, Melaka, we have a place called the Chaple of the dead Lord in the church itself, beneath the chapel’s altar there is a big statue of the dead Lord lying there in a red covering, that covering will be changed on good friday to a black covering. On the left corner of the chapel on the wall in a statue of Mary with her hands in a praying possition, She herself has three sets of robes, blue, black and purple.
don’t pay any attention to this guy -he has been on this forum in different guises with the same drivel-can you say the word “AGENDA?” Notice that the infant of Prague statue is called an “IT”.
 
I think using the word “Adorning” statues might be very well misleading others. We don’t adore statues. We adore our God, and venerate Saints.

Dressing Statues is not a sin, but considering a statue as a god is.
Don’t we all decorate the Church - the House of God - with many beautiful things?
Adore - to love
Adorn - to dress
 
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