Hail Mary The Marian Library Holds the World’s Largest Collection of Printed Material About the Mother of Jesus.

B Y T ERI R IZVI

ARIANIST FATHER TOM the 8,000-volume Leon Thompson rocks back in Clugnet collection on his office chair and softly Marian shrines. The library hums one of his favorite attracts scholars from hymns, “Omni Die Dic Mariae” or (Daily, across the globe and has MDaily Sing to Mary). been featured in The New It’s an apt tune for the director of the York Times, USA Today Marian Library, the world’s largest collec- and other national media. tion of printed material about the mother of Jesus. A SIMPLE Tucked away on the BEGINNING seventh floor of the The world’s University of Dayton’s largest collec- Roesch Library, the tion of mate- Marian Library is part rial about of the International Mary began Marian Research Insti- humbly, with tute (IMRI), a center for one book. study and research on In October Front and back Mary. The institute 1943, Marianist of medal issued in 1964, when the includes an art gallery, Father John Elbert, Martyrs of Uganda a speaker’s bureau and then president of the were beatified worldwide outreach University of Dayton, presented a copy through a Web site called, of his book, “Devotion to Mary in the 20th “The Mary Page.” Father Century,” to Marianist Father Larry Tom says the library Monheim, the library’s first director. embodies Blessed William “That book served as the library’s The library’s vast Joseph Chaminade’s vision to “know, charter,” Father Tom wrote when the collection began love and serve Mary.” library celebrated its 50th anniversary. with one book: More than 40 percent of the Marian “In his book, Father John said all Marian “Devotion to Mary Library’s holdings aren’t found in any devotion must be related to the mystery in the 20th Century.” other library, and it’s bursting at the of Christ and that Mary’s distinct dignity

seams. Miles of shelves contain rare (continued on page 15) treasures like “The Song of Bernadette” in 13 translations, including one auto- Father Tom Thompson with some of the Marian graphed by author Franz Werfel, and Library’s volumes

12 13 A Cornucopia of Treasures

he Marian Library/International Marian • The library has more than 65,000 newspaper Research Institute provides a cornucopia and magazine clippings that were almost single- of interesting and unusual publications, handedly organized by 90-year-old volunteer artifactsT and information on Mary. Mildred Sutton. Mildred “It’s a broadening experience,” says Marianist has spent the past 40 years Father Tom Thompson, director of the Marian working on this task — with- Library. “Much Marian art has Scriptural or literary out using a computer. On references. Some is rooted in native cultures, and Tuesdays, library visitors some comes from popular devotion.” can find her tapping out For example, one print shows Mary as a young entries on an Olympia mother wearing headphones and balancing a child manual typewriter. on her hip. “Mary is represented in different ways, Stamps from the collection • Visitors can check out the Mary stamp col- not just the way we imagined her in our childhood,” lection. Approximately 9,000 stamps from Father Tom says. Argentina to Zimbabwe cover the Here are a few highlights: to the Assumption. • The library contains more than 100,000 books and pamphlets • The museum includes a collection of 1,200 Nativity scenes that date from the invention of the printing press in the from 45 countries. Jesus wears blue jeans in one. In another, 15th century to the present. The oldest volume is a 1473 all the figures are dressed in Amish clothing. edition of Leonardus of Utino’s “Sermones Aurei de Sanctis,” • Last year, the library’s art gallery was one of the few venues for “Golden Sermons on Saints.” outside the Vatican to exhibit a collection of multicultural •A dozen of the library’s 8,500 rare books were printed before art devoted to Mary. For the first time, 50 oil paintings of 1500; several of the oldest are handwritten. Polish Madonnas were displayed outside Poland. • A signed Salvador Dali print of Christ’s crucifixion hangs on a hallway wall. • Nearly 50,000 post- cards, Christmas cards and holy cards fill 12 file cabinet drawers and 135 boxes. • The library has 10,000 slides of Marian art — mostly from the 20th century. • There are shelves of white, black, Hispanic and Asian statues of Mary, along with numerous paintings and prints. I

