Padre Pio is Timothy Schmalz's favorite saint. At one point in his life, he prayed to the saint for the health of his family. Schmalz has already made sculptures of him in Ireland, Tanzania and for St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.
For the twentieth anniversary of the saint's canonization, the creator of 'Angel Unawares' and 'Homeless Jesus,' made three sculptures of Padre Pio for his shrine in San Giovanni Rotondo in Italy. The first one shows the saint fighting the devil
TIMOTHY SCHMALZ
Sculptor
Crystalizing that moment where he's struggling; he's fighting with evil; he's fighting with demons and bring it forth so one can read with their eyes this dramatic moment where St. Padre Pio is actually fighting a demon and winning.
And so I have a sculpture of St. Padre Pio strangling a demon and ready to punch his lights out.
To fight the devil, Schmalz believes people first have to talk about him. And in order for evil to lose, it is essential to acknowledge its existence.
TIMOTHY SCHMALZ
Sculptor
Very rarely do we have any representation of evil in our culture today. In the Middle Ages, you would have tons of representations of Satan, of devils. But where did it go?
Another of the sculptures shows Padre Pio praying with the Virgin Mary. They are surrounded by a ribbon very similar to the one symbolizing the fight against cancer. Schmalz says the sculpture is meant to help people pray.
TIMOTHY SCHMALZ
Sculptor
When I pray, I am very physical in my thoughts and that's why, in a sense, I do sculpture. And to have an sculpture of this beatiful, amazing, my favorite saint with his hands out in prayer—one can grab those hands while they're in prayer and have that connection physically. It's like a rosary in a sense, where, sure, you can say a rosary without the beads but, aren't the beads an added bonus, right?
The last sculpture is of Padre Pio with St. Michael the Archangel fighting demons. The statues were blessed at their unveiling in Italy by U.S. Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley.
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