A Saintly Scrubbing

Sister Straub scrubbing St. Anthony's ears.

Sister Straub takes a scrub brush to the statue of St. Anthony of Padua.

Sister Sandra Straub, C.S.J., director of Mission Integration at St. Anthony's Medical Center, recently took a scrub brush to the statue of St. Anthony of Padua that stands just outside the hospital entrance to provide it with a long overdue bath. Perched atop a forklift, Sister Sandra, with the help of other St. Anthony's employees, used a little elbow grease – and plenty of cleaning supplies – to give the statue a good scrubbing. And she didn't forget to wash behind – and in his ears!

Sister Sandra said she wanted to clean the statue because St. Anthony lived a life of virtue that people should emulate. "It is fitting that a sister would wash his statue. It's all about making the mission alive. It's all about how we care for our patients," she said.

The 12-foot-high statue was sculpted from Carrara marble in Leghorn, Italy. It arrived and was installed at the medical center late in 1981. It was purchased and donated by Mary Gunther, a longtime volunteer at St. Anthony's Medical Center, in memory of her late husband, Roy Gunther. The statue was cleaned with mild dishwashing liquid and will be power washed at a later date to rid it of grime in the cracks and crevices.

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A Saintly Scrubbing