Parishioners of Our Lady Queen of Angels Church gathered last year for Mass on the feast day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross. (Courtesy photo)
By Jennifer Rector
Hawaii Catholic Herald
With Lent in full swing, many Catholics are continuing to commit to their personal fasts. On top of that, some are also participating in traditional meditations such as the Stations of the Cross.
At Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Kula, Maui, parishioners walk while they pray, with the Stations of the Cross arranged on the perimeter of the tree-ringed church grounds.
Each station is marked by a sturdy cement cross, all made by hand — the work of La Salette Father Anton Nyo, who has been pastor at the church for several years.
The stations are anchored by a towering cross, which measures 18 feet tall including a 4-foot base. The other 13 crosses are about 5-1/2 feet tall and include plaques from Rome. The largest cross alone required about 250 bags of concrete, Father Nyo said.
It’s hard to imagine an 18-foot-tall cross made by just one person, but parishioners say they saw it happen first-hand.
“He made everything by hand. He just recycled every piece of board we had. Then as the parishioners started seeing what he was doing, they started donating,” said Donna Ventura, secretary at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church.
Father Nyo said they were able to raise up to $20,000 for the project, but the actual cost was closer to $10,000, with the Italian-made plaques costing $7,000. The rest of the money was used on the cement.
“He diligently just went station by station by station. We had some help with a contractor for the base (of the big cross), and then Father just built it himself pretty much,” said Ventura.
Father Nyo said the largest cross took several weeks to complete, including time for the concrete to dry, construction of the base and finishing touches.
Ventura said no machinery was used for most of the project. Father Nyo just used his hands, sweat and good spirits.
“He would have his wheelbarrow (and) his 5-gallon bucket,” Ventura said. Father Nyo would then bake the cement and put it in the bucket, “then he climbs up his little stepladder (and) dumps it in so he can make the form.”
“He’s just so focused, that tenacity of wanting to get it done. Just devotion,” said Ventura.
When Father Nyo arrived in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had hit and interaction with parishioners was limited. He started to clear the property of overgrown jungle with not much of a vision, then came across a document that inspired him to build the Stations of the Cross.
A permit to build the stations on church property was granted 80 years ago by the diocese’s first bishop, Bishop James Sweeney, according to Father Nyo.
The document, signed May 3, 1943, was written in Latin and authorized the construction of “a Way of the Cross in keeping with the statutes of sacred congregation of indulgences given to that congregation dated 10th May 1742.”
According to Ventura, the first cross was built in January 2022; by March the rest of the smaller crosses were being formed. In September of that year the foundation for the largest cross was built, and the cross itself was created a month later. Bishop Larry Silva blessed the completed stations on March 19, 2023.
Father Nyo said building the stations was a privilege that remains close to his heart.
“The first thing I drew as a child was a cross, the easiest and the simplest as a picture, a symbol and an icon as well. So, the cross always comes across and I build it wherever I go,” he said.
This is not the first time Father Nyo has worked on big projects. While living in the Philippines, he helped build up to five chapels from 2012-2015.
La Salette Father Anton Nyo stands next to the 18-foot concrete cross he built by hand at the church. (Courtesy photo)
At Our Lady Queen of Angels, in addition to the Stations of the Cross he has also built a Marian grotto and a Divine Mercy grotto, completed some indoor carpentry and added a 1,000-foot chain-link fence along the perimeter of the property.
“He has built these grottos with all the rocks that he digs out of the ground because he flattens them,” Ventura said. “Then he takes these rocks, and he puts them into formations and the big rocks that he cannot move he breaks them with his sledgehammer.”
“He’s just strong,” Ventura said. “He pretty much lives off the land over here. … (He) grows vegetables.
“Chickens that cross his path are in one chicken coop and getting fatter. And when he is ready for the chicken, he just plucks out the feathers and throws them in the pot. I’ve never seen that type of priest.”
Father Nyo said that with all the projects he has done parishioners have showed nothing but support.
“Parishioners are just delighted and supportive not just this project but many other projects as well,” he said. “In fact, we draw more faithful even from other parishes and tourists from other states.”
“I can tell you that the community is proud of him,” Ventura said. “And we are very grateful and thankful that he just put so much of himself into Our Lady and setting up these meditation gardens for all of us to enjoy.”
