Franciscan Sister Sculpts Prayers at the Potter’s Wheel

  

Sr. Jane Frances Omlor sits down at the potter’s wheel and cups a wet hunk of clay. As the wheel spins, she guides the clay with slick fingers, centering the beginning of a pot.

“Pottery’s very contemplative work,” the Franciscan sister says. “Centering is the first thing you do. And when you’re centered and in prayer, you’re in a very beautiful position of opening yourself up to God, to silence, to life, to whatever.”

Sr. Jane has spent 30 years sculpting pottery—a process she says creates a deep spiritual life. The self-taught potter prays while she creates pottery, and she helps others make this connection, too, through her “Centering with Pottery and Prayer” retreat at the St. Francis Spirituality Center in Tiffin, OH.