By TARA CONNOLLY Staff writer
When St. Mary, Kutztown began making celebration plans for the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima, it turned its sight on a small statue of the Blessed Mother situated in a cove in the church structure that was built in 1994.
Lynda Russo, parishioner, approached Msgr. Walter Scheaffer, pastor, with a suggestion to make the cove a more prayerful place by adding a kneeler. Within days, parishioners were drawn to the area to spend time with the Blessed Mother.
The interest of the parishioners led Msgr. Scheaffer to the parish’s storage area, where he rediscovered a larger statue of Our Lady of Fatima that once stood in the former parish hall and was placed in storage in 1986.
“The statue needed refurbishing and a more a dignified backdrop. I didn’t know how unique it was until later,” said Msgr. Scheaffer.
He then turned to Karin Crossley, parishioner and local artist, to take on the project to clean, repair and refurbish the statue that is believed to have been purchased at a sale by former pastor Msgr. Francis Glunz.
Crossley began the project by contacting Daprato Studios, Chicago and New York, which produced the statue.
“I like to keep art and objects as close to its original state as possible. So I began to research that statue and was shocked with what I found,” she said.
What Crossley came to realize was that the statue was not the traditional statue of Our Lady of Fatima, but a replica of one designed by Father Thomas McGlynn, a Dominican priest and sculptor, who met with Sister Lucia, one of the shepherd children that witnessed the Marian apparitions.
Father McGlynn travelled to Portugal in 1947 to meet with the Carmelite nun, who made revisions to his statue that reflected her memory of the Blessed Mother during the apparitions.
He was both surprised and disappointed when Sister Lucia politely informed him that the statue was inaccurate. His memoir, “Vision of Fatima,” recounts his experience remaining at the convent under her direction to produce an entirely new statue that is on display at St. Vincent Ferrer, New York.
“The story of this statue is very fascinating. After a lot of prayer, I pulled out my old airbrush and went straight to work. There was a lot of divine intervention in this project,” said Crossley.
During the process she contacted Daprato Studios, Chicago and New York in search of more details about the statue. Staff explained the story behind the statue but were unable to tell her where it was purchased.
Other than cleaning the normal statue dust and grime, Crossley repaired some minor damage to its fingers and hands.
“The major damage was to the Sacred Heart. It was barely hanging on. I removed it, prepared a plaster mix and repaired it, sanded it, then repainted it. My next step was to sand the entire statue to remove as much of the original glaze as possible. Then I primed and painted the entire statue – which was a little frightening,” she said.
Father McGlynn explained in his book that the first notable element about the statue is its simplicity. Other features that separate the statue from traditional Our Lady of Fatima statues is that the clothing is not flowing, her eyes are cast down and her hands are in a teaching position.
The Blessed Mother is all white except for the star and the pendant of light around her neck, both of which are yellow. The stark whiteness depicts Sister Lucia’s description that she was “made of light.”
When the project was completed, Crossley said, the statue was placed before a new backdrop with refinished pedestals that display fresh flowers each week from a local florist.
“The last thing it needed was a rosary,” she said.
“Msgr. Scheaffer just happened to have a beautiful rosary that was given to him by someone who visited Fatima,” said Crossley.
After the newly refurbished statue was presented to the parish during the 100th Celebration of Our Lady of Fatima, Russo said parishioners fell in love with the statue and the space.
“The feedback was incredible,” she said.
“The space enhances more prayer and brings all of us closer together,” said Russo.
