How Mary transformed this Catholic artist’s life

Michie · Jan 9, 2025

Courtesy of Artmadeinheaven

In 2017, Javier Viver was commissioned to create an image of the Virgin for Hakuna Group. He never imagined how far-reaching its effects would be!

Javier Viver defines himself as an imaginer; he is a Spanish sacred artist who is mainly dedicated to sculpture and photography. He is the author of works such as the Bella Pastora of the Iesu Communio community and the Mother of Hope. But perhaps his best-known work is the Our Lady of Hakuna. Aleteia met with him to talk about the image, sacred art and devotion to Mary.

The first tabernacle

After lending his studio to Hakuna Group (a music-centered Catholic group of Spanish origin) for a few years, Fr. Jose Pedro Manglano — the group’s founder — gave him a very special commission. “He asked me to make an image of Mary that would represent the charism of the group. He told me, specifically, that it had to represent that very important aspect of living on our knees and embracing the Eucharist.”

The starting point was a painting by another artist in which Mary was embracing a large
host.

That's when I came up with the idea of doing a pregnant Mary; and of course, it was so natural for the Virgin to embrace her belly and, therefore, the fruit of her womb. That was very good because Mary was the living Tabernacle, the first tabernacle, the Eucharistic woman.

By embracing her womb, Javier explains, she embraces Jesus. The idea immediately caught on and went from being a small mock-up proposal to a definitive work.

Continued below.