I am fortunate to have a reader like M, who grew up as in a devout Catholic family in Poland and spent much of her early life studying the statues of saints in churches.

She recognized St. Joseph, our marble statue,  from the lilies he was carrying (St. Therese always had her hands up, holding flowers…).

I’m learning a lot about St. Joseph, the legal father of Christ, according to the Bible.

M sent me this additional information on the statue yesterday:

“The way it was taught to me when I was growing up: When the Virgin Mary was to be given in marriage, the prospective bridegrooms…upstanding members of the community considered worthy…were summoned to the synagogue. They were told to lay down their staff on the floor.

The staff of St. Joseph immediately sprouted lilies…a sign from God that Joseph was the one chosen to be the husband of Mary and earthly father of Jesus. The lilies stand for the purity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and also the purity of St. Joseph. St. Joseph was an elderly widower with children from his first marriage, and although married to Mary, he was her husband but they didn’t have sexual relations.”

I’m grateful to M for resolving this decade-old mystery, I’d given up on discovering the identity of our statute unless we could find the head.

I’ve decided not to try to clean the statute of the mold, it gives St. Joseph depth and character.

I think we’re in good hands with St. Joseph, he’s a big deal, saint wise.