On November 11th , 2012, to be precise on the Feast Day of the Patron Saint of Sint Maarten, St. Martin of Tours, the unveiling and blessing of the newly commissioned statue will take place in the courtyard of St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church on Front Street, Philipsburg.
The Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Nicola Girasoli, the Ambassador of the Pope for the Caribbean Region, has been invited to preside at the 8:30 am Sunday Mass and to bless the statue of St. Martin of Tours afterwards. The Bishop of the Diocese of Willemstad, Bishop Luis Secco, SDB will also be present to participate in the Mass along with the unveiling and blessing.
The new statue of St. Martin of tours was commissioned by the parish over a year and a half ago and sculpted by David and Jordan Wanner of Wanner Studios based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Where St. Martin of Tours is often depicted when he was a Roman soldier offering his cloak to a beggar, this statue is unique in the sense that it is when St. Martin became a bishop, and he is offering the cloak to all of Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin, and to those who visit our island.
We should welcome all to this celebration next Sunday 8:30 am.