How this Mumbaikar found his true calling in restoring Catholic statues after job loss during Covid-19

Thane-based Lawrence Massey has always been involved in decorating the church since he was a child for the many celebrations over the years, but little did the Mumbaikar know that it would influence his life later. He explains, "I had a very strong inclination towards Christian art since childhood. In church, people used to often come to me with broken statues and Christian articles and I used to restore it and give it to them because I used to like doing that as a hobby." However, life went on and Massey did his bachelor's in mass media before working as a social media manager and public relations professional over the years. Unfortunately, like many other people around the world, the Mumbaikar lost his job during the Covid-19 pandemic but when one door closed another opened, and it was nothing short of a miracle.

Mumbai's Catholic community just like others around the world celebrated Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, popularly called the birthday of Mother Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, on September 8. It is widely celebrated in the city and particularly at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount, popularly known as Mount Mary Church, which continues into the Bandra Fair. It not only attracts members of the Christian community but also followers of other religions in the country. They come to seek the blessings of Mother Mary. Interestingly, one of the most popular stories of the earliest version of the Bandra church is how a Koli fisherman found the statue of Mother Mary floating in the Arabian Sea after he had a dream about it between 1700 and 1760. Over time, the statue was restored and replaced with a baby in the arms.

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Restoring church statues in Mumbai
If one had to draw a parallel, Massey's journey after the Covid-19 pandemic has been nothing short of miraculous. When Massey lost his job, it became difficult for him to make ends meet. He explains, "During the Covid-19 pandemic, I lost my job, and all my savings was over. Then, I was the sole breadwinner of the family and it was difficult to manage the expenses." Looking at his condition, a Catholic aunty who knew him told the Mumbaikar to restore her Mother Mary's statue. He adds, "I did it and she liked my work so much that she shared it with all her contacts. So gradually I got people from other houses who told me to restore their Mother Mary statues." As it so happened, Massey initially only just did Mother Mary statues because he was just getting those orders but word spread about his artistic talents and it didn't take long for others to reach out to him.

Massey then worked on restoring statues in different churches in Mumbai including Our Lady of Good Health of Velankanni, popularly known as Irla Church, St. Bonaventure Church in Madh Island, St Francis Xavier Church, Our Lady of Fatima in Thane, Infant Jesus Church in Jogeshwari, Our Lady of Lourdes, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Immaculate Conception, Mary Help of Christians, and Our Lady of Sorrows and the list goes on because after that there was no looking back.

Unsurprisingly, Massey reveals that he is a very strong devotee of Mother Mary and even has a ritual that he follows and it is only fitting. He shares, "Before starting any restoration work, I pray to Mamma Mary and then begin my work. The very first statue I restored was also a Mother Mary statue."

Even as he has done many other different kinds of statues including St Anthony, Massey says he has many memorable ones but there is one that is his favourite. He shares, "My most memorable is a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which was approximately 7 feet tall and it needed 10 to 15 people to carry. It was quite challenging to work on that statue but the outcome was so good that even I couldn't believe that I did it. When it was placed in church again, people were continuously looking at the statue during mass and the priest said, "I know the statue is looking like a real lady in white but also respond to the mass', something I can never forget."

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Process of restoring statues
In most Christian homes, statues are kept for a long time, many of them even get passed down from one generation to another. With this in mind, the Mumbaikar says when he works on the statues like every other artist, he makes sure that they appear as good as new in the long run. A craft that he has perfected in a very short time of just four years, and one that has led him to become popular not only in Mumbai but also in India to help him get more work and thus provide for his family in the process. While it may look easy, it is nothing of that sort, especially with the amount of detail work. He works on different kinds of materials including those made of fibre, marble, wood metal, ceramic, plastic, and more.

He explains, "The complete procedure of restoration with appropriate details takes a minimum of 1 week to 15 days depending on the material of the statue in which it is made. Initially it was a learning phase but now I have become an expert. I can restore statues which are absolutely into pieces and make it look like it was never broken."

Even after gaining expertise over the last four years, Massey is humble to admit that there are quite a few challenges while working on the statues. He further explains, "I get most of the work from August to October, usually of Mother Mary statues. The challenge is the climatic condition as it delays the process of drying naturally.

If the drying process delays, then I have to make the customers understand and convince them to be patient, which is extremely challenging as they are in a hurry most of the time to take the statue due to different reasons."

Over time, the Mumbaikar, who now calls himself a Christian art and decor consultant, has worked on many churches but his favourite is the Irla Church because working on it was nothing short of enriching. He shares, "While restoring the statue of Irla Mother Mary, which has a history of many years of devotion, parishioners who would come to pray would be surprised seeing me work and sit with me sharing their life problems and miracles of Irla Mother, while I would paint the statues." It is like they were considering him a part of their lives just because they would feel close to him as he worked on their beloved mother's statue. "A non-Catholic Shetty uncle, who once came to pray, upon seeing me restoring the statue, gave me a token of Rs 1,001 as a blessing," he recounts the heartwarming tale.

Working on statues in most parts of the city, Massey has even worked on some in Bandra. "I have worked on grottos and churches in Bandra but not Mount Mary yet. If I get a chance to work for Mount Mary, it will be a privilege. Every time I visit Mount Mary Church, I keep observing Mother Mary's statue minutely and thinking whenever I get a chance to restore this statue, I know what I have to do first," concludes Massey, who is set to visit the church and Bandra Fair later this week.