As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep people at home, how
people cope and what they are doing during this time is a question that keeps
popping up — at virtual work meetings, during teleconferencing happy hours and
on social media.
Creating art is often suggested to facilitate healing, practice
self-care, or as one local artist is doing, combine with prayer.
Mary Aquino, a parishioner of St. John the Beloved Church in
McLean, recently painted an image of a health care worker wearing a mask and
holding her hands in prayer. We ran a photo of the painting on page 2 of the
April 16 issue of the Catholic Herald, and I interviewed
Mary for a podcast
about stories of hope during the pandemic.
This is the first in a series of paintings by Mary Aquino showing the story of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic COURTESY MARY AQUINO
Mary doesn’t describe herself as a painter, but the images she is
creating — some based on her friends who are doctors and nurses — are
incredibly inspiring, creative, and tell a story of these workers on the
frontline of the coronavirus.
Mary is creating a series of paintings and has shared the ones
she has completed so far with the Catholic Herald.
“Some of the paintings are based on actual people who inspired me and though
they may not look exactly like them, hopefully they can tell it is them based
on the clothing or setting they are in,” Mary said. “The prayer painting that came
first represents all health care workers. The African American woman’s image — inspired
by the pandemic — is just from my own imagination. The others are of Kelsey
Bowker (wearing stethoscope), Maria Barba (seated) and Charlie Willkom.
“I want them to know I am thinking of them and praying for them
as I paint.”
Because each person is wearing a mask, and you can’t see their
full expression, Mary said she paints the eyes first — as that is where the
emotion is felt most in the paintings.
When I forwarded the email from Mary that included the image of
the African American woman crying to our social media coordinator, Mary
Stachyra Lopez, she said, “It took my breathe away.”

The love, prayer and thought behind each painting come from an artist
with much talent, even though she doesn’t think she deserves that title.
Keep up the inspiring work Mary, you have touched more people
than you realize.
Rausch can be reached at stacy.rausch@catholicherald.com.