Every Sunday afternoon, light pours through the stained glass windows of the Bowdoin Chapel onto the dark wood of the pews, illuminating an atmosphere that is both reverent and casual. One will find a modest congregation of between 20 and 40 students and community members from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. A gentle hum of youthful chatter fills the air until the service gets underway with a hymn, led in the sonorous voice of Father Paul Marquis.
Although some come dressed in their Sunday best to attend Catholic Mass, this is generally the exception, not the rule. Most students attend in sweatshirts and jeans; even the rare adult attendee is often garbed in a more casual manner.
It is evident that the people within the Chapel are there out of devotion. Although some might be acting under the encouragement of a parent, students generally attend services when they feel so inspired, and it is obvious that their worship is not purely to satisfy someone else's definition of what is appropriate.
The pews within the Chapel face one another. Instead of gazing forward toward the altar and the towering organ, devotees find themselves looking at one another or admiring the biblical images painted onto the wall above their heads. These panels depict timeless stories such as David's triumph over Goliath. Confrontation with fellow devotees through this arrangement serves as a reminder that one is part of a larger community of faith.
Although attire is informal for those attending Mass, Marquis and Brother Richard Crawley lead the service adorned in traditional robes that reach the floor. The altar is draped in white cloth and two vases filled with irises stand directly in front of it, adding a welcome element of nature that enhances the pure simplicity of the non-decorative mantle.
Crawley is the Catholic chaplain at Bowdoin and has been for the last five years. Marquis works full time as a hospital chaplain at Maine Medical Center in Portland and comes to Bowdoin on Sundays to lead Mass.
Student participation in the service is frequent. Members of the Catholic community are either asked or may volunteer to fill a role in the ceremony. Students generally present the first and second readings of the service, and one, most recently John Ferriss '08, fills the role of acolyte. An acolyte acts as an assistant to the clergy during the service, performing such duties as the presentation of the symbolic body and blood of Christ to the Father.
"Brother Richard asked me to for the first time a few weeks ago," says Ferris. "It was a bit nerve-wracking."
While it is customary for Father Paul to both lead and preach Sunday Mass, he occasionally cedes his position as preacher to Crawley. Crawley addresses the congregation in a conversational, informal tone that feels in harmony with the atmosphere of worship that existed in the Chapel.
The lesson is about the Pharisees and Sadducees who opposed Jesus and his teachings. There is no fire and brimstone in his succinct sermon; he speaks of love, kindness, and patience.
"To err is human," he concludes, "To love is divine."
Crawley admits that typically a larger number of people make their way to the Sunday services.
"It might have been the weather," he says, referring to the steady drizzle that soaked Bowdoin's grounds that Sunday. "And as we approach the middle of the semester, students find they have a good many places to be."
The feeling of reverence is unmistakable gazing at the heads bowed in prayer. As the final hymn is sung, the congregation in its small entirety files out of the Chapel, and it is not long before the serene atmosphere of the Chapel is left behind and the participants resume their light-hearted exchanges.