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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2008 /  Luminous mysteries

by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published September 26, 2008

Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic Auxiliary Bishop prays over Fr. Nicholas Zukowski, pastor of St. Mary Queen of Creation Parish in New Baltimore, as he commissions him in his new role as vicar of the Blue Water Vicariate.

New Baltimore — Fr. Nicholas Zukowski is confident St. Mary Queen of Creation is the only church in the Archdiocese of Detroit to have sculptural representations of the Luminous Mysteries of the rosary.

And while he cannot be sure whether the New Baltimore church is the first in the country to have them, he said all of his searching on the Internet has failed to turn up any mention of another.

"I don't know of any other parish to have them, so I'm saying we are the only one," said Fr. Zukowski, who has been pastor of the parish since 1993.

The Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary were introduced by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

Rosary sculpture and crucifix photo by David Warren Third Luminous Mystery: The Proclamation of the Kingdom (Mark 1:15). The Kingdom of God is God's saving presence in our world. Jesus is the perfect embodiment of the Kingdom of God. Jesus' proclamation of the Kingdom calls us to conversion. The Kingdom is both "here and now" and "not yet" in its fullness. The perfection of the Kingdom will happen at the end of time.

When the idea first surfaced to add a set of sculptural representations of the Luminous Mysteries to the church's existing ones of the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries, Fr. Zukowski said he thought he might be able to just order a set from a church supply catalogue.

"I looked and looked, and couldn't find any plaques of the Luminous Mysteries. Nor could I find any of the other mysteries – plenty of Stations of the Cross, but none of the rosary," he said.

Fr. Zukowski then considered finding a sculptor in Italy – after all, that's where the church's existing ones were done 46 years ago – but the one sculptor he found who expressed interest in the commission could not speak English. "I decided it would be too difficult to work with someone thousands of miles away who couldn't speak English," he said.

But Fr. Zukowski had seen – and liked – some of the work of Troy woodcarver John Marovich at SS. Cyril & Methodius Church in Sterling Heights, so he commissioned him to do the work. Marovich's sculptural reliefs are of the same dimensions – 42 inches by 36 inches – as the three older sets.

"He did them in a similar style, but a little more elaborate. The three existing sets are flat by comparison. The new set by John Marovich was done in a more three-dimensional style," Fr. Zukowski explained.

Rosary sculpture and crucifix photo by David Warren Fourth Luminous Mystery: The Transfiguation (Luke 9:28-36). Jesus gives Peter, James and John a glimpse of His Divinity to strengthen them for His upcoming passion and death. Again, the voice of God the Father is heard proclaiming Jesus as His Son, with the challenge to "Listen to Him."

Fr. Zukowski said he also liked the idea that, since the Luminous mysteries were introduced by an Eastern European pope, that their sculptural representations would be done by a sculptor of Eastern European heritage (Marovich's family roots are in Croatia). Marovich's assistant, Edgar Potestades, worked with him on the project.

The new pieces are mounted on the eastern wall of the church, to the left of the remounted large crucifix (to the right of the crucifix are the old plaques of the Sorrowful Mysteries).

The crucifix had been refurbished by volunteers from the parish after being taken from its previous position on the church's northern wall.

The crucifix had darkened with age, Fr. Zukowski explained. "We didn't even know what it was made of. It turned out to be solid brass, and after experimenting with several ways of cleaning it up, it turned out the best product was Brasso," he said.

Not only did parishioners contribute their time to do the work, but many parishioners contributed to raise $40,000 for the Luminous mysteries plaques and the refurbishing of the crucifix.

"Since our costs came to about $31,000, we have money left over to have a new corpus made for our processional cross. The one that is on there now is beautiful, but it's a Risen Christ, which does not fit with the new liturgical norms," Fr. Zukowski said.

Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Flores dedicated the new plaques and refurbished crucifix Sept. 14, on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, said it was appropriate that they were all being dedicated at the same Mass.

"Everything in the Christian life points to the great sign of the Christian life – and that is the Cross," Bishop Flores said in his homily. He said the Cross is not a sign that suffering is good in itself, but "a sign that love brings eternal life."

"St. Thomas Aquinas said Jesus did not save the world by how much He suffered – He saved the world by how much He loved as He suffered," the bishop said.

At the end of his homily, Bishop Flores prayed over Fr. Zukowski, commissioning him in his new role as vicar of the Blue Water Vicariate, in addition to continuing as pastor of St. Mary Queen of Creation.

St. Mary Queen of Creation is at 50931 Maria St., corner of Main Street, in New Baltimore. Telephone (586) 725-2441 or access Internet site, www.stmaryqueenofcreation.org.