Update 2/22/2020: We have found the title of our Statue! Hail, Mary, Mother of Mercy! Ave, Maria, Mater Misericordiae!
There is a statue of Mary in the breezeway alcove at the entrance to the Conference Room.
This beautiful 100 year old statue of Our Lady seated on a throne with Jesus on her lap came to us from the Rose of Sharon, a Mercy Housing apartment building.
The statue first graced the entrance to St. Joseph’s hospital when it was in that building. When the hospital moved to the south side of Savannah, the statue remained in the vestibule of what is now the Rose of Sharon.
They put it in storage a little while ago and then called the Diocesan Archivist to see if the Diocese wanted it.
The Archivist came to me and showed me pictures and asked me if there was a church who might want this. Immediately, I told her we wanted it at St. James! Two benches will replace the bookshelves that now occupy the alcove so that people can sit and pray.
On Thursday, January 30, 2020, she arrived and we placed her in her location. She needs some repair work: there are places where the plaster is broken and the paint is chipped. I have asked a local Catholic artist, Carl Fougerousse of Red Fern Fine Art Studio (www.redfernfineartstudio.com), to come and look at it and work on it. He contributed his talents to the stained glass in the Lumen Christi Adoration Chapel.
When the work is complete, we will bless the statue and rename the conference room after the title of Our Lady which the statue depicts (I think she is Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, but this is being researched by Stephanie Braddy, a parishioner who works at the Diocesan Archives).
- ADAPTED FROM FR. DANIEL FIRMIN'S PASTOR'S CORNER