By Ella Fordyce, Class of 2019
Students, faculty, donors, and other guests recently gathered at Mercy Hall for the fourth annual Guild Night. This event, coming at the close of the year, is dedicated to the guilds of Thomas More College of Liberal Arts. These guilds, imitating the medieval guilds, are one of the college’s most prized institutions. Each semester, the guild masters instruct their students, teaching them a different craft. Throughout the semester, students take on many projects. After all their work, Guild Night is the opportunity for proud students and masters to display the fruits of their labor.
The event was hosted at TMC’s historic Gilded Age property in Nashua, Mercy Hall, the former Mount St. Mary’s Seminary for Girls. Gardening Guild Master Mary Beth Hayes decorated the stately home with freshly arranged flowers with help from students Amanda Cortés, Class of 2021, and Mary Keatley, Class of 2019, and Sacred Art Guild Master and Visiting Fellow Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs. Seafood platters and trays of fruits and cheeses were set out by Chef Sam Nardone, while Miss Anna Kate Moore, Class of 2019, made plates of mini fruit cupcakes. Upon arrival, guests were greeted at the door by a smiling student. After arming themselves with a glass of wine and a plate of hors d’oeuvres, the guests began to survey the displayed projects.
The newly refurbished Billiard Room was dedicated to the projects of the Saint Joseph Woodworking Guild. Under the tutelage of Guild Master and Buildings and Grounds Supervisor Tom Ford, students spent the year learning woodworking techniques. Guests admired the completed projects, including a piano bench stained to match Mercy Hall’s own baby grand piano, a desk organizer, a jewelry box, and a painted bench.
The crystal cases in the oval Dining Room were filled with the projects from the Saint Luke Sacred Art Guild. This semester, Guild Master Gwyneth Thompson-Briggs taught her students the art of bookbinding. After weeks spent marbleizing paper and sewing pages, the completed books were put on display for the guests to see, along with a drawing by Charles Easterday ’18 and a newly completed oil on panel painting of the Virgin and Child with St. Joseph and the Infant St. John the Baptist by Mrs. Thompson-Briggs, a commission for a church in Louisiana.
Between these perusals, guests were treated to four short concerts: two each from the Saint Philip Neri Sacred Music Guild and the Saint John Ogilvie Folk Music Guild. The Sacred Music Guild, led by Aidan O’Connor, Class of 2020, began by singing selections such as Palestrina’s Sicut Cervus and the Aichinger Regina Caeli. Next, the Folk Music Guild, led by Instructor John McCarthy, sang folk tunes including “Raglan Road” and “Kind Friends.” In addition, a men’s choir sang a Crusader chant accompanied by drum, Media Vita.
The performances finished, guests sipped a final glass of wine as the evening wound to a close. Though Guild Night came to an end, the beloved institution of the Guilds will continue. Students will add polyphonic chants and old folk tunes to their repertoire; others will learn to craft their own furniture, or delve into the mysteries of creating books, calligraphy, or the basics of drawing. While these skills may serve as entertainment for the guests at Guild Night, they will also continue to bring joy to the students themselves throughout their lives. The guilds are part and parcel of TMC’s educational aim: to educate the whole person, whether in metaphysical learning, or in practical skills.
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