Statue from Huntsville monastery undergoes repairs

Courtesy photo/Catherine Holt

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This statue of Mary, Protector of the Faith, which had kept watch over the monks buried at the old Trappist monastery in Huntsville, is being restored.

EVANSTON, WY – Catherine Holt has been repairing and restoring antique frames, fine art objects, fine china, pottery, ceramics, sculptures and family treasures for more than 30 years.

One of her current projects is part of Utah’s Catholic history.

“I was asked to restore the statue at the Old Huntsville Trappist monastery cemetery. It is an historic statue,” she said referring to a Marian statue that was placed 70 years ago to watch over the three dozen Trappist monks who were laid to rest in the cemetery of the now-closed Our Lady of the Holy Trinity Abbey.

The Huntsville monastery opened in 1947; the final Sunday Mass there was celebrated by the monks on Aug. 27, 2017. The monastery’s land was sold to Bill White, who, according to Holt, wants to preserve the monks’ legacy.

White called on Holt to restore and weatherproof the 70-year-old statue, which is an image of Mary, Protector of the Faith. The passing years had not been kind to the statue.

“Her hands were rotted, so we had the statue removed and transported to my studio in Wyoming,” said Holt, who remolded the hands, then cleaned and repainted the statue.

For 25 years Holt’s studio was located in Draper, which makes her a known name for restorations and repairs in the Catholic churches in Utah. When the statues at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Magna were vandalized nine years ago, Holt restored them. She has also repaired statues at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Ogden, and at the Carmelite monastery, among others.

“I have a huge fondness for statues,” she said. “We don’t have enough of them in our churches. I love to see them restored so we can all admire them. I love statues; I love to bring them to life.”

 A statue is a reminder of what it stands for, “of having the faith alive,” she said. “When a statue is broken, my heart is broken. … I think the real joy is while I am working on them, I really feel their presence, and when I return them, the joy of the receiver or owner is just pure joy for the heart.”

Her husband, Greg, has helped her repair the statues. Although he isn’t Catholic, through his work on the sculptures, the Catholic faith has grown deep in him, Holt said.

“He will come home from working on Mary and say, ‘Mary and I had a good day today, talking.’ ... He has really been growing the faith in his heart through working on them. He can feel their presence, and I love that,” she said.