Amid the Ashes, a Statue of Mary Stands as a Symbol of Survival

The New York Times ^ | 11/16/12 | Samuel G. Freedman

[marshmallow]

Where the McNulty home once stood on the corner of Oceanside and Gotham, a few blocks from the Atlantic Ocean on the spit of land in Queens called Breezy Point, there now remains a charred, twisted ruin. Flooding and fire have left behind nothing but the foundation. Within it are strewed a dislodged bathtub, an air-conditioner casing battered into a helix shape, a mailbox coated with ashes.

As if all that loss were not loss enough, the storm spared a few tormenting reminders of life before its arrival. In the scorched shell of a cedar closet, screen windows stand neatly stacked. Three rolls of paper towels sit on a pantry shelf, toasted as delicately brown as cookout marshmallows.

So, yes, at the corner of Oceanside Avenue and Gotham Walk, the house inherited by the elderly McNultys’ niece Regina after the couple died, is a place of tragedy. It is also, astonishingly, a place of faith. For the one part of the home to survive intact was a statue of the Virgin Mary that Mary McNulty placed in her garden years ago.

The statue is one of the only recognizable remnants of the swath of Breezy Point where more than 100 homes burned to the ground while a flood kept firefighters from reaching it. Since the waters withdrew early on Oct. 30, the image of the Breezy Point Madonna has reached the nation, indeed the world, through vivid news photos. Pilgrims have come to leave offerings: a bouquet of yellow roses, four quarters, a votive candle, a memorial card for the victims of Sept. 11, a written admonition that healing begins with acceptance.

Ellen Mathis Kail knelt at the shrine five days after the catastrophe. She had spent 30 summers on Breezy Point and watched her parents save for.......

[steve86]

All my page refreshes seem to be routed through the Higg's Boson experiment at CERN, in particular the time-slowing relativistic anomaly detector.

Took the four little kids for their supervised visitation today -- the father didn't show up. Whether he didn't have the money or just didn't want the bother is unknown. He at least could have contacted the visitation center and cancelled. Judge in the Family Law Court will not be impressed.

[Tax-chick]

Sigh. So sad for the children, as well as a nuisance for you.

The diaper situation just came forcibly to my attention ...

[RobbyS]

The Israelites carved statutes of angels to put on the Holy Ark. Thus the prohibition is not total. We call Mary, Queen of Angels, and they and she daily praise the Most High God. She was the first follower of Christ, and we believe, the person to be as we shall be if we are faithful to him. He who looks at Mary, sees Jesus.

[RobbyS]

The desolation reminds us that one day our earthly homes, our bodies will be destroyed. She reminds us that we shall live again, so we can live in hope of that certain resurrection.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Truth is wasted on obtuse linguistic literalists.

[Zuriel]

Now, had it been made in China (plastic, styrofoam, etc.) it would have landed in some yard a mile away. And the folks there would have declared it an image fallen down from heaven and made a ‘grotto’ for it.

For comparison...How many grave stones in the cemeteries blew over in the storm.

It withstood a flood (stones are used for ballast not buoyancy). It withstood a fire (stones are used to cook on not fuel to a fire). The window screens and singed paper towels (probably ‘Bounty’ since they are tough) should have a shrine since they are the ‘miraculous survivors’ it seems.