Religious Statuary From Ship's Masts

[TalesOfTheSevenSeas]

Several years ago I toured St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown San Jose CA during it's restoration. It is a very beautiful Catholic church as you can see in these photos

On the tour, they showed us how the statuary had been carved from the masts of old ships. I think at least one had the name of the ship carved on the back. There was a reason for using the wood of a ship's mast- that not only was the wood better quality, but they were believed to be blessed if I remember correctly-

Does anyone know about this or where other statues are that were carved from the masts of ships?

[Deacon Frye]

I don't know about being carved from masts, but St. Claire's scarin' me.

Those eyes!

[TalesOfTheSevenSeas]

I think it's actually a reflection, LOL she has normal looking eyes in real life!

Here is an account of another statue carved from a VERY old mast. Wow.

The following is an excerpt from this page on the city of Angri in Italy. You can see old photos of the statue.

"...Festa di San Giovanni

The Festa begins each year with the procession of the Patron Saint through the city streets and with celebrations that finish with fireworks displays.

It is believed that San Giovanni was elected patron at the beginning of the 1300s thanks to his intervention in the occurrence of several calamities that befell the region. A thousand years ago, two wooden ships transported clay articles to African countries. One of the two ships had a statue of San Giovanni Battista on its bridge, made by a sailor from an old ship's mast. The sailors of the other ship, envious of the speed of the first one, stole the statue. Then the poor statue was placed on a wagon and hauled into an open field. Here a church was built in its honor and the statue was locked up inside it. It was pulled outside on the occasion of public calamities and quickly transported from its Collegiata to the place of the disaster so the saint could see the damage. Near the end of the month of June, "mastri" of festivity embellish city roads with showy lights, and render honor to the saint with the most anticipated firework contest. San Giovanni is carried all over the city, to receive flowers and offerings, while the band plays the traditional marcetta: "Bring out money, bring out money, San Giovanni!" During the procession old San Giovanni is carried on shoulders, followed by "San Giovanniello," the silver statue of the saint, that must collect the first fruits of the countryside. He can never precede the old San Giovanni statue, otherwise there will be heavy rains. He follows the Patron along with the "maio", an allegorical wagon woven of straw, filled with first fruits. Until 1965, banknotes were pinned on the red mantle of the saint for devotion. Nowadays, the Committee has placed a basket for the offerings on the van that transports it. "