In the United States dioceses are thinking big about Our Lady!

Drive up California’s busy 101 freeway through the Diocese of San Jose and you’re likely to catch sight of an unusual but memorable expression of the Catholic faith: a 32-foot stainless steel statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary located alongside the Church and Shrine of Our Lady of Peace in Santa Clara, California.

The Santa Clara statue was created and installed by Delaware sculptor Charles Parks (1922-2012) at the request of a former pastor, Msgr. John Sweeny (1924-2006). Today, it draws more than 1 million visitors annually and has prompted the creation of three other similar large statues across the United States. In the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council, Msgr. Sweeny “felt our culture needed a ‘forthright expression of faith’ to remind them of the heart of their Mother who yearned to draw them to her Son.” He wanted a statue that would say, “Peace in the world, and within yourself, is possible, portraying a “mothering Madonna.” He said, “The world cannot benefit from a hidden faith, love or hope … We want to make her a statue of such splendid height that no one can ignore it, of a beauty that will attract and inspire all who see it, in the hope that many will respond to Our Lady’s invitation to love her Son.”

Parks was commissioned to create the image in his Wilmington, Delaware, studio, and it was shipped west and installed in Santa Clara in 1982. A blessing and dedication was held in 1983; Venerable Father Patrick Peyton (1909-92) delivered the homily. Father Peyton is the priest who founded the Family Rosary Crusade and coined the saying, “The family that prays together stays together.” His canonization cause is ongoing.

Catholics of the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, who saw the creation of Santa Clara’s statue wanted Parks to create a similar Marian statue for Wilmington. As a result, Parks created a 33-foot stainless-steel statute of Our Lady, Queen of Peace and installed it alongside Holy Spirit Church in New Castle, Delaware. It is visible to drivers who travel over the Delaware Memorial Bridge and Interstate 295. The bishop dedicated the statue in 2007. 

Two other large Marian statues have been inspired by Santa Clara’s Immaculate Heart of Mary: in Oak Lawn, Illinois, Parks was commissioned to create a 33-foot, stainless-steel image of Our Lady of the New Millennium in 1999. And in Sioux City, Iowa, the Trinity Heights Shrine has a 30-foot, stainless-steel sculpture of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of Peace opposite a 33-foot statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, both created by sculptor Dale Lamphere.

The Marian monuments are “a constant reminder of Our Lady’s motherly love and heart and foster a devotion to her and the Rosary.”

Jim Graves

Adapted from NCR