Many students regularly attend Sunday Mass in their dorms, but during the Lenten season, students from Howard Hall encourage the community to take Mass attendance a step further. Since 2011, students organizing the annual Howard Hall Chapel Crawl have scheduled Mass in a different chapel every day of Lent, allowing participants to attend Mass in every dorm chapel and many chapels in other buildings on campus.
Sophomore Emily Patton, a resident of Howard Hall, organized the event as liturgical commissioner last year and now runs the Twitter account and Facebook page for the event. She said she encourages the campus community to attend Mass in various chapels during Lent to gain new experiences and perspectives while bonding with fellow students.
“Every night during Lent — except Saturdays — we have a Mass hosted in a different dorm, and we communicate with all the dorms to make sure it fits their schedule,” Patton said. “We try to hit all the fun food-Masses like the Dillon milkshake Mass and whatnot, and then, throughout Lent, we encourage people to go to those Masses, and someone in Howard leads a walkover to Mass every night of the Chapel Crawl.”
Patton said the Twitter account — @chapelcrawl17 — is a new addition this year that will notify its followers of the Chapel Crawl’s schedule.
“It gives people updates everyday on what Masses are happening, so if people subscribe to the Twitter with their phone, they can get a text telling them when we’re going to Mass,” she said.
While a few students try to attend Mass every day for the Chapel Crawl, most only stay for part of the scheduled Masses, Patton said.
“Over the course of the Chapel Crawl, we probably get 20-30 people participating — not all at the same time — but we have had a pretty diverse group of people sign up to do walkovers this year, which has been pretty cool,” Patton said. “Sometimes people will bring their friends to Masses, too. The attendance at the Masses really depends, like if it’s midterms week, or Dillon’s milkshake Mass. It just depends on the day it falls on.”
Freshman Clare Buntrock, liturgical commissioner for Howard Hall, said attending daily Mass can be a valuable experience during Lent.
“Besides just seeing all the chapels, it’s a reflective experience going to Mass every day … I’d say it definitely builds community while also building your spiritual life as well,” Buntrock said. “A lot of people have commented that going to Mass every day really changes your perspective during Lent. It’s a way to grow spiritually.”
The goal of the Chapel Crawl is to get as many students both in Howard Hall and outside dorms to participate, Patton said.
“I think it’s a cool way to visit different dorms and see all the cool chapels on campus,” Patton said. “We don’t hit them all, but we hit quite a few of them, and we do get all the dorm ones. It’s a goal for some people to go to every dorm Mass before they graduate, so we’re kind of providing them a fast way to do it.”
Patton said the Chapel Crawl enables students to bond with their peers and form new friendships.
“The idea is to show everyone the chapels, and you’ll occasionally meet new people through the Chapel Crawl,” she said.“It’s a nice way to build community.”
