St. Mary's Parish at 406 E. Savidge Street, Spring Lake, MI 49456 US - Mosaic, Madonnas and Relics

 A beautiful mosaic covers the entire wall behind the Altar.  This mosaic depicts a "Triumphant Christ" standing in a large aureole with His hands outstretched, beckoning all to "Come Unto Me."  This glass tile mosaic is the work of well-known German artist, Herr Wilfried Braunmiller, and was imported from Munich, Germany.  It was taken apart and shipped in sections, and then reassembled on the wall of the church.  On the left side of the work one will see the symbol of the suffering and on the right side, the symbol of the Redemption.

Each statue is different- either in design, in the material from which it is made, or the land from which it came.  They range from very small- two or three inches in height to nearly three feet.  They are made of marble, plaster, metal, glass, quartz, lava, wood, porcelain, bisque and other materials.

There are black Madonnas, brown Madonnas, and white Madonnas.  Parishioners and friends brought many of the statues to Msgr. Kupinski from their travels around the world, with some from Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Mexico, Japan, Spain, Portugal, and Africa.

About Our Reliquary

Catholic tradition has honored relics--tiny pieces of the remains of saints--for many centuries.  We recognize that our road to salvation was paved in part by the heroic sacrifices of those who went before us in the faith, sometimes offering their lives to ensure that the faith would be passed to future generations.  Just as we respect the remains of our departed loved ones by burying or interring them in sacred places, we honor the remains of many saints by reposing them in sacred vessels called reliquaries.  As we visit cemeteries and mausoleums to remember and honor our deceased family members, we visit reliquaries to pay homage to our brothers and sisters in the Communion of Saints.

Relics are not kept out of superstition, or the hope that they have some kind of magical powers.  They are simply a way to honor the heroes of our faith.  They remind us that these people were real, not fictional characters we read about, and they did so much for us.

St. Mary's Church has a reliquary display in the main entrance (in the south west corner of the vestibule).  It houses relics from Elizabeth Ann Seton, Frances of Rome, Frances Xavier Cabrini, John Vianney, Justin de Jacobis, Maria Goretti, Peter the Apostle, Pope Pius X, Therese of Lisieux, Thomas Aquinas, as well as a piece of the true Cross of Christ.  A booklet is available near the reliquary display which provides brief profiles of the saints whose relics we are blessed to have in our church.