Exhibit featuring Blessed Virgin showing at St. Mary-of-the-Woods

Special to the Tribune-Star

ST. MARY-OF-THE-WOODS May 15, 2008 10:12 pm

— A new display featuring 18 statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary has opened in the Sisters of Providence Heritage Museum in Providence Center at St. Mary-of-the-Woods.
The special exhibit features the statues, which are personal items belonging to individual members of the congregation.
The display will continue through June. In the Catholic faith tradition, the month of May is devoted to Mary, the mother of God.
One statue shows a seated Madonna and Child. It is very colorful and looks very real with the folds in Mary’s dress. Another statue, loaned by Sister Regina Shaughnessy, shows the Blessed Virgin Mary dressed in a gown with shamrocks on it. This statue was handmade in Galway, Ireland, and is made of bone china.
Some of the more unusual statues are one made of driftwood from the shore of Lake Tahoe in California. Another is made of olive wood crafted in Bethlehem. Sister Margaret Kern, who loaned this statue says, “When I am praying, it seems that Mary takes on various expressions because there are no definite features.”
A wood carving of the Madonna was given to former General Superior Sister Diane Ris. A priest who was imprisoned in a concentration camp during the Vietnam War crafted it from a tree root.
The Heritage Museum is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.