The Women of The Saint John’s Bible: Linda Orzechowski at the Center of it All

Even a project of grand calligraphic ambition, such as The Saint John’s Bible, needs a scribe of its own.  

It needs someone to take notes, and to translate those notes to others. To understand the nuances of a conversation in a small room of renowned theologians in Collegeville, Minnesota and relay those complex ideas to the foremost calligraphers and artists in the world in Monmouth, Wales.  

From 2005 to 2009, that person was Linda Orzechowski, recording secretary for The Saint John’s Bible.   

“My primary duty was to attend the Committee on Illumination and Text (CIT) meetings and summarize them in a way that would capture the essence of what they were saying, then communicate it to Donald and his team,” said Orzechowski. 

The Committee on Illumination and Text (CIT) was a group of eight academics and theologians from Saint John’s University who were charged with guiding and overseeing the creation of The Saint John’s Bible. It included Fr. Michael Patella, OSB; Fr. Columba Stewart, OSB; and the late Johanna Becker. 

Together, the Committee created a brief for the The Saint John’s Bible before artistic work began. The CIT gave this brief, full of detailed theological, historical, and cultural context to consider, to the artistic team at the outset. Then, the artists used the brief to create sketches, which were sent to the Scriptorium, and then to the CIT for review. Orzechowski compiled the CIT’s feedback and sent it back to the Scriptorium. Finally, the Scriptorium and the artists decided whether to incorporate the CIT’s revisions or put the sketch onto vellum. Thus commenced a process wherein illuminations were sent back and forth across the world many times.   

One of the wonderful skills that Orzechowski brought to her work was her translation. To hold the world of academia in one hand and the world of the artist in another, and to do so gently, is not a skill that just anyone can pick up. It takes the ability to truly see people to do this well.  

“The artists worked with a committee overseeing them, and that’s very challenging for any artist,” said Orzechowski. “You have your benefactor, whom you want to appease and charm and make happy, but you’re also still an artist. You want to be free. For me, it was all about understanding that so much of an artist’s soul goes into their work. It really is wonderful to witness.” 

When Orzechowski joined the project in 2005, the Gospel & Acts, Pentateuch, and Psalms volumes of The Saint John’s Bible had just been completed. Four remained, as did all seven volumes of the Heritage Edition. The project was well underway, and still six years from completion.  

For most of Orzechowski’s involvement in the project, her communication with the Scriptorium was limited to long-distance means: phone calls, emails, and letters. But there were a few rare moments where she got to be in the room with the artists whose work she had become so familiar with.  

For example, at a closing event for The Saint John’s Bible, the whole team gathered at creative director Donald Jackson’s home in Wales for the occasion. Among the high ceilings of Jackson’s home, which used to be a town hall, the artists turned their gaze to see a bird. 

“Chris Tomlin, the naturalist artist who created the birds, flora and fauna in The Saint John’s Bible, was the person who caught the bird and brought it outside,” said Orzechowski. “I just thought, how special is it that he caught a bird because he had this ability to walk up to it without spooking it. He had a way to communicate with nature that shows in his work. It’s beautiful what he did. It was so precious.”

The Guiding Light 

When Orzechowski assumed her position in 2005, she was fresh out of a long career in administering government funding for low-income housing. The transition from this work to working on The Saint John’s Bible might seem drastic to some, but to Orzechowski, it made perfect sense.  

“I’m a practical doer by nature, and I try to approach my work–whatever it may be–with a servant kind of disposition. I take great pride in that,” said Orzechowski. “It’s important to be present, accountable, honest, and kind, and that you show up and do whatever work you’re doing to the best of your ability. You do it honestly, and you do it with kindness. That’s how I was raised.”  

Indeed, wherever you go, there you are, and warmth emanates from Orzechowski wherever she goes. Take, for example, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. When The Saint John’s Bible exhibition debuted at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA), Orzechowski was tasked with driving the artists from the airport to their hotels. It was her first time meeting many of them, and she remembers feeling a sense of awe and nervousness on the drive to the airport.  

So, she picked up Thomas Ingmire and Aidan Hart from the loop and drove off to their hotel. To her delight, the three of them had a lovely chat and great laughs. Her fears of awkward silence or coming off inhospitable were entirely unfounded.  

That’s the spirit of Orzechowski. She brings a light and a kindness to any room that she is in.  

Now, the room that she illuminates happens to also be on the Saint John’s University campus. She is an executive assistant, office manager, and corporate secretary for the Hill Manuscript Museum and Library (HMML). 

“We pronounce HMML like Himmel, the German word for heaven. So, I always say, I work in ‘himmel’,” said Orzechowski.  

Of course, a place is only as great as its people, and Orzechowski is one of the best.  

The Saint John’s Bible: Ignite the Spiritual Imagination 

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