IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR when news outlets desperately search for feel-good stories and more than a few found one in Fort Myers Beach, where local jeweler Mark Loren “miraculously” restored storm-damaged relics for a group of local nuns.
“We had our local news stations (all of them) run the story and Link Text The Washington Post picked it up and called for a separate and lengthy interview,” Loren told INSTORE. “I had friends, acquaintances, family and jeweler friends across the country call or text me that they saw the story — incredible the reach of the Post!”
The restoration job involved six sacred relics that were “exquisitely intricate”, made of a mix of metals and kept closed with a wax seal that obscured the artifacts inside. They had all been ravaged when Hurricane Ian drove stormwater over the nuns’ cloistered home.
Coverage of Mark Loren’s generous gesture on a the local ABC website. SCREENSHOT ABC NEWS
“They were a mess; they really looked like garbage,” Sister Mary Frances told the local ABC affiliate, which headlined their report: “Nuns Are Gifted a Miracle by Jeweler.”
“Any bench jeweler would be fascinated by the intricacy of the construction of the reliquaries and the special sanctification elements that we had to work around to preserve their certified church sanctity,” Loren explained. “The wax seals and red threads that interlocked each reliquary had to be worked around like defusing a bomb! Don’t cut this thread and don’t peel away that piece of paper — difficulties like that while trying to remove the flood grime and silt from the interiors.”
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In all, the task took 15 hours, with each relic demanding a unique restoration approach.
“We did not charge the Sisters for the work as they had applied twice to the local Archdiocese for assistance with funds for the restoration but were turned down, which is when they ultimately decided to try us. It was a labor of love as we truly love Sister Mary and the community that they support as cloistered nuns,” Loren said.
