Vivian Imbruglia receives award for Marian icon and meets Pope Leo XIV

On September 6, Vivian Imbruglia, the iconographer for St. Peter & St. Paul Parish in Alta Loma, received her first-place award from the Pontifical International Marian Academy for her Our Lady Tabernacle of the World icon. Imbruglia was presented with the award by Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas (L). She had the chance to meet Pope Leo XIV and shake his hand (M). Recalling that experience Imbruglia said, “He smiled right at me, and I said, ‘Bless you, Holy Father.’ [Then] A feeling of peace came over me.” Later, she met a couple of African priests, one from Nigeria and one from Uganda, who were deeply moved by the depiction of Our Lady in Vivian’s icon (R). She said, “There were tears in both of their eyes. They kept holding it, almost hugging it. The priest from Nigeria said his people needed to see Our Lady like this, looking like them. I told him to please send me his address, and I would send him a large copy of the icon for his community.”