Chagrin Valley Times       Cleveland's Plain Dealer       San Francisco Chronicle

Spiritual outreach ministry promotes beauty
...She found a letter waiting for her from a chaplain at Sing Sing Prison in New York, who somehow had heard of her ministry and asked if she would donate Christmas cards and beauty prayer cards for the inmates. Mrs. Classen said, "This was no coincidence. Only God could have inspired the heart of this chaplain to contact the Mute Swan so that God's beauty may be revealed in an environment so devoid of beauty, hope and healing," she said.

She also is designing and donating the No. 1 requested card by inmates, the Mother's Day card that they can send to their mothers, along with hope and healing prayer cards. The printing of the full-color cards is expensive, Mrs. Classen said, and the ministry is looking for underwriters to help pay the cost.

Mrs. Classen was also asked to design a series of hope and healing prayer cards for patients facing life-threatening illnesses at South Pointe Hospital in Warrensville Heights. She said she imagined patients who have pets, missing them, so she designed prayer cards with a watercolor painting of a dog, and one with a cat, among other designs. She painted with bright colors and used inspiring spiritual quotes. The cards will be left on patients' pillows every night as a hopeful source of comfort, she said. They are available at the hospital's gift shop.

Mrs. Classen and volunteers create a quarterly e-mail journal of colorful artwork, poems, prayers, articles, and of course, favorite spiritual quotes. The free journal "offers the reader an opportunity to pause and became attentive to God's ever-present beauty -- even in the midst of struggles. In silence, you will discover your inner beauty," she said.The ministry also encourages a "contemplative life of beauty" through educational workshops, retreats and seminars, she said. To make a donation or for more information, call (216) 832-4445.

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