Work is underway to refurbish religious art that was damaged during a fire at Red Deer’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church in 1990.
Smoke from the fire left the church’s 14 Stations of the Cross covered in soot, and broken edges needed to be fixed.
Since the end of April, Lois Caron has cleaned and repaired eight of the stations, and she hopes to complete the rest by mid-June.
“It takes at least eight to 10 hours per statue. I’ve been pleased most of the colouring comes back to life once I’ve cleaned them for three or four hours,” said Caron about the plaster plaques that depict images of Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion.
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Caron, who started repairing statues as a hobby in 2005, also mended a life-size Pieta of Mary holding Jesus’ body a few years ago that was damaged in the same church fire.
Other statues she has worked on include the statue of Mary at the altar at St. Mary’s Catholic Church which was originally in Edmonton’s Immaculate Conception Convent. She also refurbished another smaller Pieta statue for Father Henri Voisin School.
“I’ve done at least 50 statues of Mary and Jesus over the years.
“I just started volunteering and had a passion for beautiful statues. Some of them are broken in tiny pieces. I’ve made a lot of noses, I’ve made a lot of hands, and glued them back together and tried to repaint them as close to the original as I can.
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The Red Deer resident said the heavy, 3D Stations of the Cross are 71 by 46 cm in size. Some edges and corners were damaged when they were stacked on top of each other in the alley behind the church for a while after the fire.
To show parishioners her progress, Caron has set up two of the refurbished stations, and one that still needs repairs, on a table inside the church.
“Some of them are very excited to see them fixed,” said the St. Mary’s parishioner.
Modern Stations of the Cross were installed at Sacred Heart after the fire.
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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