DANA in Valencia: The Christ of clay will not be restored and will have a new tomb

The community of Augustinian nuns of Denia has donated an urn as a “new tomb” in which the “Mud Christ” of the parish of San Jorge de Paiporta in Valencia (Spain) will rest, affected by DANA and which will not be restored.

On October 29, a high-level atmospheric depression (DANA) was unleashed in eastern Spain, causing more than 200 deaths and wreaking chaos and destruction in numerous locations, especially south of Valencia.

Five sisters live in the monastery. Three of them Mexican and two other Spanish, one of them very old. On the afternoon of the flood, some of them, despite being closed, had traveled to Valencia and, on the way back, they experienced moments of difficulty on the road.

Providently, the danger did not become greater in their case, but they know the effects of the storm closely. Not in vain, the niece of one of them has lost her house in the town of Alfafar.

“We have a contemplative life. We take all the sufferings that people are going through and put them in the hands of God,” explains Sister Claudia to ACI Prensa, who also details that in recent times the community has been hit by other bad news, such as the traffic accident. of her brother, who is still recovering, or the murder in Mexico of three relatives of another of the sisters.

In the first days after the passage of DANA, the parish priest of San Jorge in Paiporta, Father Gustavo Riveiro, took a photo that soon became a symbol.

This is what is known as “Mud Christ”, a carving from the mid-20th century that represents a recumbent Christ, with the particularity that his hands are somewhat open, at his sides, not on his legs.

That image reached the community of Augustinian sisters, who since the time of the pandemic had an urn for a recumbent Christ that, due to various circumstances, had been left unused.

“Inspired by Joseph of Arimathea, those days we were looking at the image of Christ and we said: this urn is empty, it is a new tomb and it could be for the ‘Christ of the clay,’” explains Sister Claudia.

Thus, they contacted Father Riveiro and sent him the urn through a woman who felt it was a providence to be able to do this service, given that the parish shares patronage with her son Jorge, who recently died at the age of 12. as Sister Claudia explains.

“That muddy face is quite a message”

Before the DANA, “it was placed under the Cristo del Consuelo, which is a very beautiful crucifix, the image with the greatest devotion in the parish,” Father Riveiro details to ACI Prensa.

“People light thousands of candles and this poor recumbent Christ passed by without pain or glory,” explains the priest, although it was used for the Good Friday liturgy and the faithful could come to anoint his wounds “remembering their own and those of the world”.

When he was removed from the parish after the tragedy, it went viral and even the Spanish Episcopal Conference used the image to announce the Mass concelebrated by all the prelates in the Almudena Cathedral.

“Even the Catholic priest of Shanghai has called me for the Christ,” recalls Father Ribeiro, as an example of the change in meaning that the carving has experienced after the tragedy.

In his opinion, “it is a reminder of what happened and has gained much more attention from the people of God who are thus muddy than clean.” Not in vain, 46 of the more than 200 deaths occurred in Paiporta.

“That muddy face is quite a message,” adds Father Ribeiro, detailing how the decision was made not to restore it, despite the fact that numerous specialists had offered to do so.

Father Riveiro spoke about the issue with his successor, Father Vicente Fayos, who will soon take charge of the parish of Saint George, recalling that when he was 18 years old he made a retreat in which, during a dinner, they reproduced the text of my broken christ, by Father Ramón Cué, SJ.

It is the story of a priest who buys a broken Christ at a flea market with the idea of ​​restoring it.

“There begins a beautiful dialogue in which Christ tells him: Do not restore me. I’m missing an arm, I’m missing a leg, my face is ruined. But my brothers, men also have their faces destroyed by misery, injustice, the evil of men, wars. Don’t restore me, you want to see me clean and shiny to forget all the wounds that I carry and that humanity carries,” recalls Father Riveiro.

Thus they concluded that it would be better to leave it muddy, because restored “it would be one of many, and surely not the most beautiful. This is better: it is a memory, a hope,” adds the parish priest.

There are only two details left to conclude the process. On the one hand, due to the uniqueness of Christ, due to his hands on his sides, a small adaptation of the urn must be made.

And, on the other hand, the place must be decided within the parish of San Jorge in Paiporta where the Christ of the clay will continue to keep the memory, giving hope and alleviating the wounds of those affected by DANA in Valencia.