A 10pm candlelit Mass is drawing hundreds of young students to worship each week in Lille, France.
Every Tuesday night, 800 to 900 students converge on a chapel at Lille Catholic University for the Mass.
Burning attraction
For the six students who initiated the Masses, the unexpectedly successful candlelit formula is one they want others to adopt.
Numbers have grown each month since the initiative was launched in 2016.
They say that, within three years, attendance has surpassed the capacity of the 300-person chapel they were using.
They moved to a bigger place in 2019.
Within a year, the building’s 600-seat capacity was overfull.
During Lent this year, security turned away hundreds of the faithful since regulations forbid more than 900 people in the building.
Simplicity of beauty
A student at the university says she thinks the candlelit Mass’s simplicity of beauty is the big draw-card for young people.
The Masses demonstrate an attachment to the beauty of the liturgy and are known for the quality of the preachers.
“Over and above the various movements developing within the Church today, I think that what is most likely to attract young people is the simplicity of beauty” she says.
She says a friend who usually attends only the traditional Latin Mass, because of his quest for beauty finds himself completely in this celebration.
“I think he’s far from alone.”
Another student says he thinks the “World Youth Day Lisbon” effect has also added to the weekly gathering’s fervour.
“People attract people … immersion in the dark also attracts many young people estranged from the Church, who are thus no longer afraid of being judged by their neighbours” he says.
“The time — 10pm — also represents an ideal moment to give something to God and receive something in return” says university chaplain Father Charles-Marie Rigail.
Setting the scene
The candles are placed mainly in the choir and central aisle, so only Christ on the crucifix is illuminated.
“Everything is focused on the Word of God, of his Church” Rigail says. It offers “a solid anchor for all those who are thinking about their future”.
He says nothing social media offers can quench young people’s thirst to belong to something beyond fashions and ephemeral electronic devices.
“This is how to touch people’s hearts, break down current prejudices about the Church and raise awareness of its usefulness and relevance, trying to offer something that is good and as right as possible.”
Alongside the community dimension of being part of a crowd, darkness penetrated by candlelight makes for a very personal experience, a necessary condition for the interiority that the Masses aim to foster, Rigail says.
Evangelisation
New catechumens have doubled every year since 2020.
“I make it a point to stay and chat with people after Mass … some of who … end up wanting to know more, while some non-practising believers decide to go further in their faith” Rigail says.
The evangelising mission is reinforced throughout the week in chaplaincy office and volunteer efforts.
Ultimately, the initiative is about building Catholics capable of being actors of their own faith and exporting this model, Rigali says.
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