In July 1944 Mother M. Corona secured the purchase of the 52 acres of farmland known as “The Fischer Farm.” Our current campus location, built on that land, opened in 1953. Take a walk around the Alverno College campus and you’ll find many named places and structures. Where did these names come from? Travel through this exhibit and find out.
Before embarking on the journey, begin with an understanding of why our college is called Alverno.
The name Alverno comes from a mountain in Italy that was used by St. Francis of Assisi and his followers as a place for reflection. Mount Alverno is a high mountain that rises to a 4000 foot peak from the midst of a plateau. But it is what occurred on that mountain, rather than the place, that has brought that name down to the present in many parts of the world. Mount Alvemo was for Francis the place where he gained a perspective on life that never left him. It occurred during a journey he made up the mountain in August 1224. In a small hut he had had built high on its upper reaches, he spent 40 days in prayer and fasting. What he sought and gained was an understanding of what it means to love in life, to love God and to love one's sisters and brothers, one's family and neighbors. So intense was this experience that it moved him to write his famous "Song of Praise."
Alverno, then, has always meant for Franciscans, a place to gain such an insight into the meaning of one's life that it enables one to help others also to find a deeper more meaningful life.
A sculpture of St. Francis can be found looking down from above the front doors of Founders Hall. The first photo is a view from a distance and the second image is a closer view.
Photo by Blue Moon Studio
