Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Our Lady of the New Millennium

I've heard about this 33 feet tall stainless steel statue of Mary, Our Lady of the New Millennium, and it's been "church hopping" through Chicago for over 10 years yet I was never able to see it.  Currently, the statue has found it's permanent home at St. John the Evangelist Church in St. John, Indiana.  Luckily for me, that's only 1 1/2  hours drive from where I live so we could easily do that for a day trip!


"The statue, Our Lady of the New Millennium, was commissioned by Chicago resident Carl Demma in 1995 and has visited “pretty close to 300 parishes,” mostly in the Chicago Archdiocese. It was blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1999 during his visit to St. Louis."  More information about this article can be found at the National Catholic Register.

The above picture was taken by the National Catholic Register on the day it was dedicated to St. John the Evangelist Church on May 22nd.   The weather was obviously threatening that day but it did not keep the ceremony from being postponed.

Visiting soon will be one of my goals for this summer and perhaps even sooner!  I would love to see it in person and take my own picture of it and post it.  I can't imagine how tall it is and how did they ever transport it from church to church?   Have any of you ever seen this unique and beautiful statue of Mary?

I'm linking up today at:  http://www.angelwingsandapronstrings.blogspot.com/ with my friend Trish at L.A.C.E.
Please come and join us for Whatever is Lovely, Admirable, Cheerful and Encouraging!

God's Blessings,
noreen 

4 comments:

  1. Noreen,

    Wow! This is one huge but beautiful statue! You're right, I don't see how anyone ever lifted it without causing it to crack and break.

    I hope that you get to see the statue in person soon. When you do, I'm sure you will show us pictures on your blog. :)

    Blessings,

    -L. Rose

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  2. Good gracious, that is really huge!!
    It must be quite a feat of engineering to transport a statue so large!
    It is very beautiful indeed.
    I hope you get a chance to visit and take some photos, Noreen.
    I doubt it will ever come down my way lol!
    I love the dramatic sky..it seems to enhance the beauty and power of Our Lady's image to me.
    Thank you for sharing this for LACE today :-)
    God bless you..Trish

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  3. When we lived in a suburb of Chicago this statue made a visit. As I walked to my car in the twilight parking lot that evening I smelled the strongest scent of roses. I stopped to see where they could be but saw nothing floral anywhere. I felt that Mary's presence had blessed me in that moment and I have never forgotten it!

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  4. That was absolutely the presence of Our Lady when you smelled the roses. I had one experience like that in my life and it was at my mother's funeral. And I like to think that my mom was with Our Blessed Mother to bring comfort to me :)

    I still haven't made the trip to go see the Our Lady of the New Millennium statue. Thank you for reminding me Misty!

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