Father Timothy Castor dedicated a new statue at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Sturgis, on July 16. The statue was purchased using funds that were returned to the parish as part of the diocesan “Living the Mission” campaign. Father Castor had wanted to get a statue for the church, and after seeing the amount of money that the parish had received, took the opportunity to purchase the hand carved, marble statue.  

The statue of Mary holding a toddler Jesus, was inspired by “The Virgin of the Grapes,” a painting by Pierre Mignard, circa 1640. The painting was commissioned by King Louis XIV for the Chapel at the palace in Ve Versailles, outside of Paris, now currently in the Louvre.

“There are a lot of symbols in the painting,” explained Father Castor during his homily. “People ask me what is it about the grapes? The grapes we think symbolize the redemption of Christ that he won for us with his precious blood. Those grapes will make wine, and the wine would become his blood in the eucharist. The same blood that flowed from his side on the cross, from his wounds.”

He also explained how the grapes can be seen as a foreshadowing of the Lord’s first miracle — changing the water into wine. “That miracle was performed at the request of Mary, his mother,” he said. “I always thought it was interesting and intriguing that the very first miracle our Lord performed was through her intercession. If that’s the case for his first miracle, we can count on that for being a path for operating today. If you really want to get across to Jesus, and you want him to take your request seriously, give it to Mary. Let her take it to him.” 

Another aspect of the statue that Father Castor found is the toddler Jesus holding Mary’s veil over his head.  “Jesus is being a little playful as a young child, like a toddler would be, but there is something profound there. He’s looking right at us as if he’s saying, ‘come and join me under the mantle of my blessed mother. Come and be with me. Come and put yourself under her protection as I did when I was a child.’ Pray to her and ask her. That veil, that mantle, is the mantle of protection. So, when we pray to that image that we have, we can see that same gesture of Jesus holding Mary’s veil over his head.”