Students gathered at the Peace Gardens on April 24 to participate in the blessing of a new statue of the Virgin Mary that replaced the previous destroyed statue.
About 30 observers met at the gardens behind the chapel as the 7:45 evening bell rang out over the chorus of a rosary, Mary’s “quintessential prayer.” After the initial rosary at the gardens, students picked up the statue and marched across campus to Ireland Hall where it was placed downstairs in a small prayer room.
St. Thomas Vice President for Mission, Rev. Larry Snyder, helped lead students, faculty, and community members in the blessing.
“[The statue was] just kind of a part of the culture there in Ireland Hall…unfortunately it was broken so we wanted to be able to replace that,” Snyder said. “There are students who live there today who really appreciate the statue being there.”
Vincent Koehl, a junior neuroscience and Catholic studies major who attended the event, believes St. Thomas could have mustered a stronger response to begin with, but he was heartened to see the ultimate result and how the driving force behind it were students.
“Even though trauma happened earlier in the year with the statue being thrown down the stairs the entire event today was just more of a recollection that Mary is beyond just the statue itself,” Koehl said. “She is here to help us and aid us in any capacity that we want and putting her in the room for people to pray, it’s not so much imposing religion but I think it’s more showing the unity of our campus.”
Koehl also said the response from students and administration combats a narrative that Christianity is dead at St. Thomas.
According to the St. Thomas website, Father Vincent Dávila, OP is an Adjunct Professor of Theology at St. Thomas and the Chaplain at St. Catherine University. He explained why the statue being broken drew such an extensive response from Christian and what the blessing itself accomplished for those on campus looking to exercise their faith.
“For Catholics, images are important insofar as they remind us of someone. Similar to how you might look at a picture, someone you love and in a way you are with them. Right? And there is something real about that,” Dávila said. “This meditation room will be her new home and a place where students can come to spend time and pray with the image and have the image remind them of Mary, their mother.”
The statue was originally broken in early March and replaced more than one month later. Snyder said the plans for renovations in Ireland will cause the new statue to remain in a prayer room until renovations are completed. Afterwards, a permanent location will be found in Ireland.
“What we try to do in campus ministry here is to help students develop their spirituality, all kinds of students,” Snyder said. “This is a missing piece that we are now replacing.”
Zekriah Chaudhry can be reached at chau6735@stthomas.edu