Parish's new sign incorporates Marian statue from Huntsville's now-closed Trappist monastery

IC photo/Linda Petersen

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The statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that once graced the entrance of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Huntsville is now at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Copperton.

COPPERTON — Parishioners at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church were thrilled to have Bishop Oscar A. Solis celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and bless the church’s new sign Dec. 8.

The Mass was concelebrated by Father David Trujillo; assisting was Deacon Lynn Johnson.

Bishop Solis joked that he had begged Fr. Trujillo to invite him to the parish that evening and said he was happy to celebrate Mass there and to be a part of the celebration of the installation of the sign.

In his homily, he focused on the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was conceived without sin.

“Through Adam and Eve we inherit a sense of sin in our lives … but sin is something we can overcome,” he said. “We look at our Lady of the Immaculate Conception not only as a model of our faith life but as a source of inspiration to us on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.”

During the Mass, the bishop blessed the new parish logo that was designed by Fr. Trujillo and diocesan data specialist Gracemarie Goette. After the Mass, Bishop Solis blessed the sign-monument outside the church, which also was designed by Fr. Trujillo, who  has a background in the arts.

The focus of the sign-monument is an Italian marble statue of Our Lady that was donated to the parish by the Trappist monks of The Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity in Huntsville. The statue had been at the abbey prior to its closure last year.

Fr. Trujillo described receiving the statue and the timing of its blessing as “Divine providence,” a phrase that Trappist monk Fr. Patrick Boyle used to describe the series of events.

“‘You were meant to have her,’ he told me,” Fr. Trujillo said.

Fr. Patrick was scheduled to be present at the Mass but was unable to attend.

The sign-monument was originally planned to be installed and then blessed in early September, but setbacks occurred. The sign-monument, is not “one of those cookie-cutout signs that you commonly see on the side of the road,” which meant that it entailed more custom work than originally expected, Fr. Trujillo said.

Fr. Trujillo said he enlisted help from some of his contacts around the diocese to overcome the challenges that were encountered. He especially thanked Adolph Trujillo (Cathedral of the Madeleine Parish) for taking over the project; Jamie and Koby Anderson (St. Andrew Parish) for re-constructing the brickwork on the sign; and Randy Taylor (Blessed Sacrament Parish) for completing the electrical work.

“That’s one of the beauties behind this project; ... it’s an amalgamation of people that I have known throughout the years who supported me,” Fr. Trujillo said.

He also thanked parish members for their financial contributions and other help with the project.

‘This sign-monument is not only a landmark and a sign of our faith, it is a symbol of all that we have done, of my, and our, vision for this parish,” he said.

Fr. Trujillo said it was fitting that the sign-monument, which prominently features the Virgin Mary, should be blessed on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

“Our sign at Immaculate Conception is a work of art ... created by artisans. Through the use of glass-bricks, stage lighting and carefully crafted masonry work, they created something spectacular,” he said later. “The setbacks were a blessing in disguise.”