Located atop Mount St. James in Worcester, Massachusetts, the 174-acre Holy Cross campus is home to several beautiful places of worship and spaces where students can actively explore issues of faith and spirituality.
Chapels
The College has three chapels where worship services and special events are open to the public. Worship services are celebrated in the College chapels when the College is in session, and are open to members of the Worcester community. This includes two weekend Masses, a Sunday Inter-Denominational Service of Praise and Worship, holy day liturgies, weekday Masses and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
During Advent in early December, a “Festival of Lessons and Carols” service is held in St. Joseph Memorial Chapel. At the end of Lent, the College celebrates Palm Sunday and the Paschal Triduum in the College chapels.
Saint Joseph Memorial Chapel
The stately St. Joseph Memorial Chapel (upper chapel) seats up to 900 people and houses the Taylor and Boody pipe organ.
McCooey Chapel
Mary Chapel
The recently renovated Mary Chapel and smaller McCooey Chapel are both located on the lower level of St. Joseph Memorial Chapel.
Campion House
Campion House accommodates the offices of the chaplains and provides spacious, comfortable and living and dining spaces. Campion House is a wonderful place to study, dine, meet other students, or just hang out. Campion is equipped with wireless internet service.
It is named for St. Edmund Campion, an Irish man who rejected a high position in the Church of England to join the Jesuits. He was ultimately tried and martyred by Queen Elizabeth for his writings against the Church of England.
Over the years, Campion House has changed in its function on campus. Constructed in the early 1900s, Campion originally served as a residence hall for those Holy Cross employees who worked on the farm. It eventually shifted to a student residence hall and, in 1971, to a chaplain and Jesuit residence. The first floor of the building was available for meetings and quiet study and, for many years, was the one study space open all night. The upstairs remained a living space for Jesuit chaplains.
In 1989, the house changed again to serve as the residence for seven Jesuits engaged in pastoral work on campus. When the construction of Smith Hall began in the spring of 2000, Campion House was temporarily converted into the Chaplains' Office so that Admissions could move into the Chaplains' Office suite in the Hogan Campus Center. This temporary arrangement proved so satisfactory that Campion became the permanent home of the Chaplains' Office and Campus Ministry Center.
Thomas P. Joyce ’59 Contemplative Center
Located on a 52-acre site in West Boylston, Mass., just a 20-minute drive from campus, the Joyce Contemplative Center offers retreat and discernment programming for students, alumni, faculty and staff. Opened in September 2016, the 33,800 square-foot complex features a chapel, meeting rooms, dining room, and bedrooms for 58 individuals. The hilltop site overlooks scenic Wachusett Reservoir conservation area.
Learn more about the Joyce Contemplative Center