I had occasion to be on the Notre Dame Campus the other evening, with a little time to wander. I was familiar with Chaplain Corby's absolution, but didn't know there was a statue of him on campus. A building on campus and a street, in South Bend, boulevard, actually, are named for him. After the war he served as President for two separate terms of the University.
Next, a side door of The Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus. Above the door, left is Joan of Arc, right is St. Michael, the Archangel. There are two bronze plaques with names besides the doors, with 3D heads below, one of whom appears to be wearing a WWI style helmet. This is a memorial to Notre Dame students who died in that conflict.
" “[I]t might be of interest to some that all the statues were done in artificial stone, a cement mix consisting of Portland cement, white cement, silica, marble dust, and for slight coloring, Burnt Siena powder, a warm brown color. The figures had to be made in clay from which a mold was formed for pouring the cement mix. Father O’Donnell would not consent to have the figures carved out of limestone – too slow and expensive a process. As it was, the niches on campus buildings had been neglected for too many years. The World War I Memorial had the names of Joan of Arc and St. Michael carved in Gothic script below the niches in 1924, empty niches, and now we were in the middle of World War II when John Bednar filled those two niches with their namesakes!"
A quote from Fr. John Bednar, sculptor of the staues in the niches above.
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