Mary Olivia Patiño is a writer and poet. She enjoys photography and integrates it into creative design, and in her published books. For several years, she facilitated a faith-based writing group which she formed in collaboration with parishioners. 

A lay person, she reflects on her past ministry and day-to-day experiences where she encounters God's presence, She is an Oblate of the Order of St. Benedict with the Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica. She is a graduate of the Oblate School of Theology and of Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas.