By Darren Poley

“The Fight between Carnival and Lent” painting by Pieter Breughel the Younger (1564–1638)

Among St. Augustine’s many sermons there is a cycle entitled “On the Beginning of Lent.” Sermon 209, which was most likely preached where Augustine was bishop, begins:

The solemn season has come round when I must remind your graces about giving more attentive thought to your souls, and chastising your bodies. These, you see, are the forty days held so sacred in all countries of the earth, that the whole world, which God reconciles to himself in Christ, celebrates them together with remarkable devotion as Easter approaches.
—The Works of Saint Augustine III/6, Translated by Edmund Hill, New City Press, 1993.

Here are devotional reading suggestions for this season of penance and preparation before the Christian celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Wasn’t Killed by the Jews: Reflections for Christians in Lent
Falvey Call Number: BT431.5 .J47 2020

Journey to Easter: Spiritual Reflections for the Lenten Season by Pope Benedict XVI
Falvey Call Number: BX1912.5 .R3813 2005

Lent and Easter with the Church Fathers
Falvey Call Number: BV85 .P315 2010

Lent with Saint Augustine
Falvey Call Number: BR65.A62 T8713 2014, which is also available online for the Villanova University community: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/1849270

Show Me the Way: Readings for Each Day of Lent by Henri J. M. Nouwen
Falvey Call Number: BX2170.L4N6813 1992

Darren G. Poley is Associate Director of Research Services and Scholarly Engagement, and Theology, Humanities, and Classical Studies Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library.

By Darren G. Poley

Are you looking for primary source materials of a religious or theological nature from the era of the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Revival? Printed texts on many subjects burst onto the scene in sixteenth and seventeenth-century Western Europe. A wide variety of controversial, exegetical, pastoral, social and political works from that time have been gathered into two online collections: The Digital Library of Classic Protestant Texts and The Digital Library of the Catholic Reformation.

They present full-text historical documents, and both include an array of document types, such as pamphlets, sermons, compendia, catechisms, biblical commentaries, and doctrinal treatises.  Between them there is a broad representation of various denominational traditions and religious orders.

Period editions are presented in their original languages of Latin, English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German. You can search by topic, author, biblical citation, or the original title of a work.

Darren G. Poley is Associate Director of Research Services and Scholarly Engagement, and Theology, Humanities, and Classical Studies Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library. You can access these collections from the Databases A-Z page on the Library Website.

The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is December 8. It is the Patronal Feast Day of the United States of America and a Holyday of Obligation for Catholics in the U.S. Therefore Friday, Dec. 8 seems like a very appropriate and timely day to run a feature on the centennial of the appearance of Our Lady of Fatima.

The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declared June 26, 2000 in “The Message of Fatima”:

Throughout history there have been supernatural apparitions and signs which go to the heart of human events and which, to the surprise of believers and non-believers alike, play their part in the unfolding of history. These manifestations can never contradict the content of faith, and must therefore have their focus in the core of Christ’s proclamation: the Father’s love which leads men and women to conversion and bestows the grace required to abandon oneself to him with filial devotion. This too is the message of Fatima which, with its urgent call to conversion and penance, draws us to the heart of the Gospel.

This same document went on to say, “Fatima is undoubtedly the most prophetic of modern apparitions.” Our Lady of Fatima offered a clarion call and foretold the horrors of twentieth-century totalitarianism in Communist Russia and of World War II. The centerpiece however, of this private revelation from 1917, was the plea by the Blessed Virgin Mary when she appeared at Fatima for devotion and consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

You will find a link for that document below, in addition to The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops titled “Popular Devotional Practices: Basic Questions and Answers,” which answers among others the question: “What is the difference between public Revelation and private revelations?” and describes how private revelations, like those given during apparitions such as Our Lady of Fatima, “place no obligation on the rest of the Church.”

In your reflection on the Mother Mary this weekend, keep in mind this prayer from “Act of Entrustment” offered by Saint Pope John Paul II at Fatima in 1982 and published in “The Message of Fatima” document:

Immaculate Heart! Help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths towards the future!

