How To Select A Garden Shrine

How to Select a Statue ~ Location and Plantings ~ Statuary Types - Pros and Cons

New Incredibly Affordable Garden Statue Resource

Virgin Mary Statues - Divine Providence Virgin - Immaculate Heart of Mary - Our Lady of Charity - Our Lady of Fatima

Madonna and Child - Our Lady of Mercy - Our Lady of Guadalupe - Our Lady of Grace - Our Lady of Gentle Love

Our Lady of Lourdes - Rosa Mystica - Our Lady of Mount Carmel

How to Select Your Catholic Garden Statue

If you've looked through our garden shrine page, you know that there is a wide variety to choose from - and an even wider array of ways to display your statue. Here are some guidelines to help you make a decision.

Select a statue that is meaningful to you. The most popular Catholic garden statue is without a doubt, Our Lady of Grace.

But there's no reason why you shouldn't include other titles of Our Lady and Our Lord, Jesus Christ or your favorite saints.

Perhaps you have particular spiritual or temporal needs that a particular patron saint can help with - or you are engaged in a trade or activity that is associated with a special saint.

Have your special prayers to Our Lord, Mary or a Saint been answered?

Have you made a promise to honor that Holy One in a public manner?

Has your family or neighborhood been assailed by the devil? Maybe Saint Michael can help.

We've provided brief outlines about the titles of Mary and Jesus as well as backgrounds on many of the saints.

Location and Plantings - If you live in the country or the suburbs your choices are broad. Consider placing your shrine or statue in a front yard facing street traffic as an element of evangelization.

Also, think about placing a well loved statue in a quiet corner of your garden for quiet prayer time.

A children's play area is also an excellent spot to place a statue of Jesus, Mary or even a Guardian Angel to encourage young Catholics to get to know them and even to take time to pray while they play.

If you live in the city and have only a small front yard, give serious consideration to keeping your statue at a distance from the trash cans.

Keep plantings low in front - flowers like geraniums, alyssum, and lobelia are nice choices along with impatience. Formal foundation plantings of small leafed hedges are nice too if you keep them trimmed.

Graceful arches of roses and clematis are always lovely, even if they are smaller than the one shown here.

WHAT MATERIAL WILL YOUR STATUE BE MADE OF?

The choices between concrete, plaster, copper, steel, resin and polyvinyl might seem like simple choices depending on your budget, but there is more than meets the eye. Here are some pros and cons for each.

STEEL REINFORCED CONCRETE

Pros - last a long time, usually too heavy to worry that they'll blow over in the wind or that someone will steal, very solidly built.

Cons - steel reinforcement is actually iron and eventually it rusts and bleeds through. They are HEAVY. Getting them home and then in place is a chore. Moving them years later is worse because you're older. The paint does wear off faster than you'd think, and depending on where you live acid rain, etc. will have a pitting effect. Not so easy to repair. Even a small crack can seriously damage a costly piece in no time. At the right is an example of one of our repairs - click image to enlarge. Concrete statues with "tub" shrines are fairly easy to come by. Getting them home is the hard part. Ouch! My back!

PLASTER

Pros - presents a beautiful smooth surface that takes paint nicely. Relatively lightweight.

Cons - breaks easily, paint erodes in sunlight and weather.

Here is an example of a terribly eroded plaster statue we found in a convent garden. He looked absolutely horrifying, but the Sisters painted Him gold to somewhat restore His beauty, even in the decayed state. Click image to enlarge.

RESIN

Pros - Highly durable and stands up to the weather for years.

Cons - Pieces are often glued together and eventually fall apart although you can repair them easily enough. Some can be Made in China.

FINE METALS -COPPER /BRONZE

Pros - Beautiful and long lasting.

Cons - Expensive and larger pieces are very heavy. And people like to steal them for scrap metal.

