The Madonna of E. 115th Street is in Need of Repair

Readers of this site will be familiar with the beloved statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Harlem. The Holy Name Society of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Pontifical Shrine is mounting a fund raiser to restore the statue. The statue of the Virgin was crowned with Vatican authorization in 1903 – one of only a handful of Crowned Virgins in North America. Pope Pius X contributed an emerald but the rest of the gold and jewels for the crowns of Our Lady and the Christ Child came from the wedding rings and other jewelry contributed by the Italian ladies of the parish. The feast and procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel draws a huge crowd in the summer.

The interior of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Pontifical Shrine, where the historic statue stands over the main altar