Queen of Apostles statue dedicated at Holy Apostles

PHOTO: Bishop James Golka greets Ken Sullivan, creator of a bronze statue of Mary, Queen of Apostles that was recently installed at Holy Apostles Parish, following the statue’s dedication on Dec. 8. (Photo by Alex Cedillo)

COLORADO SPRINGS. Holy Apostles Parish recently welcomed the addition of a new statue of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, the final piece to the renovated front plaza as part of the parish’s capital campaign.

On Dec. 8, Bishop James Golka dedicated the statue following the 6:30 p.m. Mass for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

The statue, installed on Oct. 20, was custom-made and is unique to the parish.

Ken Sullivan is the artist and creator of the bronze statue. Sullivan was living in Highlands Ranch when the project began. His mother, sister and nephew were long-time Holy Apostles parishioners. Sullivan also sang in the Roman Catholic Chamber Choir. He approached Father Jim Baron when he heard about the plans for renovation.

“We wanted to build in something that was fairly monumental and the main feature (of the new plaza layout), so it was always the intention that it would be a big life-sized bronze statue,” Father Baron said.

The foundry where the statue was cast is in Fort Collins, so it’s all been done on a local level. And due to the generosity of parishioners, the whole plaza project has been paid off for over a year.

According to the Holy Apostles website, “in this depiction of Mary, Queen of Apostles, Mary is presenting Jesus as the Word of God. His arms are open, inviting us into an encounter with Him. From this encounter, we go forth as apostles to proclaim the Gospel. The twelve stars on the pedestal represent the Twelve Apostles.”

The statue’s symbolism, Father Baron explained, “is meant to be interactive — the plaque on the pedestal contains a quote from Matthew’s Gospel, (Ch. 2: 11.) ‘The magi entered the house, saw the child with his mother, and fell down and worshiped.’ So the idea of this encounter with what’s represented in the statue, is a sort of passage and invitation into the church, our Lady as the Mother of the Church, the Church herself as a mother encountering Christ, falling down and worshiping. A lot of thought went into this.”

Sullivan, who now lives in Louisiana, returned to Colorado Springs for the dedication.

(Linda Oppelt is administrative assistant for The Colorado Catholic Herald.)