Villanova University - Belle Air Yearbook (Villanova, PA)

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ST. RITA’S HALL One of the smaller buildings at Villanovo, St. Rita's Hall serves as an annex to St. Mary's in the seminary department. Its location close by the main building allows free and easy access to the seminary classrooms and other facilities, and yet the private rooms provided for the seminarians allows the solitude and quiet neces- sary for study and contemplation. It is in the passage back and forth between St. Rita's and St. Mary's that the seminarians come into ot least visual contact with the student body of the college. An early rising student may see the block-habited seminarians on their way to daily Mass and Office at the chapel in St. Mary's Hall. During the war. St. Rita's wos pressed into service to house some of tho civilian students but in 1946 it was returned to its original use. The Daughters of the Most Holy Redeomer. a community of Sisters who have the core of the seminary kitchen are also quartered in St. Rita's. Thor it olwayt o moment of relaxation in the life of the neophyte Auguttinian. The above it olwayt. to the outtider, a typical scene.

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« mo» oH»oc W« °n 1 , B.,„o.a c..' ''' 9 l9l2. W.tM« i»» on»». »«« P ’' H«r« wo con readily »•• futuro Auguitinion» following tho doily ichodulo of thoir ouitoro but colorful lifo. Tho ro»ult of hoir woll foundod training will bottor proparo thorn for thoir ttronuout future. ST. MARY’S HALL On the campus, but not of the campus may well be the best way to describe the Seminary Deportment of Villanovo. Actually, it is a college within a college. For here, the young men who are pursuing a course of study in preparation for the priesthood ore separated from the secular hub-bub of Villanovo College life. The center of the seminary is situated in St. Mary's Hall, one of Villanova's vine-covered halls. Adequate classrooms, re- fectory. common room, and individual quarters for the seminarians ore found in this building along with the seminary chapel. Originally known as Corr Hall, it wos buili- as a contribution of Mr. Henry Corr in 1914 to be used as a building for the education of young men for Holy Orders. Once on the outskirts of the campus, it now finds itself quite in the center of things. Even with the new librory on one side, Austin Hall on the other. Alumni Hall in front and the Pie Shoppe in bock. St. Mary's still maintains the air of withdrawal from the world and emphasis on the spiritual life that is demanded of the seminarians.

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O'Dwyer Hall, along with its adjoining lot, was acquired in 1941 by Villanovo. The building was Formerly a private resi- dence located on Lancaster Pike. All the available space in the building, as in all the other residence halls on the campus, is being used to provide the most comfort- able accommodations possible for twenty- five students. This smaller group in O'Dwyer Hall permits a more homelike atmosphere than is possible in the larger buildings. A meeting room and place for limited free time recreation is provided by a parlor. During the year 1941 Villanovo acquired O'Dwyer Hall to meet it growing demandi. All the avail- able «pace in thi dormitory it utiliied to afford comfortable accommodation for the ttudent . SIMPSON HALL Mr. William Simpson, a trustee of the college, bestowed the property of Villa Manor Gables upon Villanovo in 1939. It consisted of a two-ond-o-half acre triangu- lar plot and a three-story, twenty-room residence. The school authorities originally equipped it for seminar purposes only, and many clubs and societies took advantage of its pleasant atmosphere. The Doyle collection of pointings, saved from the Villanovo fire of 1932, was used to adorn its rooms. But the changing economic conditions of the following years brought about the transformation of Simpson into a dormi- tory. exclusively, where 40 students live a rather comfortable club-like life. O’UWYER HALL Simp on Hall became an integral parf of the Villanovo Campus when Mr. William Simpson, o member of the Board of Trustees and on inval- uable friend of the College, presented it to the College.