Art appreciation

A potpourri of artwork lines the modest apartment of Fr. Paul Cervinski, 83, a retired priest who served the Bismarck Diocese for 57 years. He will be the first to tell you, his home at Emmaus Place, the home for retired priests, serves as no museum.
 
The Bismarck native drew a fondness over the decades for collecting personally meaningful works, particularly those that epitomize the humanity of Jesus Christ and His Mother, Mary.
 
A favorite is a bronze statue known as "Praise," something he found in Sante Fe. To him, it represents unconditional surrender of Mary to the incarnation, Christ becoming man. “It’s a young girl giving praise, making an unconditional commitment,” he explained.
 
Also cherished is a Madonna and child painting that he found during a sabbatical in Rome. “I am deeply touched by Mary’s face and the Christ Child, how they touch one another,” said Cervinski. “That’s the crux of the incarnation is that Christ is truly human.”
 
He points to another painting which is patterned more with the Eastern Orthodox Church theme. This time, Mary is holding Christ after his death on the cross.
 
“Each painting speaks from a different perspective. A painting is a bit of the soul of the artist,” he explained. “They speak to me. They may not speak to others. I don’t need a lot of them.”
 
This is not a collection per se, but pieces that reflect his own personal tastes.
 
Another moment of the mother and child’s special relationship is mirrored in a Lladro ceramic statue. It’s Jesus at age 3 or 4 and his mother touching one another and talking. “He was real flesh,” Cervinski said.
 
But the small collection also includes Goebel pieces of two children pulling a wagon with a third child occupying it, and an Eskimo family he formed together from two separate pieces—one of two children playing and then a young couple that were added. These were purchased in Manitoba. 
 
Some pieces are prints Cervinski likes from local artists he encountered in North Dakota. A table liner from Guatemala which is hand-stitched, is something personal for Cervinski.
 
He doesn’t describe himself as an art specialist or critic. “It’s more ‘I can relate to that,’” he said of the work he keeps.
 
Cervinski said the extent of his own artistic talent was limited to photography of places he traveled and people he encountered. “In high school, they had their own yearbook and dark room. I learned to develop the film and make prints.
 
"I was a camera buff. I started that in grade school. I liked mostly people. I took thousands of pictures.”
 
He always held on to a strong appreciation of good artwork. "There is a lot of diversity of art there," he commented.
 
Early years
 
As a youngster, Cervinski attended St. Mary's Grade School in Bismarck, and graduated from Assumption Abbey High School in Richardton.
 
He pondered becoming a friar and attended Assumption Abbey College for one year after high school. He determined being a diocesan priest, was his best niche’ for serving God and His people. Cervinski wanted to teach prayers in the community.
 
Vocation
 
“I think every vocation is so different. No calling is alike,” he said. “When God wants it is when God wants it. I knew what I wanted to be in fourth or fifth grade…Nobody pushed me. It was something I chose, and I was supported.”
 
Cervinski even sampled the non-religious life during a summer break from college and worked at a San Diego airport plant. He quit the job and he returned to school.
 
“It wasn’t a black and white thing… a flash revelation. It was something internal,” he said.
 
Cervinski furthered his studies at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary at the St. Mary’s College in Winona, Minn. for three years. He completed four more years at St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. and was ordained in 1961.
 
Cervinksi first served six years as an associate pastor at St. Leo's in Minot, where he also taught religion to parish grade schoolers.
 
For seven years, he was appointed the pastor in Max and oversaw the Butte mission. From Max, he regularly commuted back to Minot daily to instruct religion courses at Bishop Ryan High School.
 
For 30 more years, Cervinski served as full-time pastor at the Little Flower Catholic Church in Minot until he retired from full-time duties.
 
Despite his lifelong appreciation of art, Cervinski never lost sight of his priorities. “Being a pastor and loving people in the parish and being loved by them is the most rewarding thing about being a priest,” he said.
 
Though retired for 13 years, Cervinski still celebrates Mass at the St. Vincent’s nursing home, CHI St. Alexius Health and the Marillac Manor assisted living facility as needed in Bismarck. While wintering in New Mexico, he celebrates early Mass at the John the XXIII Church.