Blessed Mother Mary of the Springs, the new statue in the grotto at St. Mary of the Springs Catholic Church, was blessed by Bishop Anthony B. Taylor Friday afternoon immediately following mass.
The new statue is 72 inches tall, and made of Italian white marble sculpted by Wan Xi. It was purchased by the children of the Rev. Joe and Betty Harrison, and it was dedicated to the longtime deacon at the church, who in April will celebrate 40 years of service as a deacon, including 34 at St. Mary of the Springs Catholic Church.
"I asked the kids (to help fund the new statue)," said Joe Harrison, who had been trying to raise money for the project. "I said, 'Look, I've got too much stuff. Don't get me Christmas presents. Just put some money in.' So they just bought it all."
The deacon said while the new statue is beautiful, he felt it unnecessary to be dedicated in his honor.
"I just work for a living for the Lord, so that was unnecessary," he said. "It's a beautiful statue. It's standing right here at the beginning of Hot Springs, and I hope it will bring blessings to many, many people. I hope a lot of people will come look at it."
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Blessed Mother Mary of the Springs replaces the damaged Our Lady of Grace that had stood in the grotto since 1956 and has since been relocated to the local Knights of Columbus Hall.
"So many people came and prayed and touched her hands that her hands crumbled, and there was no fixing it," said Betty Harrison.
The deacon originally served at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church before making the move across the city to serve at St. Mary of the Springs Catholic Church.
"The reason I came over here is because we had four or five deacons over at St. John's," he said. "They had none here because Monsignor Leo (Riedmueller) did not want a deacon. Finally, Bishop Andrew (J. McDonald) told him, 'You've got to have a deacon.'"
The bishop convinced the monsignor to get a deacon, "so he and a couple of his priest buddies got together and determined which would be the lesser evil," Joe Harrison said.
"So then when I got over here, I sprang my charm on him," he continued, with a laugh. "It was good that I was here because at least at first, he didn't want me, but finally he really did."
Betty Harrison said that the new statue is different from the original.
"The statue is a little bit different because it has the bird on the chest," she said. "It's really the Holy Spirit, and Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit. So this particular statue is representative. ... It shows the divine heart of Jesus and the human part of Jesus, so that's the significance of that."
Blessed Mother Mary of the Springs, the new statue in the grotto at St. Mary of the Springs Catholic Church, is draped with flowers for the dedication of the statue Friday. - Photo by Lance Porter of The Sentinel-Record