Colombian artist paints icon of St. Joseph at St. Mary of the Hills

By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press

BOYLSTON – St. Mary of the Hills Parish has a new icon of St. Joseph. It’s the work of a former seminarian who came from Colombia specifically to create it for this church – and to make a retreat while doing so.
St. Mary’s pastor Father Juan D. Echavarria knew Julian Garcia, the artist, in their native Colombia and invited him to come to his parish to work on a St. Joseph icon.
Mr. Garcia unveiled the icon and Bishop McManus blessed it at the Lord’s Day vigil Mass Sept. 9.
“It was created from scratch; it was made for us with love,” and doesn’t exist anywhere else, Father Echavarria told the congregation. 
“It complements our church,” he added, noting that there is an icon of their patroness, the Blessed Mother, on the other side of the altar. Since St. Joseph is patron of the universal Church, “we trust our lives to both of them” on the journey to heaven, the pastor said.
“How lovely to be here for this ceremony,” parishioner Mary Abair said after Mass. Mr. Garcia did “such a nice job” on the St. Joseph icon, and it complements the icon of Mary.
The Mary icon was donated by parishioner Edmond Faneuf, who wanted to do something for the church when it was built in 1991. However, Father Paul J. Tougas, the pastor then, said that Mr. Faneuf “didn’t like the icon” which was done by a Franciscan nun from New York. Nobody saw it ahead of time, Father Tougas said. Mr. Faneuf’s reaction was so strong that “he left the parish” and got rides to attend Mass at St. Joan of Arc Parish in Worcester. Eventually, Mr. Faneuf returned, and in 1997 St. Mary of the Hills’ community celebrated his 106th birthday with him.
Bishop McManus preached about the husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus, before blessing the St. Joseph icon. In the Gospels, St. Joseph is not a man of words; “he’s a man of obedience,” the bishop noted.
“Since my youth I’ve had a strong devotion to this manly and fatherly saint,” he said, recalling a treasured memory. After Christmas and Easter, at Blessed Sacrament Church in Providence, the altar boys were kept busy serving priests who had grown up in the parish and came back during days off to celebrate private Masses at the side altars. Since Joseph is Bishop McManus’ middle name, the nun in charge had him serve Masses at the side altar that had a statue of St. Joseph and Baby Jesus with the words, “Ite ad Joseph,” Latin for “Go to Joseph.” 
After Mass Sept. 9, Mr. Garcia talked to The Catholic Free Press about his artwork using a translation program on his cell phone.  
“When I opened the doors of the icon [at the unveiling] I felt blessed, but I also felt unworthy,” he said. “When revelations of faith and things from the heart of God are painted, we are always human, and, as artists, we are going to be very poor in the face of the greatness of those things.”
He said he delved into artwork after he left seminary and has been doing it as a paying job for 13 years. He studies at the University Foundation of Fine Arts in Medellín, illustrates children’s books, does graphic design and paints a variety of themes.
Seminary studies helped shape him as an artist, especially with depicting religious themes, which are special to him, he said.
Mr. Garcia worked on the St. Joseph icon in St. Mary of the Hills Church for more than a month. He returned to Colombia Sept. 13, Father Echavarria said.
Parishioners made donations to pay for his work, Mr. Garcia said, but he was also there for a spiritual retreat for himself, which included doing the artwork.
“Painting the icon requires not only technical knowledge … but also prayer, silence and constant communication with God,” to do his will, he said. “God makes his figure and his love appear on the wood, even without the need of the artist.”

– To view more artwork by Julian Garcia see his Instagram account @dibujosdecorazon.