POLYVINYL

Pros - Affordable, Lightweight, Durable, Comes in a variety of finishes, easy to weigh down, easy to store, versatile for use indoors and outdoors and best of all, it's Made in the USA

Cons - Like any other material, eventually it will wear down in the weather and can crack after years in extreme temperatures.

Catholic Home and Garden is happy to present an array of affordable garden shrines for your Catholic home.

Unlike traditional shrines made of reinforced concrete or metal, these shrines are a fraction of the cost and - more importantly - you won't hurt yourself trying to set them up!

Our popular line of Made-in-the-USA durable polyvinyl statues with UV protection are made to last for years. Simply decide where you want to place your statue or grotto, fill with sand or gravel to hold in place, and you have a beautiful, long lasting piece that speaks of your faith to all who pass by.

From time to time we also offer vintage garden statuary in our storefront. Be sure to take a look there, too.

We also present a line of classic statues from our Toscano Design partners. They are so beautiful that you might be tempted to use them indoors, too. Why not? They are easy to move for dusting and have the look of fine statuary. Here is a discount code for 10% off in the month of April - CJPSTATUE

Click on a Title to Explore Category

ANGELS

More to Come

New Garden Statuary Resource

We recently found this site while looking for a piece for a parish garden that is being restored. Take a look and you'll be surprised as we were at low prices for beautiful pieces.

Please note: these are not our products, but if you use the link listed below, they will know that we sent you.

Click on the links below the images to visit their website - then click on Garden Statues - Religious.

St. Francis lends peaceful serenity to your private home or garden sanctuary. More than 3' tall and full of detail!

If contemplation is an art, then this peaceful angel is a masterpiece. Easy to admire. from her feathered wings to her dainty toes!

This is a beautiful memorial piece that would be most fitting in a seaside setting.

Here are a few of their statues that we like very much. The Christ at Gethsemane was acquired for the parish we mentioned at the left.

Christ praying at Gethsemane

This one is a Bannock Burn Celtic Cross that is now on sale.

A beautifully sculpted Saint Francis of Assisi with a young fawn

Estate sized Saint Michael the Archangel

We were shocked to see that this one is only $350!

A child carrying a little Cross. Perfect for a children's garden or a setting where children are recovering from illness.

Sacred Heart of Jesus Grotto

The Holy Family

Virgin Mary Statues

Beautiful Figures of Our Lady

in a Variety of Finishes

Explore the meaning of

Our Lady's Titles to

Find the One Right for You

Divine Providence Virgin

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Our Lady of Charity

Our Lady of Fatima

Our Lady of Gentle Love

Our Lady of Grace

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Lourdes

Our hand painted onyx statues - shown at the left - have been exceptionally popular for use in Catholic homes and Chapels. Recently we learned from the artist that they are excellent for use outdoors, too! He recommends keeping them in a shaded spot so that the powerful UV rays do not cause the paint to fade.

We have had great success in extending the brilliance of paint on our outdoor shrines with the use of Rustoleum Clear Acrylic spray. Be certain to hold the can at least 6 inches away to avoid dripping.

Divine Providence Virgin

Devotion to Our Lady, Mother of Divine Providence is intimately connected to Saint Charles Boromeo's first Barnabite house in Rome and their terrible financial difficulties in 1611. Learn how Father Blaise went to the Virgin to ask for help, and how she answered him. Learn More ...

Our beautiful statues of Our Lady of the Divine Providence are available in white, granite, and full color. Click on image to explore

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary focuses on Mary's love for God and encourages our emulating her humility, gratitude, obedience, and adoration. Mary as loving Mother of Jesus Who suffered for us; Mary as Mother of the Church; Mary as obedient daughter, Mary as our Gevirah (Queen Mother of Israel) -- we ponder her interior life in each of these roles, consecrate ourselves to Jesus through her, make reparations for offending her as our Mother, ask her intercession for us with her Son, and emulate her as the model of Christian perfection. Learn More

Our Immaculate Heart of Mary statues are available in white, granite, patina, bronze, wood stain and full color. Click on image to explore.

