The school has been gifted a statue of Our Lady of Mercy by the Sisters of Mercy Parramatta. The statue has a unique history and was made by a sculptor who had also carved the well known statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
Originally standing in the Holy Cross Lady Chapel, Holy Cross Church, Woollahra, the statue was gifted to the Sisters of Mercy in 1954 by the Parish Priest of Holy Cross Church, Right Reverend Monsignor R. Collender, P.P., V.G. He had received a legacy to be used for the purchase of a statue and had decided that it should be placed in the side chapel used by the Sisters of Mercy, a community who had worked with him in the Archdiocese for over 50 years. A Sister of Mercy, hearing of the plan, expressed the wish that it might be a statue of Our Lady of Mercy.
Carved by the Portuguese sculptor José Thedim (who also carved the well known statue of Our Lady of Fatima) the design follows that of the miraculous picture of Our Lady of Mercy in The Basilica of Santa Pudenziana, Rome. That picture had been assigned by His Holiness Pope Leo XIII to Venerable Catherine McAuley’s Sisters to be the emblem of their Order.
Following the statue's time in Holy Cross Church it was then moved to the chapel lobby of the Marymount Mercy Centre, Castle Hill. The statue has now been moved again and will find a new home in the Mercy Chapel at Catherine McAuley Westmead.
The statue shows Mary, the mother of Jesus, robed in white, a soft veil on her head and a delicately ornamented blue cloak falling loosely from her shoulders. She is seated on a rich gold and blue throne. On her head is a jewelled crown, in her right hand is a sceptre surmounted by a cross. Mary does not however draw our eyes to herself - she holds out to us the Divine child who sits on her knees, holding in one hand a globe and in the other a bunch of keys, symbols of his power and mercy.
Our Lady of Mercy was delivered to the school this week and is currently in storage waiting for a place to be made for it in the Mercy Chapel.
Jacqui Hamilton | School Development Officer
Catherine McAuley Westmead
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