Meet the Sisters

Filling the Soul
by Donata Glassmeyer

S. Roberta Westrick created the decorative santos adorning the reredos at the newly dedicated St. Pius X Catholic Church in Weslaco, Texas.

In 1992, Sister of Charity of Cincinnati Roberta Westrick was looking for a hobby. A friend brought her a book on the history of santos (painted and carved images of Catholic saints). In addition, Sister was gifted with two santos while she served as pastoral minister at St. Patrick parish in Colorado Springs, Colo. They hung in her office there as she read the art book. “And the rest is history,” S. Roberta said.

According to S. Roberta’s 2008 jubilee press release, “Her [art] work resides at Regis University and St. Gabriel Episcopal Church in Denver, Colo., at Pikes Peak Community College and Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Colorado Springs, Colo., and in private collections throughout the United States.”

Of her ministry in today’s culture, S. Roberta said, “Religious art has always lifted humankind to a higher level of spirituality. I hope that the work I have done … fills people’s souls with God’s essence more deeply.”

In 2001, Sister was commissioned by the art committee of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Colorado Springs to participate in a major art project – an outdoor display of the patron saints of 46 parishes in the Diocese of Colorado Springs. The Plaza de los Santos took more than one and one-half years to complete. It was dedicated and blessed in 2003.

“I am a firm believer,” said S. Roberta, “that if you honor the God-given creative urge within you and say ‘yes’ to those little whispered ideas that flash like comets through your mind, God will lead you to create. It takes you places you never expected to go, bringing beauty, joy and delight into your own life, to those around you, and sometimes into a cold and harsh world.”

In December 2010, S. Roberta had the opportunity to see the 18 santos she painted for the reredos behind the altar of the newly formed parish of St. Pius X in Weslaco, Texas, installed. “It was a most awesome event for me to see the saints that I had painted here in Colorado Springs, some 1,500 miles away from their eventual home, finally arriving and being so honored,” she said.

“I am now working on a project for St. Dominic Catholic Church here in Colorado Springs,” Sister added. “This is one panel, but to make it lovely, I have decided to hand carve the frame that will enclose it. This is a challenge as I have only carved smaller pieces. I love working with wood and paints. When I have finished painting the saints for a project, whether large or small, I know that the saints will always go to the place that is meant for them.”

 

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