‘The Crucified Christ’ at St. Helena Church Inspiration for All Who Come to Amite, LA

By Woody Jenkins, Editor, Central City News — AMITE — In 2000, Mark Beard was at best what he calls a “mediocre Catholic.”  He had considered many different religions.  He was what he calls ‘a Thomas’ — a doubting Thomas!  That was the year he traveled to Medjugorje in what is now Bosnia-Herzegovina.

At Medjugorje, countless visitors claim to have seen the Virgin Mary bringing messages to the world. Mark Beard did not follow the pilgrim’s path to worship where so many have seen what he called ‘alleged apparitions’ of the Virgin Mary.  No, Mark Beard went to there to disprove those claims.

Once in Medjugorje, Beard was drawn to the monastery at the Oasis of Peace where he found a life-sized statue of Christ.  When he saw it, he froze in his tracks!

“The Christ I saw looked as though he just died.  I had never seen anything like it!  The face, the hair, the teeth, the fingernails, every detail was perfect!  I thought to myself if this is my calling — if I ever become a priest — I will bring this to my people!”

Today Father Mark Beard is priest at St. Helena Catholic Church in Amite, and he and his church have created another image of The Crucified Christ, an image so powerful that it evokes strong emotions and changes lives.

Amite is a country town of 3,800 people.  In Louisiana, the law provides that a municipality is not entitled to be a ‘city’ unless it has at least 5,000 residents.  Nevertheless, the official name of Amite is “The Town of Amite City”!

Located on the old New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern Railroad as it travels from New Orleans to Chicago, Amite has been connected to the world since the 1850’s when the railroad came through.

Everyone knows everyone, and people generally get along pretty well.

Amite is not a Catholic town.  It is only five percent Catholic.  Nevertheless, the people of Amite have what is becoming a church of considerable renown.

With the support of a willing congregation and Father Beard, St. Helena Catholic Church has been on a building program — a rather unusual building program!  

The church has built a replica of the Garden of Gethsemane, complete with an original statue of Jesus praying while the disciples sleep.

Then there is the Courtyard of the Apostles, which features an inspiring statue of St. Peter and all 12 of the original Apostles.  All but one of the Apostles were martyred for their faith.  The statues, modeled after those in the Vatican, include features that remind us how each martyr died.  

Only St. John, the brother of James, is believed to have survived a martyr’s death.  He was reportedly thrown into boiling oil but miraculously survived without injury.  John wrote much of the New Testament.  While in prison, he wrote the Book of Revelation.  Unlike many, he never renounced Jesus.  

The church has a Garden of Prayer, which has just been completed.

There is also an Adoration Chapel, where members of the church pray 24 hours a day.  It is breath-taking in its serenity and sacredness. Members have access with a swipe card.

The Crucified Christ. Now Father Beard and the congregation have a new project which is their greatest of all — The Crucified Christ.

This is Christ as you have never seen Him before!

He looks as if He was taken down from the cross immediately after His death.  It is a scene so real, so horrible, so absolutely dreadful that it is difficult to see. However, Father Beard said, we must see it, because we put Him on that cross!

The Crucified Christ is being kept in a special building at St. Helena. This building is dedicated to preserving and protecting this image of The Crucified Christ.  Visitors are admitted by appointment.

When Father Beard was working on the Garden of Gethsemane, he began looking for a sculptor.  He found Ned Dameron.  Ned was a true sculptor of the old school.  He carved by hand. It is a difficult and a dying art.  His Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane is beautiful.

Unfortunately, Ned passed away before work on The Crucified Christ began.  So Father Beard began looking for someone else who could do the work.  One name appeared — Val Sykes.  He was a Hollywood art designer who had worked on many projects including the Stephen King horror movies.

Father Beard told the man who recommended Val, “What? I’m not going to Hollywood!”

“On no,” the friend said, “He’s not in Hollywood!  He lives in Ponchatoula!”

The meeting in Val’s studio was surreal.  The room was lined with heads of monsters Val had designed for countless movies. 

Father Beard wasn’t sure this was going to work, but Val assured him it would. “I’m an artist.  I can portray anything.”

Unlike Ned Dameron, Val is not a sculptor in the old fashioned sense.  Val uses a model, makes a body cast, and fills in with silicon and other materials.

Finding a model was difficult. Father Mark and his friends looked for weeks. Finally, Mike Fulmer of Berryland had a suggestion.  His name was Logan.  He was a member of the church and faith filled — a family man with two children and a hard worker.  He had been in real estate, construction, and had even been an alligator hunter.  Like Jesus, he was 6 feet tall.

Father Mark said, “It wasn’t until after Logan was chosen that we learned two other things about him.  His first name is Joshua, and his stepfather was a carpenter much like Joseph.”

Joshua and Jesus are the same name.  In Hebrew, Jesus’ name is Yeshua, which translates in English to Joshua.

The first Joshua in the Bible was born 1,400 years before Jesus.  He led Israel to the promised land.  When Joshua was discouraged, the Lord told him, “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee wheresoever thou goest.”

Jesus is described in the Bible as the second and greatest Joshua.

Finding Logan was an act of God, Father Mark said.

Once a model was chosen to portray Jesus, it took Val, Father Mark, and others involved in the project 12 weeks to finish.

