Christ the Redeemer was unveiled in Rio de Janeiro on October 12, 1931. This most famous image of Christ in Brazil is the largest image of the third Christ in the world. t is 125 feet tall and weighs more than 1,100 tons. The sculptor of this statue of Christ was not a Catholic. But an incident during construction changed his whole life.
Christ the Redeemer has been chosen as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World, it took five years to complete this image of Christ. The project was designed by Polish-French sculptor Paul Landowski and was designed by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa. It was built in collaboration with the French engineer Albert Caquot. The master builder and supervisor of this form was an engineer named Heitor Levy. He lived on top of the Corcovado during the days of this work.
Life Changed by an Accident
People in the area would say that ‘Christ the Redeemer’ was preserved and blessed because no other accidents were recorded at the construction site of this statue. During the construction of that form, however, Heitor Levy was involved in a fatal accident while working on the site. The accident happened when the scaffold broke during construction. He fell from a great height. The area was surrounded on three sides by hundreds of feet of rock.
To a New Life
He fell to the ground and was pronounced dead at the scene. But he was protected by the presence of Christ, who stretched things out and set up a safety net. Levi was a Jewish. But after the accident, he converted to Catholicism. Moreover, Levy wrote the names of his family members on a scroll and kept it in the heart of the Christ the Redeemer figure at the height of the Eighth Landing.
This monument is also a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The proclamation of Brazil’s dedication to the Sacred Heart of Jesus took place on October 12, 1931, with the inauguration of this image of Christ. That dedication took place from the top of the Corcovado hill where this form is located.
In short, the entry of this engineer into the Catholic faith is a perfect example of one of the promises of the Sacred Heart, “The people who spread this devotion will have their name inscribed forever in my heart.”