“He is Risen” is a carved tabernacle door depicting the hillside of Jerusalem where Jesus was buried. The rising sun reveals it to be Easter morning as the three women skip down the path together, an expression of great joy upon realizing that Jesus has risen.
The grave is empty, sculpted out to serve as the handle of the door, so each time the priest opens the tabernacle, he must put his hand into the empty tomb.
Commissioned in 1992 by Padre Jorge Castillejo Lluisiá for Casa de Niños Manuel Fernández Juncos, San Juan, Puerto Rico
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“Ha resucitado” es una puerta del tabernáculo tallada que representa la ladera de Jerusalén donde fue enterrado Jesús. El sol naciente revela que es la mañana de Pascua mientras las tres mujeres saltan juntas por el sendero, en una expresión de gran alegría al darse cuenta de que Jesús ha resucitado.
La tumba está vacía, esculpida para servir de manija de la puerta, por lo que cada vez que el sacerdote abre el tabernáculo, debe meter la mano en la tumba vacía.
Encargado en 1992 por el Padre Jorge Castillejo Lluisiá para Casa de Niños Manuel Fernández Juncos, San Juan, Puerto Rico
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27)
I carved this crucified Christ, “The Agony of Crucifixion” after an in-depth study of the book A Doctor at Calvary by Pierre Barbet M.D., a forensic pathologist’s analysis of the Holy Shroud of Turin. It reveals a graphic account of Jesus’s suffering at the hands of the Romans. “A theory attributed to Pierre Barbet holds that, when the whole body weight was supported by the stretched arms, the typical cause of death was asphyxiation. He wrote that the condemned would have severe difficulty inhaling, due to hyper-expansion of the chest muscles and lungs. The condemned would therefore have to draw himself up by the arms, leading to exhaustion, or have his feet supported by tying or by a wood block. When no longer able to lift himself, the condemned would die within a few minutes.”
The main results of the study show in the carving the effects of asphyxiation symptoms where all the muscles of the body cramp up due to lack of oxygen and cause massive cramps resulting in agonizing death.
So precise was this macabre form of torture and death, that in the way the Romans hung the bodies to the cross they could determine how long it would take the victim to die.
Msgr. Bronislaw Gadarowski commissioned this life-size wood sculpture for St. John’s Catholic Church in Montville, Connecticut. The artist carved it in linden wood (circa 1981)
NOTE—I remember when I returned to the church a few days after it was installed; it had to be in maybe 1983. When I walked into the church there were at least five people on their knees looking up at the crucifix; they were Polish second generation faithful. A short time afterwards, the priest told me that they were thinking about taking it down and only putting it up during Lent because some parents said it scared their children! Two years later when I visited the church during Lent; there was a newly installed Priest—I think he was from Quebec. I told him about the incident with the Kids. He looked at me and said, “I sit underneath it. I worry it might fall on me.” So it has some provenance!
Two contemplative videos (English and Spanish versions) showing the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ (his arrest, taking up of the cross, crucifixion, death and burial) through original paintings and wood sculptures by the artist A.Vonn Hartung, accompanied by meditative music.
La Madre Dolorosa, a high-relief wood carving, conveys the agony of Jesus through the eyes of his mother, Mary. Specifically, the betrayal by Judas, the arrest, torturous scourging, trial, carrying of the cross, and finally the agonizing crucifixion and death at Golgotha.
The Sorrowful Mother contemplates the seven sorrows of her life, represented by the seven swords piercing her heart.
“He is Risen” is a carved tabernacle door depicting the hillside of Jerusalem where Jesus was buried. The rising sun reveals it to be Easter morning as the three women skip down the path together, an expression of great joy upon realizing that Jesus has risen.
