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On Oct. 21, 2023, Knights of Columbus, Council 1592, unveiled the Angel of Hope statue at Gethsemane Cemetery in St. Marys. The local Angel of Hope prayer gardens and monuments were directly inspired by Richard Paul Evans' novel "The Christmas Box."
File photo
ST. MARYS - Internationally celebrated author Richard Paul Evans is coming to St. Marys on Nov. 12, not only to sign copies of his latest novel, "Mercy's Child," and give a presentation on his works, but also to see firsthand the local Angel of Hope prayer gardens and monuments that were directly inspired by his bestselling debut, "The Christmas Box."
Evans' appearance will also fulfill a promise made to friend Anna Sampson Katterhenry of St. Marys, the founder and director of Angel of Hope Monument Gardens responsible for the angel statues at Gethsemane Cemetery in St. Marys, St. Augustine Cemetery in Minster and St. Rose Church in Maria Stein.
"It is difficult to put into words what it means to welcome Richard Paul Evans to St. Marys," Katterhenry said. "A story he wrote more than 30 years ago became so much more than a book. 'The Christmas Box' gave grieving families an Angel of Hope, a place where the names and memories of our precious children will never be forgotten. Today, we have these beautiful places of prayer and remembrance in St. Marys, Minster, Maria Stein and Oxford. To now welcome the man whose words inspired it all to our community is truly a full-circle moment."
Earlier in the day on Nov. 12, Evans is slated to meet with the 40 seniors at St. Marys Memorial High School who are completing a capstone project centered on "The Christmas Box." He will also visit the local Angel of Hope prayer gardens and monuments, Katterhenry told The Daily Standard.
The St. Marys Theater & Grand Opera House will host a VIP event at 6 p.m. where fans can meet Evans and enjoy light appetizers and refreshments.
"It'll be more of a one-on-one experience for people so that they have that chance to actually meet and talk (with Evans)," Katterhenry said.
Then at 7 p.m., Evans will deliver a presentation and sign copies of "Mercy's Child," a historical novel that was just released on Oct. 20.
Tickets for both events are free but must be reserved at grandoperahouselive.com/tickets. The VIP experience is limited to the first 100 guests who reserve tickets, which also include admission to the author presentation.
"To me, it's overwhelming. I am forever grateful. This is a tremendous thing for our community," Katterhenry said. "He has such a strong following that this is truly a gift to our very small community of Auglaize and Mercer County."
Some years back, Katterhenry reconnected with her godfather after receiving a Christmas card from him.
"At first we were both apprehensive but our friendship grew and right away we started being involved in … our Barnabas committee," she said. "It's based in Cincinnati and Oxford, and it's basically a group where we give back and it's always giving back to those that are never recognized. It could be the janitor of the church, a waitress that always goes over and beyond. It could be your mechanic."
One day, Katterhenry's godfather said he wanted to give her a gift - a bronze, 5-foot-tall angel with a wingspan of about 5 1/2 feet.
"He said, 'I want you to read 'The Christmas Box' book by Richard Paul Evans, and I want you to watch the movie and then get back with me,'" Katterhenry said.
The novel concerns a grieving mother who visits an angel monument to mourn the loss of her child.
"Once I realized what the angel was and what it meant, I knew it wasn't for me. And I said, 'You're wanting me to place this somewhere for people,'" she recalled. "So I started looking for a place, and I did a lot of research as to where to put it, and my heart had taken me back to St. Marys where I was baptized."
She decided that Gethsemane Cemetery was the perfect place.
On Oct. 21, 2023, Knights of Columbus, Council 1592, unveiled the Angel of Hope statue at Gethsemane Cemetery in St. Marys. The local Angel of Hope prayer gardens and monuments were directly inspired by Richard Paul Evans' novel "The Christmas Box."
File photo
"And at that time he had already put one (angel) in Oxford at Mount Olivet Cemetery, and so I met with Pam Burke, who kind of led that one," Katterhenry said. "The ladies from the church basically said this would be a wonderful thing because it's an angel that stands for anyone who's ever lost a child before or after birth. It could be estrangement, an abortion. It could be a miscarriage, an adult child."
The Angel of Hope is a peaceful sanctuary for those who have lost a child to remember, grieve and hope.
"That's a loss for people when they don't have their child there. We feel this is a place for them to go. And so many times it's hard to go to a grave, or they don't have a grave," Katterhenry said. "Every child carries that special place in somebody's heart, and probably in doing all of these, I realized the biggest thing that people are asking is 'I don't want my child forgotten.' So this gives them that place that they can go, and their child can be remembered."
Similar statues later went up in Minster and Maria Stein.
"Then I had the request for one in Minster, and we really try to research where we put them to know that they're going to be taken care of," Katterhenry said. "It's a donation to that community. So when we walk away, it's a gift to the community, and at that point forward, it is theirs to keep and maintain. And we do that as kind of a giving back to the community, and more so for all the children that have been lost, that we want to remember and give people a place to go."
Last school year, St. Marys Memorial High School English language arts teacher Shaun Ricker asked Katterhenry to hep him develop a capstone project around "The Christmas Box" for his College Credit Plus English class.
Forty students are completing the capstone project this year, which involves an examination of literary elements, critical analysis and real life reflections.
"They have to read the book, and as part of their English assignment, we want them to critique the writing and the grammar, and then we want them to watch the movie," she said. "I will talk to them about the angel, how I got involved, what it means to people. … Actually the capstone project is a life lesson of how do you take that material and use it in your life and/or make it better or change it."
The students are asked to visit the Angel of Hope statue and to present their findings from the capstone project to adults in the community.
"This was a very rewarding exercise for me to see young people engaged in learning something that was completely outside of the box of what they would normally do," Katterhenry said. "It truly is a life lesson for them because everyone deals with death."
Evans is the New York Times and USA TODAY No. 1 bestselling author of more than 40 novels, with more than 35 million copies of his books in print worldwide in more than 24 languages, according to a news release from the St. Marys Theater & Grand Opera House.
He is also the founder of The Christmas Box International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children, teens and young adults who have experienced abuse, neglect, trafficking or homelessness.
After "The Christmas Box" became a worldwide success, readers began searching for the angel described in the story, hoping to find a place where they, too, could remember children they had lost, according to the release.
In response, Evans commissioned a new angel statue based upon the description in his book, the release notes. The first Christmas Box Angel, also known as Angel of Hope, was dedicated in Salt Lake City on Dec. 6, 1994, the date associated with the child's death in "The Christmas Box."
Katterhenry got the chance to meet Evans this summer at his ranch in Utah.
"I was actually blessed with the opportunity to go to his ranch, the Timepiece Ranch, in July, and I did share with him all the different things that I've done. I took some of this (photo books) with me so that he could actually see it," she said. "It was a wonderful experience to actually get to meet him and talk with him about the Angel of Hope and 'The Christmas Box,' and he's always overwhelmed … by how far they have reached and the differences they're making in so many people's lives."
She also shared with Evans materials from the local capstone project.
"He was kind of in awe that we had taken his books and came up with something that truly reached out to children, because part of his giving back is he has what's called 'The Christmas Box' foundation, and that foundation is for children that need a home."
Katterhenry said she told Evans about The St. Marys Theater & Grand Opera House and how wonderful it would be if he paid a visit.
"He said, 'I'm going to make it this year. You tell me when and where, and I'll be there,'" she said. "He is a man of his word."
For additional information about the local Angel of Hope monuments visits AngelofHopePrayerGarden.com.
