THELEAVEN.ORG | VOL. 39, NO. 36 | MAY 4, 2018
PHOTO BY MARY LOUISE TOTTEN
Mater Dei School first-graders Emmy Lojewski (center) and Madalynn Baeza get help from Father John Pilcher, pastor of Mater Dei Parish in Topeka, on their project.
A GIFT FROM THE ART By Carolyn Kaberline Special to The Leaven
T
OPEKA — Mary Louise Totten has fond memories of growing up in Kansas City, Kansas, in the 1970s. Those memories include summers spent selling dandelion necklaces and painted rocks to earn money for the ice cream truck and of Father Cyprian Nordhus, a Benedictine who lived at the St. Joseph-St. Benedict Church rectory with fellow Benedictines Father Ambrose Keating and Father Basil Finken. “If you would see Father Cyprian walking down the street, you might have thought he was a homeless man,” she said. “He was dressed in black. The cuffs of his pants dragged the ground and were very tattered.” Totten said it was only the white collar on his black shirt that gave him away as a priest. “He shuffled as he walked down the hill from St. Joseph and St. Benedict
PHOTO BY MARY LOUISE TOTTEN
Father John Pilcher glues a jewel on a cross while, from left, Darius Mosqueda, Harper Smith, Madalynn Baeza and Levi Endsley look on. Church carrying two large plastic shopping bags. You might have thought the bags were filled with all of his worldly
possessions.” What those bags actually contained were almost magical, howev-
er. They were full of empty plastic bottles, pieces of wood, carving tools and an assortment of other materials. “While I don’t remember the actual day or year I met him, I do remember working on art projects with him,” Totten said. “The children on our block came to our house on Mill Street, and we all sat on the front steps of the house creating wonderful memories and religious art projects.” Those creations included crosses cut from old plastic bottles with curtain hooks added so they could be hung in a youngster’s room and holy water fonts made from old detergent bottles that Father Cyprian also filled with holy water. “He would trace your hand on a small piece of balsa wood and then he would write your name beautifully in block letters with his shaky hands,” she said. “Then, he would show you how to carve around your name in the wood. Father Cyprian would later put a plaster-ofParis mold of Jesus or Mary on it >> See “BUILDING” on page 7