Brother Matthew Paints Crosses in the Church
As part of the recent renovation of the church, one of our postulants, Brother Matthew, painted twelve crosses under the twelve candles that were lit on the day when the church was originally opened and blessed. He first made a stencil of the original and cut out the measurements. The job took a long time, and he says he got it right on the third effort.
Brother Matthew did most of his work in the afternoons, and he slightly altered the original crosses, creating a more modern look for what is a modern church. Originally, the crosses had a lead color, now they present as a shadow on the wall. Brother Matthew said he grew to enjoy the work after he had done the first four, and it was interestingly on the Feast of the Holy Cross that he felt the work was reaching a conclusion when it began to flow.
Brother Matthew was a professional artist before he entered the monastery, having his own art gallery. He looks forward to doing more painting work in the abbey in the future, and it was suggested to him that he might take up painting icons.