The Benedictine community of Saint John’s Abbey and University, who commissioned The Saint John’s BIble (SJB), often say that if the SJB isn’t used, if it just sits on a shelf, then it would have been a waste of time, talent, and money.
The SJB, a hand-written, hand-illuminated bible, is a remarkable piece of contemporary art, created to inspire and allow viewers to engage with biblical text and images in a way that “would ignite the spiritual imagination for generations to come.”
Saint Peter’s University has owned all seven volumes of the Heritage Edition of the SJB - full-size, limited, fine art edition - since 2011. The O’Toole Library is proud to be the caretaker of the BIble, housing it in the Guarini Center for Community Memory on the library's ground floor and displaying one volume prominently at all times in the busy Research Commons on the first floor.
We are also proud to say that as the Benedictine community of Saint John’s desired - we use it. So much so that this summer we had to send out the Volume of Gospels and Acts to Roswell Bookbinding in Phoenix, Arizona for repair as the binding had loosened to a worrying degree. All 299 Heritage Editions of the SJB, owned by universities, museums, and churches, have been bound together by Roswell.
It was no surprise to us that it was the Volume of Gospels and Acts that first needed repair. It is the volume most frequently requested when we take the SJB out into the community, not only to Churches and Catholic schools, who may of course be most interested in seeing the illuminations of the Gospel stories and Jesus’ parables, but also by others who are familiar with and love the Gospels in a less religious way.
Tim Ternes, the Director of The Saint John’s Bible program has stated that the most damaging thing one could do to the SJB is not to use it! So while we care for it as best we can, mindful of it the way it has been printed and bound, as well as its sacred nature as the Word of God, we always look forward to taking the SJB off the shelf, sharing it, turning its pages, and beginning a conversation that can go in so many different directions. Such is the beauty of the SJB.
For more information about the Saint John’s BIble or for ideas about how to use it in the classroom room, contact Librarian, Mark Graceffo or Library Director, Daisy DeCoster.
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