"Real" statues and their substitutes

• Published in: Archives de sciences sociales des religions Vol. 58; no. 161; pp. 251 - 268
• Main Author: Albert-Llorca, Marlene
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: French
• Published: 01.01.2013
• Subjects: Catholics; Christianity; Folklore; Power; Religious symbolism; Ritual; Sacredness; Values; Worship
• ISSN: 0335-5985

In the Christian world, it is said of some cult images, often images of the Virgin Mary, that they were miraculously discovered where their sanctuary rises. These stories, which aim to justify the sacredness and the miraculous powers of these images (almost always statues in the Catholic world) imply that each of them is a single reality. Because there may be multiple representations of the Virgin Mary, but there is only one statue to be discovered in such a place and in such circumstances. Sometimes, however, the statue recipient of public worship is not the one whose legend tells about the discovery, but another one that one is led to substitute for the "real one". This article examines several cases where this is so, and attempts to identify the value that devotees grant, in each case, to the "real" image and to its substitute. Adapted from the source document.