Since Logan was discovered in November 2022, he has spent 40 hours in a body cast.

Christ had an estimated 6,000 cuts on his body.  Father Mark said most would have come from the cat-tail, a device the Romans had perfected to do the most damage and inflict the most pain. The ends were split and improved by adding rocks and hooks to tear at the flesh.

In creating The Crucified Christ, Val made a hole for every hair on Jesus’ head, face, arms, chest, and back. The moustache was carefully shaped.

All parts of Jesus’ body had to be badly bruised, and Val took two and a half weeks just to create the bruising.

“Val did an amazing job,” Father Mark said.  “To find someone capable of doing this work in our own backyard was an answer to prayer.  Val poured himself into this, working meticulously on every detail from his beard to his fingernails. It is a stunning work.  You simply have to see it to believe it.”

Word about The Crucified Christ is just getting out.  Until this article, the mass media haven’t reported on this amazing work. But word of mouth has caused a steady flow of visitors to St. Helena to see this depiction of Christ.

Father Mark has seen the reaction so far.  Most people are brought to tears.  Many hardened hearts are accepting Christ as their savior.  

Yet, Father Mark anticipates questions too.  One question he’s already heard is:

•How could Jesus be crucified with nails in his hands?  He would have suffocated and died right away.

“To understand why Jesus was depicted the way He was, one has to understand what we know and don’t know about the crucifixion,” Father Mark said.

“What we know comes mainly from the Bible itself and from our knowledge of Roman history and culture.  We Catholics have something else also, the testimony of three women who had visions of the crucifixion. Those were St. Catherine Emmerich, Blessed Mary of Agreda, and Blessed Maria Valtorta.  Their testimonies were remarkably similar and fill in some of the details.  There is one other thing; The Shroud of Turin,” Father Mark said.

“It is true that nails in the hands alone would have caused the person being crucified to suffocate and die a very violent death rather quickly.  However, there are two things.  First, the Romans often tied their victim to the cross with ropes, in addition to the nails.  Depending on how the ropes were tied, they could have supported the person and prevented suffocating.”

“However, the Bible provides an easy answer to this question.  In John 20:24-29, Thomas doubts that it is Jesus who has appeared.  He said, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’  Later Jesus appeared to them and said to Thomas in Aramaic, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’ Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” 

Father Mark said, “We all have a bit of doubting Thomas in us, don’t we?  But in this case, the good Lord is speaking in Aramaic and saying the nails were in his hands, not wrists.”

Father Mark said Pontius Pilate had a problem. Jesus had carried the cross roughly a mile.  He had been beaten mercilessly.  The crown of thorns itself could have killed him. Yet, he still lived.

The problem was that while crucifixions were intended to prolong the agony, the crucifixion had to end by 3 p.m., the beginning of Passover. 

The Romans built a foot pedestal on each cross. This was to prolong the suffering.  They knew the victim would place his feet on the pedestal in a vain attempt to prevent himself from suffocating.  However, if his legs were broken, a person on the cross could not support himself on the foot pedestal.

Since 3 p.m was coming, the soldiers had to break the legs of those being crucified to speed their death.  Both Dismas,  the “good thief” and Gestas, the “bad thief” died quickly after that.

When the Roman soldiers got to Jesus, he was already dead, and the Roman soldiers did not break His legs. “Not a bone shall be broken,” the Old Testament said of the Passover Lamb.  Indeed, none of Jesus’ bones were broken during His horrible ordeal.

Even though Jesus was already dead, a Roman soldier stabbed Him with his sword, and blood and water flowed from his side, which had enormous spiritual significance in that a dead man doesn’t bleed.

Pilate tried to preserve his political future by convicting Jesus but then tried to literally wash his hands of the decision, thinking he would be cleansed. How wrong he was!  He and all those who judged Christ later committed suicide, and their actions follow them throughout all eternity.

The Shroud of Turin provides amazing evidence of a man who was crucified and had wounds very similar to those believed to have been suffered by Jesus.  

Pope John Paul II spoke at length about the Shroud in 1998 during a visit to Turin. He said it had many mysteries that must be unlocked, and he invited everyone to study it. He said at the very least, it provides many lessons for mankind.

Joshua Logan was literally “cast” as Jesus for the making of The Crucified Christ.  What effect has that experience had on him?

Father Mark said, “I prayed fervently that we would find the right person as a model for Jesus, and we did!  Logan has been very humbled by this experience.  He has called it a divine experience for him and said it gave him a greater appreciation of what happened to Jesus.  Perhaps he would make a good interview someday!”

So what happens next?

No one knows for sure, but the parade of pilgrims to St. Helena Catholic Church in Amite, Louisiana, seems very likely to increase dramatically.

What does Father Mark Beard hope will come from all of this?

“Honestly, I pray this depiction of The Crucified Christ will touch people’s hearts and perhaps change their lives.  But, at the very least, I hope people will better understand Christ’s suffering and stop and tell Him ‘Thank You!’”

To visit St. Helena and see The Crucified Christ, make reservations at the church’s website, www.sthelenachurch.net.

Editor’s Note: Father Mark requests that the photos of The Crucified Christ not be separated from this article and that it be distributed as one piece.