Library Puts Mary Front-and-Center, In More Ways Than One, on Her Birthday

Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, boasts that it throws the biggest party for Mary’s birthday in the United States of America every September 8.

Students, faculty, staff and their families are invited to the event (Sept. 8 at 6:30 in the Murphy Rec Center) which features inflatables and the Raven Regiment Marching Band. It celebrates Benedictine College’s dedication to Our Lady, which includes the college’s consecration to Our Lady in 2013 and the renewal of that consecration in 2023.

But the new library at Benedictine College, though it is modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia, also shows this dedication by featuring Marian art throughout.

Here is an overview of the major original pieces of Marian art in the Moritz Library at D’Aniello Hall at Benedictine College.

Above the south entrance of the building, Mary, Help of Christians stands over the the quad entrance. This 9-foot-tall marble statue features the crowned Blessed Mother holding the newborn King, Jesus. Mary also holds a scepter as Queen, and the Christ child’s right hand is raised in a sign of blessing. These represent the fact that Christ the King and his Queen Mother are the true powers of the land. This particular Marian title is featured because when Founding Benedictine Father Henry Lemke feared for his life during a great storm near this site, he called out to Mary Help of Christians. He was rescued and said, “I shall always call on thee.”

In front of the west entrance to the library, Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom is the focal point of a plaza. This larger-than-life statue will be mounted on a pedestal. This will be the primary student entrance to the library. The Blessed Mother is once again depicted with her son, Wisdom Incarnate, demonstrating Benedictine College’s mission of community, faith, and scholarship. This enthroned depiction of Our Lady also begins the Path of Mary, which leads into Mary’s Grotto.

In the  beautiful Reading Room of the new library, two new paintings have been commissioned. One is the Adoration of the Madonna and Child by Benedict and Scholastica.

St. Benedict with his raven, a symbol for the saint and the mascot of Benedictine College; and his twin sister, St. Scholastica, pictured with a dove, are depicted with Our Lady in heaven. They both hold croziers, symbolizing their spiritual leadership of Benedictine College. Mary presents Jesus to the two saints, and St.  Benedict presents her with the Benedictine College campus, including the new library.

The paintings were created by James Patrick Reid, who studied at the New York Studio School and earned a master’s degree in painting at Indiana University.

After his spiritual awakening at age 15, he began exploring the his faith with his art. He has become a sought-after expert on the subject, beginning with an M.Div. thesis at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary. Reid now teaches at Benedictine College, after years teaching in New York City at the Art Students League, the New York Academy, and the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Another key image of Our Lady is the 4-and-a-half-by-6-foot mosaic of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is crafted from Venetian glass and stone in in New Jersey before being transported to be installed in Murphy Room of the library, where many windows will light up the mosaic with sunlight throughout the day. The mosaic was created by Ioana Belcea, an artist based in Princeton, New Jersey, whose work is featured in the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is hugely importance to Benedictine College. The college’s campus features one of the United States’ oldest chapels dedicated to her, and the college was consecrated to Our Lady after Benedictine was invited to participate in meetings convened on the anniversary of the 1999  post-synodal apostolic exhortation The Church in America. In that document, St. John Paul II wrote: “Through Our Lady of Guadalupe’s powerful intercession, the Gospel will penetrate the hearts of the men and women of America and permeate their culture, transforming them from within.’” The college embraced that challenge as its new vision. The Independence Hall library is itself a result of the college’s Transform Culture in America plan.

President Stephen D. Minnis attended the two Vatican meetings.

“I will never forget the night I went back and forth in front of the tilma in the basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, asking Our Lady, over and over again, for her son to bless Benedictine College,” he said. “And I can’t help but hear those words she said so long ago to Juan Diego: ‘There are many I could send, but you are the one I have chosen.’”

Now, he shares his conviction with students that every Benedictine College student has been chosen for a particular mission in the Church and through Our Lady of Guadalupe’s intercession, Benedictine College will equip them to truly Transform Culture in America.

By Editorial Staff