Repairing Holy Space Within and Outside

I believe that our lived experiences can be deeply symbolic and meaningful. Our physical actions can reveal a hidden reverence for or disrespect of that which is holy, sacred, and undying. This is how I felt a few weeks ago, when I walked into my work office and saw on a cart the body of a Blessed Mother statue without her head. There was a brown paper sack next to it. I looked inside the bag and saw the smashed-up concrete head of the Virgin Mary. This statue is from a small grotto standing beneath Douglas firs on the east side of the hospital parking lot. I had prayed to this icon on my first day of work.

A vandal had apparently taken a bat to the statue. The body was mostly intact, but the face and head were in fragments. I quickly realized that it was my work to figure out how to put our statue back together. I got permission to attempt to fix the Mary statue. It was a dubious endeavor, but I had to try. The worst that would happen would be that I could not repair her. Immediately I got to the task, researching concrete statue repair on YouTube. There was a wealth of knowledge.

Following the YouTuber advice, I found a concrete/epoxy mix at the store. I made up the goo and carefully put the head back together. The statue needed a chin, and so I sculpted one. In my damp garage, the statue slowly dried over a few days. The representation appeared repaired. Hopefully the fix will last for years, but there’s no way to know that right now.

The next step was to repaint the Mother Mary statue, making what I felt were improvements. To begin with, the former statue was Euro-centric. If the Mother Mary had had blue eyes and light brown hair, someone would likely have mentioned it in the Bible. Mother Mary was a girl from the Middle East who lived 2,000 years ago. I’m guessing she had brown eyes and dark hair. My repair reflected this.

Before the reinstall, I looked at the place where the statue had stood for 20 years. I cleaned up the site and put in marigolds. When the statue was ready, I asked other chaplains to help me get the restored Mother Mary icon moved. She weighs at least 60lbs, and I certainly needed help with the logistics of getting her home and then returned.

She was set. A prayer was said to Mother Mary asking for help in providing spiritual care to others. I believe our prayer will be answered.