‘Little Miracle of Lille’: How a Candlelight Mass Gathers Hundreds of Young People Every Week in France

[Michie]

Launched in 2016 by the chaplaincy of the Catholic University of Lille, this initiative has enjoyed an unexpected and exponential success in this city shaped by student life.

LILLE, France — “The good makes no noise,” St. Francis de Sales would say of Lille’s candlelight Mass.

Indeed, while France regularly shows itself to be at the forefront of the de-Christianization of the West and recently made headlines for its constitutionalization of abortion, the embers of Christian renewal are already igniting — quietly yet powerfully — on the country’s northern horizon.

Every Tuesday evening at 10 p.m., between 800 and 900 students converge on the historic St. Joseph’s Chapel at Lille Catholic University for a candlelight Mass. This number has been growing month after month since the initiative was launched in 2016 and has significantly increased the number of new catechumens there journeying towards baptism.

For its initiators, this unexpectedly successful formula is a universal model to be exported to touch the souls of the vast number of young people who thirst for interiority in a world profoundly atomized by the expansion of the virtual world into all spheres of daily life.

Continued below.

‘Little Miracle of Lille’: How a Candlelight Mass Gathers Hundreds of Young People Every Week in France

Launched in 2016 by the chaplaincy of the Catholic University of Lille, this initiative has enjoyed an unexpected and exponential success in this city shaped by student life.

www.ncregister.com

 

[RileyG]

May God bless the French people!

 

[AlexB23]

May God bless the French people!

Amen to that. God bless the French, especially cos their food is delicious, and the free software that I use to summarize these articles for us on CF is French (tech article link) also. The summaries are accurate, which all of them are so far.


Here is the summary of the article:

The article by Solène Tadié, published on April 14, 2024, discusses the unexpected renewal of Catholic faith among students in Lille, France. Despite France's reputation for de-Christianization and its constitutionalization of abortion, the embers of Christian renewal are igniting at Lille Catholic University through a weekly candlelight Mass.

Every Tuesday evening at 10 p.m., between 800 and 900 students gather at St. Joseph’s Chapel for this Mass, which has been growing in popularity since its launch in 2016. The initiative's success led to the restoration of the large St. Joseph’s Chapel in 2019, which now accommodates around 600 seats.

The Mass's allure lies in its simplicity and beauty, with no particular identity or sensibility claimed other than an attachment to the liturgy and the quality of its preachers. The chants are sung by a polyphonic choir, adding to the depth and musicality praised by participants.

Joséphine Auberger, a student and head of communications at the chaplaincy, believes that young people are drawn to this celebration due to its simplicity of beauty. The "WYD Lisbon" effect and the ideal moment for giving something to God during their free time are also contributing factors.

Father Charles-Marie Rigail, the chaplain at the Catholic University, emphasizes that the candles help focus participants on God and provide a solid anchor for those thinking about their future in an uncertain world. He also points out that the personal experience of this Mass is necessary for fostering interiority.

The initiative has led to a doubling of new catechumens every year since 2018, and Father Rigail stays behind to chat with attendees, meeting various individuals from practicing Catholics to avowed atheists. The ultimate mission is not to create consumers of beautiful liturgy but rather Catholics capable of being actors of their own faith and exporting this model once they leave university.