Our Lady of Victory

It is the life mission of our customer Robert R. to spread devotion to Our Lady of Victory. Robert lives in Fort Worth, Texas, and so far he's purchased ten Our Lady of Victory statues from us. Our Lady of Victory is a title for Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary or the Blessed Virgin Mary. As the feast day to celebrate Our Lady of Victory approaches on October 7, it seems the perfect time to share Robert's story!

This is one of the ten antique Our Lady of Victory statues Robert bought from us. This French chalkware sculpture dates to 1900. It shows a crowned Mother Mary holding her infant son Jesus in her arms. The Christ Child is also crowned and stands on a globe, representing the world. Clouds swirl around the feet of the Madonna and son. At the bottom of the statue, angels smile up at them in adoration. Robert pretty much has a standing order with us for any other Our Lady of Victory statues that we find at markets in Europe, but you can browse a wide range of other antique religious treasures in our gallery.

Robert usually has Our Lady of Victory statues restored to reveal their former glory. He has just donated eleven Our Lady of Victory statues to St. Patrick Cathedral in Fort Worth, TX,  for their Religious Education department. A statue will be placed in each of their eleven class rooms. Although Robert normally prefers to restore his statues, St. Patrick Cathedral asked for the statues to be repainted to match each other. So, this is what Robert did. Don't they look wonderful?

Here is a close-up of one of the repainted Our Lady of Victory statues. Robert works with an artist who has done a beautiful job in enhancing the gilded crowns and the blue on the Madonna's robes. It is touching to see how the love poured into the antique statue by the original craftsman is continued all these years later by Robert's own love and dedication in having her repainted.

As I said, the feast day to celebrate Our Lady of Victory is on October 7, although it isn't strictly called that any more. Pope Pius V initiated Our Lady of Victory feast in 1571 to commemorate the victory of European Holy League forces against the Ottoman empire in the Battle of Lepanto. The feast paid honor and gratitude to the Blessed Virgin Mary as her name had been invoked in Rosary prayers throughout Europe on the day of the battle. Later, the feast name was changed to Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Do you have an antique religious object that you treasure? Do you collect holy water fonts, antique rosaries or Madonna or other religious statues? Tell us about it in the comments box below!