San Pascual Bailon

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San Pascual was a 16th century Spanish shepherd who became a Franciscan lay brother. He served his fellow Franciscans in various capacities & monasteries as shepherd, gardener, porter, & cook. San Pascual was known for his ministrations to the poor and for his many miraculous cures. Today San Pascual is chiefly known as a patron of the kitchen in token of his work as a cook. In New Mexico his image has become a ubiquitous element of “Santa Fe-inspired” décor. San Pascual is patron of shepherds, cooks, and Eucharistic Congresses and associations. This rendition of the patron saint of cooks and kitchens is from an original watercolor by Bro. Cletus Behlmann, S.M. “Making a work of art is a moment of spiritual discovery. The integration of mind, heart, and hand along with manipulating the medium is essential in the act of creating a work of art.”Bro. Cletus Behlmann, S.M., a Marianist Brother, taught for 19 years before arriving in San Antonio to become a full time artist. His first opportunity to study art came at age 28, when he studied at the Chicago Institute of Art and Washington University in St. Louis. He settled in San Antonio in 1977 and began operating the St. Mary's University Art Center. It is thanks to his artistic inventiveness that the gallery, studio, and center reflect art and convey beauty. Cletus has a drive that fires both his creative imagination and productivity. He has been called "shockingly productive." He works in a variety of media: metal, acrylics, watercolor, batik, pastels, stained glass, ceramics, handmade paper, linoleum prints, crayola and others. Although his themes range from religious to folk art to abstract, the overall leitmotif of his work is in "celebration of life," from the wonders of nature to the wonders of God's Redemption. Cletus' canvasses suggest a joyous symphony of bold, bright colors, so different from the discreet and delicate expression of the message he wants to convey. The deeply spiritual quality of his work, for instance, is a little more suggestive than it is obvious. Essentially a religious artist, Cletus wants the beholder to discover the relationship and ultimate unity between religion and life. Cletus has traveled and painted in much of the United States, as well as Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taipei, Bangkok, most European countries, and much of Central America.

San Pascual Bailon, pray for us.