Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition on display at Mercy Hospital

Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition

If the Bible is an important part of your family life, you’ll want to know about a particularly special Bible that you could take your kids to see right here in Northwest Arkansas. It’s the Heritage Edition of the Saint John’s Bible, and it will be available for viewing by the public in the lobby of Mercy Hospital in Rogers. The display will be in Northwest Arkansas until May 31st before it travels to another location.

What makes this Bible particularly special?

It’s the first hand-illuminated Bible in 500 years! It was commissioned by the Benedictine monks of Saint John’s Abbey and University in Collegeville, Minnesota in 1998 and was completed in 2011. The original manuscript of seven volumes remains at St. John’s University, but 299 sets were created as a “Heritage Edition” for travel and display around the world.

This Bible is written on vellum, using quills, natural handmade inks, hand-ground pigments and gild such as gold leaf, silver leaf and platinum. The massive piece of art includes 1,165 pages and 160 illuminations. (An “illumination” is the way light plays off of the pages as they are turned.)

The Saint John’s Bible was the vision of artist and calligrapher Donald Jackson, who led the international team that painstakingly created every aspect of the manuscript. Jackson is the scribe of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and is one of the world’s foremost calligraphers.

When and where to see it:

Take your family to see the Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition from 6:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays in the Mercy Hospital lobby (near the donor wall).

Special tip:

For a special moment, plan your visit on a Wednesday at 11:45 a.m. (before May 31st), when there will be a page turning and reflection.

This could be a great outing for a family, Sunday school class, youth group or anyone who enjoys history, faith and art. Thank you to our friends at Mercy for letting us know about this one-of-a-kind opportunity in Northwest Arkansas.