Faith is alive during Lent on UW-Madison campus

MADISON — College students are known for “pulling an all-nighter” to stay up through the night writing a paper or studying for an exam.

For Audrey Hilts, a sophomore at UW-Madison and student leader at St. Paul Catholic Center, her first all-nighter last year was a little different.

“The night before Ash Wednesday, St. Paul’s offered all-night perpetual Eucharistic Adoration — praying with the Blessed Sacrament in the middle of the night was such a powerful way to begin Lent!”

Faith is alive

Each year on Ash Wednesday, the pews of St. Paul Catholic Center at UW-Madison are filled to overflowing during the five Masses offered throughout the day with an average 1,200 total students attending and Confessions heard continuously from 6:30 a.m. until 9 p.m.

The faith is alive in the hearts of thousands of students and each year, many more encounter Jesus Christ through the Mass, learning to pray, reading Scripture, and being formed in the faith through the community of St. Paul’s.

As a freshman, Hilts “was amazed at the number of people there, even at the 7 a.m. Mass. It was also surprising to walk around campus and see how many other students had ashes on their forehead — there was a strong sense of community and that we’re not alone in this desire to live the Catholic faith.”

And as the priest exhorts us to “go forth” at the end of Mass, students are formed as disciples through prayer and the programs at St. Paul’s, through which they understand how they can be a witness to others in their day-to-day lives.

Devotional aid offered for Lent

For over a decade, UW-Madison students have had a chance to put their own prayer and reflection into writing a reflection based on a daily Gospel reading, which are compiled as a devotional aid for Lent.

These reflections offer insight into the spiritual formation students are receiving and how the Scriptures can inform our spiritual life — our daily recommitment to Christ.

Continuing the recent tradition of offering these reflections to the Catholic faithful of the Diocese of Madison, St. Paul’s students have created an online format to receive a daily email with the reflection and daily Scripture verses.

All are invited to receive this devotional aid to add to your Lenten practice by signing up at www.badgercatholic.org/lent Emails will continue each day through Easter Sunday.

Carolyn Averill is director of advancement for the St. Paul University Catholic Foundation.