MANASSAS, Va. — Catholic colleges and universities throughout the country are becoming more than centers of higher education — they're becoming centers of the Eucharist as well.

Thanks to the efforts of the Cardinal Newman Society's Eucharistic Adoration Campaign, more and more Catholic institutions of higher learning are growing in fervor for Christ in the Eucharist through adoration.

The Cardinal Newman Society celebrates it's 10th anniversary this year, it is a grass-roots organization dedicated to the realization of Ex Corde Ecclesiae (On Catholic Universities), Pope John Paul II's 1990 apostolic constitution in which the Holy Father exhorts Catholic universities to “be dedicated to the research of all aspects of truth in their essential connection with the supreme Truth, who is God” and to do so “without fear but rather with enthusiasm, dedicating itself to every path of knowledge, aware of being preceded by him who is 'the Way, the Truth and the Life’”

The Eucharistic Adoration Campaign is an effort of the Association of Students at Catholic Colleges, a loose fraternity of Catholic student leaders who are determined to build Christian campus life on America's Catholic campuses. It provides support and materials to any group or individual interested in promulgating Eucharistic adoration on campus. These how-to kits include ideas for generating enthusiasm for Eucharistic adoration as well as step-by-step instructions for initiating or expanding an existing program.

“Eucharistic adoration is so highly regarded by the Holy Father,” said Eucharistic Adoration Campaign Director Adam Wilson, a freshman at Christendom College in Front Royal, Va. “And it's extremely important in the wake of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, which parallels [the Pope's April encyclical on the Eucharist] Ecclesia de Eucharistia (The Church of the Eucharist). Catholic colleges were born to be at the heart of the Church, and the Church draws life from the Eucharist.”

According to Cardinal Newman Society records, more than 60 of the nation's 223 Catholic colleges and universities currently have ongoing Eucharistic adoration programs. The campaign's goal is to disseminate information about the importance and benefits of Eucharistic adoration so that, eventually, all Catholic institutions of higher learning have some form of Eucharistic adoration on campus.

Drastic Changes

Anecdotal evidence suggests Eucharistic adoration programs bring about drastic changes in the moral and intellectual climates on the campuses on which they are held.

An article in the April/May issue of Lay Witness, written by Cardinal Newman Society president Patrick Reilly, said the increased enthusiasm for Eucharistic adoration has yielded greater and more reverent attendance at daily and Sunday Mass, retreats and conversions to the Catholic faith as well as a higher quality of academics. In some cases, students have reported mystical experiences in their prayer lives.

At Marquette University in Milwaukee, Eucharistic adoration began three years ago with just one hour a week. Today it's expanded to nearly 15 hours, plus a weekly holy hour called “The Hour of Power,” which includes praise and worship: a decade of the scriptural rosary, petitions, singing, lighting candles, talks, Benediction and reposition.

“Since I started with the program in 2000,” said Jesuit Father Will Prospero, director of the Eucharistic adoration program at Marquette, “I've seen six people enter the priesthood or religious life and every one of them was involved in the Eucharistic adoration program.”

Father Prospero has also witnessed the students’ greater devotion to holy Mass and an increased courage to speak out on moral issues on campus.

“The ones involved in Eucharistic adoration are the ones speaking out,” he observed.

Lora Helm, a senior at Marquette, coordinates the sign-up for Eucharistic adoration. She depends on Eucharistic adoration to give her strength; it's her refuge from the stresses and activity of college life, she said. It's also drawn her more deeply into prayer and contemplation, especially during holy Mass.

“It gives me a time slot each week during which I can sit in the presence of Christ,” Helm said. “It's good to have some quiet time each week, but it's magnified in the Eucharistic presence. And it helps me to experience more fully Christ's presence in the Mass.”

Non-Catholic Schools

Devotion for the Eucharistic presence is growing in non-Catholic universities as well.

A group of Harvard University graduate students have begun a Friday night holy hour with Benediction and reposition at nearby St. Peter Parish in Cambridge, Mass.

The program has already begun to attract other parishioners, said first-year divinity school student Bronwen McShea. She coordinates the program along with Michael Lorelli, a second-year law student; Christina Hip-Florez, a second-year student in the school of government; and the parish's pastor, Father Kevin O'Leary. The group is exploring the possibility of getting the parish's high school students involved as well.

Once the Eucharistic Adoration Campaign has expanded, the Association of Students at Catholic Colleges hopes to offer formation programs that will help students integrate Catholic teachings faithful to the magisterium into their curricula and campus life, according to Notre Dame sophomore and the association's president, Chris Christensen.

“We'll do anything we can to help make the college more Catholic,” he said. “And so we approach both the administration and the students in order to encourage the administration to help the students and the students help the administration.”

Marge Fenelon writes from Cudahy, Wisconsin.

Eucharistic adoration programs bring about drastic changes in the moral and intellectual climates on the campuses.