“Be diligent in serving the poor. Love the poor, honor them, my children, as you would honor Christ Himself.”
St. Louise de Marillac
A Gift of Avocation
By Sebastian Isaacs, Communications Intern
A few sculptures have returned to S. Patmarie Bernard over the years, including (from left to right) “Depth,” “’Let Everything that has Breath Praise the Lord’ Psalm 150:6,” and “Jesu: Joy of our Desiring.”
When the opportunity presents itself, S. Patmarie Bernard can be found in her wood sculpture studio in the attic of Marian Hall, seated on an old lab stool brought from a past ministry in Santa Fe, carefully sanding her latest project. In this loft, she has spent the past 14 years intertwining faith with avocation through her newest sculpture, “Pondering Woman.”
Inspired by the painting, “Woman in a Red Dress” by artist R.C. Gorman, and the Luke 2:19 verse, “Mary pondered all these things in her heart,” S. Patmarie has drawn upon her natural talent and years of experience to carefully chisel, file, and rasp a block of redwood, gifted by the late Associate Bob Maxwell, into a sculpture that is steadily taking on a life of its own.
Before she begins her work each day, she pauses at the same vise her parents gifted her for Christmas as a young Sister. There, she kisses images of the Divine Physician and Bob Maxwell’s memorial card, asking their guidance as she brings “Pondering Woman” to life.
Her first wood carving, “Our Lady and Child,” is tucked into her leather tool kit as a reminder of where it all began. Her journey into carving dates back to 1962 when, “with the gift of a penknife and a piece of weathered wood from the hospital carpenter shop, she ‘whittled out’ the small figure of Our Lady,” according to the cover story of St. Vincent Hospital’s 1965 Christmas magazine.
After entering the Community in 1958, S. Patmarie was missioned to St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she ministered as a medical technologist under the guidance of the late S. Jean Clare Kenney. It was there that her unique talents were developed. Living in the hospital’s attached convent, she “prayed for a hobby” to fill the quiet spaces between her studies and the responsibilities of a young Sister.
It was not until she began her next piece – “Rocking Chair Madonna,” created for her sister, Nancy Hebner – that S. Patmarie started to take her craft more seriously. As she shared her newfound interest with patients during blood draws, some responded with generosity, gifting her tools, including a set of chisels from 1963 that she still treasures today. With these, she began sculpting “Rocking Chair Madonna” from pinewood.
Around this same time, her parents gifted her a vise to hold her wood blocks in place. Still relying on the tools that she had been given, she improvised a potato masher as her first wood mallet. With “Rocking Chair Madonna” underway and a growing collection of tools at hand, S. Patmarie deepened her understanding of the craft, gradually integrating her sculpting with her spiritual life through reflection and prayer.
Her wood sculpture portfolio, which documents all 42 sculptures that she has created and gifted throughout the years, reveals that even her earliest works carried this depth of meaning. Her 1962 “Rocking Chair Madonna” is accompanied by a reflection on the essence of the piece, a practice she has continued ever since. From the beginning, S. Patmarie’s avocation has been more than artistic expression; it has been a spiritual practice, rich with intention and grace.
St. Vincent Hospital featured S. Patmarie Bernard’s sculpture “Our Lady and her Little Warrior” on the cover of its 1965 Christmas magazine.
While S. Patmarie’s ministry as a laboratory technologist always remained her priority, her artistic gifts did not go unnoticed. St. Vincent Hospital’s 1965 Christmas magazine featured her sculpture “Our Lady and her Little Warrior” on its cover, noting that “it is a privilege to find the fine technique she is developing combined with no small amount of inspiration.”
Possibly the most inspiring aspect of S. Patmarie’s avocation is her generosity – she gifts every sculpture she creates. Some pieces are created with a particular recipient in mind, such as “Theological Virtues,” a triad of small, wooden blocks bearing the carved likenesses of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President John F. Kennedy, and former Mother Superior Mary Omer. These meticulously chiseled faces were gifted to Mother Mary Omer Downing to represent faith, hope, and love respectively.
