Rev. L’ubomir J. Strecok of St. Mary’s Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church stands next to the recently donated statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary next to the rectory. Mirror photos by Patrick Waksmunski
Parishioners at St. Mary’s Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church are grateful for the outpouring of support from the community after an act of vandalism toppled a popular statue of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus in March, said Director of Religious Education Debbie Bartley.
The church received statues of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Saint Joseph holding the baby Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Jesus after a Sidman couple donated the trio earlier this summer.
According to Ellen Grattan, the statues come from the home of her father-in-law, Bernard Grattan, in Johnstown.
Bernard Grattan had been director of maintenance at Catholic Mercy Hospital in Johnstown, which was later renamed Good Samaritan Hospital and then Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in 1995.
Because Conemaugh is not a Catholic institution, they did not want to retain the religious symbolism that was an integral part of Mercy and later Good Samaritan, Ellen Grattan said.
A newly donated statue depicting Saint Joseph holding the baby Jesus next to the elevator entrance of St. Mary’s Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church in Altoona.
He wanted to make sure that “the statues were well cared for after the handover,” Grattan said of her father-in-law, who took the trio home and placed them in a specially built brick “grotto” in his backyard.
The statues remained there for nearly three decades, she said.
After Bernard Grattan’s death in October 2023, Ellen Grattan began searching for a new home for the statues, as she did not have enough space to accommodate them in her Sidman residence and planned to sell the Johnstown home.
“It was important to us to find an honorable place for her,” she said.
As luck would have it, Ellen Grattan read an article online about the vandalism incident at St. Mary’s and got in touch, hoping the church might need the statues, she said.
A recently donated statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus stands in the rectory garden of Sacred Heart Church in Altoona.
Grattan said she and her husband were extremely grateful when the staff at St. Mary’s told her they could find a new home for the statues.
“God’s ways are unfathomable. It was a blessing. It’s exactly what we wanted – for them to be in a place where they feel comfortable and comforted,” Grattan said.
The statues are carved from solid white marble and weigh more than 400 pounds each, Bartley said.
The new statue of the Virgin Mary will replace the destroyed statue in a small garden next to the church, while the statue of Saint Joseph will be located near the elevator entrance of the building.
The third statue, depicting Jesus, will watch over the rectory of Sacred Heart Catholic Church on the other side of town, Bartley said.
Father L’ubomir J. Strecok presides over both churches, so installing the Jesus statue was a simple matter, Bartley said.
In addition to the statues, other people donated more than $1,400 to the church after the first act of vandalism in March. These funds were used to pay for a van to transport the statues and an updated security system.
Other community members donated a pole and an American flag to be hung next to the statue, while another person donated a lighting system to illuminate the flag and the statue’s base, Bartley said.
All of these people will be mentioned by name on a plaque on the base of the new statue, she added.
According to Strecok, who is affectionately called “Father Lubo” by his parishioners, the support for the church has been “pretty overwhelming.”
He said he was surprised that this support came not only from church members, but also from people of other churches and non-Christians from across the region.
Strecok said it was appropriate that the new statue depict Mary since the church is named after the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
“It’s beautiful craftsmanship, the best quality marble, it’s a work of art,” he said.
The new statues provide an opportunity for community members to reflect on how they can best emulate the virtues of the figures depicted, Strecok said.
The original statue of the Virgin Mary and Child, which had stood untouched for more than 20 years on the church’s property overlooking the Altoona High School athletic fields, was destroyed in March after it was apparently pushed off its pedestal by three teenagers under the cover of night, Bartley said.
A high school maintenance worker saw three teenagers on the church grounds around 10:15 p.m.
and reported it to school district police, she said.
When church office staff arrived the next morning, they found the statue toppled and partially smashed, she said.
Despite “wonderful” cooperation with the Altoona School District Police Department and the Altoona Police Department, the perpetrators were never identified, Bartley said, pointing out that although there are several surveillance cameras installed on the St. Mary’s campus, they were unable to capture a clear image of the suspects’ faces.
The new statue features an internal support bar securely mounted to the base to prevent future tipping, Bartley said.
Due to the extensive damage, it was initially assumed that the original statue could no longer be repaired, Bartley said.
But a Duncansville man has offered to repair the cement statue, Bartley said. If he is successful, the statue will be moved to St. Mary’s Cemetery.
If he is unsuccessful, the statue will be buried according to Catholic tradition. An object blessed by a priest should not be thrown in the trash, Bartley explained. Instead, it should be burned or buried with due respect.
The church will hold a ceremony for the new statue on Thursday, August 15, immediately after the
5:30 p.m. Mass on the feast day celebrating the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Bartley said. At that time, Strecok will officially bless the new statue of the Virgin Mary.
According to Strecok, the blessing ceremony is important because all canonized figures are venerated by Catholics around the world, but Mary receives special veneration because of her status as the mother of Jesus.
Strecok will say a prayer over the statue and bless it with holy water.
This process is somewhat different from the Rite of Consecration, which is a more elaborate way of blessing objects and structures that come into contact with the Eucharist or a representation of the body of Jesus, such as a church building, an altar or the chalice used in communion, Strecok said.
During the consecration, holy oil is used for anointing, while holy water is used for the blessing, he said.
For church member Terry Anderson, the destruction of the original statue of the Virgin Mary was a shock to the community.
“It’s always disappointing when something like this happens to us or anyone else,” he said.
Anderson said he didn’t think they would find a replacement statue so quickly, so it was a surprise when the Sidman couple contacted him and offered to donate the trio.
The expressions of support from across the region also came as a surprise, he said.
“The nature of the vandalism brought a lot of community members together to get it done, so it was nice to see it installed so quickly,” Anderson said.
According to Joe Eckels, chairman of St. Mary’s Finance Council, parishioners were disgraceful when vandals damaged the original statue, but are glad that it prompted them to move the statues from Johnstown to another location.
Since the Grattan family was already looking for a new caretaker for the statues, it was a happy coincidence that they learned of the situation at St. Mary’s, Eckels said.
“It was fortunate that it happened that way,” he said. “There was definitely a silver lining.”
Reach Mirror editor Conner Goetz at 814-946-7535.
