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By Maureen Schlangen

As each season of the calendar year reveals beauty all its own, so do the seasons of the liturgical year, each providing a vibrant context for praise, pondering, penitence, inspiration and reflection.

Such was the inspiration for a Jan. 25 concert by the Washington, D.C., women’s medieval vocal ensemble Eya to kick off the Marian Library’s yearlong 75th anniversary celebration.

The group, which specializes in early music interpreted for women’s voices, structured its program, called “Regina,” with devotional music and prayers that highlight the place of the Blessed Virgin Mary in liturgy. Along with selected musical compositions found in the Marian Library collections, they will sing the antiphons that mirror the ethos of the liturgical seasons: Alma Redemptoris Mater, Ave Regina Caelorum, Regina Caeli and Salve Regina. Other selections include chants of Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179); polyphony from Las Huelgas Codex; the Worcester fragments; and “ardent and playful trios drawn from a songbook of 19th-century France that might have been familiar to the founders of the Society of Mary,” the group says in its program notes. “These loving prayers encourage us as we go back into the world, steadied by the loving guidance and protection of our Lady.”

Eya’s members are Crossley Hawn, soprano; Allison Mondel, soprano and director; and Kristen Dubenion-Smith, mezzo-soprano.

The concert is at 7 p.m. in the University of Dayton’s Chapel of the Immaculate Conception. Additional performances include the Chaminade Julienne High School Concert Choir and the University of Dayton Early Music Ensemble.

The event, part of the University’s ArtsLIVE series, is free, but tickets are required. For tickets, contact the Kennedy Union box office at 937-229-2545 or visit the box office anytime between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday while the University is in session.

Attendees may park without a parking pass in lots B and P.

More Marian Library 75th anniversary events: go.udayton.edu/marianlibrary75

About the Marian Library

The Marian Library was founded by the Marianists of the University of Dayton in 1943 to make the Blessed Virgin Mary better known, loved, and served. It is a special library whose presence on campus is a significant expression of the university's Catholic and Marianist identity. 

Its collections are developed and maintained to preserve and provide access to materials that support its mission of fostering Marian scholarship and sound Marian devotion.  

The Marian Library is recognized both nationally and internationally as a center for scholarship on the Blessed Virgin Mary. It serves the research needs of faculty and students of the International Marian Research Institute and of the broader University of Dayton community, and of visitors throughout the world. It also documents the diverse expressions of popular devotion to Mary, and it provides public outreach through its exhibits, tours and reference services. 

Build your vocabulary; Impress your friends

Eya (pronounced “EH-yah”): a Latin exclamation of joy.

terquasquigenary (pronunciation unknown; be creative): 75th anniversary. Variations: semisesquicentennial (half of a 150th anniversary); terquasquigennial.