Remembering Father Michael F. Patella, OSB: A Life Well Loved
Father Michael Patella, OSB, Chair of the Committee on Illumination and Text for The Saint John’s Bible and Professor Emeritus of Theology at Saint John’s University, passed away on July 15, 2025. Patella will be remembered for his candor, his overflowing enthusiasm, and his valiant love of life.
Father Michael Patella was a bubbling caldron of zeal. He enjoyed listening, but he loved to speak. When he spoke, he did so with passion, enunciating every word with equal importance, though occasionally his enthusiasm caused him to trip over his words. When his booming voice still didn’t feel loud enough, he gestured with his hands to help propel his message. Every word he uttered originated from a true curiosity for–and deep love of–life.
In this way, Patella was spirited in the truest sense of the word. The Holy Spirit flowed through him and out again with an exuberance that is difficult to find.
As anyone who knew him knows well, Patella put this talent to great use. As a professor, spiritual leader, and presenter, he was thoroughly engaging and effervescent. His passion was consistently palpable.
“Michael was a one of a kind,” said Father Eric Hollas, OSB, Prior of Saint John’s Abbey and Deputy to the President for Advancement. “He was not a clone of anybody, and what you saw was what you got. He didn’t hide himself behind a facade of being stoic or enigmatic. His love of life allowed him to relate to a variety of people.”
It’s not difficult to imagine why a project that required so much energy–enough to propel global artists and academics through 15 years of meticulous work–would benefit from this kind of character.
But when Patella was first appointed as Chair of the Committee on Illumination and Text for The Saint John’s Bible, he admitted to his surprise. Before this point in his career, he had engaged extensively in the written Word of God. How could he begin to guide a team of visual artists, and why?
“My first reaction was, this is art, and I am a theologian,” said Patella in a video for The Saint John’s Bible. “My relationship to the whole project grew the more I got involved with it. What it did for my own growth as a scholar, my own professional life, is open up a tremendous number of windows on how to read and interpret scripture. I realized that art and theology cannot be separated.”
As Chair, Patella’s role was colossal. In collaboration with his fellow Committee members, he selected which passages of the Bible would be illuminated, wrote a detailed theological brief for each illumination, and communicated that brief to Donald Jackson, the Artistic Director of The Saint John’s Bible, for whom Patella served as one of the primary contacts. Each four-to-five-page brief described what the Bible writers may have intended for a passage, how that passage is relevant to humanity and spirituality today, and served as the theological grounding for the Bible’s 160 major illuminations.
“It was important that Michael was Chair. He was high energy and eager to move forward. At the beginning of the project, no one knew what we were doing,” said Hollas. “Donald would stand before the Committee and ask what they thought of his work. Michael generated discussion and wisdom in the face of this ask. Not everyone could have done what he did.”
Naturally, as his personal enthusiasm for the project grew, this work began to inspire other areas of his life, as well. Many fans of Patella’s life and work know him through his book Word and Image, The Hermeneutics of The Saint John’s Bible, published in 2013. The book is a remarkable exploration of how The Saint John’s Bible might be interpreted. He, of course, draws on his personal notes and experience to do so.
“We would often say that we are taking words and translating them into images,” said Patella. “That in itself was very eye-opening to me. My own research began to take a different arc toward the visual, or using the visual to help interpret a passage. I have to admit I was taken by that. It allowed us to be very imaginative. Knowing that we were engaged in a big project and could use our imaginations and that we could have really fun, creative conversations and have them mean something was very energetic.”
His passion for sacred art sparked by The Saint John’s Bible also manifested itself in other ways outside of scholarship, such as taking part in Saint John’s Abbey’s Environment Committee, which handled church decoration for feast days.
“The Saint John’s Bible became one of the main features of Michael’s life. It meant a great deal to him and became a main drive of energy for him,” said Hollas. “He always did other things, but this was the thing that got him up in the morning.”
A Gift to Michael
In the summer of 2025, generous donors, Elaine and Bruce Culver, gifted a Heritage Edition of The Saint John’s Bible to the School of Theology and Seminary at Saint John’s University. This Heritage Edition was dedicated to Patella, “for his dedication, visionary guidance and embodiment of the Benedictine spirit as Chair of The Saint John’s Bible Committee on Illumination and Text,” in the words of the dedication page that The Saint John’s Bible artist Suzanne Moore is in the process of creating.
The School of Theology and Seminary organized a meaningful dedication service and luncheon held on June 30th to commemorate the occasion. Though it couldn’t have been easy for Patella to attend given the state of his health, he did. Guests of the occasion—friends, confreres, and colleagues—remember Patella celebrating the occasion fully and joyfully, even sipping sparkling wine out of a straw.
“I had the honor of contacting Fr. Michael to inform him of this gift,” said Brad Neary, Director of The Saint John’s Bible Heritage Program. “He was so thrilled and humbled by the generosity and outpouring of love that he felt in that moment. It was such a privilege to be the one to share that extraordinary news with him.”
At the luncheon, the University Dining staff prepared a beautiful meal of Michael’s favorite foods. It was a full Italian feast of pasta, salad, spumoni, and, given the special occasion, they were even able to bend the rules and serve a spot of prosecco.
Outside of The Saint John’s Bible, Patella’s life was full of other hobbies and interests. He is known to have loved the outdoors, a long bike ride through beautiful central Minnesota, and a great meal. He had a particular fondness for Italian and Middle Eastern cuisine. Life at Saint John’s Abbey and the community there meant the world to him. Patella’s love of life allowed him to connect with so many fellow monks over so many different things, making him a standout personality in the community.
Remembering Fr. Michael (1954 – 2025)
Among the speakers was Father Cyril Gorman, OSB, who spoke to the hope of life everlasting, and of Biblical passages that remind him of Patella. “From the letter to the Colossians, ‘Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.’ Michael did that in so many ways,” shared Gorman.
Dr. Shawn Colberg, the Dean of the School of Theology and Seminary at Saint John’s University, also shared remarks. “When the truth of something was plain to Michael, he could do no less than to share it with those around him. Sometimes Michael was wonderfully loud,” said Dr. Colberg. “His deep love of Catholic and Benedictine life often spilled out loudly in support of the Abbey in a commitment to the Catholic and Benedictine missions of our institutions, and in the challenge of welcoming all as we would Christ. What Michael was most loud about was the truth and the joy of the Gospel. He never stinted in painting a picture of God as welcoming, generous, kind, and forgiving.”
Patella’s legacy lives on in innumerable ways. Through his writing, his students and mentees, his brothers at the Abbey, to the very The Saint John’s Bible itself, the mark that Patella left on the world is formidable, enduring, and bright.
The Saint John’s Bible: In Remembrance
Click here to view Father Michael Patella’s collection of work at the Liturgical Press.
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