Marsha is driving as we weave our way through the streets of South Bend toward the campus. We approach from the south on Angela; and before we turn onto Notre Dame Avenue, I see Mary atop the Golden Dome. I’m as excited as a 12-year-old driving through the gates of Disney World. Strains of Salve Regina from Sister Act bounce in my head. This is what I’ve been waiting for, planning for all these months: finding the sacred among the profane on the campus of Notre Dame.
Hail, Holy Queen enthroned above, O Maria!
Hail, Mother of mercy and of love, O Maria!
Triumph all ye cherubim!
Sing with us ye seraphim!
Heaven and earth resound the hymn!
Salve, salve, salve, Regina!3
Even though I've been here many times before, this time is different. I, we, have come with a purpose, a mission of sorts—to watch the first two rounds of the NCAA Division I women's college basketball tournament and to experience this place for its sacredness in spite of our mundane, worldly lives.
Our life, our sweetness here below, O Maria!
Our hope in sorrow and in woe, O Maria!
Triumph all ye cherubim!
Sing with us ye seraphim!
Heaven and earth resound the hymn!
Salve, salve, salve, Regina!4
I can understand why Father Sorin wrote these words after he stepped onto this place long before Mary towered over the campus,
A few hours after (our arrival in South Bend), we came to Notre Dame, where I write you these lines. Everything was frozen, yet it all appeared so beautiful. The lake particularly, with its mantle of snow, resplendently white, was to us a symbol of the stainless purity of Our Lady … We hurried about looking at the various sites … Like little children, in spite of the cold, we ran from one end to the other perfectly enchanted by the beauty of our new home.5
It's March, but it's still cold, and it's drizzling as we park the car and walk to Mass at the Basilica, heading toward the woman who beckons us from atop the Golden Dome.
3The Salve Regina (Latin for "Hail, Holy Queen") is one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church to celebrate Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
4Ibid.
5Sorin to Moreau, Dec. 5, 1842. This first letter written by Sorin from Notre Dame has been frequently published (lettres circulaires du Supérieur Général de la Congregation de Sainte-Croix, I, 1860, 58-64. Circular Letters of Father Sorin, pp. 259-et ss.). Retrieved from http://archives.nd.edu/hope/hope03.htm.
Captions and Credits:
(Top) Statue of the Visitation of Mary and Elizabeth. (Middle) Salve Regina from Sister Act, courtesy of YouTube. (Bottom) Mary atop the Golden Dome, courtesy of Notre Dame.