Community of Faith

The life of the College is ordered not only to the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom within the classroom but also to the spiritual growth of all members of our collegiate community.  Our academic year unfolds according to the rhythms of the liturgical year.  Indeed, the liturgical highlight of the year comes during the liturgies of the sacred Easter Triduum.  On Feast Days such as the Immaculate Conception, the College’s offices are closed and the distinct nature of the Feast is marked in special ways.

At Magdalen College we seek to provide our students with liturgies marked by beauty and reverence, drawing deeply on the great liturgical traditions of the Church.  Our chaplain celebrates Mass in both the Ordinary Form throughout the week and the Extraordinary Form once per week. Students also gather each day in the collegiate chapel to pray Morning and Evening prayer and in the residential chapels to sing Compline.

Magdalen College calls its students to a lifetime of discipleship, in which the graces of the sacraments, the practices of prayer, the rosary, and spiritual reading, and the full treasury of the spiritual traditions of the Church become the means for a communion that begins in this life and continues into the next. This calling is both explicit and cultural: students hear the call from the college’s chaplain and leadership but also experience the call through the college’s fundamental cultural orientation. The sacraments and liturgies, spiritual direction and encouragement from friends, and the opportunities for service and fellowship all aim to this highest of all purposes. One of the unique ways that Magdalen offers this call to her students is through the Confraternity of St. Joseph and the Sodality of Mary. These groups meet twice a month in the president’s residence for a home-cooked meal, spiritual reading, prayer and fellowship.

Our Lady Queen of Apostles Chapel is the center of campus life. Built of red brick, with New Hampshire granite capstones that symbolize the four marks of the Church, the Chapel is a place of worship. Its simple and reverent design, with colorful faceted-glass windows, mosaic Stations of the Cross, and a large crucifix directly above the tabernacle, helps to focus a worshipper’s attention on Christ the Lord who is truly present. The chapel also houses a reliquary of over fifty relics and statues honoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Our Lady, St. Joseph and St. Mary Magdalen.