Dear Loyola community,
For weeks now, people from across the university, especially Ken Weber in Student Life and Ministry, have been working to plan our annual Mass of the Holy Spirit, a joyful celebration and cherished university tradition. I hope you will mark your calendars and make plans to attend.
Mass of the Holy Spirit this year takes place at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, September 8, 2022, in Holy Name of Jesus Church. This is a moment for all of us to pause, to reflect and center ourselves as we settle into this new year. Accordingly, all 11 a.m. classes are canceled, and university offices are highly encouraged to close from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m., so that the entire university may attend. We’ll also livestream the Mass on our YouTube channel so our online students, Loyola families, alumni and friends can join us from afar.
Students, I encourage you to join with friends wearing your club/organization t-shirt/uniform, Greek letter pins and jerseys, or Wolf Pack gear - or connect with your residence hall floors or classmates to walk over to Mass together. Faculty and staff are encouraged to attend with their departments. As there will be no academic procession, no regalia will be worn.
For those of you new to Loyola, Mass of the Holy Spirit is an opportunity to truly join in community and university spirit. It’s a profound and moving experience that Loyola students, families and alumni cherish and remember throughout their lives. And it’s built on a nearly 500-year-old tradition.
Since the start of the first Jesuit school in 1548 in Messina, Sicily, Jesuit schools and universities around the world have gathered in community each year at this special Mass to reflect on their hopes and ask for support throughout the academic year.
Of course, we wouldn’t be Loyola University New Orleans if we didn’t add our special creativity and culture to this sacred tradition. Loyola is the only one among the 27 Jesuit universities and colleges to have a College of Music and Media and so we celebrate with music, dance, and song.
This year, I will serve as celebrant, joined by Father Greg Waldrop, who will give the homily. Dr. Jean Montes will lead the gorgeous Loyola Orchestra. The award-winning Loyola Choir, led by Dr. Meg Frazier, will raise their beautiful voices. And a great red banner carried by student-athletes will enter the sanctuary to envelop us all in the embrace of the Holy Spirit.
Faculty and staff who sing are welcome to join the choir at the end of Mass in Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.
This year, we are also adding new traditions to the Mass to reflect our great diversity – and the contributions each and every one of us brings to this campus. It will be an inspiring, even awesome way of beginning the new school year. And we want everyone to come.
I encourage all students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni to attend, enjoy this moment of community and share in the amazing talents of our students.
With great hope,
Father Justin Daffron, S.J.
