Mary, Mother of the Church

Published by Dominican Nuns Ireland in News and Dominican Life · 20 May 2024
Tags: our, lady, art, litrugical, art

A Labour of Love

One of our sisters recently completed a major restoration of the statue of Our Lady and the Child Jesus, which resides in our monastery chapel. We thought we would take advantage of this memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, to share a few pictures of her wonderful work!

When we first noticed that the statue was showing serious signs of disrepair, we were anxious to preserve as much of her as we could - having come from the Old Siena, she has lived a long and significant time with us! So, while first estimates on the cost of repairs seemed prohibitive, we quickly realised the opportunity to utilise some of the formidable artistic gifts we have in the community, and charged one of our sisters with making the attempt.

Since then, she has been working quietly but diligently, stripping back some of the old paintwork, patching a myriad of major and minor cracks with a kind of special bonding gum, and finally bringing Our Lord and Lady back to life with watercolours. (The preferred medium for the work, which will make future repairs and touch-ups easier.) We unveiled her work this past Saturday, and all the sisters were agreed that she had done a fantastic job - maintaining so much of the older exquisite gold detail, while giving a fresh and lively look to the areas that had to be compeltely remodelled!

Sister said she could have gone on working for months, making minor adjustments, but the sisters were very happy to have her back in choir - as were our other regular chapel attendees, we're sure! - and our nightly 'Salve Regina' procession has been filled with warm smiles all round.

We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to the generous benefactors
who provided the lovely wood pedestals for both Our Lady and Saint Joseph.

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