Home Away from Home

Sisters’ Beloved Statues Find New Life Among
the People of our lady of mount carmel parish

The summer sun streaming in through the windows of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Center in Pittsburgh casts a silhouette of Jesus’ outstretched arms across the far end of the main-floor hallway. As the receptionist greets visitors on the left, a storied Sacred Heart statue greets them on the right. He’s new here, recently relocated after nearly a century of greeting everyone — Sisters, students, clergy and friends — who passed through the doors of the former Mount Assisi Convent and Academy just a few miles away.

Nearly 100 years old, the Sacred Heart is among a group of beloved statues that have found a new home here after decades at Mount Assisi (known as Mt. Assisi Place personal care home since the School Sisters of St. Francis sold the complex in 2019). They were moved this summer to make way for The Saint Constantine School of Pittsburgh, which will opened on the Mt. Assisi Place campus this fall.

Rather than the large statues common in Catholic spaces, the school is adorned with colorful icons of saints revered in the Orthodox Christian faith. Now as part of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish collection — which includes St. Teresa of Avila, St. Sebastian, Incarnation of the Lord, and St. Athanasius churches — the statues have been reborn into new life.

“Having these things here brings peace for the people,” says Deacon Cliff Homer, who coordinated movement of the Mount Assisi statues to their new home. He learned of the need to relocate them from Ed Nuttall, a longtime parish maintenance man whose wife works at Mt. Assisi Place. It took a bit of planning, three trucks, and a lot of loving care to move the fragile yet hulking statues, but they all arrived unscathed.

In addition to housing administrative offices, gathering places and classrooms, the parish center — once home to St. Teresa school — has evolved into a museum of sorts. Its walls and halls are lined with statues, paintings, icons and other items from several churches, schools and convents in the area. Some will stay here, while others may find their way to new homes. It’s all been done thoughtfully.

For instance, the statues of Mary and Joseph that adorned the original Mount Assisi Convent chapel since 1928 will eventually move to a chapel at St. Sebastian often used for smaller weddings and other milestone events. “I belong to St. Sebastian’s, so I’ll be able to see these statues often,” says Mary Young-Good, a 1965 graduate of Mount Assisi Academy. “They will bring back memories of my days at MAA.”

The Sacred Heart and an accompanying painting will adorn the On Fire Room parish center classroom where an adult spirituality course of the same name is taught. Likewise, the iconic likeness of Francis of Assisi overlooks a classroom named in his honor. Just down the hall, a child Jesus statue that watched over the children of the former Mount Assisi Academy Preschool for decades now welcomes moms and tots to weekly sessions of Making Music, Praying Twice, which blends music and prayer in a format geared toward youngsters.

The informal partnership has worked out for both parties. Mount Assisi’s beloved statues will be appreciated and cared for in their new spaces, while desks that once served St. Teresa students made their way to Mt. Assisi Place to accommodate Saint Constantine students. The exchange also brings solace to the members of the School Sisters of St. Francis who live at Mt. Assisi Place. It is bittersweet to see the statues go, but exciting that young people once again fill the hallways.

“I just love that Sacred Heart statue,” says 92-year-old Sister Cecilia Jacko, who first saw the statue when she was just 3 years old. “It’s strange for him to not be where he’s been all these years. But I’ve been invited to go visit him. I just might do that.”