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New SLU 'Legends and Lore' to Be Told

04/05/2019

On Thursday afternoon, April 11, the University Libraries will be presenting the third in a series of four "Legends and Lore" sessions about interesting St. Louis Jesuits. 

Daniel Lord, S.J.

Stephen Werner, Ph.D., adjunct professor in the Department of Theological Studies, and John Waide, University archivist emeritus, will give the presentation, “Daniel Lord, S. J.:  The Restless Flame – Thinking Big in a Parochial World.” 

This session will begin at noon and it will take place in the second floor gallery space of Pius XII Memorial Library.

In 1925, the recently ordained Father Daniel Aloysius Lord, S.J., became the national director of the Jesuit-sponsored Sodality of the Blessed Virgin and the editor of its magazine, The Queen’s Work

When Lord assumed the leadership of the Sodality, it was considered an insignificant organization of little relevance, even to Catholics. During a 30 year period, he transformed the Sodality into a dynamic tool for Catholic evangelization among young people, growing its membership to more than 2 million members. Lord would remain in charge of the Sodality until 1948, and he continued to write for the The Queen’s Work until his death in 1955. 

Lord also wrote 90 books and nearly 300 pamphlets and countless articles. His works sold over 25 million copies by the 1960s, assuring that his influence in the way that most American Catholics were educated in the first half of the 20th Century.

Eminent SLU Catholic historian, the late William Barnaby Faherty, S.J., believed that Lord had more influence on the “faith life” of the average American Catholic of the middle part of the 20th century than any other person living at the time.

The highlight of this session will be the showing of a film produced by Werner on Lord’s life and work. The film premiered last year at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase. The presentation is free and does not require a reservation. 

If anyone has questions, please contact John Waide at 977-9359 or john.waide@slu.edu.