St Anthony of Padua
In this statue St. Anthony
is depicted wearing very fine robes. Around his waist is a knotted rope into which has
been tucked a crucifix. In his left hand he holds an open book upon which stands a small
child (Presumably Jesus). On his outstretched right arm are numerous white lilies.
St. Anthony of Padua is
probably one of the best known and best
loved saints and virtually no church is complete without his statue. He is
nearly always sculpted holding in his arms the infant Jesus, a lily, a book or
as in this case all three. Notice also that he seems to have a secondary
cross lying on his robes just below his waist. It hangs from a thin black
chord tied to his waist chord and which carries 5 wooden balls (two large
and three small). The other part of this chords hangs to his left side in a
large loop which also contains a larger number of small balls or beads. The
infant Jesus is whispering in his ear. The plinth on which he stands is the
most elaborate in the whole church. He is supported by 4 female angels while
they in turn stand on yet another plinth adorned with lillies.
Although St. Anthony was
born in Portugal, most of his work took place in Italy. Originally an Augustinian he
later became a Franciscan. His conversion to the Franciscan order was as a result of the
slaying of a number of Franciscans in Morocco. When their mutilated bodies were returned
he was so overcome that he also wished to become a martyr. He is sometimes referred
to as the "Hammer of Heretics" because of his simple, and sometimes, miraculous
way of teaching. St. Anthony was a great crowd puller and enjoyed considerable
success. One day he was preaching to a group of heretics who simply refused to listen. In
a gesture of contempt he began to preach to some nearby fish, who appeared
to listen with keen
interest. On another occasion when confronted by a heretic St. Anthony placed the
sacrament and some hay on the ground in front of a starving mule. The mule bowed to the
sacrament first before eating the hay. He is reputed to have seen the vision of the
infant Jesus. He is often referred to as the "finder of lost articles." He
died at the age of 36 in the year 1231 and is feted on June 13.
St. Mary Magdalene
In this statue Ste. Marie Madeleine is
shown wearing resplendent robes. She holds a large rustic wooden cross in her right hand while her left holds what appears to be
a funerary urn. At her feet is a
Skull resting upon an open book.
The sister of St. Lazarus and St. Martha, she
is often referred to as "the Penitent". St. Mary was named 'Magdalene'
because, although
Jewish by birth,
she lived in a Christian town called Magdale, located just to the north of Galilee. The
gospels of St. Luke state that she was a "notorious sinner", and had seven
devils cast out of her. She was present at the Crucifixion, and later at Jesus' empty
tomb. Fourteen years after the death of Christ, St. Mary was put in a boat by the Jews
without sails or oars - along with Saints Lazarus and Martha, St. Maximin (who baptised
her), St. Sidonius ("the man born blind"), her maid Sera, and the body of St.
Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin. They were sent drifting out to sea and landed on
the shores of Southern France, where St. Mary spent the rest of her life in a cave known
as Sainte-Baume. She was given the Holy Eucharist daily by angels as her only food, and
died when she was 72. St. Mary was transported miraculously, just before she died, to the
chapel of St. Maximin, where she received the last sacraments. She is feted on July 22.
There is another Mary Magdalene and she
is known as Mary Magdalene of Pazzi.
She was born April 2, 1566; died May 25,
1607. She came from the union of two noble families, her father being Camillo Geri
de'Pazzi and her mother a Buondelmonti. She was baptised, and named Caterina, in the great
baptistery. As a child she was greatly drawn towards religion so much so in fact that she
took her first communion at the age of 10. She was also greatly attracted to others of a
religious persuasion and was particularly drawn to those who had recently taken the
Sacrament and would listen to everything they had to tell about the experience. At
fourteen she was sent to school at the convent of Cavalaresse, where she lived in such a
devout and conscientious way that her fellow sisters predicted she would someday become a
great saint. When she left the convent she vowed to take up the life of a nun and in
December 1582 she joined the Carmelite convent of Santa Maria degl' Angeli in Florence.
Unlike other saints who performed miracles or behaved in some special manner, Mary
Magdalene was famous for receiving ecstasies during which she would often utter words of
great spirituality and divine love. On one occasion she suffered these ecstasies for 40
days continuously at the end of which she was close to death. However, miraculously, she
recovered. Despite her trials she was able to continue her work as normal and spent a
great deal of her time helping all those she could. She is today the female patron of
Florence and is feted on May 25 and more recently on May 29.
St. Roch
St. Roch is depicted in his statue as
wearing a fine robe. He is seen lifting up the hem of his robe to reveal his right
leg which according to legend contained a wound that never healed. It is
rather interesting that in some statues of this saint he is revealing his
right leg while others the left leg as can be seen in this photo of St. Roch
to be seen in the church of Puicheric:
The inside of his robe is a delicate sky blue. He wears a pair
of sturdy boots although only one of these can be seen. At his heels is a small dog
looking
up at him.
Originally from Montpellier in Languedoc
he is renowned for
nursing the sick
during an epidemic of the plague in northern Italy. During this terrible time he was said
to have travelled from place to place healing the victims by supernatural means.
Eventually he too fell victim to the disease while visiting the city of Piacenza. It seems
that as he lay ill upon the ground he was cared for by a stray dog. In time he
recovered although he always retained a gaping wound on his right thigh. On returning home his appearance had change so greatly that his family did
not
recognize him and he was thrown into prison as an impostor where he died. A similar
account places the event in Lombardy where he was assumed to be a spy and then sent to
prison where he later died. In France today St. Roch is still called upon to give
protection against disease. He is often depicted in the company of a dog and is feted on
August 16.
The statue of
Jesus
There is
another statue and it is that of Jesus. In fact it is easy to miss this
unless you are specifically looking for it. It is to be found on the small
door leading to the pulpit.
