Cultivating Catholic Series | 01 Statues & Crucifixes

cultivating : making a great effort to grow, establish and develop something.

I am often asked where I find Catholic home decor but I think the first point to make is why I bother doing it. As a protestant, we didn’t really have Christian decor. I wasn’t against it, I just didn’t happen to have any. I loved signs with Scripture on it and I loved seeing crosses as part of the heart and focus of the home. On our journey to converting to Catholic, through immense research, I began to really see – not just the benefit – but the dire necessity to create a home atmosphere that inspires constant prayer and constant reminders to live on a path towards sainthood.

If you are a protestant reading this, Catholics do not worship idols, statues or Mary. It is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN in Catholic faith. Forbidden. Blasphemous. If you do not believe me when I tell you the truth, that you have been lied to about this, it grieves me. I used to believe these lies as well. If you are a protestant and you put out a nativity at Advent or Christmas, it’s like that. If you put up pictures of people you love, deceased family members or family that lives far away, it’s like that. I would also like to add that Mary is foretold in Genesis, “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.” – Genesis 3:15. Satan hates Mary. I happen to enjoy making the devil mad. He will lose, God wins. The end.

Crucifixes vs. Crosses

As a protestant, I believed the premise that if Jesus is risen and off the cross, why in the world do Catholics have Him ON the Cross still?! Don’t they know anything about the risen King?! Oh boy. So, first off, there is nothing inherently wrong with a cross without Jesus on it. A cross itself is a reminder to all believers that we are to carry our cross daily and a reminder of Christ the King risen.

However, and hear me out, The Crucifix – that is Christ Crucified – is a FAR greater insult to satan. He failed to tempt Christ away from the redeeming sacrifice and blood of The Passion. Satan is a failure. The Christ crucified is a glaring reminder to satan that he loses, that God is far superior and worthy of actual worship. Also, similarly to watching The Passion of the Christ movie, seeing the reality of pain Christ went through for ME is humbling. It drives me to feel convicted of my sins and repent. It calls me to deeper prayer.

I consider it my duty and my honor to insult the king of lies and deception at any and every turn. I belong to Christ the King.

Life Set Apart

We must realize the precarious peril our delicate souls are in. Deadly spiritual attacks are never ceasing on the body of Christ. Daily we are bombarded from all forms of media to inappropriate, sinful, lustful, hell-bound temptations. The path to Heaven is a narrow one and it will take a daily striving and focus to silence the vapid, repugnant noise of the world to be and stay set apart.

The Scriptures call us to be still : “Be still and see that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth.” in Psalm 46:10; Douay-Rheims.

In the New Testament, Jesus calmed the storm : “And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that the ship was filled. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, sleeping upon a pillow; and they awake him, and say to him: Master, doth it not concern thee that we perish? And rising up, he rebuked the wind, and said to the sea: Peace, be still. And the wind ceased: and there was made a great calm. And he said to them: Why are you fearful? have you not faith yet? And they feared exceedingly: and they said one to another: Who is this (thinkest thou) that both wind and sea obey him?” from the Gospel of St. Mark 4:37-40; Douay-Rheims.

I have ceased to use social media to help focus my life on the eternal. Instagram most especially can distract quickly to the temporal, sins of the flesh, disease of the mind. More than ever I feel an urgent pull to Christ, His Mother, His Holy Church, The Holy Eucharist, Sacrament of Reconciliation and constant prayer.

But I am a very flawed human. I need constant, visual reminders to steer this ship on the narrow passageway to Heaven. My job is to get my children to Heaven, to train them up. The best training for others is to become a living example, to suffer well, carry your cross and follow Christ. Not even remotely a simple a task as it was to type that.

All beauty comes from God. God is the ultimate creator. I used to think that beautiful churches were a waste of money. In my naïveté, I failed to realize its importance in the call to Holiness. We are a visually inspired creation. Beautiful, holy images direct our minds in the right direction.

“And the peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things.” – Philippians 4:7-8; Douay-Rheims.

I enjoy a certain aesthetic beauty in creating our home, so I often search out items that help create an atmosphere of calm and beauty. Below are more pictures of some of our statues in our home. At the time of this writing, there are 12 more on the way. I’m going to link to some of my favorites that we have, ones that I’ve ordered, and other places to find beautiful statue art. My top places are : House of Joppa, Amazon, Etsy, Target.

Don’t Forget : Call up your priest, invite him to lunch or dinner at your home. Have him bless your home, candles, statues, rosaries, etc. Holy water hurts demons. Do it.

House of Joppa : Statues I own – Vintage Mary Statue, Mary Mother of God Statue. I also have the San Damiano Crucifix which was laid upon our daughter’s casket at her funeral, and this Crucifix Holy Water Font. These statues on their way because they just came back into stock at the time of this writing, so I ordered them asap! – Mini Mary Garden Done for You [without Crown], Nativity Scene Set, and Our Lady of the Rosary. I also have several books from House of Joppa, but that’s coming up in this series. GET 10% OFF your order when you USE THIS CODE at checkout : SALTY10
For all my Amazon finds, here is my shop with Catholic Holy Items.
From Target we got the large Holy Family statue above with the lace curtains behind it. It stands approx. 22″ tall which the size large [not grande]. It’s lovely! At the time of this writing it is out of stock, but here is the link. You can get it directly from Design Toscano here. I have a miracle story to share about this statue, but that is another post. I’ll link it here once that post goes live.
Etsy : My favorite Mary statue and Jesus. I’m hoping to have these in our home soon. They are so so beautiful. They stand almost a foot tall.