From the viewpoint of someone who has never attended Mass, everything used in the rites of liturgy seem both mysterious and glorious, especially the colorful robes worn by the priests. But even for those who attend Mass regularly, once their eyes have witnessed the beauty of Betty Arbogast's embroidery, the art of the liturgy is changed forever.

In 1986 the Pope visited the United States. When he celebrated Mass with thousands in Monterey, the stoll the Pope wore was a work of art crafted by Ms. Arbogast. She most recently completed a vestment with hand-crafted embroidery depicting the bell tower outside Mission San Miquel, Also hand-embroidered on the vestment is a full replica of the shell painting above the historic lectern inside the mission's sanctuary.

This art, "a part of her need to do what she sees", began several decades ago as an assistance to her mother during a time when wedding gifts were simple yet personal. As part of a large family in a country setting, Betty was the most responsive child to her mother's training in embroidery. Even then the works of her hand were gifts from GOD as she ironed on the patterns to white pillowcases and took needle with fine thread to follow the pattern lines. The finished cases were presented to local parishoners during the wedding reception celebration.

In high school blouses with flowers and/or strawbemes were popular wear. Betty shared her gift by embroidering strawberries on the collars of white shirts that her sisters and fellow classmates wore. She developed her expertise enough to draw the patterns by pencil before finishing them with thread.

Later in adult life, Betty became active with both the Cursillo and Charismatic movements in the Catholic church and her embroidery found a means of expression. She began with work shirts that the "soldiers for Christ" sported at community events. Her art . embodied a personal flair unique to the individual and incorporated Scripture texts over the surface of the material.

The real power in Betty's "call' began at the dinner table of a week-long retreat in 1985. One of the presenters, Fr. Jim Nisbet, spoke of a vestment he had seen in Turkey depicting two peacocks around a cross symbolizing the Resurrection of Christ. Betty volunteered to craft a similar vestment for him. She remembers standing over the kitchen table with fabric laid out, pencil in hand. "I marked the cross off in the middle as the center. The size of it, the bigness of it established a pattern of the way I do things now..." Betty prefers crafting chastibules rather than stoles because the work area provides more spatial expression for her art.

Another favorite vestment was a research project incorporating flowers and plants from the Bible. She "went to concordances, libraries, books, and copied information about the plants and their colors". When she pencilled them onto the fabric she "had a vision in mind of what they looked like" and she lined them up by color without duplicating any single plant. Betty crafted seventeen vestments for Fr. Jim Nisbet who adds the decor to his instruction on the rites of worship. Her artwork has been commissioned to create personal gifts for anniversaries of ordination to the priesthood. The quality of personal expression is a working prayer Betty offers each time she stitches something beautiful for GOD.

If you would like more information on how to commission this gift of GOD for your parish, write to Chastibules by Betty ATTN: Betty Arbogast at P.O. Box 3120, Paso Robles, CA 93447-3120. May GOD bless you more!