By Our Lady of the Rockies is a 90-foot statue built on the Continental Divide overlooking Butte. The statue is just a 90-minute drive from campus.
The story behind the statue begins with Bob O’Bill, a retired Ironworker.
O’Bill’s wife was very sick with cancer, and one night, he had a dream that if he were to build this statue, his wife would recover from cancer.
In 1979, O’Bill started finding people to help build this massive statue. After many years of planning and donations from across the world, the statue was finally ready.
In 1985, the base was poured with 400 tons of concrete. In late 1985, the Army National Guard airlifted the statue in four sections to its final resting place.
On Oct. 7, Chris Yakawich, a campus minister and an assistant director of campus ministry, took eight students to Butte to hike up to Our Lady of the Rockies.
The pilgrimage was a day of prayer where they sought to come closer to the heart of Christ by devotion to his mother. They prayed the rosary, the stations of the cross, and the divine mercy chaplet up in the rugged hillside up the East Ridge of the Continental Divide.
The group meditated on Jesus’ sufferings for us as he walked up to Calvary. As they climbed, sweated, and became exhausted, they offered this struggle back to Jesus as an act of love and devotion.
They came to understand deeply what his suffering accomplished for us. It was powerful.
“Dirk Nelson, a Helena local and Cathedral parishioner who has volunteered at Our Lady of the Rockies for many years, is passionate about turning Our Lady of the Rockies into a place of prayer and sharing the miraculous events that were involved in the construction of this site,” Yakawich said. “Dirk is a close friend of the original builders of the statue. He led us up a severe trail that he had blazoned straight up the face of the East Ridge up to the statue.”
“Once we arrived at the top, one of the original craftsmen, Geno Duran, gave us a presentation on the events surrounding the building of Our Lady of the Rockies in the chapel at the top of the mountain,” Yakawich said.
For many others, the trip was an opportunity to learn about the statue and her greatness.
“For me, the trip up to Our Lady was an opportunity to learn her blessed heart. It felt like a journey home to a parent. She truly is our Mother,” said Elisabeth Lloyd, a freshman nursing major from Helena. “The hike up was difficult. I was out of breath almost the entire time, and the struggle reminded me of Christ carrying the cross. I was comforted by Our Lady just as Christ was.”
The hike up to the statue was also a chance to witness God’s creation in an up close and personal way.
“The trip was about hiking up to the statue of Mary, being in the full presence of God’s creation,” said Sydney Forrey, a freshman psychology major from Townsend, Montana. The journey up was a beautiful experience, and I would 100% do it again.”
