It’s October, the month of the Rosary, and at Benedictine College, where I work, the first mass gathering at our new library was at the opening school 7 am Rosary.
The library is designed to look like Independence Hall, but it was also built to put Mary front and center.
When the library was dedicated September 26, President Minnis stressed Our Lady’s involvement.
The dedication was attended by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, but Minnis pointed to a more important woman instead.
“When one walks in the tower entrance, you walk under the watchful eye of Mary, Help of Christians, the statue above the south doors,” he said.
The college owes its existence to Mary under this title, he explained.
“Without the intercession of Mary, Help of Christians, we are not here today,” he said. “In 1856, Father Henry Lemke became lost in a terrible storm while serving Catholics on the Kansas frontier. Weak and surrounded by rising waters, he prayed to Mary, Help of Christians. Through her intercession and apparition, a light appeared in the distance — a lantern in the window of a cottage — and led him to safety. Two years later he founds the college.”
Marian devotion is shown in several places in the library.
- In addition to Our Lady Help of Christians at the south entrance, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom greets visitors entering from the west. Both statues were sculpted in Florence by Cody Swanson in marble from the quarry that provided the marble for the Pieta.
- The library features a beautiful reproduction of Tiepolo’s Immaculate Conception to commemorate America’s patroness.
- The library features two newly commissioned paintings by James Patrick Reid, including “The Adoration of the Madonna and Child by Benedict and Scholastica.”
Jeffrey Schremmer, a recent graduate who is now a law student in Topeka who spoke at the dedication and urged students, “Stop for a moment to admire the beauty of this building, its artwork, and its faithful devotion to our Blessed Mother. And then go forth, formed as faithful Catholics and patriotic citizens.”
The dedication event took place in the building’s replica of the Assembly Room where the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were signed.
But Minnis said, “Although we celebrate the American Founding and want to inspire our students to love their country, everyone who crosses the threshold of this building should understand that no matter what form of human government was devised and enacted in Independence Hall, Mary is our Queen and Christ is our King.”
Justice Barrett spoke about another admirer of Independence Hall and Our Lady — Pope Leo XIV.
At the dedication, Barrett said:
“When he accepted the National Constitution Center’s Liberty Medal on the 250th anniversary of our nation he observed that ‘as every American knows … the path to building a society that would embody those high ideals of liberty and justice for all was not always easy and, in many respects, is still a work in progress. Indeed, the effort to realize this vision is one that must be taken up anew in each generation and in the face of ever new challenges.’”
She added: “May this library inspire each generation of Benedictine students to take up the challenge of building a society that embodies the Declaration’s ideals.”
President Minnis said that is the college’s plan — thanks to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
In 2012 in Rome and in 2013 in Mexico City, Benedictine was one of five Catholic colleges invited to participate in Vatican meetings about 1999’s The Church in America.
That document declared Our Lady of Guadalupe to be Patroness of the Americas and the Star of the New Evangelization, and Minnis said he found himself lingering in prayer beside the tilma at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
“I asked a simple question: What is next for Benedictine College?”
The answer was in The Church in America document itself, he said. St. John Paul said to turn to Our Lady of Guadalupe. “Through her powerful intercession, the Gospel will penetrate the hearts of the men and women of America and permeate their cultures, transforming them from within.”
As a reminder, the library features a mosaic of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The 6-foot mosaic of Our Lady of Guadalupe crafted from Venetian glass and stone by artist Ioana Belcea is in a room that always faces south, so that it always catches the light.
“Just like Our Lady told Juan Diego, ‘You are the one I have chosen for this task,’ I tell every Benedictine student that Our Lady has chosen them for a special mission, to Transform Culture in America,” said Minnis.
