Statue of St Josemaria Escriva

After saying Mass in St Peter's, I was walking down the corridor from the Sacristy to the Basilica when I noticed the new statue of St Josemaria Escriva. The base has the legend Sanctus Iosephmaria Escriva Conditor Operis Dei. The book held by the angel has the text Et ego si exaltatus fuero a terra omnes traham ad meipsum ("And I, when I have been lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself" - John 12.32) This text was a particular focus of meditation for St Josemaria.

The statue was blessed by Pope Benedict on 14 September last year, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The statue is over 15 feet high, sculpted in marble by Romano Cosci. It was Pope John Paul II who allocated the niches in the exterior of the Basilica for statues of saints of our own time.

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