Other works, like “Pondering Woman,” started without a particular recipient in mind. Nevertheless, S. Patmarie sends her gift out into the world with each piece, and on a few occasions, sculptures have made their way back to her.
One such piece is “Depth,” carved between 1969 and 1974. The sculpture depicts a man in prayer, his hands clasped and head gently bowed. The soft, contemplative expression etched into the mahogany captures the essence of the work.
“DEPTH,” she writes, “is a discovery of God – a discovery of God as Friend, Abba, and Source of all meaning… Depth takes on additional beauty and richness when one ponders that which is being extended to them from others – what gift, what beauty, what truth …”
Another returned sculpture that reveals beauty, truth, and S. Patmarie’s expressive gift is “Jesu: Joy of Our Desiring.” Originally gifted to Deacon Charles Bates upon its completion in 1980, the piece was returned to her following his death in 1999. The sculpture portrays a woman in motion, with one leg and both arms extended gracefully behind her, captured in an elegant, almost weightless dance. Her face, lifted heavenward, radiates a contemplative spirit drawn toward what S. Patmarie describes as an “eternity with Jesus.”
The inspiration for this fragile, yet spirited walnut carving came from a Time/Newsweek article that S. Patmarie read about a 23-year-old Haitian-American dancer. The dancer, Sara Yarborough, shared that after immersing herself in dance, it could take up to three hours to come down from her performance high. On “Jesu: Joy of Our Desiring,” S. Patmarie writes, “I like to think that man’s contemplative spirit uplifted and joined with the Lord’s also can and does achieve such highs.”
As evident by the thoughtful reflections accompanying each of her sculptures, what began as a simple outlet for the abundant energy of a young Sister – with only a penknife in hand – has blossomed into a lifelong spiritual journey. It is a journey marked by steadfast devotion, deep reflection, and even the quiet poetry of haiku.
As an ancient Japanese poetic form, haiku consists of a single stanza with three lines totaling 17 syllables, with five in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. These constraints invite poets to weigh each word carefully, distilling thought and experience into their most essential form.
In her Marian Hall attic studio, S. Patmarie Bernard has been working on her sculpture “Pondering Woman” since 2012.
For her sculpture in-progress, “Pondering Woman,” S. Patmarie reflects on the nature of the pondering self, which she says, “provides an opening for God to come into our thoughts and lives.” One way she enters into this posture of pondering is through the art of haiku.
In the quiet intervals between sanding and chiseling “Pondering Woman’s” softly emerging features into an expression of peace, S. Patmarie turns to writing. Among her many haiku are: “Pondering moments / help me pause with consciousness / Your Presence within!” and “Pondering Woman / Evolve with beauty and grace / For intent Seekers.”
She recognizes that her writing, like her wood sculpting, is a gift that she has been given by God to inspire and deepen her spirituality. When she looks back on her vast history of woodworking, S. Patmarie explains, “I was really growing in my relationship with God through all these carvings.”
As she contemplates what the future may bring, S. Patmarie says that she knows, “The future right now is finishing ‘Pondering Woman.’ Then we’ll see what comes after that.”
Given her deep devotion, it seems certain that whatever lies ahead will be another step along her spiritual journey – an opportunity to grow closer to God through the gifts she has received and so generously shared with others.
One of S. Patmarie Bernard’s dear friends, S. Shirley Le Blanc, used her avocation for woodburning to create a beautiful sign for S. Patmarie’s “Marian Wood Sculpture Loft.”
S. Patmarie Bernard received many of her wood sculpting tools as gifts. This specific set of chisels was gifted to her in the 1960s by a patient at St. Vincent Hospital.
To create each sculpture, S. Patmarie Bernard must meticulously chisel and rasp each block of wood until completion. This results in an incredible amount of wood shavings, which are chiseled one by one.
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