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By Henry Handley

Among the materials in the Mary in Catholic Education exhibit is one with a hidden message: My Ideal is neither a picture book nor a textbook, but a typed handbook for a Marianist-sponsored high school sodality with an intriguing optical illusion. 

The student sodality is the core focus of the manual: It’s “a social group of individuals [with] a definite job to do,” according to the introduction. Sodality groups have been part of the Marianist way of life since before the orders’ founding, although this 1954 manual emphasizes that a sodality is “a modern instrument to promote the teachings of Christ in a modern world.” 

There’s no sign that this copy of My Ideal was ever used, but there’s plenty of evidence of how students could have ideally used it. Week by week, there are spaces to take meeting notes, answer reflection questions and check off daily responsibilities like morning prayers, Mass and praying the rosary. On the last page is “A Message in Design,” a circle of lines with three hidden statements in distorted text — a novel way of engaging high schoolers in Catholic formation.

It’s easiest to read if you tilt the page and look at it; sometimes closing one eye helps. There are some reproductions available in the exhibit, and you can find a few hints in the photos here. The first of three statements begins with “I am,” all the better to encourage the sodalist student to identify with the Marianist mission.

You can find more perspectives in Mary in Catholic Education, the Marian Library’s spring exhibit, in student-curated materials, original student art, and reflections from UD faculty, staff, students and alumni. You can even add your own response about Mary’s influence in Catholic education.

— Henry Handley is an assistant professor and collections librarian in the Marian Library.