Mildred Sutton at her Olympia typewriter

14 consisted in the ‘wonderful work’ of the Internet accessible. “A search on a Marian Incarnation and the Redemption which topic shows that many of the books are the Lord accomplished through her.” found only at the Marian Library,” Father Father John also maintained that “solid Tom says. devotion” to Mary requires a solid Biblical and theological foundation. With that book in hand, Father Larry wrote Catholic publishers for lists of all books published under the title of Mary. He asked 260 Catholic college and seminary librarians to donate duplicate copies of Marian books. In less than two years, the library had 2,600 titles. By 1949, the number of titles topped 10,000 — almost entirely from donations. In 1974, Marianist Father Theodore Koehler inaugurated a formal program in Marian studies and affiliated it with the , a pontifical theological university in Rome. This program was the foundation for the IMRI. Today, students can earn licentiate and doctoral degrees with specialization in Marian Studies from the institute in affiliation with the Pontifical Theological Faculty Marianum. The institute draws on the Marian Library’s wealth of resources. “We want to know about and collect everything Mary, and we say yes to almost every gift,” says Marianist Father Johann Roten, a Marian scholar, writer and art aficionado from Switz- erland, who has directed the IMRI/Marian Library “A WALKING COMPUTER” Print from Hungarian for 15 years. “A woman For the past 45 years, Marianist Brother artist (1936) from Alabama donated Bill Fackovec, a spry 80-year-old librarian, $40,000 worth of woodcuts has scoured antiquarian bookshops in made by famous German Europe and has researched and purchased Impressionists. Another much of the collection. “People have the individual gave us paint- impression that Rome has everything, but ings valued at $25,000 from that’s not true,” Brother Bill says. “There’s his private collection. We always something new that strikes me. had a man who gave us I’ve never gotten bored.” A jade 1,000 . We’re not just buying, cata- Father Johann calls Brother Bill a “walk- loguing and dusting books.” ing computer.” He knows 12 languages Thanks to a massive eight-year online and serves as one of the library’s trans- cataloguing project, almost all of the lators. Brother Bill helps scholars working library’s books now can be found on on advanced degrees in and World Catalogue, an international biblio- offers tours of the library, including many graphic database. Father Tom managed to Catholic Girl Scout troops earning their the Herculean effort that made the library Marian badges.

15 16 Brother Bill talks about one of the Marian Library’s prizes: a 1965 reprint Mary’s Place in Cyberspace of the Walton Polyglot Bible that first appeared in England in the 17th century. The Biblical text includes eight versions. ince its debut in cyberspace nearly a decade ago, “The Walton is the best of the polyglot The Mary Page (www.udayton.edu/mary) has quietly — or many languages — bibles, and has advertised the Marian Library’s vast collection to not yet been surpassed,” Brother Bill says. Sthe world. Librarians have answered thousands of inquiries Walking among the stacks of rare books, about Mary. At least 1 million visitors have visited the site, he pulls out an oversized, beautifully according to Webmaster Michael Duricy. illustrated French book from 1859. “It A “Frequently Asked Questions” page and an online contains the only illustrations I’ve seen “Dictionary of Mary” tackle everything from “Why do of Mary listening to Jesus preaching.” Catholics pray to Mary?” to “What do the Simpsons say Some specialized libraries don’t loan about Mary?” The site handles a large volume of prayer requests from people imploring Mary to help them heal, Illustration from a book find jobs and save marriages. It features contemporary of meditations on the topics — such as Benedict XVI’s views of Mary and life of Mary — Mary is the history of Marian apparitions and their deeper meaning listening to Jesus preach. — and Marian teachings, virtual art exhibits, book reviews, hymns, shrines, stamps and a host of other material. In short, “it’s everything Mary,” says Father Johann Roten, director of the Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute.I

in the Background, Mary’s Making a Comeback.” When Pope Benedict XVI made his first public appearance, he acknowledged Mary’s presence: “The Lord will help us, and Mary, his most holy Mother, will be on our side.” What does the future hold for the world-renowned center of all things Mary? “We have dreams of making it bigger their books widely, but Brother Bill fields and better,” says Father Johann. requests from people all over the world Perhaps Father Heinrich Koester, and happily fulfills most of them — theologian and recipient of the Marian unless the book is very rare or expensive. Library Medal, best summed up the After all, this library is in the business of library’s enduring mission: “The mother encouraging people to know Mary better. of the church cannot be consigned to “A book is meant to be used, not just oblivion,” he said. “Rather than be silent stored or stared at under a glass case,” about Mary, we invite the whole Brother Bill says. church to appreciate and experience Interest in Mary is on the upswing, and the beauty of Mary, God’s blessing to that’s heartening news for the Marianists the church.” I — and the Marian Library. In March, Time magazine put Mary on its cover and devoted 5,000 words to a story about the To contribute, contact Lisa Gooding, execu- growing acceptance among Protestants tive director of development at lgooding@ of Mary’s place in the Bible. A Los Angeles sm-usa.org or use the gift envelope included Times headline proclaimed: “After Decades in this magazine.

Teri Rizvi is associate vice president for public Left: Brother Bill Fackovec relations at the University of Dayton.

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