4 and 20 (No. 3)

Our Bishop came to us from Greensburg, PA, part of a diocese to the east of Pittsburgh. There are two Benedictine places in that diocese: St. Vincent Archabbey for men and St. Emma's Monastery for women. Bishop Persico was the chaplain for the sisters for a number of years. Put all of this together and the bottom line is that he knows the RB and a lot about Benedictinism.

Today's "4 and 20" is a set of fascinating framed pieces that he received from the Benedictine nuns and thought that we, as a Benedictine house, would like them. And we do. Although we can't read the inscriptions clearly, what is clear is that the last part of the sister's name is definitely Brockmann, OSB. Whether she was from the Greensburg house or from Eichstatt, Bavaria, Germany, from where they came, is not clear.

click to enlarge

They are about 7" x 9" in size and look like they were formed by the artist taking a piece of black paper and a razor blade and, after much careful cutting, ending up with these beautiful flower pictures (I call them pictures for want of a better word.) There must be a name for this "craft." Does it sound familiar to any of you? It may be something called Swiss Paper Cuts. Look here. Regardless, they are now hanging in our north hall and make a lovely addition there.


P. S. Came across this recently and liked it. Forbes is listing the "Best college in every state." They considered price, location, offerings. etc. You may enjoy it  here.