From famine and war, deliver us.

From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us.

From sins against the life of man from its very beginning, deliver us.

From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God, deliver us.

From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us.

From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us.

From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us.

From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us.

From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us, deliver us.

Accept, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings, laden with the sufferings of whole societies.

Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer all sin: individual sin and the ‘sin of the world’, sin in all its manifestations.

Let there be revealed, once more, in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the Redemption: the power of merciful Love! May it put a stop to evil! May it transform consciences! May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of Hope!”

Link 1: https://goo.gl/PkA15K

“The Message of Fatima” on the Vatican Website.

Link 2: http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/prayers/popular-devotional-practices-basic-questions-and-answers.cfm

“Popular Devotional Practices: Basic Questions and Answers” on the USCCB Website.

Link 3: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/1336939

“Finding Fatima.” Documentary with archival footage, dramatic reenactments, original interviews with Fatima experts and relatives of eyewitnesses, combined with stunning visuals to tell the entire story. DVD in Falvey’s collection.

Link 4: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/709780

“The miracle of Our Lady of Fatima.” Screen chronicle based on actual 1917 events outside Fatima, Portugal, where three shepherd children report visions of the Virgin Mary and confront anticlerical government oppression in the process. DVD in Falvey’s collection.

Link 5: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/1652159

Encountering Mary : From La Salette to Medjugorje. Although hundreds of apparitions of the Virgin Mary have been reported, this book offers a detective-like investigation of the experiences and interpretations of six major apparitions, including the one at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. Online Book in Falvey’s collection.

Medjugorje, Bosnia. Summer 2012. (Photo by Comm and Marketing Dept. Graduate Asst. William Repetto.)

Article by Assistant Director of Academic Integration and Theology Librarian Darren Poley.

The confirmed announcement of the Pope’s participation in the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia has created a lot of buzz lately. What is the World Meeting of Families, who are its patron saints, and what are patron saints? News articles, even from credible sources, are usually too short to provide many details. And the Internet, unfortunately, delivers a great deal of misinformation about saints and the Catholic Church.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia, however, in print and as an eBook provides an excellent example of an authoritative source of information. The library’s print edition is in the Falvey West stacks (call No. BX841 .N44 2003). You can also search the online edition of the New Catholic Encyclopedia, because like many (but not all) reference books, its content is now electronically accessible through Falvey’s web page. Links for online version and eBooks are also embedded in the Library’s catalog record for the item. Find the holdings record by using the online search engine for discovering it in the library’s catalog.

For authoritative information on the 2015 World Meeting of Families’ two patron saints—Saint Pope John Paul II and Saint Gianna Beretta Molla—you can either rely on a credible online source, such as the Vatican Website in English for highlights, or search the Falvey Library Catalog or core databases on the Theology and Religious Studies Subject Guide for citations to published, academic sources of in-depth background information, and on their thought and writings. Searching by subject will achieve optimal results: for the first one use JOHN PAUL II, POPE, 1920-2005, and for the other use BERETTA MOLLA, GIANNA, SAINT, 1922-1962.

So, what is a patron saint? The New Catholic Encyclopedia says that “saints came to be regarded as the special advocates and intercessors.” Sacred places, solemn events, and even causes and occupations have, over the years, become associated with a particular patron or patroness. Therefore a patron saint, who is very much alive in heaven, is called upon to be an advocate and asked to pray for us here on earth, particularly on certain occasions.

Saint Gianna Beretta Molla (1922-1962)

Saint Gianna was a twentieth-century Italian doctor and also a mother. She risked her life for the sake of her unborn child, and died in 1962, rather than terminating the pregnancy in an effort to save her own life. She is a martyr, which is a witness, to the importance of respecting life from conception to natural death. Her husband and children attended her canonization ceremony in 2004. She has become the patroness of mothers, unborn children, healthcare workers, professional women, and the pro-life movement.

For more information about the World Meeting of Families 2015 in Philadelphia, visit the official website.

Article by Darren G. Poley, Scholarly Outreach team leader and theology librarian. 