Madonna and Child

Early Christians strengthened their faith through private devotions, and used objects of gold, ivory or clay as an aid to focusing prayers, often kissing them 'til the paint was gone. The most popular were images of the Madonna and Child, which evokes not only the natural tenderness of the Mother and her Son, but the great mystery of the Word made Flesh. One popular Franciscan author of the time advised: "Kiss the beautiful little feet of the Infant Jesus and beg his mother to offer to let you hold Him a while. Gaze on his face with devotion and reverently kiss and delight in Him.

Our Madonna and Child statue is available in white, granite, patina, bronze, wood stain and full color. Click image to explore.

Our Lady of Charity

Some time around the year 1600, two native Indians, Rodrigo and Juan de Hoyos, together with a ten year old slave boy, Juan Moreno, went out looking for the salt needed to preserve the meat of the Barajagua slaughter house, which supplied the workers and inhabitants of "Santiago del Prado", now known as "El Cobre." That day they were just able to reach Cayo Francés, halfway across the Bay of Nipe, where they encamped to escape the fury of a storm which would have torn their frail canoe to pieces. Did Our Lady help them? Read more

Our Lady of Charity statues are available in full color, white and granite finishes. Click image to see more.

Our Lady of Fatima

The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, appeared six times to three shepherd children near the town of Fatima, Portugal between May 13 and October 13, 1917. Appearing to the children, the Blessed Virgin told them that She had been sent by God with a message for every man, woman and child living in our century. Coming at a time when civilization was torn asunder by war and bloody violence, She promised that Heaven would grant peace to all the world if Her requests for prayer, reparation and consecration were heard and obeyed. Read more

States of Our Lady of Fatima are available in bronze, patina, granite, white, full color, and wood stain finishes. Click on image to explore.

Our Lady of Gentle Love

Also known as Our Lady of Loving Kindness, this beautiful image of Our Lady reminds us of her great virtues: The first is her innocence; the second her simplicity; the third her humility; the fourth her obedience; the fifth her patience; the sixth her love for God; the seventh her charity towards her neighbor; the eighth her contempt of and disengagement from the world and from herself; the ninth her virginal purity; the tenth her silence; the eleventh her gentleness and meekness; the twelfth her modesty.

This beautiful statue of Our Lady of Kindness is available in granite, white, and full color. Click on image to explore.

Our Lady of Grace

The most popular of statues of Our Lady, the title is based on the words of the Angel Gabriel when he greeted her: Hail Mary, full of Grace. Since then we have come to know Mary as the Mediatrix of all Graces. There is nothing more beautiful and simple than praying the Aves of the Holy Rosary with your family before a statue of Our Lady.

Our Lady of Grace is available in full color, white, patina, bronze, wood stain, and granite. Click image to explore.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Greatly astonished, the Franciscan bishop of Mexico, Fray Juan de Zumarraga, contemplates the fresh roses of Castille that sprinkle with colors the floor of his episcopal palace. Tears run down his cheeks as he recognizes the beautiful image that has just appeared on the rough cloth that Juan Diego has unfolded in his presence. It is Tuesday, December 12, 1531, scarcely ten years after the conquest of Mexico, and the Mother of God has come to the defeated Indians to "show and give" all her "love and compassion, help and defense, because I am your merciful mother." Read More

Our Lady of Guadalupe is available in bronze, patina, granite, white and full color versions. Click on image to explore.

Our Lady of Lourdes

Our Blessed Mother appeared to Saint Bernadette on eighteen occasions. Today, Lourdes is one of the most popular pilgrimage locations for Catholics throughout the world who seek Mary's intercession in the healing waters of the spring. Learn more

Our statues of Our Lady of Lourdes are available in bronze, patina, color, white, granite, and wood stain. Click on the image to explore.

Many More Statues and Shrines Available in Our Online Shop with New Additions Every Week