Her full, registered name is the University of Notre Dame du Lac, Our Lady of the Lake. She is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the Mother of God and Blessed Virgin. I look up at her through the budding trees against the blue sky, her gold glinting in the sun, as we leave the Basilica after Mass. She is Notre Dame, the canopy of heaven her backdrop.
I’m not used to thinking of Mary so high and lofty. Having been raised Protestant, Mary does not rise above Jesus in my faith narrative. She’s the mother, doing the things mothers do—cooking, cleaning, sewing—supporting the men in her life. I don’t hold her in any higher regard than my own mother, which is to say, “Not very high.”
For Father Sorin—who must have had a better mother than me—Mary is the supreme mother, and his devotion to her is relentless. Even after the great fire of 1879 destroyed the main building and the first statue of Mary that stood atop it, he proclaimed,
I came here as a young man and dreamed of building a great university in honor of Our Lady. But I built it too small, and she had to burn it to the ground to make the point. So, tomorrow, as soon as the bricks cool, we will rebuild it bigger and better than ever … we will put a gold dome on top with a golden statue of the Mother of God so that everyone who comes this way will know to whom we owe whatever great future this place has … let no one ever again say that we dreamed too small.8
With so much devotion to Mary and the patriarchy of the Catholic Church on Father Sorin's side, Our Lady of the Lake is the only woman on campus for the first 130 years, except for a few nuns who do the cooking, cleaning and sewing. It is these same Sisters of St. Mary’s College that raise the money to purchase the replacement statute that still stands.
Today, students—male and female—look up to Mary atop the Golden Dome gilded with eight ounces of 23-karat gold that is only three millionths of a meter thick. They, like Father Sorin, sing her praises. She has become their Alma Mater.
Notre Dame, our Mother
Tender, strong, and true
Proudly in the heavens,
Gleams thy gold and blue.
Glory’s mantle cloaks thee
Golden is thy fame,
And our hearts forever,
Praise thee Notre Dame,
And our hearts forever,
Love thee Notre Dame.9
8Words attributed to Father Edward F. Sorin, CSC, excerpt from Notre Dame: One Hundred Years by Arthur J. Hope, chapter XIII (retrieved from http://archives.nd.edu/hope/hope13.htm).
9"Notre Dame, Our Mother" is the alma mater of the University of Notre Dame. Joseph Casasanta, a 1923 Notre Dame graduate, composed the song for the Oct. 11, 1930, dedication of Notre Dame Stadium. Rev. Charles O'Donnell, C.S.C., president of the university at the time of composition, wrote the song's lyrics in honor of the university's patroness, Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Besides the usual role an alma mater plays for the school, it is part of the postgame show of the Band of the Fighting Irish and is the traditional conclusion to Notre Dame pep rallies, football games, and all sporting events.
Captions and Credits:
(Top) Madonna and Child above the Bernini Altar, courtesy of Notre Dame. (Middle)
Notre Dame Alma Mater sung by Notre Dame Glee Club courtesy of YouTube. (Bottom)
Mary atop the Golden Dome, courtesy of Notre Dame.