The timing is perfect. Just as the Society are preparing to visit Our Lady of Esperanza, Granda, the well known Spanish purveyor of ecclesiastical furnishings, informs us of the following in their newsletter (we reproduce the original text):
“We knew at Granda that the first item crafted by our workshop for the US was an elaborate sanctuary lamp. We had records that the lamp was made by Fr. Felix Granda, but with the Spanish Civil War in 1936-39, many documents were lost and we didn’t know were it was.
From some recently recovered documentation, we deducted that the lamp was sent to the Hispanic Society of America in New York, but after a personal visit there and an interview with the curator of the Museum, that possibility had to be ruled out.
From the interview, however, we learned that there was a church related to the museum and built by the Hispanic Society with the generous help of Mr. Archer M. Huntington. This fact motivated a renewed our search and the lamp was found.
The beautiful lamp that hangs from the sanctuary dome, its flickering flame sparkling day and night, symbolizes Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. This lamp was presented to Our Lady of Esperanza Church in 1912 by King Alfonso XIII of Spain. Alfonso personally commissioned Father Felix Granda, a noted priest and sculptor of that time to make an exact replica of the vessel created by the celebrated eighteenth century sculptor, Urquiza. The original hangs in the sanctuary of the Church of San Antonio de la Florida in Madrid, Spain.
In addition to its exquisite design, an interesting feature of this great masterpiece is its symbolism. The top of the lamp is in the form of a crown representing the Royal Family of Spain, from the crown hang three beautifully ornamented chains, which represent the Collar of the Spanish Order of the Golden Fleece.
At the base of the three chains there is a suspended round tray, adorned with fine detailed galleries on which we can repeatedly see the coat of arms of Spain, which is a lion and a castle between the Pillars of Hercules. Three golden cherubs hovering in graceful flight support the tray and its center and there are six-sided columns. On one of the column’s sides the coat of arms of King Alfonso is emblazoned, and on another there is an engraved dedication by the King.
The center column supports a golden sphere, the earth etched with a map of the world and a quotation from the Holy Scripture: “Lux orta est justo et rectis corde loetitia. Quandiu sum in in mundo lux sum mundi”. (Light is risen to the just, and joy to the right of heart. Psalm XCXl: II; As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. John 1:5). From the top of the sphere, flames burst forth and rise through a holder in which the vigil taper burns day and night before the Blessed Sacrament.”
(Courtesy of Vincenza DiMauro)
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