"The university, the Church, and the world have lost a shining light," said BYU President Kevin J Worthen on Wednesday, the day after President Thomas S. Monson, passed away. President Monson spoke at BYU on 13 occasions from 1966 to 2011. To honor him, here is a photo essay documenting many of his visits to campus and a selection of his stories from BYU devotionals.

The most-viewed devotional this year? BYU education professor Brad Wilcox's 2011 classic "His Grace Is Sufficient." As for BYU speeches given in 2017, Lynn G. Robbins's address "Be 100 Percent Responsible" and Eva Witesman's "Women and Education: 'A Future Only God Could See for You'" topped the list. Read excerpts from the 10 most-viewed 2017 speeches.

Here is the year in pictures, a gallery of favorites selected by BYU photographers from the 912,657 images they captured last year.

See some of the best BYU videos from last year in this eclectic YouTube playlist. BYU Today's three most-watched videos from 2017: 1. Cosmo dancing with the Cougarettes, 2. The BYU animated short Taijitu, and 3. Lindsey Stirling's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Caffeine on campus had everyone buzzing back in September, making it the most-clicked BYU Today story of all time. The official list of most-read BYU news in 2017 put the pop at no. 5, just after these stories: 1. Music makes P.E. more enjoyable, 2. Exercise makes your cells younger, 3. Must-take BYU electives, and 4. An origami-inspired ballistic shield. The shield-testing video reached more than 5 million views on Facebook and YouTube, making it BYU's top social-media post for 2017.

A cancer-killing discovery, hope for those with depression, a student who lived off of campus plants, and a BYU alumni infographic were among BYU Magazine's best-loved stories of the year.