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Beltsville parish restores and rededicates 55-year-old statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Father Rob Maro, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Beltsville, Maryland, sprinkles holy water on a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary during a Sept. 8 rededication of the 55-year-old statue, which was restored. Joining him were parishioners and students from St. Joseph’s Regional Catholic School. (CS photo/Javier Diaz)

A weather-worn statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that has graced the grounds of St. Joseph Parish in Beltsville, Maryland, for nearly 55 years was recently refurbished and rededicated Sept. 8 on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“We wanted to do something to rededicate this statue, and we decided to do it on the Feast of Our Lady’s birthday,” said Father Rob Maro, pastor of the parish. “We had students from the school, teachers, the principal and parishioners attend. It was really special.”

Students from St. Joseph’s Regional Catholic School in Beltsville place roses in vases placed around a restored statue of Mary that was rededicated and blessed on Sept. 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (CS photos/Javier Diaz)

The statue was originally placed on the parish grounds in 1967 at the convent of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, who formerly staffed the school. The convent now serves as the rectory and Father Maro said that when he arrived at the parish this past January, “I saw the statue was very much in need of restoration.”

“It (restoring the statue) was something that was on my mind, but being a new pastor there were other things taking my attention,” he said. “What really moved me was when Helene Stever, our director of faith formation, told me of her memories of praying before that statue as a child when she was going through St. Joseph’s School.”

In an e-mail, Stever told the Catholic Standard that she attended St. Joseph’s School in the 1970s, and “I have memories as a student, weekly being brought with the teacher and my classmates to pray to Mary a decade of a rosary… as did other classes.”

Stever said when she first joined the staff of St. Joseph Parish in 1999, “my office window faced the back of the rectory, and I could see her… (and) prayed with her daily.” She left the parish staff in 2003 and returned this past July.

“I do not know what happened to Our Lady at St. Joseph,” she said in her e-mail. “I returned to the same office and began my new work. I went to pray before Our Blessed Mother, who is in the same location, however she was in very bad condition.”

Father Maro – inspired by Stever’s memories and by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who “really instilled (in students) a love for Our Lady” – set out in earnest to restore the statue and create a garden and area of prayer around it.

“Thankfully, I was introduced to Beth Heiler-Simonson from Mount Airy, Maryland who does a great deal of restoration work for statues in our churches throughout the (Roman Catholic) Archdiocese of Washington and Baltimore,” Father Maro said. “I’m deeply grateful to Beth for the outstanding and beautiful job that she has done in restoring Our Lady’s statue to its original beauty and splendor.”

Ben Flores, the facilities manager at St. Joseph’s Regional Catholic School, created a brick pedestal for the statue and a wall for the Marian garden. “Ben has done a beautiful job,” Father Maro noted.

Students from St. Joseph’s Regional Catholic School in Beltsville hold roses that they placed in vases around the base of a restored statue of Mary that was rededicated and blessed on Sept. 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. (CS photos/Javier Diaz)

Stever donated a concrete prayer bench in honor of her parents, Chester and Carolyn Hildreth.

During the Sept. 8 dedication, participants sang hymns as roses were presented to Our Lady. After the event, cake was served after people sang “Happy Birthday” to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Father Maro also quoted from St. Louis Marie de Montfort: “If you put all the love of all the mothers into one heart, it still would not equal the love of the heart of Mary for her children.”

“Events like these are important to celebrate because this reminds us that Mary is a real person, she is our mother who loves us with all the love in her heart,” he said. “Mary loves us so much, and what a great gift to be able to restore this statue of her to inspire people to show her love in return.”

Father Maro said that the newly restored statue will once again become a focal point of prayer.

“There was a tradition in our school whereby classes would pray the rosary before the statue in October and also have a May crowning,” he said. “These are traditions that we are bringing back this school year for our parish regional school and our religious education program. These are old fashioned traditions, but they do great things.”

Following students from St. Joseph’s Regional Catholic School in Beltsville and parishioners there, Father Rob Maro, St. Joseph’s pastor, places a rose in one of the vases placed around the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that was restored and rededicated there on Sept. 5. (CS photos/Javier Diaz)
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