Te Deum laudamus!: Archbishop Vigneron Blesses Statue of St. Barbara in Detroit Salt Mine

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Archbishop Vigneron Blesses Statue of St. Barbara in Detroit Salt Mine

Photo by Jared Field/Michigan Catholic

I subscribe to the weekly Michigan Catholic in print because not all of it's content is shared online. However, this article was. This is just too cool. Many are probably unaware of the salt mine in Detroit. Apparently, His Excellency has no fear of riding down a small shaft into the bowels of the earth.

Archbishop Vigneron blesses new shrine in Detroit salt mines
by Jared Field

Detroit- Clad in a black miner's jacket and sky blue hard hat, Archbishop Allen Vigneron descended 1,200 feet and 400 million years into the salt of the earth Oct. 22.

The archbishop blessed the newly crafted statue and shrine to St. Barbara, the patroness of miners, at the base of the hoist - the only portal in or out - at the Detroit Salt Company on the city's southwest side, Michigan's lone rock salt mine.

"We must be disposed and appreciate what this means," Archbishop Vigneron told a group of about 30 miners. "When the Church blesses a statue for people to use, to pray at, we do this because when we look at this statue we see somebody who followed Christ. And we, like that saint, will seek to please Christ.

"Those saints are our friends. They pray for us; they remember us and help us with their love."

Archbishop Vigneron went on to say:

"I hope that every time you see this statue as you come to work, I hope it's a reminder to you that you can live in a way of holiness. A man, a woman, doesn't have to be in a convent or a monastery ... in order to be holy. God wants all of us to be holy, and you can live a life of holiness as you work in a mine. You can do God's will; you can glorify him by the integrity of your work, the hard work you offer, and the justice by which you treat one another."