I recently visited some friends in Lake County, Illinois, and was offered to tour a local library, at the St Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein. It is open to the public on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. How could I say no?
We entered the complex on the west side, and took a spiral staircase to the second floor. Then through a hallway, we entered the main library. There are four floors in the main library. What a beautiful library.
AND there was a booksale going on! I would like to spend this entry describing the books I was able to purchase from the seminary library book sale. Being a religious library, the first few books were indeed religious. I’ll begin with “Exploring Churches” by Paul and Tessa Clowney, 1982.
I love visiting churches and cathedrals. I have seen some truly magnificent ones in my travels. This is a good book for understanding different styles, architecture, layouts, and uses. It could be used by anyone beginning an adventure of exploring churches. I will keep this book next to “Cathedral. The story of Its Construction” by David Macaulay” That is also a great book that shows how a cathedral is built.
Another book I purchased at the seminary, was “Contemporary Church Art” by Anton Henze, 1956.
This is a very unusual book describing modern styles in churches and their interiors. It was a great read. I will keep it near several other books on the topic, especially “The Suburban Church. Modernism and Community in Postwar America” by Gretchen Buggeln, 2015. I met her at the Art Institute in Chicago (with same friend from the library visit) when taking a snack in member’s cafeteria. We sat next to her and had a wonderful conversation.
The book will also be put by “Chicago Churches. A photographic Essay” by Elizabeth Johnson, 1999. This coffee table book with large photographs of various churches, has a section to St. Joseph Ukrainian Catholic church. It is a concrete church with 13 glass towers (representing Jesus and the twelve disciples). This truly is a space-age looking church, one that my brother and I snuck out of a wedding rehearsal of my nephew to visit.
The next book I purchased was “The Vatican: 64 Magnificent Photopages of the Sights and Scenes of Vatican City and its Treasures” 1964. This is a souvenir book, 10 by 13 inches with great photographs, some in color, some in black and white. I was lucky enough to visit the Vatican several years ago (with the same friends walking through the the Mundelein Seminary church). I can always add another book of my adventures to the library.
The next two books I bought-also religious books, are interesting. The first is “In the Shadow of Our Lady of the Cenacle” by Helen M. Lynch 1941.
This book is an interesting story of this organization’s history in the United States, begun in France by Mother Thérèse Couderc. According to the website “Our Lady of the Cenacle Brooklyn”:
“The term “Cenacle” comes from the Latin coenaculum, meaning “upper room” or “dining room.” It refers to the room on Mount Zion in Jerusalem where Jesus shared the Last Supper with the Apostles. It was also where He washed their feet, appeared after the Resurrection, and where the Holy Spirit descended upon them at Pentecost.
Named after the Upper Room in Jerusalem, where Mary joined the apostles in prayer and witnessed the birth of the Church at Pentecost, our parish bears the name Our Lady of the Cenacle to remind us of communal prayer, sacramental life, and openness to the Holy Spirit. Just as Mary accompanied the first disciples, she continues to support and guide us in faith and mission today.”
I look foreword for this book to be a bedtime read, a chapter or two every night.
The last religious book I bought was “Cross of Death, Tree of Life. A Sacred Reading of the Story of Redemption” by Jerome Machar, 1996.
Machar is a Trappist Monk from the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance. He wrote this meditation history of the last few days of Christ. While I have thumbed through the book, I have it also sitting on the stand for some evening reading.
While those books alone could have made for a satisfying day, I also found some unusual non-secular books. Let me begin with “The Crown Jewels” 1994.
This is a wonderful book about the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. It is a souvenir book 8 1/2 by 11 1/2 inches with beautiful photographs. London is still on my bucket list to visit.
I found a great political science book, that also fits into my Chicago collection: “Inside the Wigwam. Chicago Presidential Conventions 1860-1996″ Written by R. Craig Sautter and Edward M. Burke, 1996.
