Divine
'19
City Providence,
On a Hill Kathy
, Julie Luo
Joo ‘19
Ministry Profile: Brown-RISD Catholic Community
Megan O'Brien Crayne
In the heart of Brown’s campus, right on Main Quad, sits
Manning Chapel, which also operates as the spiritual home
of the Brown-RISD Catholic Community. We have Mass in
Manning 6 times a week: twice on Sundays (10:30 am and
8:30 pm), and once a day Monday through Thursday. We
also invite a Spanish-speaking priest to campus for Mass in
Spanish roughly every month. In addition, we have an hour
of Eucharistic Adoration every Wednesday night at 7 pm in
Manning.
Alongside our prayer in Manning, we have 10 small-group
Bible studies that meet weekly, including one in Spanish. A
grad student reading group meets every Tuesday night in
the GCB, focusing on topics ranging from philosophy and
theology to Scripture and the lives of the participants. A
group also travels to a local Catholic elementary school to
help with tutoring every Tuesday evening.
Once per week, outside of Mass, we gather as an entire
community in The Underground for “Munderground” from
6-8pm every Monday. Munderground includes different types
of prayer, a free (often homemade!) dinner, and time to learn
about and discuss something that is both theologically and
personally significant. Past topics have included self-care and
mental health, vocations, friendship and dating, and interfaith
engagement. We close our time together with Compline, a
prayer centered around the singing of the psalms.
We also have a number of opportunities for explicit
intellectual engagement with the faith. We partner with the
Thomistic Institute for 8 theological lectures a year, engage
with the thought of Thomas Aquinas in small groups at “Tea
with Thomas,” and organized two Catholic GISPs last year
— the first on Aquinas and the Fathers of the Church, and
the second on Catholic Social Thought. We also have a short
(4 weeks) and long (all school year) course for students seeking
to receive sacraments or learn more about the Catholic faith.
In addition to these regular events we have two student-led
retreats each year, as well as a semesterly camping/hiking
retreat. The Pastoral Council, our student leadership team,
also plans other events such as our Christmas Party and
Spring Banquet, and various other prayer and social events.
Any and all, from the committed to the curious, are welcome
at any of our events, and Megan and Fr. Albert are always
willing to talk and eager to make you coffee. Email catholic@
brown.edu for more information!
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