Volunteer Profile: Sister Patricia Reynolds, SC

As we continue thanking and honoring our volunteers this week, we bring you the profile of Sister Patricia Reynolds, a Sister of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station, NJ, and the quilting teacher at the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women. 

In Sister Pat's own words:  "For almost sixty years I have tried to make God's love real as a Sister of Charity.  My earlier years were happily spent teaching primary grades but the need for a more flexible schedule led me into health care ministry where over the years I worked as a child life worker and later as a chaplain.  Then, in various parishes, I worked as a visitor to the sick, homebound and hospitalized. I also ministered ten years with an office in a Catholic church as a massage therapist with special training for people with AIDS and cancer. During this same time I visited prisoners in New Jersey State Prison and Fort Dix Correctional Facility and developed a program that taught everyone in the parish -- from pre-school through homebound -- ways to make real,  'I was in prison and you visited me.'

"I am the quilting teacher at the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women.  For me, quilting is a hobby. I love teaching women a skill that women have used for centuries and seeing them develop skills they didn't know they have, especially poor women who haven't had the opportunity to do so. That's why I travel to Passaic each week.

"As Dostoevsky said (and Pope St. John Paul II quoted in his "Letter to Artists"),  'Beauty will save the world.'  I hope that teaching our women how to craft beautiful quilts can be a small part of 'saving the world.'" 

Sister Pat offers this advice to anyone who is considering becoming a volunteer at the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women:  "Think about your gifts -- you may have one to share.  Then, talk to God about it.  Give Sister Ann Marie or Sister Elaine a call."

Thank you, Sister Pat, for the tireless hours you dedicate to your quilting students in Passaic and beyond!

If you are interested in volunteering at the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women, please call us at (973) 470-0844 or email Sister Elaine at srelaine@patersondiocese.org