Truly you are worthy to be blessed,
Mother of our God, the Theotokos,
You the ever blessed one, and all blameless one,
And the Mother of our God.

You are honored more than the Cherubim,
And you have more glory, when compared, to the Seraphim;
You, without corruption, Did bear God, the Logos;
You are the Theotokos; You do we magnify.

Higher than the heavens above are you,
And you are much purer than the radiance of the sun;
You who have redeemed us from the curse which is upon us;
The Lady of all people, in hymns, do we honor you.

From the great multitude of my sins, ill am I in body, ill am I also in my soul;
I am fleeing to you, the one who is all-blessed,
The hope of all the hopeless,
Please come bring help to me.

Lady and the Mother of Him who saves,
Receive the supplications of the lowly who pray to you;
Mediate between us and the One you brought forth;
O Lady of all people, intercede for us.

More than a beautiful piece of ancient poetry translated into English, the above is a hymn of magnification (a megalynarion) to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which incorporates a prayer of earnest and humble request to her as the Mother of God. This liturgical ode to Our Lady is slightly modified in the Office of Consolation in the Byzantine Catholic tradition, a tradition which is an Eastern rite of the Catholic Church.

Although broken into stanzas above, the Megalynarion is sung as a whole in the service of Paraklesis in Eastern Orthodox churches. A beautiful recording of this prayer of supplication to the Theotokos is performed by Eikona on “PARAKLESIS – The Mother of Light.”

The first two stanzas are the  Ἄξιον ἐστίν = Axion estin (in Greek) or Достóйно éсть = Dostóino yesť (in Slavonic), a classic theotokion; a hymn-prayer to the Theotokos, Mary, Mother of God. For more on this title for Mary, read “Mary the Theotokos (‘Birth-Giver of God’),” Dr. Mary B. Cunningham’s chapter in the collection of essays entitled The Orthodox Christian World, p. 189 ff.

The first part of the Axion estin (the first stanza above) is a troparion revealed AD 980 by the Archangel Gabriel to a monk on Mount Athos. (“Mt. Athos is the monastic republic on the Chalkidiki Peninsula in Greece. It is in many respects the spiritual heart of the Orthodox world.” Clark Carlton, The Truth: What every Roman Catholic Should Know About the Orthodox Church, p. 15.) An older sticheron (the second stanza above and the second half of the Axion estin) was originally composed ca. AD 750 in honor of the Theotokos by Saint Cosmas of Jerusalem, the 8th cen. hymnographer, and Bishop of Maiuma the ancient port city of Gaza.

The remaining three stanzas are from the “Canon of Supplication to the Most Holy Theotokos” (aka, the Little Paraklesis), which originated with Theophanes of Nicaea who died AD 818 (and who is also remembered as Theophanes the Confessor). He is quoted as having written, “It cannot happen that anyone, of angels or of men, can come otherwise, in any way whatsoever, to participation in the divine gifts flowing from what has been divinely assumed, from the Son of God, save through his Mother” (Michael O’Carroll, Theotokos; a theological encyclopedia of the Blessed Virgin Mary, p. 241).

The understanding of the Virgin Mary as Mother and Mediatress is further developed in the West by authors such as St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (in the 17th century). In fact her role in salvation history, the maternal love of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and her spiritual maternity to the all the faithful was fully recognized by the fathers of the Second Vatican Council (cf., Chapter 8 of Lumen Gentium), and in the writings of many popes before and after Vatican II.

Pope Paul VI in the 20th century wrote, “The Blessed Virgin’s role as Mother leads the People of God to turn with filial confidence to her who is ever ready to listen with a mother’s affection and efficacious assistance” (Marialis Cultus §57) in an apostolic exhortation “For the Right Ordering and Development of Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary,” which is included in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops publication Mary in the church[remove extra spave]: a selection of teaching documents.

