“Before the angels carving was shipped to the job site, Sisters from the monastery came to Bybee Stone Company to view it. It was displayed in a horizontal position when they first saw it, and they worried that the perspectives were wrong. We told them it was carved to be viewed from twenty to thirty feet in the air, and at least that far back. Then, we hoisted the carving with the overhead crane, moved it to a large area that would simulate its position after it was installed, and we heard sighs of relief from the Sisters.”
—Will Bybee
Bybee Stone President
Location: Hanceville, AL
Our Lady of the Angels Monastery
Our Lady of the Angels Monastery was inspired when a statue of the child Jesus in the Sanctuary of The Divine Infant Jesus, in Bogata, Columbia, spoke to Mother Mary Angelica. The statue of Jesus said, “Build Me a temple, and I will help those who help you.” The statue had been installed in the early 1900s, and a history of miraculous occurrences was associated with it.
Mother Angelica, who became the Founder and the Abbess of the Monastery, is a Poor Clare Nun of Perpetual Adoration—a Contemplative Religious Order, unique in the Catholic Church. The Monastery’s building costs were paid by five anonymous donor families, whose wish was to build something “beautiful for the Lord.” (From Come and See, A Pilgrim’s Picture Book)
