Year-round at my parish statues are favorite rallying places for family rituals. Before them parents can be seen boosting their children to light votive candles or instructing them on how to cross themselves. Working at a TV station, I own a statue of Saint Clare, patroness of television. I've tried to explain to my born-again Baptist boss that the tiny statue on my desk serves a purpose similar to the photos of his wife and child on his. While reminding us of what we love, we know quite well they aren't the real thing.
Sacred images serve as proxies for the divine.
On them we can focus our devotion, sorrow, anger, and joy. But most of all they are someone we can thank when we are grateful. In our local Catholic hospital, the Sacred Heart of Jesus stretches healing hands over those who pray. Beside it lies a tiny heart-shaped charm that Hispanics call milagro. Symbol of supplication and answered prayer, it leaves something behind of the giver's grateful heart, held close to Jesus' own.