St. Pope John Paul II, in the late 20th century, spoke often of the Mother of God (see Mary, God’s yes to man : Pope John Paul II Encyclical letter, Mother of the redeemer, and  Theotókos : woman, mother, disciple). Pope Benedict XVI, in the early 21st century, wrote in his first encyclical letter God is Love, “Mary has truly become the Mother of all believers. Men and women of every time and place have recourse to her motherly kindness and her virginal purity and grace, in all their needs and aspirations, their joys and sorrows, their moments of loneliness and their common endeavours. They constantly experience the gift of her goodness and the unfailing love which she pours out from the depths of her heart. The testimonials of gratitude, offered to her from every continent and culture, are a recognition of that pure love which is not self- seeking but simply benevolent” (Deus Caritas Est §42).

For a good introduction to the Byzantine Catholic tradition overall, see the DVD, “An Introduction to the Eastern Catholic Church.” Some useful books in the reference collection (on the Learning Commons in Falvey) that are good for exploring the Eastern Christian tradition are The Blackwell dictionary of Eastern Christianity, The encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and Creeds & confessions of faith in the Christian tradition.

Photo from the National Catholic Register http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/byzantine-beauty

Article by Darren G. Poley, Scholarly Outreach team leader and theology librarian. 

In an era when the uniqueness of a library’s collections are distinguished by not only what books it has in the stacks but also what it has in terms of special and digital collections, it is interesting to note a few exceptional examples of rare and unique items that are of interest to scholars: in this case, Latin and Irish manuscripts.

Recently Kenneth B. Steinhauser, PhD, a professor in the Department of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University published a survey of Latin medieval and Renaissance manuscripts he studied at Villanova University. He catalogs the thirteen manuscripts in Falvey Memorial Library and the two in the Augustinian Historical Institute collection. Dr. Steinhauser states in his published article on the subject, “In summation, the manuscript collection at Villanova University emphasizes the Augustinian tradition, specifically works of Augustine himself, Augustinian liturgical material and writings of medieval Augustinian theologians.” See Manuscripta 57.2 (2013): 205-77 (DOI 10.1484/j.MSS.1.103704).

Irish history and heritage is another unique focus of our special collections. A Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in Villanova University, Pennsylvania by William J. Mahon was published by the School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2007.

Villanova University’s Special Collections and Digital Library assembles, presents and preserves physical and digital collections that support teaching and research of the campus community and the global network of scholarship; the Rare Book Room houses over 15,000 rare and unique physical documents and artifacts requiring special handling and preservation ranging from medieval manuscripts to early popular American newspapers, while online over 20,000 items are available. The historical record of Villanova University is available in the University Archives, which is also in Falvey.

The physical library collection has more than 500,000 printed volumes, including books and historical runs of major academic journals. Web-accessible resources include over two hundred general and discipline-specific research databases, approximately ten thousand full text electronic journals, and extensive microfilm and audiovisual collections. Online collections also include almost 650,000 digital volumes encompassing the corpus of English-language books from the earliest days of the movable type printing press through scholarly literature of the early twenty-first century. Beyond Villanova’s collection, the regional E-ZBorrow system in which Falvey participates provides one-stop searching and access to over 35 million books from 50 college and university libraries in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and West Virginia. In addition, materials can be requested from libraries world-wide through Inter-Library Loan. See http://library.villanova.edu/about/services/illservices/.

Darren Poley, Interim Library Director

Of course the academic year is exciting and, at times, intense: librarians aiding students and faculty in their research, patrons accessing Falvey’s collections and borrowing materials, the campus community utilizing the services of the Learning Commons and participating in the many meetings and events held in the Library, and so much more (see student satisfaction survey results). Falvey has worked hard to transform itself into a center for intellectual and cultural engagement while remaining a location for individual study and collaborative learning, and this aim does not stop in the summer.

So what do we do when most students have vacated the campus for the summer months? While cleaning and repairs are ongoing efforts, the summer allows us to make large-scale improvements to the facility. I would just like to highlight a few that are interconnected.

CAVE—Last fall the University received a grant from the National Science Foundation to construct a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment that will foster and promote tele-immersive teaching and research using 3D virtual reality technology. The CAVE will be installed in a large classroom in Falvey Hall, adjacent to the Library. Because this change will displace some academic space, Falvey Memorial Library has been empowered to move forward on its overall improvement plan to accommodate this.

