Mary collected, read and paid homage in this
Ohio library
By CHERYL HECKLER-FELTZ
Special to the National Catholic Reporter Dayton, Ohio
She is black, she is white, she is Latino. She is "our lady of
tenderness," "the mother of sorrows," and "the woman of freedom."
Designers of Byzantine icons portrayed her as downright homely.
Renaissance artist Raphael imagined her as a stunning beauty. One modern
printmaker even portrayed her as a young mother wearing headphones and holding
a toddler on her hip. Although images of "Mary, the mother of God and of all
faithful" vary throughout countries and centuries, she is undeniably an
integral cultural element around the world, especially during the Christmas
season.
The University of Dayton has the distinction of serving as
caretaker to the world's largest collection of books, videos and even some
fascinating wine labels related to the life of "the mother of the whole
Christ."
The library includes the office of Marianist Fr. Johann Roten, a
native of Switzerland and one of the world's leading experts on the life of
Mary and her cultural influences these past 2,000 years. Housed at the top of
the university's Roesch Library, the Marian Library includes 100,000 books and
pamphlets dating from the 15th century and representing more than 50 languages,
including Sanskrit, Arabic and Syriac.
But Marian scholarship is not library bound. Roten's team created
one of the first home pages on the Internet dedicated to Marian studies.
Launched 18 months ago, the page now receives an average of 1,000 hits per
week.
Materials also include 6,000 slides of 20th century art, 10,000
postcards, about 500 statues, 80,000 magazine and newspaper articles, 22,000
postage stamps, as well as paintings, icons and audio cassettes.
The materials are in strong demand these days as apparitions fuel
Marian enthusiasm. Around the globe, some 275 widely discussed apparitions of
Mary have been reported in the last 15 years, prompting library administrators
to create a separate bibliography and religious education resources on the
topic of Marian sightings.
In its resource material, the library outlines five components it
recommends that individuals and religious educators consider about apparitions.
These include:
- Understanding that the church has recognized only a few of the
nearly 1,000 major claims dating back to 270 AD.
- Defining an apparition and exploring the difference between an
apparition and other religious experiences, such as visions or
parapsychological events.
- Exploring how an apparition contributes to an individual's
understanding of Christianity.
- Examining the methods used to recognize apparitions, including
examples of how the church has dealt with alleged apparitions.
More broadly, enthusiasts today are beneficiaries of the work of
Marianist Fr. John Elbert, who began the collection 50 years ago while serving
as UD's president.
His efforts were a gesture to honor the Society of Mary's late
founder William Joseph Chaminade and to acknowledge the university's centennial
celebration held in 1950.
He also donated the first book -- his own -- Devotion to Mary
in the Twentieth Century.
"Rather than erect an inert monument, he wished to establish
something living and active, a contribution to the mission both of the
University of Dayton and the Society of Mary," according to the library's
director, Fr. Thomas Thompson.
The original mission of the library was not necessarily collecting
materials but rather identifying their locations throughout the U.S. by
corresponding with librarians of more than 250 Catholic colleges, Thompson
said.
In 1953, however, the library received the remarkable 6,000-volume
Leon Clugnet collection, originating in Europe and dating back to 1860. The
library's development into a top-level international research library began in
earnest.
More than 50 books date back to the 1480s (mostly written in
German and French). The library holds an original text of Martin Luther, who
revered the mother of Christ. Several books in the library are handwritten --
produced in the 16th and 17th centuries before widespread use of the printing
press. Some of these books are highlighted with ornate drawings called
illuminations.
Br. Bill Fackovec, who works at the library, said these books
typically were produced in rooms without any heating because writers didn't
want to risk having the manuscripts near fire. "So there in the text, they
might complain about how cold they were, about how stiff their hands were and
how difficult it was to write," he said.
In addition to its collection of books and items directly related
to the life of Mary, the library also has many items addressing liturgy,
general theology, church history and religious art.
By far most of the library's art collection portrays Mary as one
who encircles and protects the Christ child or stands alone in prayer. One
series of watercolors distinguishes Mary's tragedy during her son's
crucifixion.
A signed Salvador Dali portrayal of Christ's death hangs in the
library.
Roten, who directs an academic program of Marian studies, has been
associated with the library for the past eight years. He said that although
some modern artists still work with traditional images of Mary, "others are
very original, very free and nonconventional interpretations of Mary, and
that's fine. They are not so much interested in the whole tradition of making
Marian art, not even interested in what scripture said about her, but they look
at her from a purely symbolical standpoint."
The library's stamp collection, valued at more than $35,000, is so
complete, it is believed to be missing only one stamp, an extremely rare 1943
Hungarian misprint that literally has Mary doing a handstand. Experts believe
only four exist in the world, and they are valued at $20,000 each.
Dating back to 1920, the stamps originate in countries ranging
from Argentina to Zimbabwe and represent the life of Mary from the Annunciation
to the Assumption. Styles range from Liechtenstein's colorful 1981 modern Holy
Family in the desert to the elaborate renderings of baroque paintings from the
former Yugoslavia.
The collection has 3,000 stamps from 350 famous painters,
including a series of paintings and sketches of the Madonna by German master
Albrecht Durer, 500 first-day commemorative postcards, an eight-stamp Spanish
series and a 1932 Hungarian stamp titled "Patrona Hungariae" valued at
$900.
Also found under the library's umbrella is the International
Marian Research Institute, an academic department that grants graduate degrees
in Marian studies. The Mariological Society of America, an association of about
700 Marianists who gather annually addressing research and academic projects,
also is headquartered here.
National Catholic Reporter, November 22,
1996
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