The Climb, by Sister Elaine Hollis, SSJ

On Sunday I finally had the chance to climb to the top of the statue of Our Lady of France with a group of the Indian Sisters, Ortencia from Argentina, and Mary Clare from Canada. One can see this statue from almost every part of LePuy.

View of the statue from the mountain with the St. Michael Chapel

This statue was built after a victory in the Crimean War from 213 cannons captured from the enemy. Inaugurated in 1860, it was built on the highest mountain around and so the view from the top is spectacular.


             Our Lady of France                  Preeti & Sushma with cannons that were not melted

The view from the crown of the statue

What is so amazing is that after climbing hundreds of steps to get to the statue, one can go inside of it and climb corkscrew staircases to a platform just below the crown. The last part of the journey is a ladder that takes one to the highest point. All along the way up are little windows that open to see the view. The workmanship in this is incredible.

The corkscrew staircase inside the statue

As I reflect on the experience I am struck by the thought that the weapons of war were turned into this beautiful statue of Our Lady holding the Prince of Peace. We certainly are facing a long hard climb to overturn the violence in our world today and to hold peace in our hearts, our families and our world.