St. Joseph statue, hurt by Ida, back in place at St. Alphonsus

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

Call it fate combined with divine intervention, but in this  “Year of St. Joseph,” Redemptorist Father Allan Weinert, pastor of St. Alphonsus Parish, rededicated and blessed a 64-year-old St. Joseph statue, refurbished after being damaged in Hurricane Ida, in the presence of a member of the family who donated it.

After the 10:30 a.m. Mass Dec. 5 at St. Mary’s Assumption Church, Massgoers walked outside to the courtyard, where the statue was originally erected and dedicated by the Schiro family.
Hurricane Ida in late August felled a magnolia tree and damaged the statue, said Redemptorist Father Aaron Meszaros, associate pastor of St. Alphonsus. Volunteers who helped remove the tree saw the inscription carved on the pedestal: “Donated by Nicholas C. Schiro and Family 1957.”

“Honestly, I hadn’t noticed the inscription or paid much attention,” Father Meszaros said. “Two hours later, I was at Mercy Endeavors, and a Mercy sister whom I had never met before was sharing stories of her youth growing up in our parish. She then mentioned her family name: ‘Schiro.’ It ended up that Sister Nicholas Schiro is the daughter of the man who donated the statue, and she, herself, helped erect the statue.”

When Father Meszaros mentioned to her that the St. Joseph statue had been decapitated by the tree, Sister Nicholas, now 84, said, “my heart just fell.”

She had attended St. Alphonsus School and her family belonged to St. Alphonsus Parish. She also attended both Redemptorist High School for girls, taught by the Mercy sisters, and Redemptorist Boys’ and Girls’ High School taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame.

Of course, Sister Nicholas had to be part of the statue rededication after a $4,500 restoration by Bayou Preservation.

“Sister Nicholas’ family is really instrumental in that St. Joseph has been in our courtyard protecting us and our parish since 1957,” Father Weinert said at the rededication.

Sister Nicholas relayed how the statue came to be after the 50th wedding anniversary ceremony of Louis and Lena Palermo. Sister Nicholas was just 19 at the time, two years before entering the Sisters of Mercy.

“In 1957, my maternal grandparents had their 50th wedding anniversary, and Father James Henry Dreis was the priest who did the ceremony and blessing,” Sister Nicholas recalled.

“When the ceremony was ending, my father (Nicholas) told him, ‘Thank you for doing this for our family, and if I can do anything for you let me know,’” Sister Nicholas said. “Father Dreis said, ‘As a matter of fact, I need a statue of St. Joseph the Worker.’ So, my father said, ‘Fine, order it for me, and my daughter will pick it up.’”

About two months later, Father Dreis called the Schiro home to announce the statue’s arrival. Sister Nicholas, then named Rosemary Schiro, happened to answer the phone.

 

“Fine Father, where do I pick it up?” Sister Nicholas said. “My father wants me to pick it up and deliver it to you.”

Father Dreis replied, “I don’t think you can do that. It has to be picked up at the port.”

“My father probably thought the statue was at the Catholic bookstore, but it was the port,” Sister Nicholas joked.

The statue was made of Carrara marble from Italy and cost $500, a lot of money in 1957.

“We unloaded it here and put it right on this spot,” Sister Nicholas said about the location in the garden where it has been since. “My father again said, ‘Anytime I can do anything.’ Father Dreis said, ‘It’s not over. You have to build a pedestal. You can’t just put it here.’ My dad said, ‘OK father; yes, father.’”

Sister Nicholas said she personally called marble companies and helped her father build the pedestal once the marble pieces came in.
 

“My mother (Rose) watched us,” she said. “It was such a wonderful experience. Every time I come here, it just brings back such wonderful memories.”

Just as there were Mercy nuns at the 1957 dedication, they were there as well for the 2021 rededication.

St. Joseph a model for men
In blessing the statue, Father Weinert called St. Joseph a compassionate and caring man of many talents and virtues, a man with a “deep respect for just how the law applied to life’s different circumstances. He was resourceful in exile, faithful to life’s duties and assuredly passed into eternity in the comforting care of his wife and loving son. We turn to St. Joseph, whose selfless service in each of his life’s tasks inspires and motivates each of us.”

Father Weinert ended the blessing with this prayer: “Guardian of the Redeemer, spouse of the Virgin Mary, to you God entrusted his only son. In you, Mary placed her trust. With you, Christ became man. Guide us in the path of life. Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage, and defend us from evil.”
 

The statue is available for viewing at any time in the courtyard, 923 Josephine St., New Orleans. At St. Alphonsus Parish’s annual St. Joseph Day celebration in 2022, the St. Joseph altar will be blessed March 18 at 4 p.m., followed by viewing until 6 p.m. On March 19, there will be a 10:30 a.m. devotion and Mass, with the altar remaining open for viewing and possibly food served from the altar.

cbordelon@clarionherald.org