Stolen St Bernadette statue recreated

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/04/2023 (786 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nearly a year after her life-sized figure was stolen, St Bernadette will rest in St Malo once again.

A replica of the one-of-a-kind statue of the patron saint, which laid in a glass casket at Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in St Malo for over a century, has been recreated thanks to the generosity of a Winnipeg visual artist.

After hearing of last spring’s theft, John Millar contacted the parish and offered to recreate the figure, only charging cost of materials.

“The statue is representative of the heritage of Manitoba, especially within the community of St Malo,” he said.

Last July Leo Roch, a board member of the Roman Catholic parish in St. Malo, told The Carillon he hoped the statue would be returned before the annual pilgrimage, which draws over 1,000 people, the following month.

The chapel is left unlocked, and the statue has been stolen twice before, but always returned. After last July’s theft, Roch held out hope.

“The link between the statue and the grotto is quite important. But if you’re up to mischief you don’t think about that,” he said at the time.

After an RCMP report was filed and the pilgrimage came and went, St Bernadette remained at large. A few months later, Millar saw a post about the missing figure circulating on social media and reached out to Roch.

“I was just conscious of the fact that we essentially lost a piece of history and I thought that it was important to replace it,” he said.

The work isn’t the University of Manitoba fine arts graduate’s first foray into sculpting religious figures; a Filippino-Canadian baptized Roman Catholic, Millar has an interest in religious figures and recreating them. Prior to this project, Millar restored a statue in St Francois Xavier which had been vandalized.

Studying historical photos of St Bernadette, as well as photos of the previous figure, the 23-year-old put in over 100 hours on the details alone.

Her face and hands are made of resin casted from silicone molds created from modelling clay, while the body is comprised of wood and copper tubing for weight and ease of transportation.

The figure is dressed in a black nun’s habit and her face and hands were carefully painted then adorned with animal fibers to make eyebrows and eyelashes.

“What I was aiming for was to not really make it look like a statue,” he said. “If you do the face a little bit of justice and try to make it look like who it is, then I think it makes it more personal. It makes people feel like they’re connecting more with who she was.”

The original statue which laid in the chapel was made to commemorate Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879). Born in Lourdes, France, Soubirous repeatedly saw apparitions of the Virgin Mary who asked for a chapel to be built at a nearby grotto.

Soubirous was canonized in 1933 and later her body was exhumed and preserved for public viewing. She is the patron saint of those experiencing bodily illness, poverty, or ridicule for their faith.

St Malo’s grotto, established in 1896, is modelled after the storied Lourdes Grotto. The site’s architect, Father Abel Noret, saw it fitting to include a statue of St Bernadette when the chapel was constructed in 1939.

“(She) had been there for so many years, it was part of the building,” said Roch.

“Everyone in the community is happy to have her back again.”

The statue is one of a few replicas of St Bernadette in the world, and the only in North America, according to Millar.

Millar only charged the parish what it cost to make the figure, a cool $500. Roch said they plan to install cameras in the chapel to prevent further thefts.

The visual artist is also undertaking more restorative work for the community: currently sitting in his basement is the crucifix of Jesus Christ which was installed at the grotto last fall as part of a sponsorship by the local chapter of the Manitoba Metis Federation.

Built out of concrete and shipped from Jerusalem by boat, the figure has sustained some weathering and wear and tear. Millar plans to fix the bumps, but also improve its overall look.

A ceremony honoring St Bernadette’s return to the chapel will be held on-site on May 31.

– with files from Jordan Ross