At the conclusion of "A Day in Buffalo Visiting Jesus & His Mom - Part II", our tour group had just completed a visit to the Monastery Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary. Everyone was ready to disband and each go their own way. However, Kathy and I had arranged something very special for ourselves with Sister Veronica Mary. In short order, an invitation was extended to the whole group to join us for a relatively unknown tour. The Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary had many, many more surprises that would astound us all!
Sister Veronica Mary led our group to Immaculata Hall. Immaculata Hall, commonly known as Madonna Hall, is home to a unique collection of statues of Our Blessed Mother from around the world. This remarkable collection is a work of love from one of the former chaplains, the late Fr. Albert Drexelius, O.P. He hoped that a collection to Our Lady would foster and increase devotion for our Blessed Mother, as well as demonstrate how people from every age, nationality, and culture have enshrined the Mother of God in their hearts.
The collection came together over a span of many years through the personal contributions of Fr. Albert and by his asking his many friends and visitors to the monastery to keep their eyes open for any interesting items suitable for the collection. Remarkably, bishops, priests, religious, young and old, rich and poor, individuals and groups have donated the majority of the statues.
Presently, the collection contains over 900 statues along with nativity sets, rosaries, icons, numerous paintings and prints, and plaques adorning its walls. No two items are alike! Items for the collection came from all over the world, for example: Nigeria, Uganda, China, Japan, Thailand, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, United States, Argentina, Brazil, and Peru. There are copies of ancient masterpieces, antiques, originals in wood, stone, alabaster, ceramic, bisque, wax, glass, and other materials.
Sister Veronica Mary is the nun who is working on a data base to catalog each piece of the collection with its name, donor, country of origin, and other pertinent information. It is a labor of love for her as well, and we could not have had a more perfect guide. She knew the details about each and every piece and was able to answer any questions that were asked. Under normal conditions, the collection is kept on shelves behind glass. However, a photographer had been commisioned to come in and photograph the entire collection. Therefore all the glass had been removed providing an ideal situation for our group to take photos without glare from the glass.
My dilemna with this blogpost is deciding which of the photos to share with you. It truly is an awe inspiring and remarkable collection!!
This is just one of many, many shelves!
The simple, natural colored statue to the right dates from the 12th century and is the oldest piece in the collection.
The statue of Mary in a grotto setting was carved from a railroad tie.
There was a rather large collection of paintings and prints as well as statues.
Brothers and sisters, I could have literally taken hundreds of pictures. However, I took about 70 and have only posted 18. I believe that Fr. Albert's hope for an increase in devotion to Our Blessed Mother was realized by all in our little tour group.
jw
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