Statues of Mary and Joseph in Church

[Thumblessprimat]

It may also be the part of the GIRM that says there should not be more than one image of the same saint. You mentioned the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph and an image of the Pieta in the back of the church and how people use them to pray.

Are you asking for him to move those statues forward, or add two new statues? Adding more would be a problem. Moving the ones you have in the back makes the most sence to me. I hope you are successful.

After some thought I can see how one might think there may be too many statues of Mary. If another were added then there would be a total of 3 of her images in the liturgical space. However during Mass facing almost entirely forward, the laity would not even see the statues towards the side and back as eyes would be on the sanctuary.

I won’t argue for more statues of the same saints. I won’t ask him to make any changes as he explicitly doesn’t want to hear what we would like, which could be looked at as what we don’t like in the new church building.

Though it would be an improvement if we could have Mary and Joseph in the front. I feel more in communion with the greatest of the saints and to imitate them if they were in plain view during the Mass. It feels a little cold to me without them. Someone might think I’m weird but I think a few times I’ve turned my head to look at the statues during Mass and turn back to the front.

 

[St_Donatus]

After some thought I can see how one might think there may be too many statues of Mary. If another were added then there would be a total of 3 of her images in the liturgical space. However during Mass facing almost entirely forward, the laity would not even see the statues towards the side and back as eyes would be on the sanctuary.

I won’t argue for more statues of the same saints. I won’t ask him to make any changes as he explicitly doesn’t want to hear what we would like, which could be looked at as what we don’t like in the new church building.

Though it would be an improvement if we could have Mary and Joseph in the front. I feel more in communion with the greatest of the saints and to imitate them if they were in plain view during the Mass. It feels a little cold to me without them. Someone might think I’m weird but I think a few times I’ve turned my head to look at the statues during Mass and turn back to the front.

I understand your concern and I agree with you. Every morning on my way to work, I stop at a church that has probably 20 statues in the sanctuary, five of which are on the main altar and side altars. It is a beautiful church. I pray with my eyes closed, but prior to saying a prayer to Jesus, I look at the Jesus statue which reminds me of him, his love, his suffering, his sacred heart, and more. Prior to praying to Mary, I do the same thing. The other statues are beautiful and too, remind me of the communion of saints, both in Heaven and on Earth. They seem to help me break that wall between this world and God, helping me feel like I am in complete communion with him. I don’t get that same feeling at home where we have no statues. Of course, this church is 100 years old and is a very holy place. It has been blessed, thousands of babies baptized, wedding performed, Jesus body and blood coming to us through the Eucharist. All this blessing flows through this church into my prayers. When I am in it and see the images of such saintly Catholics and Joseph, Mary, St There, and others, I feel almost like I am as close to heaven as an Earthly man can get. Thank God for such blessings he has given us.

 

[St_Donatus]

One more thing that I don’t think these priests realize, and maybe a point that you could make to him. Most people are visual. If a Rose looked like dog droppings, would it be as beautiful? Would it bring about as strong a feeling?

Also, why give Roses to your wife? They are just distracting her from your love, right? I think not, in fact they intensify her love for you. Likewise with statues, they are like Roses, given to us to help us visualize Jesus and the Saints. They help intensify our love for them.

In fact, I sometimes wonder, what has been the result of the removal of statues, the lack of reverence in many of the modern Masses, the worldly garb worn by clergy today, and many other ‘modernizing’ efforts. The results are the lack of piety in most Catholics today. About sixty percent of Catholics will believe the media over the Catholic church. For example, about that many believe that homosexual marriage is okay. How many young people do you see at mass today. At my traditionalist church, most of the people there are under 30.

 

[wooded_shoe]

This sounds like St. Patrick in Dallas. They did a remodeling on the inside and move the saints to the back. It is not that bad. I sometimes go to Mass there.

 

[zab]

Hi all.

I am in the diocese of Dallas. We have a new church building in our parish and one of the things I miss that really helped with prayer and worship during the Mass or during private prayer were the statues of St Joseph and St. Mary in front at the sides of the sanctuary.

Other parishioners have evidently voiced their desire for there to be statues of the same saints in similar locations within the church. Right now the walls on both sides are bare. Our parish priest addressed this concern last Sunday and explained that the reason for there to not be statues had something to do with what our diocese allows.

I don’t believe that he is trying to deceive us, but I think he may have the wrong information. I hate to ask him about this, because he doesn’t respond well to differences in opinion, suggestions, or constructive criticism.

Does anybody know of what document I could start reading or where I could find the information about what’s permitted in a church? I want to know if a diocese would actually not permit statues of Ss Mary and Joseph to be placed in certain locations in a church.

Thanks and God Bless!

When a parish has a major building project, it usually has diagrams drawn up to show the parishioners in order to get people to make pledges to pay for the project. If you don’t see something in the drawings that you think should be there or if you have any other concerns about the drawings, then that is the time to air your concerns. If after completion, the building is not like the drawing then you have something to complain about and your argument with have more weight because your contribution was based on what you saw in the diagrams. It could be more difficult to get things the way that you would like them if you are too late in speaking up.

 

[Thumblessprimat]

When a parish has a major building project, it usually has diagrams drawn up to show the parishioners in order to get people to make pledges to pay for the project. If you don’t see something in the drawings that you think should be there or if you have any other concerns about the drawings, then that is the time to air your concerns. If after completion, the building is not like the drawing then you have something to complain about and your argument with have more weight because your contribution was based on what you saw in the diagrams. It could be more difficult to get things the way that you would like them if you are too late in speaking up.

The sketches from what I recall did not include a lot of detail for the interior. I think I’m one who notices little details. For instance, the locations for the statues or even our large crucifix were not indicated. I have a problem with the location of the Crucifix position too as people who sit more to the outer sides of the pews will see no Crucifix or even the tabernacle below it (The sanctuary is recessed and seating is somewhat circular). That’s a different topic though.

Perhaps I and others are at fault for assuming that the statues would be where we thought they’d be. However, from the start I felt that our parishioners were always kept in the dark about the details. Our (name removed by moderator)ut, opinions and suggestions were not welcomed except for those belonging to some who were in the loop.

I’ve found my answer in Cathryn’s post, so will conclude this thread. To me it seems that there is no rule stopping us from having the statues where I and someothers wish the statues to be. For our parish to do so, we’d have to make some minor adjustments. I’ll just hang in there for now as our current pastor does not want to make any changes. I’m counting my blessings that we have a place to worship, and that our current pastor offers daily Mass and confession.