We continue our Community series on “The Artists of the Abbey” by taking a look at Brother Benedict Maria’s work with mosaics, particularly his replication of the coat of arms Dom Wilfrid Bayne designed for the monastery.
 

Br. Benedict at work in the monastery novitiate
 

A mosaic draws together many pieces to form a unified image. The process of producing the mosaic, in this sense, mirrors the formation of a Christian community. This is found in microcosm in the cenobitic community of the monastery. Indeed, for Saint Paul, this gathering of individuals produces the very body of Christ among us and within us. Brother Benedict Maria remarks that such theological implications informed his own mosaic making. “You are always looking to the bigger picture,” he notes, “and also, each tile is important, and without it the whole would not come to be.” God knows this bigger picture, he adds. God also works through our imperfections. Saint Louis Abbey’s Brother Symeon Gilette, Br. Benedict’s guide and mentor through the project, also embraces imperfections in his mosaic work, seeing God at work through our imperfections, while “only God is perfect.”

Brother Symeon Gillette, O.S.B., and his mosaic icons (St. Louis Abbey chapel)



Br. Benedict’s first mosaic

The cathedral of Saint Louis contains well-known, stunning mosaics, which no doubt inspire students in the guild which Brother Symeon created at St. Louis Abbey in 1989. These mosaics hearken back to the style of Ravenna, thus manifesting a tradition of artistry that indeed is ancient. The Medieval Arts Guild, officially called “The Guild of Saint Columkille,” was established by Brother Symeon to offer to Priory School students education and training in the arts of stained glass, calligraphy, and mosaics. The students have produced some outstanding works, including the Emerson stained glass windows in the Priory’s High School lobby. These beautiful windows are comprised together of over 15,000 pieces of glass. In their extended membership in the guild over their years as students, the developing craftsmen pass through progressive stages in their training, from apprentice, to journeyman, to master. The program reflects a reverence for the traditions of art and spirituality informing the christian faith. Brother Symeon has himself produced two outstanding mosaics icons now in the monks’ chapel in Saint Louis, images of Christ Pantocrator and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
 

Tiles being gathered
 

Brother Benedict also turned to our own resident artists, such as Father Gregory Havill, for assistance in the project. In particular, Fr. Gregory recommended the type of tile to use, a manufactured type of glass-ceramic tile. It is a resilient, sturdy material that can withstand the required clipping. Such “mosaic tiles” come in a square shape and are variously sized; Brother Benedict worked with tiles of about 1/2-square inch. He would typically make 1-4 cuts in shaping each tile, initially working on 10-15 tiles in one work session, though he was able to clip twice as many as his skill developed. The clipping was generally undertaken independently of the assemblage, and not instantly connected for each tile. In assembling the fragments, he worked from his pattern, “working from the outside in, moving toward the center.” This method he learned from Brother Symeon, who instructed that this produced a mosaic more pleasing for the eye to see, generating a pattern that comes together more fluidly. In moving from the clipping to the gathering and the setting into a contact sheet, there are moments of needing to pause, “to let it sit, to take a break for a few days to think.” In producing the shield project, Br. Benedict basically divided the image fabrication into four segments. The fragments were glued in mesh, basically window screening, and then installed into the overall pattern.
 

Br. Benedict’s Jerusalem Cross mosaic
 

The mosaic project itself incorporated a variety of individuals in its fabrication. In his remarks on the mosaic at the reception following his solemn profession, Br. Benedict noted the involvement of Mr. Jose Soares in the intermediate installation, as well as the help of Brother Joseph, as well as the encouragement in the project given by Prior Michael. Mr. Luis Raposo, a craftsman and carpenter who works with the maintenance staff of the School, was also involved with the shield mosaic throughout, particularly in fabricating its frame and in its installation in the monastery. Brother Sixtus notes that Luis understood how the materials would work, how the tiles would sit in the mosaic, as well as how to properly install the completed project. The use of a glue rather than cement in adhering the fragments helped lighten the overall mosaic. Sixtus also remarked that the location chosen for installation carried significant community overtones. “It is really at a kind of crossroads in the monastery,” he says, “in the central staircase, gathering the north and south wings of the monastery. Everyone passes it at some point in the day.” Brother Benedict adds that the location allows for the afternoon sun from the western sky to illuminate the shield, noticeably catching the gold of the image’s central cross. This coloration was of great significance in Fr. Wilfrid’s original design, set against the more subdued sable-and-white of the setting, gathering a focal point on Christ’s cross.
 

At work on the grouting
 

Mosaic making started for Br. Benedict with his own personal design of a simple cross, assisted by Br. Symeon. This was one of two projects he completed while in his novitiate at Saint Louis Abbey for one-and-a-half years. His second mosaic was a Jerusalem Cross, a work that now resides in the calefactory in Saint Louis. It is a style of cross important to the St. Louis community, visible in Abbot Gregory Mohrman’s abbatial cross. At the end of his novitiate, Brother Benedict envisioned his work on the shield mosaic. This occupied two of his years as a junior monk, and coincidentally, providentially, completion began to come into view with the approach of his Solemn Profession. This third and more ambitious project adapted the coat of arms designed by Dom Wilfrid Bayne (1893-1974), the Portsmouth community’s acclaimed heraldic expert who designed the shields of Portsmouth, Saint Louis, and a number of other communities. All Saints Day of 2021 provided Brother Benedict with a kind of self-imposed deadline for completion of the work. “It was a kind of miracle,” he says, that he successfully completed it for the occasion. “With any project, there is an initial excitement, then a kind of drag, then an excitement.” His excitement for his solemn vows became connected with the mosaic project, leading to several sleepless nights where the craftsman was hard at work. His mosaic “monk’s work” then gained a kind of intensity as the prospect of solemn vows approached. Br. Benedict notes that he had been drawn to the monastic character of the craft: “a monk is to work, to work with his hands; it is a very calming monastic kind of work with no pressure.” But he realized a newfound tension in conjunction with his approaching vows, with the timeline of striving to get the mosaic properly completed. And the mosaic of persons that comprises his cenobitic community remains most grateful that this became such a productive and fruitful tension, in both respects.
 

The mosaic comes into view
 

In preparing to move into theological studies and prepare for ordination, Brother Benedict sees his next project as involving the production, or “writing,” of an icon. Icon production is thoroughly a process of prayer with a fundamental theological underpinning. Brother Benedict hopes to devote some time to learning how to properly make an icon, broadening the artistic expression of his spiritual journey. We are all indebted to be the appreciative recipients some of the visible landmarks along that path.