Mount St. Mary’s University is home to many sacred spaces that serve as living examples of our commitment to our faith and as places for the Mount community to reflect and pray.
Pilgrims are led on a spiritual journey to two chapels along stone-encased copper Stations of the Cross and mosaics of the Mysteries of the Rosary at one of the oldest American replicas of the Lourdes shrine in France.
Listen as the Pangborn Campanile rings out forever the praises of Almighty God and His blessed Mother at five minutes before every hour and for the Angelus.
National Shrine Grotto
The IC Chapel is the center of spiritual life on campus—as the celebration of Mass sustains and enriches the faith of the university and seminary.
Be filled with awe and wonder as you open the large wooden doors and step into IC chapel, built more than 100 years ago. The Holy Spirit appears as a dove in the upper dome and the stained glass portrays salvation history.
Walk the Stations of the Cross or sit and listen to the triumphant sounds of the organ. Let the paintings and statues unite you with the communion of saints.
At the crossroads of campus, Peace Plaza is a waypoint on a quest for excellence. A call for peace reminds the Mount community of its passion for learning and mission to graduate students who lead lives of significance in service to God and others.
Walking among the tall trees and blooming flowers, this area between the Knott Academic Center and the Phillips Library is a calming oasis where you'll find a state of harmony.
The word "peace" is written on the ground in the plaza in various languages, including Czech, Vietnamese, Swedish and Hebrew, beckoning for peace at the Mount and in the world.
Golden stars adorn the ceiling of the small chapel built at the site of the original grotto created by Father John DuBois. The French immigrant missionary priest founded Mount St. Mary’s College in 1808.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Bathed in the light of sunshine, this mountaintop glass chapel is a place for reflection. Daily Mass and weekend reconciliation and Adoration complement the simple, natural beauty of Mary’s Mountain—a recollection of the divine.
John McCaffrey
Mount St. Mary's University President, 1858
A source of water for the Mount from its inception, it’s also known as the winter grotto. The well was dedicated to Blessed Stanley Rother, S’63, in 1982. Today seminarians and students use it as a special place of prayer.
This replica of the Grotto of Lourdes in France was built by Mount seminarians and invites visitors to light a candle, sit, pray and meditate.
St. Bernadette Soubirous
After a narrow escape from the guillotine during the French revolution, a refugee priest found himself at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 1808 Father John DuBois planted a cross as the foundation of Mount St. Mary's University and more than 200 years later, we commemorate his spirit with a statue and plaza.
Whether taking a break for lunch, reviewing notes for class, or just relaxing, Founder's Plaza is an ideal central location on campus.
Take a stroll down the walkway, listen to the flags snap in the wind, feel a sense of American pride, and honor the Mount's military veterans. These men and women have displayed faithfulness and commitment. They have worked in pursuit of preserving and protecting the God-given rights of all citizens of the world—a very worthy goal. May all who visit the walkway be more sacrificial as the veterans so clearly have been.
This chapel, connected to a residence hall, serves as a gathering place for weekly Mass and nondenominational prayer services and events.
Generations of future priests pray in the seminary chapel, which also serves as the Archdiocesan Shrine of Blessed Stanley Rother, S’63.
Blessed Stanley Rother, S’63
Five stained glass windows depict the gospel evangelists and themes of “the word made flesh.” Students and staff often visit for daily Adoration and moments of quiet meditation.