The secret project called for pinpoint welding, and “the Lord blessed us with stainless steel tubing, cheap, in exactly the size we needed” when it came time to do the internal frame, he said.
The rustic cross and shiny heart and halo have a three- dimensional look, Mendola said, making it look like the heart is impaled by the cross. “It’s really beautiful,” he added, full of enthusiasm for the finished product. With only days to finish and install the cross, those who were in on the surprise removed the shrub, careful not to disturb the ashes of several members buried there over the last 30 years. Into the ground went six concrete blocks, rubble and steel bolts. On the Friday night prior to All Saints’ Sunday, the five of them (Mendola the youngest at age 64) moved the 250-pound foundation and 110-pound cross into place. Then he hid the foundation with “a sheet of stainless steel I’ve saved for over 20 years,” he said. The local paper ran a story that week, but Mendola was OK with the scoop. Sunday worshipers were impressed.
“If someone you knew in your church had a hobby mak- ing stuff from around the house into something and he says he’s going to do a metal sculpture out of serrated steak knives, wouldn’t you think it’s going to be hokey?” Mendola admitted. “But I can’t believe how beautiful it is. The people are amazed. I’m amazed. I didn’t think it was going to turn out this well.”
Mendola prepared a pamphlet and PowerPoint on the process. Frequently someone will ask him, “Do you know where my forks are?” “I answer, ‘Yes. Right there on the cross,’ ” he said. The symbolism of a cross made of silverware runs deep with Mendola, who says the myriad shapes, sizes and stories are like the diverse body of Christ. And they’re all connected. “We support one another and are in commu- nion with one another,” he said. “This is Christ’s body.” Meanwhile, Mendola is contemplating the artistic fate of 2,000 leftover fork handles, adding, “But I can’t tell you what they are .... ” Yet.
March 2012 33
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