BY LAURA KILGUS, Staff Reporter
3/18/10
PROVIDENCE—A guardian is a protector, entrusted with caring for the best interest of someone or something that has value. There are two men who travel throughout the world with the responsibility of protecting a 3-foot tall mahogany statue.
Carl Malburg and Patrick Sabat are custodians of the world-famous International Pilgrim Virgin statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Recently, they brought the statue to Rhode Island and have played a part in bringing along the message of Fatima.
For the past 60 years, Malburg said, there has been a full-time guardian that has never left the side of Our Lady of Fatima.
“Years ago it was priests, but probably in the last 30 years it has been lay people,” said Malburg, a native of Munster, IN.
The bond between the guardian and the statue is reminiscent of the relationship between Mary and Jesus’ disciple, John. On the cross, Jesus said to John, ‘Behold your mother.’ In a way, he offered the same gift and responsibility to the guardians by asking them to protect the same mother and that is not a task they take lightly.
The statue is carefully carried from place to place, parish to parish, and handled by the custodians wearing white gloves for preservation. A sign placed in front of her reads, “Do not touch her, she will touch you.”
Malburg, who has been watching over the statue for 17 years, explained that Sister Lucia, one of the three shepherd children who reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal, described how she looked when she appeared to them, in 1917.
“They said not only did she wear a golden ball around her neck, but also a very sparkling shining star,” Malburg said. “The sculptor of the statue had personal contact with Sister Lucia at the time. When this one was made it was made different than any other at the time.”
Philippines native, Patrick Sabat was teaching philosophy at a state university in the Philippines when another opportunity was offered to him. He has been a custodian of the statue for six years.
“She called me, how could I refuse,” he said. “I gave up my teaching career because it’s really an important message.”
Sabat explained that as custodians, their travel with the statue has been very extensive.
“We are always on the move,” he said. “When we fly we buy her a seat in the plane. We have been to Taiwan, Australia, India, and we were in Haiti last September.”
Sabat explained that the message of Fatima that the statue brings does not only come during the Lenten season, but is a year-round request to pray the rosary for peace and repentance for sins.
“It’s not about the statue. It’s about the message,” he said. “This is a beautiful statue, but nothing compares to what our mother looked like.”
The beloved statue will continue to travel throughout the Ocean State until Thursday, March 25, ending its visit with a celebration of Mass with Bishop Thomas J. Tobin at St. Martha Church in East Providence.
