A special Sacred Heart for the Samaritan Carmelite nuns of Valdediós

Last June, we announced the arrival of the carving of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the monastery of Valdediósin Asturias, where the company currently resides. Samaritan Carmelites of the Heart of Jesus.

The sisters received it with great joy: "It is very difficult to describe these moments... I can only say that it is impossible to have more joy and more illusion than the one we had here yesterday...."said their superior, Mother Olga Maria.

She also expressed it in one of her writings: "from the first minute of our arrival in Valdediós, that he would come to this Valley of His has been our absolute priority. If it were not so... we would not be Carmelite Samaritans of His Heart".. And it is that this religious community is based on the heart of Christ "in welcoming, feeling and loving as Christ does".This is why "God loves us with a human heart" is the motto of the community's coat of arms.

The process of creating this life-size carving made of linden wood and polychromed.began with a very special request from the Samaritan Carmelite Community: Since their arrival at Valdediós, a monastery that had previously belonged to a community of friars, they had wished to an image of the Sacred Heart inspired in the Christ of the Sanctuary of the Great Promise of Valladolidto whom they were very close during the first years of the gestation of the Samaritan Carmel and to whom they profess great devotion today.

This Christ of the Great Promise, designed by Felix Granda and realized by Julio Vicent (photo 1), was inspired, in turn, by the Sacred Heart of the Reina de la Habana Church.also designed by Don Felix Granda and carved by the sculptor José Capuz (photo 2). In both of them we can see the Felix had such a personal vision of devotion to the Sacred Heart.

The new carving takes from that of the Sanctuary of the Great Promise the open disposition of the arms, a sober, truly human face, and a loving gaze that looks downward.. In addition, it takes from the Sacred Heart of Havana the chasuble's stew, which contains an iconographic message represented by circles of ears of wheat.

We entered the workshop and spoke with Juan Carlos, the carver: "It has been a work as I like it, in direct contact with the client. The sisters came to see it during the process and made their observations. After the complete model was milled, it was decided to modify the face because when they came to the workshop they saw a carving of another Christ with features that they thought were nicer; they wanted a face that would transmit tenderness and have a welcoming look, but that at the same time would have the vigor of one who looks and, from the heart, calls"..

The Mother Olga is in love with the sacred art that came from the hands of Don Felix Granda, so she decided to involve the community in a special way in the process: "his art expresses exactly what I feel about faith, that is why we asked for a copy of the Sacred Heart of Valladolid for Valdediós".