Go to Home Page
                                               Intro Mary Garden

           .

Honoring 'Mary, Model of the Church'

In August of 1996, members of St. Catherine of Siena Parish,
Portage, celebrated the dedication of a unique statue of "Mary,
Model of the Church", as the centerpiece of the parish's Mary
Garden.

The Mary Garden, planted on the south side of the church building
in 1963, is a devotional area where the statue of Mary is
surrounded by plants that bear her name in some way.  The garden's
purpose is to promote prayerful reflection on the ways of God,
especially his plans for bringing about our salvation.

The parish's Spiritual Development Commission coordinated the
planning and preparation of the garden and commissioned artist
Jerry Westgerdes to create the statue.  Jerry is a former Nazareth
College art instructor who now teaches at Ohio University. He has
created statues for Hackett High School in Kalamazoo, Sacred Heart
Parish in Bangor, and for the recent renovation of the Holy Family
Chapel at Nazareth.

Pastor Fr. Tom Stanley and a committee of St. Catherine
parishioners worked with Jerry, discussing ideas to be represented
in the statue and selecting the final design. The statue was
initially sculpted in clay by Jerry, and then cast in bronze at
Alchemist-Tye Studio, Inc., in Kalamazoo.

"Mary, Model of the Church" depicts Mary pregnant, surrounded by
flowers and standing with her foot crushing a dragon.  This
representation of Mary is based upon two passages of Scripture:
Genesis 3:15 (often called the protoevangelium, that is, the
original announcement of God's "good news" -- the ultimate and
full disclosure of this "good news" being Jesus, the Word of God),
and Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation, which takes up and
expands upon the Genesis passage.

The original "good news" was God's statement to the Tempter: "I
will put enmity between you and the woman, between her seed and
your seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his
heel." The woman referred to is Eve, but also, by extension, Mary,
the mother of this victorious seed, as well as the Church, which
Mary typifies.

Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation expands upon the initial
"good news" passage.  In it a woman appears. She is to be
understood primarily as the Church, and secondarily as Mary.  This
woman is "with child" and "in anguish for delivery" (as depicted
in our statue).  The child to be born is the Mystic Christ, the
People of God.  Confronting the woman is "a great red dragon"
(also in our statue).  The dragon is identified as "the ancient
sea monster (Satan), the deceiver of the whole world." The dragon
seeks to devour the child about to be delivered.  The woman flees
for safety into a protective haven of nature pursued by the
dragon.  The home territory of this beast is the bottom of the
sea.  To sweep the woman into it, he pours "water like a river out
of his mouth."  However, the earth opens its mouth and swallows
the river saving the woman and thwarting the dragon.  Our statue
represents this saving action of nature by the flowers growing up
around Mary and protectively enveloping her.

  .


Founded less than a year after the closing of Vatican II, St.
Catherine of Siena parish took as its specific mission the
translation of the Council's decrees and dreams into everyday life
situations.  In keeping with this, our statue represents the
Council's presentation of Mary to the world as a type or model of
the Church.


Reprint of Announcement, with permission of Saint Catherine of
Siena Church


Description and Photos of Church Mary Garden