BC Celebrates Annual Mass of the Holy Spirit

On Thursday, September 8th, hundreds of students, faculty, and members of the Boston College community participated in the long-lived tradition of the Mass of the Holy Spirit. Boston College’s president, Fr. William P. Leahy, S.J., celebrated the Mass with fellow Jesuits. All were robed in red and white chasubles, symbolizing the presence of the Holy Spirit. Fr. Henry Shea, S.J., served as the liturgy’s homilist.

The Mass of the Holy Spirit is a Jesuit tradition that began only eight years after the religious order’s foundation in 1540. For Boston College and Jesuit institutions across the world, the Mass of the Holy Spirit is a time to invite the great Comforter to both lead the community and bless the upcoming academic year. For the past two years, the Mass has taken place in the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola and Conte Forum, but fortunately the celebration returned to its traditional location this year, O’Neill Library Plaza. 

Luke Wayson, CSOM ‘25, said, “I thought the Mass was beautiful. I really enjoyed the upbeat music, the weather, the presence of most of our campus priests, and the fact that it was held in the middle of the O’Neill Plaza, where the BC community could all worship Christ together.” 

The unifying experience of the liturgy was felt across the entire campus, as students and faculty saw their peers pour forth love for both their faith and community. Boston College’s Liturgy Arts Group, a group of talented musicians and vocalists led by Campus Minister Meyer Chambers, aided in creating a lively atmosphere for all attendees and invited Catholics and non-Catholics alike to engage in the sacrifice of the Mass with song and worship.

Reflecting upon Jesuit values and the words of Christ, Fr. Shea stated in his homily, “God comes into our lives. Not only to lead us forward by faith, as our readings explain, but by the light of the Holy Spirit, to teach and guide us into all truth, yet this truth is much more than information. It’s the experiencing and tasting of God, of God’s own presence and love of God’s own divine life that alone will satisfy us.”

Fr. Shea reminded the BC community and Jesuits alike that the invocation of the Holy Spirit is not solely for inspiring the community’s intellectual pursuits, but also for experiencing and walking with God. Solidifying this thought, Fr. Shea ended his homily by inviting all to “walk together by faith and the light of the Holy Spirit toward the kingdom of God.”

With these words in mind, all members of the Boston College community present were able to walk together during Communion, processing forward to receive a blessing or Christ within the Eucharist. After prayerfully reflecting on the service after Communion, the Mass came to an end as community members walked out together, following the intellectual and spiritual light of faculty in academic dress and Jesuits in their red chasubles.