Pulling a Different Kind of All-Nighter
Written by Jennifer Leonard
Hillsdale is blessed with numerous campus ministries and faith-based organizations. Better still, these organizations are primarily headed by students. Hillsdale’s Catholic Society has its headquarters at a house known as the Grotto, located near campus. Two married Hillsdale alumni manage the house and collaborate with the student leadership board to host dinners, talks, small discussion groups, and worship nights. They also work with the local parish, St. Anthony of Padua, to make it easy for students to stop by for daily Mass or Confession. The house, which is owned by the parish and generously supported by the families of students and local parishioners, is open most evenings for students to gather to do homework, enjoy good company, or simply enjoy the pleasures of sitting in a home instead of a dorm for a night.
One of my favorite events the Catholic Society sponsors each year is All-Night Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The house is open all night long for students to come in and out and enjoy a moment of quiet prayer and reflection. Both last year and this year, I attempted to stay for the entirety of the night, and both times it has been incredibly rewarding. This year, close to 60 students dropped by throughout the night, bringing Bibles, prayer journals, spiritual reading, or simply a prayerful heart. It was encouraging to see so many students devoted to their faith that they would make time to stop by for Adoration on a Friday night.
Adoration starts around 7 p.m., when most students are wrapping up school work or dinner. But by 10 p.m., about 20 students had gathered in the living room, engaging in a rich spirit of community. Fewer people came as we trailed into the early morning, and I have to admit that I fell asleep a few times. I journaled and read a bit, and when I felt particularly sleepy, I wandered to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.
Some of the faces I saw throughout the night were students I had known since early freshman year; we’d met at the Catholic Society welcome bonfire playing Frisbee and making s’mores. Other faces were newer acquaintances, students considering deepening their faith by getting confirmed at Easter, or friends of friends who had heard of the quiet atmosphere. Many faces were quite familiar to me, though we hadn’t been formally introduced. Each Thursday night the Grotto hosts a “Convivium” dinner where students can enjoy a home-cooked meal followed by a reflection by a professor or another guest speaker. I had seen many of these faces in the packed living room at Convivium, and though I couldn’t tell you their name or major, there was a silent bond of friendship shared between us from the many times our paths had quietly crossed at the Grotto.
The comfy couches and chairs students gather on to study, meet in small groups, or simply relax were all turned to face the Blessed Sacrament, and behind it, the window to the street. As the early morning hours approached, I could see the mist outside and deer gathering in the yard across the street. Soon a priest from the nearby mission would visit the house to pray over the students, and we would all enjoy a home-cooked breakfast. The number of students began increasing in preparation of the prayer service (and of course the food), and soon the house was filled with golden morning light and friends.
I felt closer to the town of Hillsdale, having spent a night off campus in a different area of town, looking out the window into the nighttime neighborhood where families tucked their children into beds, off-campus students turned out the last lights, and professors settled in for the night. As the sun rose, my perspective of Hillsdale widened from “the place where the College is” to a real town.
As I made my way back to the dorm after breakfast, I felt even more refreshed than if I had slept soundly the entire night. After a long week–preparing for final papers and exams, grinding through Lenten fasts and extra disciplines, staying up late to make the most of the last few weekends of the semester, and generally getting pulled in a million different directions–sitting quietly, facing one direction for an entire night, and enjoying peace, patience, and silent, steady community felt like a long drink of crisp spring water. My troubles and cares had evaporated like the early morning mist.
Photo credit: Rosemary Surdyke
Jennifer Leonard, ’24, is a student writer for Hillsdale’s Student Stories blog and an editor at The Forum. She enjoys studying English, pressing flowers, and dreaming about writing her Great American Novel.
Published in October 2022