“Our foundations were in Germany and the German sisters relied heavily on and taught needlework,” says Sister Virginia Klesner, one of the sisters who serves in ministry in Liturgical Fabric Arts at Sancta Maria in Ripa, St. Louis. “Needlework and sewing and providing vestments is part of our heritage. Mother Theresa and Mother Caroline did a lot of needlework. It’s in our bones.”

The Liturgical Fabric Arts department of today can trace its history back to Blessed Theresa of Gerhardinger, Foundress of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, who believed that needlework helped children learn focus and concentration. Likewise, Mother Caroline Friess herself was skilled at embroidery and would work on projects in her spare time.

It was also Mother Caroline who first began the “tapestry room” in Milwaukee. There, she and other sisters created hand-sewed and intricately embroidered vestments, banners and altar cloths. The success of that initial effort would evolve, making its way to St. Louis, where it was initially known as the Ecclesiastical Department. Fast forward to the construction of Caroline Center on the Sancta Maria in Ripa campus when the department moved and was then eventually renamed Liturgical Fabric Arts.

For the last few years, seven sisters have remained in ministry at Liturgical Fabric Arts: Sisters Rita Maureen Deimeke, Josephine Niemann, Virginia Klesner, Regina Kabayama, Mildred Glosemeyer, Marie Denise Houston and Patricia Lange. Each sister has been there for various lengths of time. Sister Virginia joined in 2020, while Sister Josephine has been offering her skills as a designer for more than 40 years. Sister Regina was meant to spend only two years helping in the department but has now been with Liturgical Fabric Arts for 25 years.

“I was an elementary school teacher for a long time,” says Sister Regina. “Of course I sewed a little bit, for my clothes. My sister and mother trained me. I had no other experience. I came here to Liturgical Fabric Arts for the first time, and I learned.”

“I knew how to sew and could make my own clothing and help other sisters make theirs,” said Sister Virginia. “I was also in school ministry and parish work all my years until five years ago. Sister Regina taught me how to make vestments. She’s an excellent teacher. She taught me how to make those fancy corners for altar cloths. Everything I do here I attribute to my teacher.”

“My mother first taught me to make clothes for my dolls,” recalls Sister Josephine. “She taught me to make my own clothes around seventh grade. This grew very much out of that.”

As a ministry, Liturgical Fabric Arts creates altar cloths, banners and wall hangings for churches and vestments for priests, including chasubles and stoles.

Sister Rita Maureen, who has been with Liturgical Fabric Arts for more than three decades, remembers, “It started out just a few sisters, then more and more were added. Over the years, we have outfitted four entire dioceses with vestments.”

This does not take into account the many individual orders and parish requests. Creations from Liturgical Fabric Arts can be found across the United States and in other countries. The department has ready-made vestments completed and available for sale and also crafts non-liturgical quilts for the monthly raffle sponsored by the Resource Development office. Sister Regina makes bags and napkins sold at the gift gallery on the Ripa campus.

In 1999, the sisters in Liturgical Fabric Arts were commissioned with the privilege of designing and making banners for the St. Louis visit of Pope John Paul II. Photos of those banners are displayed in a scrapbook of many other works the sisters have created over the years.

“A special piece I made went to Africa, and that is one I am most proud of,” said Sister Virginia. “Sisters Josephine and Regina helped me piece together a chasuble with tie-dyed fabric specially designed for School Sisters of Notre Dame. Sister Jean Goessling, who was a missionary in Africa at that time, took it back to Kenya. When they have special Notre Dame feasts or gatherings there, the priest will wear that vestment.”

“I do have favorites,” admits Sister Josephine. “As far as Liturgical Fabric Arts go, it is the quilted banners we made for a church here in St. Louis, St. Monica. We did one for each of the four seasons. My favorite wall quilt that is non-liturgical is an elephant I did for an auction.”

Sister Josephine was a secondary teacher in Sierra Leone, West Africa in the 1970s and 1980s and has made artful quilts of other African animals such as giraffes and zebras as well.

Each sister brings something different to the process, but all are united in their work.

“What we do is for the beautification of the churches and I think adds to the awe and experience of being in worship,” says Sister Josephine.

“It’s a shared ministry,” says Sister Virginia. “We each have a little hand in what we do. When you are in the classroom or in the parish, you are in charge and responsible for a ton of things. Here, it’s a much lighter feeling. You do your job well and it works. When you’re finished, you can see what you’ve done.”

Similarly, Sister Regina says, “I taught 36 years at an elementary school in Kyoto. I like to teach, especially elementary children – they are so alive. The other day I went to Japan for a 70-year anniversary of our school. Many alumni and teachers were together. Those children are now over 60. Here, I learned so much and everybody is very kind to me. I enjoy creating things I want to do.”