University Archives—The University Archives is moving to its new home on Falvey’s basement level, giving it more space including compact storage.

New Classroom—The University can then revive the room where the University Archives have been for many years. A new classroom will be put into that space on Falvey’s fourth floor.

To minimize disruption, our plan is to complete these projects during the summer when far fewer folks are on campus. We look forward to providing improved facilities to our students when they return for the fall semester.

Darren Poley, Interim Library Director

The Library is a natural place to conduct intellectual exploration. It has a labyrinth of book stacks; computer enabled areas and hotspots; audio, video, and even microform materials. It has noisy gathering spaces: some organized for co-curricular activity, such as ACS approved event programming, and others where students collaborate and discuss in an anarchic way. Falvey is not a shushing library, but it does offer spaces for quiet study. Falvey has places to nourish the mind, the body and, it is hoped, even the spirit.

Lent is a time for renewal and Easter a time for regeneration. And when the University community returns from the holiday weekend—which I hope is filled with both times for reflection as well as times for fellowship and fun—I hope folks know they are welcome to come to the Library to prepare for the end of the academic year.

Photo by Frank Klassner

For some it will be a time to prepare for being graduated and going into the world as alums holistically prepared by the Villanova educational experience. It has been said in various ways, and I think it holds true: Education is about more than learning to make a living. Rather, education should be about learning to make a life worth living. It is hoped that Falvey and library explorations have enriched the Villanova experience for students and the campus community by its support of the enterprise of a liberal education. That is, one distinguished by the freedom to be imaginative and curious as much as analytical and fact-driven. Such an education produces, in addition to a fulfilling vocation and career, great thinkers and presenters of ideas who pursue truth, goodness, and beauty.

For those returning after the long Easter weekend—whether you are graduating or will have yet more exploring to do next year—please keep in mind Falvey extends both electronic and human guides that are here to help you along your educational journey. Online, we have subject guides and more. These virtual guides enable you to more easily navigate databases and full-text collections. You may also want a human guide, either to help you use our online tools or to orient you to Falvey’s physical collections. For support, contact a librarian. If you need a specialist for subject-specific library research, make an appointment with a liaison librarian by reaching out to the subject-specific liaison team that matches your research needs.

Everyone at Falvey is dedicated to aiding our students’ intellectual explorations, and I hope you find the Library complements your Villanova educational experience.

With hints of spring in the air, I hope the Villanova community has been faring well during the recent severe winter weather. I need to inform you about a schedule change and a noteworthy event.

In response to the University’s plan to schedule make-up classes on Sundays as compensation for snow days, Falvey is offering expanded hours. The Library will be open two hours earlier (including collection access and desk services) on the following Sundays: March 16, March 23, March 30, April 6, April 13, April 27 and May 4—in other words, from 10 a.m. to midnight on the Sundays for rescheduled classes and for the last week of exams. The library’s first-floor lounge and Falvey Hall (aka Old Falvey), as places to study, are still Wildcard accessible 24/7.

Despite the weather’s disruption to classes, event programming in Falvey has not been hindered. We have been the venue for 62 events and meetings in the spring semester so far. It looks as though the Library will have hosted or sponsored close to 200 again this academic year.

One library event that is on track for at the end of the semester is the annual Falvey Scholar Awards.

Falvey Memorial Library is now gathering Falvey-Scholars-Award nominations from faculty members who work with undergraduates on a senior thesis or capstone project. The individuals or teams of Villanova seniors who are accomplishing the most outstanding undergraduate research should be nominated.

The faculty-nomination deadline is April 4. We also welcome nominations before the April 4 deadline.

For the link to the nomination page and more information about the Falvey Scholars Award, go to the Library’s Falvey Scholars Webpage.

Nominated students or teams will be invited to apply for the award. Winners will be chosen from the pool of nominated undergraduate seniors who apply. Winners will be invited to present their research at the Falvey Scholars Award event, part of a weeklong celebration of outstanding Villanova research.

Falvey Scholars Event:

Date: Friday, April 25

Time: 9 a.m.-12 noon

Location: Falvey Memorial Library