By Francisco Castillo
Last Sunday took place in the Parish Church of Santa María de Albox, the reinstatement to worship of Our Father Jesus of the Prayer in the Garden of Olives after the intervention carried out by the sculptor Don Sebastián Montes Carpio.
At 12 noon, Don Antonio José Villegas Romero, Parish Priest of Santa María and Consiliary of the Paso Blanco, celebrated the Eucharist of Thanksgiving and the Blessing of the sacred image, which was attended by the Justice of the Peace, Doña María del Carmen García, and a large group of brothers and sisters.
The image, the work of Fernando Correa Antúnez from 1944, has remained in the workshop of the artist from Villarreal since June last year, undergoing a thorough restoration, until the beginning of this month, when it returned to Albox.
For its blessing, it was presented for veneration wearing the new maroon velvet tunic made by Doña Ascensión Rodríguez in Granada and a gold cincture, with exclusively designed tassels, handmade by the prestigious Casa Rodríguez of Seville. It also had a new set of shirt and petticoat, and cufflinks in gilded sterling silver by the goldsmith Don Raúl Cejas, the latter offered by its foreman.
The floral decoration, arranged by Manuel Jesús Sánchez Reche, consisted of purple carnations, eryngium and olive leaves. The image of Our Father Jesus rested on a small orchard on its processional base, with a great variety of plant species.
At the end of the Holy Mass, Mr. Antonio López Pleguezuelo introduced the artist, who briefly explained the intervention and thanked the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Sorrows for the trust and treatment received. As a token of his gratitude, the Deputy Eldest Brother presented him with a steel engraving of the Gospel passage of the Prayer of Our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane from 1864.
