At Holy Cross, we provide students a wide range of opportunities to use their talents to contribute to the liturgy. For example, you might: 

• Sing with the Liturgical Choir. Create a joyful and worship-filled musical experience by joining your voice with other students in praise. Directed by Jerome Cole, the Schola Sanctorum Sancate Crucis practices once a week—and always welcomes more voices! Interesting in joining? Email [email protected] for more information!
• Serve as a lector. The Liturgy of the Word is an essential component of Catholic Mass. A good lector brings the reading to life and helps people connect with the word of God.
• Volunteer as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, where you’ll help dispense the Eucharist sacramentally to those in attendance.
• Help out behind the scenes. Set up chairs, pass out hymnals, coordinate refreshments and programs after Mass, or assist with other logistical matters that enable Mass to run smoothly. This is a quiet but essential service.

No matter how you choose to get involved in Mass, as an active participant you will find your faith deepened and your reverence for the rituals enhanced.

The Spes Internship program at Holy Cross College prepares men and women to lead and to serve as disciples of Christ and his Church in a way that is intentional and missionary in character. Through a robust program that provides training and formation in professional and virtuous leadership, and by taking on various responsibilities through the Office of Campus Ministry, those accepted to the Spes Internship program will be able to serve the Holy Cross College community and to share the beautiful message of the Gospel to all.

With eight internship positions available each year, all full-time Holy Cross rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors are eligible to apply to the program in the spring semester. After an application and interview process, those selected to the internship program will be notified at the end of the academic year in May. Those selected as interns in the program are expected to arrive on campus in August before the study body arrives for training, formation, and fellowship.

The ten internship positions available each year are:

• Lead Altar Server
• Saint Joseph Chapel Sacristan
• Lead Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion
• Lead Lector
• Hospitality Coordinator
• Retreats & Pilgrimages Coordinator
• Saints & Scholars Lead Mentor
• Saints for Life Coordinator

While applicants can specify a preference, the decision to which position one is accepted to falls under the director and assistant director of Campus Ministry. Those who are already in the Spes Internship program are able to reapply after every year of service.

Those students who are full-time rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors, that are accepted to the Spes Internship program are given a $1,000 scholarship for the academic year.

Formation for those in the Spes Internship program is built upon four fundamental dimensions: spiritual, human, intellectual, and pastoral. Interns are expected to create a plan of life that has daily Mass at the center. Daily mental prayer rooted in the Scriptures, a morning offering, an examination of conscience, spiritual reading, and regular Marian devotion(s) are some of the hallmarks of the spiritual dimension of formation. Interns are also required to take part in meetings with either the director or assistant director of Campus Ministry twice a month, and a large group meeting with all interns twice a month. There will also be an opportunity every semester for the interns to gather together for a social night off campus. In the area of intellectual formation, group meetings will be centered on a study of the virtues as well as training in leadership and professional development. Interns are expected to maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA. Lastly, interns will be formed in developing an apostolate of friendship that reaches out their fellow students and builds up the community at Holy Cross College. This pastoral dimension of the Spes Internship program seeks to fulfill the desire of Pope Francis that young people “go beyond their small groups and to build social friendship, where everyone works for the common good.” (Christus Vivit, 169).

If you have any questions please contact Campus Ministry at 574-239-8305.