Mary &Joseph required?

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Someone at my parish believes that the G.I.R.M. or Canon Law specifies that every consecrated Catholic church contain a statue of the Blessed Mother and of Joseph. I know there are very specific rubrics about the Crucifix (not a cross or Risen Christ), candles, linens, and other things in the sanctuary, but never heard of statues of Mary and Joseph actually being a requirement as well. I’ve searched online and cannot find an answer, and thought someone in this forum might know? Thank you!
 
There is no such rubric in the GIRM - Canon Law makes no reference at all to statues in any case.

A crucifix is required in the sanctuary by the GIRM, that’s the only image of any kind which is required.

The entire GIRM is available online here: ourladyswarriors.org/liturgy/girm2003.htm

It has an index you can search if you go down to the bottom of the page.

The Code of Canon Law is online here: vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM

and it has search functions you can use.
 
Thanks, using your GIRM link, I found the following. Seems to me like this does state “Mary and the Saints” should be displayed…? (Chapter V)

Sacred Images
  1. In the earthly Liturgy, the Church participates, by a foretaste, in that heavenly Liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which she journeys as a pilgrim, and where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God; and by venerating the memory of the Saints, she hopes one day to have some part and fellowship with them.132
Thus, images of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Saints, in accordance with the Church’s most ancient tradition, should be displayed for veneration by the faithful in sacred buildings133 and should be arranged so as to usher the faithful toward the mysteries of faith celebrated there.
 
Rosella said:
Thanks, using your GIRM link, I found the following. Seems to me like this does state “Mary and the Saints” should be displayed…? (Chapter V)

Sacred Images
  1. In the earthly Liturgy, the Church participates, by a foretaste, in that heavenly Liturgy which is celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem toward which she journeys as a pilgrim, and where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God; and by venerating the memory of the Saints, she hopes one day to have some part and fellowship with them.132
Thus, images of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Saints, in accordance with the Church’s most ancient tradition, should be displayed for veneration by the faithful in sacred buildings133 and should be arranged so as to usher the faithful toward the mysteries of faith celebrated there.
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They should be indeed - it doesn’t mean they must be or are required to be, apart from the crucifix which is specifically required 🙂
 
OK, I see the distinction you’re making, and I’m sure you’re right. The requirement for the Crucifix is in a section entitled “Arrangement for the Sanctuary” and the “other” statues are mentioned in a separate section “Arrangement for the Church” under the general category “Sacred Images.”

So it seems there is an encouragement to include not only Mary, but any appropriate saints inside the church, however they stipulate no more than “one of each”! We’re beyond that at my little church. We have the Crucifix of course, a statue of Joseph holding the Baby Jesus, a Divine Mercy painting, an Infant of Prague Statue, a Sacred Heart of Jesus Statue, an almost life-size Mary statue, a picture of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, a stained glass window each of Mary and of Joseph, two St. Anthony statues, a SoG John Paul Statue, to mention a few!
 
Rosella said:
OK, I see the distinction you’re making, and I’m sure you’re right. The requirement for the Crucifix is in a section entitled “Arrangement for the Sanctuary” and the “other” statues are mentioned in a separate section “Arrangement for the Church” under the general category “Sacred Images.”

So it seems there is an encouragement to include not only Mary, but any appropriate saints inside the church, however they stipulate no more than “one of each”! We’re beyond that at my little church. We have the Crucifix of course, a statue of Joseph holding the Baby Jesus, a Divine Mercy painting, an Infant of Prague Statue, a Sacred Heart of Jesus Statue, an almost life-size Mary statue, a picture of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, a stained glass window each of Mary and of Joseph, two St. Anthony statues, a SoG John Paul Statue, to mention a few!
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Where does it state no more than one of each? It’s not in the passages you’ve quoted.

I too know many churches that have more than one image of the Blessed Virgin and Our Lord at least.
 
Sorry, here is the entire paragraph, excerpted. It says “usually” so what does that mean? Also, it seems fine to me if images are spaced in different areas, for example Divine Mercy in the Vestibule, another statue in a side-niche in church, etc. But I have heard of this “one only” rule before, in the context of trads making fun of it on other blogs.

"Thus, images of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Saints, in accordance with the Church’s most ancient tradition, should be displayed for veneration by the faithful in sacred buildings133 and should be arranged so as to usher the faithful toward the mysteries of faith celebrated there. For this reason, care should be taken that their number not be increased indiscriminately, and that they be arranged in proper order so as not to distract the faithful’s attention from the celebration itself.134 There should usually be only one image of any given Saint. Generally speaking, in the ornamentation and arrangement of a church as far as images are concerned, provision should be made for the devotion of the entire community as well as for the beauty and dignity of the images. ?
 
Rosella said:
Sorry, here is the entire paragraph, excerpted. It says “usually” so what does that mean? Also, it seems fine to me if images are spaced in different areas, for example Divine Mercy in the Vestibule, another statue in a side-niche in church, etc. But I have heard of this “one only” rule before, in the context of trads making fun of it on other blogs.

"Thus, images of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Saints, in accordance with the Church’s most ancient tradition, should be displayed for veneration by the faithful in sacred buildings133 and should be arranged so as to usher the faithful toward the mysteries of faith celebrated there. For this reason, care should be taken that their number not be increased indiscriminately, and that they be arranged in proper order so as not to distract the faithful’s attention from the celebration itself.134 There should usually be only one image of any given Saint. Generally speaking, in the ornamentation and arrangement of a church as far as images are concerned, provision should be made for the devotion of the entire community as well as for the beauty and dignity of the images. ?
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‘Usually’ means just what it says - again it’s not a hard-and-fast rule. It means consideration needs to be given to the preceding comments about not being arranged so as to distract the attention of the faithful and so on.

There are a lot of factors that will determine how many is too many - one important one being the size of the church. I’ve been in small churches that have not that many statues, but enough of 'em to be distracting simply because of the small size of the church.

On the other hand in a huge cathedral you need lots of statuary and stained glass to avoid it looking too bare. In addition a larger church will often have side chapels and so on. So there’s more justification for extras - it’s not too much to have a statue of our Lady or a crucifix in EACH separate worship space within a huge Cathedral.
 
Yes, I see what you mean, those are very important distinctions. Thanks!
 
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