The name of one of the most prolific writers in American history is not widely known. His name is not mentioned among the Twains, the Emersons, or the Thoreaus of his time. He is not a novelist; rather, he comments on the novel, he comments on the works of others. His name, of course, is Orestes Brownson, the American political, religious, and cultural commentator of the 19th century. But Brownson isn’t like the aforementioned authors. Brownson is different. Brownson is Catholic.
Brownson’s work was unapologetically Catholic in an adolescent America that hated Catholicism. He was raised Protestant, flirted with universalism, then joined a transcendentalist movement, but in his pursuit of the truth, Brownson converted to Catholicism in the 1840s. Brownson converted during the anti-Catholic Know Nothing movement that plagued the 1840s and 1850s and was an active combatant against it. But how did Brownson find this truth? Where did he find it? He found it at a place that he adored: Mount St. Mary’s University.
Prior to his conversion, Orestes Brownson visited Mount St. Mary’s University and its beautiful Grotto. He recounts this tale in “Mount St. Mary’s College,” published in his Brownson’s Quarterly Review. At first overwhelmed, Brownson quickly fell in love with the beauty of his surroundings, “the broad, verdant, limitless plain” that still remains to this day. It was not only the views, however, but also the charm of the “gallant, unbroken band of mountaineers, who have adorned the sanctuary and the battle-field, whose hands are ever clasped wherever they meet, whose hearts still leap at the mention of their Alma-Mater” that so attracted him.
But is Mount St. Mary’s, nearly two centuries later, still deserving of the flowery bouquet that is Brownson’s words? Does Mount St. Mary’s still adore its little slice of heaven? Do the students and faculty still adorn the sanctuary? Do their hearts still leap at the simple mention of Mount St. Mary’s? While not erected at the time of Brownson’s visit, do the Mountaineers of today look up with adulation at the towering golden statue of our Blessed Mother? Do they view Mount St. Mary’s as Orestes Brownson did? And if not, why?
Amongst many of today’s Mountaineers, students and faculty alike, it is not of the current culture to sing this university’s praises. Rather, the favorite phrase of President Emeritus Timothy Trainor, “Go Mount!”, is often used with sarcasm instead of pride. Among many, the love, passion, emotion, and sense of pride for Mount St. Mary’s is lost, and what a shame that is. Perhaps this is why the name of Orestes Brownson struggles to remain relevant among those at Mount St. Mary’s and within American society at large. Brownson was unappreciated in an anti-Catholic American society, and he is unappreciated by many of today’s Mountaineers who view the university he loved with indifference, or worse, irreverence.
But how does Mount St. Mary’s return to the state Brownson found it? How does Mount St. Mary’s return to being a city upon a hill, a beacon of virtue? And most importantly, how does this university convince the Mountaineers of today that she is a city upon a hill?
The answer is beauty. Mount St. Mary’s must embrace its beauty, beauty that can be discovered through the lens of the rich Catholic tradition passed along by this Cradle of Bishops. Too long this university has been allured by worldly beauty, by athletic success, by attempted comparisons to other universities. This is not the beauty Brownson saw during his visit. Centuries ago, Brownson warned this university of worldly beauty. He wrote, “we tried the realities of life and found them shadows, Dead Sea fruits that turned to ashes on the lips. We tasted human applause, and felt, that, in setting our hearts on it, we had incurred the frown of God.” Brownson saw an everlasting beauty, beauty of joy, of virtue, of Catholicity. The faith and beauty this university was born from is everlasting. Its sanctuaries are beautiful. Its hallowed Grotto is beautiful. Its seminary is beautiful. A restoration of beauty is how Mount St. Mary’s earned Brownson’s awe, and how it should aim to secure the same for today’s Mountaineers.
Brownson saw Mount St. Mary’s as a haven from the anti-Catholic world, a place to prepare servants of Christ and His Church to join American society. When delivering the 1853 Commencement Address at this university, he called it “this venerable college.” It is the duty of the Mountaineers, from each student to the Board of Trustees to even the president of the university, to ensure that Mount St. Mary’s remains a “venerable college,” and if it wanders from such a title, they must ensure that it returns to this status.
Brownson’s Mount St. Mary’s is different. Brownson’s Mount St. Mary’s is not simply a university, it is a city upon a hill. What other university in the country boasts a national shrine? What other university is home to the largest seminary in the United States? With that, this college has an obligation. How can it not be a paragon of virtue for all to see? Mount St. Mary’s must strive to be worthy of Brownson’s laud, for Brownson gushed: “Who can wonder that we turn with overflowing hearts to Mount St. Mary’s, where our life began, and speak of her with a tenderness that makes the worldling smile?”
Instead of criticizing her, we should gush over her. Our hearts should leap and overflow for this venerable college. Why should we not want it this way? Why should we not strive for Brownson’s Mount St. Mary’s? For there is beauty here, beauty to embrace, beauty to expound upon. We are currently a city upon a mountain; let us strive to be a city upon a hill.
