A few weeks ago, Rita Hardesty, a parishioner of St. Mary of the Woods Catholic Church in Whitesville went into a classroom of St Mary of the Woods Elementary School to visit Mary Haycraft who is a teacher there. Mrs. Haycraft was in the process of switching rooms and all the pictures were down from the walls. Images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary were waiting to be hung up. These images had always been in Mrs. Hardesty’s home from childhood through the present day. Recently, during the pandemic, she did research on the two images and developed an even greater appreciation for the two images.
While Mrs. Hardesty was at the local Catholic bookstore purchasing the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Sacred Heart of Jesus images for a friend as a house warming gift she mentioned to the bookstore owner how nice it would be if these two images were in the classrooms of Trinity High School and St Mary of the Woods Elementary School.
The owner, Kelly, suggested that the Knights of Columbus Council #2046 might be able to help with that. Kelly contacted Grand Knight Jason Simon and told him about the idea. Jason took the idea to the council and it was well-received. The council purchased, framed, and hung the Images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 25 classrooms and offices at Trinity High School and St Mary of the Woods Elementary School.
In the words of Rita Hardesty, “It is almost like a plan just happened. One event led to another, to researching, seeing the pictures. It wasn’t planned, it just happened. I think we all need to know that Mary leads us to God. The purpose of our Catholic schools is to teach the message of God. I can’t think of a better way to teach about God than through Mary.”
