Officials from the University of St. Mary of the Lake traveled from Mundelein to Springfield's Catholic Pastoral Center March 26 to inspect and take possesion of what they described as an "impressive" collection of canon law books printed prior to the First Code of Canon Law in 1917.

"These were some of the working tools that a canonist would consult if instructed by his bishop to research a point of law regarding say, the suppression of a parish, that the canonist would then base his set of directions on for the bishop," said Father Daniel Smilanic, JCD, professor of canon law at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary and vicar for canonical services of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

"They're in lovely, lovely condition," said Lorraine Olley, director of the seminary's Feehan Memorial Library and McEssy Theological Resource Center. "By our taking them and cataloging them the knowledge that these books exist in one collection, will create a rich resource for scholars who want to come to Mundelein not just to look at one or two rare books, but rather to look at the body of knowlege of a particular point."

Michele Levandoski, diocesan director of the Office for Archives and Records Management, said the diocese housed the collection of almost 100 volumes of Msgr. Aloysius B. Schwarz since his death in 2001. Msgr. Schwarz last served as pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Divernon until his retirement in 1986. Prior to that he was the longtime pastor at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Springfield.

"The diocese has asked that the collection be named in Msgr. Schwarz's honor," said Levandoski. "I hope that he would be pleased to know that his love of rare books will now serve as his legacy."

Olley said that the 69 canon law titles and 28 G.K. Chesterton first editions from the Msgr. Schwarz library will be added to the seminary's special collections. One of the volumes is a book dated 1494 that, according to a British calalog, is one of only five now known to be in the United States.