The book is signed by Edward Burke. He was a very influential alderman in Chicago, from 1969 to 2023. There is a forward by Richard M Dailey. “M” Dailey was a Chicago Mayor, and son of Richard J. Dailey, an even more famous Chicago mayor. Edward Burke had many fights with the Richard J. Dailey. This book fits in well with my political science collection, which grew at NIU, where I lived on the Political Science floor for a year. (There is where I first met my friends that just took me to the Seminary library.) Or do I put this book with my Chicago books…
I found another interesting book “The Care and Feeding of Executives. And the General Theory of How to Be One.” by Millard C. Faught and Laurence Hammond published in 1945.
Page one of this book made me smile.
There are interesting illustrations. The written parts are rather funny as well. This is a good spoof on business leaders, and it has been a great read.
The last book I bought will be used as sort of a text book. It is a paperback “The Use and Misuse of Language” edited by S.I. Hayakawa, 1964.
I thought that this might be another tool to help my writing skills. The forward describes a bit about the book:
“General semantics is the study of the relations between language, thoughts, and behavior: between how we talk, therefore how we think and therefore how we act.”
It sounds like an interesting book, and I will read it as if I am doing classwork. This book caps what I bought at St Mary of the Lake Seminary (except for two that I bought for Christmas gifts so will go unmentioned, as the recipient may or may not have access to this blog).
I told the Seminary librarian how excited I was: One, for visiting and engulfing myself in this wonderful library; And two, for the absolutely great books I bought, to add to my library. She saw and believed my enthusiasm and then told me that there was a table in the reading room that had some boxes with religious medals on a table that I could take if I liked-they were all free.
I went to that table, and amongst other items, saw this small box that had some tiny medals of saints. I again asked her if I could take this box, and she enthusiastically said “Of course. If you would like anything else there, please do so.” Again, I thanked her for the wonderful experience and treasures that I received at the library.
I took the small box home to research these religious devotional medals of saints, and who they were.
What a wonderful time I had with the task of researching. The first is Pope Pius XII from 1950, commemorating the Holy Year 1950 (Jubilaesm Maximus). Virgin Mary is on the reverse. The second is Saint Joseph holding Jesus and a flowering rod. Or, it has a chance of being St Anthony of Padus holding baby Jesus and a lily. There are other flowers on the reverse. The third (of which there are two) is The Blessed Virgin Mary (Our Lady of Pompei) presenting rosary to St Dominic and St Catherine of Sienna.
The fourth (also of which are two) is North American Martyr Saints, the Martyrs Shrine in Ontario Canada. The Cathedral in on the reverse. The next is an old “Mary help Us Christians”, with St Joseph on the reverse. Then there is another different St Joseph holding baby Jesus, or St Anthony of Padus (he is holding lilies). The last is a more recent one, St Gabriel Pussenti of Our Lady of Sorrows. Lastly, there is a random pin, A Cappella Choir pin from THS (high school?)
What wonderful treasures to add to my religious section of the library which also holds my wife’s trove of religious items from four generations of her family-all practicing Catholics.
The librarian also allowed me this other medallion:
It has an interesting story. It is from a January 27, 1979, visit of the Pope to Mexico, his first to the Basilica in Mexico City. He honored Our Lady of Guadalupe who appeared to Juan Diego four times in 1531. She requested that a shrine be built on the spot. The coin is inscribed with Pope Juan Pablo II to Mexico. On the reverse is the Virgin De Guadalupe. Pope John Paul visited the shrine four times.
I do have a medallion of St Chrisopher, the Patron Saint of travelers. Here is a photograph I took in the Cologne Cathedral in Germany of the St Christopher statue. It is 3.73 meters tall (over 12 feet) and made from Tufa Limestone around the year 1470.
St Christopher has looked out for me more than once. He has guided me throughout the world on various trips and travels, even to the wonderful library of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake-the Mundelein Seminary.
Perhaps I should also get a medal of the Patron Saint of libraries and librarians-St Jerome.
Thanks for reading.
Librarytomes 