“With Her for your guide, you shall never go astray.” – St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Every few years, the Rover editorial page features a defense of the university, usually titled something like, “Why Notre Dame Is Still Worth It.” Set amidst a backdrop of articles that rightly point to departures from the university’s Catholic mission and identity, this lone editorial can seem like a last-ditch effort to “save face.” And while I’m unabashedly now writing an editorial of the same kind, I’d like to situate my reasons for doing so amidst the context of this Jubilee Year of Hope.
Announced by Pope Francis just one year before his death, the 2025 Holy Year reminds Catholic pilgrims of Christ’s unfailing love for His Church and of His infinite mercies. In these last months of ugly political, cultural, and religious violence, the year has firmly rooted us in that which is lasting and permanent, ordered to an eternal end.
High school seniors have just submitted their early applications to college—many eagerly await Notre Dame’s answer. This editorial is addressed partially to their parents, who, caring deeply for their child, no doubt have begun to wonder themselves where the best “fit” lies. If your child is admitted to Notre Dame, should he or she attend? Can Notre Dame still offer an authentically Catholic education? In short, is Notre Dame worth it?
The Rover’s contention—and the source of the paper’s mission—is yes.
This ‘yes’ is, of course, not unqualified. This editorial is thus addressed to concerned students, too. The existential threats posed to Notre Dame by the increasing secularization of its faculty and frequent caving of administrators on matters related to the university’s Catholic identity do not negate the firmness of our ‘yes,’ but they are the cause of much of our reporting. To live the Catholic life well at Notre Dame is to be intentional, on-guard, vigilant. This is the Rover’s mission apropos of our undergraduate readers; ours is the task of facilitating Catholic life for those who, we think rightly, still choose Notre Dame.
The fight for the soul of this university remains, and I suspect it will remain for quite some time. What cannot die out here, what will never die out here, is the sacramental life, which permeates every building on this campus.
Catholicism flourishes at Notre Dame, particularly among the student body. The regular reader of the Rover will have noticed our reports on record conversions, the flourishing theology department, and the thriving “Old College” undergraduate seminary on campus.
The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) program saw a historic surge last year in its numbers of converts and catechumens. Twenty-five students were baptized at the Easter Vigil service in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart; 27 others later completed their full initiation into the Church with reception of Holy Communion and Confirmation. Campus Ministry, under the direction of Brett Perkins, recently announced by email another year of record numbers.
Notre Dame’s theology program has consistently been ranked one of the top programs of its kind in the world. The McGrath Institute for Church Life, headed by Rover faculty advisor John Cavadini, launched its “Take a Second Look” program two years ago, garnering interest from hundreds of students. Its two one-credit theology courses—one on Augustine’s Confessions and another on The Screwtape Letters—were each attended by over 400 students. The number of undergraduates studying theology has doubled since 2015 and continues to grow by seven percent each year.
But most importantly, Notre Dame continues to offer hundreds of masses, hundreds of confessions, and hundreds of hours before the Blessed Sacrament each week. Confession lines in the basilica typically extend far down the side aisles and Sunday Masses are standing room only. This abundance of the sacraments is easy to overlook. Dulled by the frequency of experience, students can forget just how fortunate they are to be educated in an environment that is steeped in the richness of Catholicism.
The power of the sacramental life can never be underestimated. And though the administration continues to dull in small and big ways its shining Catholic character, the constant presence of the Eucharist in our dorms and halls of learning will not be put out.
This sacramental life is important for those who would choose Notre Dame. To choose this institution is to embark on four years of choice, for or against Notre Dame, Our Lady. To choose this university is to devote yourself to an ever higher choice. Notre Dame is a spiritual battlefield: “Your reward will be great in Heaven.” We implore you to come because we know that hope remains, that Our Lady’s presence at Her university will enable faithful students to vigorously defend a key institution for the American Faith. This choice is not easy. It is one of supernatural hope.
Good and faithful students at Notre Dame, inspired by the intercession of Our Lady, are rising up in ever-stronger numbers to defend the Catholic name of the university. Students are tired of lonely lifestyles and the vapid promises of the cultural elite. And these students will continue to encourage the university to embrace the fullness of its rich Catholic heritage.
The Catholic Church is the only institution worth hoping in. Fitting then, that this university’s order takes as its motto, Ave crux, spes unica. Notre Dame’s hope—the cross—stands as an eternal invitation to every student who passes through these halls. May all who choose this institution have the courage to choose it—and Her—again and again.
Lucy Spence is a junior from McLean, Virginia majoring in piano performance and the Program of Liberal Studies, with a minor in philosophy. She can be reached at lspence@nd.edu.
Photo Credit: University of Notre Dame
Subscribe to the Irish Rover here.
Donate to the Irish Rover here.
