I first encountered Sister Wendy, “the art nun,” on public television, when I watched one of her programs about art. Since I’ve moved here, I’ve found a couple of her books about art in the local library, and have been consuming them. In them, she writes about all kinds of art, from ancient to modern.

I also recently found the book Sister Wendy on Prayer in the public library. The introduction contains lots of interesting biographical information and descriptions of Sister Wendy’s unusual daily routines, written by her television producer. The book itself is a collection of short meditations on prayer, and some of them discuss the connection between art and prayer, as Sister Wendy sees it.

I find Sister Wendy quite a fascinating person. Here is a short passage about her “unconventional and refreshingly personal approach to art,” taken from the book on prayer cited above:

I always like writing about art. Quite apart from the beauty of the pictures, which can distract you from any inadequacies on the part of the text, we are dealing only with opinions. I am telling you that this is what I think. What do you think? If you take another look at any work of art, (a long look), and find you disagree with me, I am only too pleased.