Mount Mercy University - Department of Theology and Philosophy

06/03/2026

The ultimate destination of all philosophical and theological inquiry, is the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the source of all love, truth, goodness, mercy, and wisdom. Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us, fill our hearts with your love, enlighten our minds with your light, fill our lives with your Life.

The Catholic Church dedicates the entire month of June to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

05/18/2026

At our Honors Convocation on May 15, philosophy and theology double major Brian McGrane received four awards. From Professor Cross he received the Sister Monica Ryan Award for Excellence in Philosophy. The name of the recipient of this award is engraved on a plaque that hangs in the hall outside Sr. Monica Ryan's former office on the fourth floor of Warde Hall. From Professor Carlin Brian received the Sister Siena Davis Theology Award. From Professor Gerry Kreitzer he received the Outstanding Music Student Award. And from President Todd Olson he received the President's Award. Congratulations Brian!

https://www.mtmercy.edu/news-events/news/2026/05/presidents-award

05/07/2026

Brian McGrane is a graduating Mount Mercy senior, and double major in Philosophy and Theology. Tonight he successfully defended his Philosophy thesis titled "MacIntyrean Insights for Higher Education." His research examined how an ethics education based on each of the three rival versions of moral inquiry would intellectually and morally form students studying ethics, and how these implications help us evaluate each of these three paradigms.

04/17/2026

On Thursday, April 16, six Mount Mercy University students, and Profs. Carlin and Cross, attended Dr. Tim Pawl's illuminating lecture on "The Seven Deadly Sins" at Iowa State University. Afterward we got a photograph with him (second from right).

https://thomisticinstitute.org/events/seven-deadly-sins-pawl-isu

04/15/2026

We are so grateful to Dr. Christopher Brown for giving this year's Aquinas Lecture!

03/24/2026

Christopher Brown, author of Eternal Life and Human Happiness in Heaven: Philosophical Problems, Thomistic Solutions (CUA Press, 2021), will be giving our annual Aquinas Lecture at 7:00 PM this evening in the Francis J. Pruss Auditorium, 300 Donnelly Center at Mount Mercy University. The event is free and open to the public.

03/05/2026

On Wednesday, March 4, we took a group of ten MMU students to Iowa State University for a Thomistic Institute sponsored talk by Fr. Gregory Pine O.P. The title of his talk was "Becoming a Good Conversationalist: How Not to Bore, Boast, or Otherwise Blather . . . and More!"

https://thomisticinstitute.org/events/becoming-a-good-conversationalist-pine-isu

02/27/2026

For those in eastern Iowa, Mount Mercy University's annual Spring Lecture Series begins in less than two weeks.

01/21/2026

Today is the memorial feast of St. Agnes, virgin and martyr. She was martyred in Rome on this day (January 21) in AD 304, at the age of 12 or 13 in the Stadium of Domitian, which is today the Piazza Navona. According to the tradition she was martyred for refusing marriage, on account of desiring to be a virgin consecrated to Christ. Around AD 377 St. Ambrose of Milan wrote about the martyrdom of St. Agnes in Chapter 2, Book 1 of his work titled Concerning Virginity. Around that same time Pope St. Damasus I (pope from 366-384) had an epitaph made for the tomb of St. Agnes. The inscription (translated from Latin) reads:

"So the story goes: the holy parents reported back then
that when the mournful sound from the trumpet rang out
Agnes at once left behind the embrace of her nurse
and scorned the threats and anger of the savage tyrant
when he wanted to burn her noble body with flames;
she overcame that dreadful terror with young courage and
let her hair loose over her naked body,
lest any mortal gaze should see the temple of God.
Oh one to be adored by me, holy delight, sweetness of chastity—
Oh pure martyr, I pray that you might favour the prayers of Damasus."

Attached is a photograph of a stained glass window containing the image of St. Agnes from the north wall of Stello Chapel in Warde Hall on the Mount Mercy University campus. Also attached is a photograph of the epitaph made by Pope St. Damasus I. The third photograph is of the skull of St. Agnes, located in the church named after her and built over her tomb: Sant'Agnese in Agone on Piazza Navona. St. Agnes of Rome, pray for us.

12/12/2025

Happy birthday Prof. Carlin!