The title “My Trip to the Institute” says more than what it appears to say. It signifies that once you have attended the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana, you are family. The Xavier family reverently refers to “The Institute” when talking about IBCS.
What makes you family? Usually, it’s bloodline or shared experiences. For a student at the Institute, Black Catholic study, liturgy, prayer and culture is a completely immersive experience that is shared with the other attendees, faculty, staff and liturgists. There is an instant connectedness that comes from being proudly Catholic, unmistakably Black, and invested in uncovering more about our shared faith.
The Institute meets for three weeks every summer, offering both a master’s degree program and continuing education courses. My motivation for attending IBCS was the opportunity to learn more about Black culture and history within the Catholic Church but also to participate in the life of the Church today. It centered around exploring my own spirituality and being able to bring something back that would fuel my Catholic journey.
The journey toward a greater understanding and appreciation of Black cultural spirituality for me included this pilgrimage to Xavier. We define pilgrimage as a physical journey to a sacred place. Xavier is sacred because it is one of only two extant U.S. universities founded by a saint. Xavier’s foundress, Katherine Drexel, was born in my hometown of Philadelphia, and the school is the only Catholic HBCU.
History and heritage play a vital role in strengthening our faith. As I sat in Xavier’s beautiful St. Katharine Drexel Chapel for morning praise on the first day of the Institute and the initial key was struck on the piano by the esteemed Rawn Harbor, I looked up at the striking sculpture of a Black Jesus that overlooks the altar and all of us as a protector. At that moment, my soul said, “I am home and this sacred place is where I am supposed to be.”
One of my classes looked at the intersection of liturgy and synodality. It inspired me to hope for more, for better, and for tomorrow. It educated and empowered us to return to our parishes with a focus on recognizing our role as part of a synodal Church. As theologian Rafael Luciani states, “a synodal church is a church of participation and co-responsibility.” While it is required that every voice has an important place in our parishes, it is not enough for these voices to simply be present. We must also be intentional about actually listening to each other.
The class “Rome to Home” focused on Black spirituality, linking Jesus’ suffering to that of Black people. It affirmed our African-American liturgy as both deeply Black and authentically Catholic. For me, it also fostered a greater understanding of the breadth of emotions in liturgical musical selections in Black congregations, because we relate to both the suffering of Christ and the joy of salvation.
The unique worship that contributes greatly to the richness of the Institute includes the aforementioned morning praise, which includes prayer and stirring music every morning in Xavier’s chapel, and daily Mass at noon, with classes participating in leading one or the other. In the spirit of community, any individual can join the choir or proclaim the word as a lector.
One leg of the IBCS pilgrimage, led by our “Rome to Home” professor, Fr Roy Lee, included a visit to the sacred ground of St. Augustine Catholic Church for a special history lesson and a moment of prayer at St. Louis Cathedral in the shrine to Venerable Henriette DeLille, celebrating and honoring the history of Black Catholics in America. These experiences and the sharing that took place among students, like my 86-years-wise classmate who attends each year, supplemented what was learned in class.
I heard someone say that going to the Institute is her summer retreat each year. And although the study is rigorous, it is indeed a retreat, a time of reflection, study, prayer and soulful praise.
Amen. Ase.
Jocelyn DuPont is a lifelong Catholic serving on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office of Black Catholics Visionary Leadership Team, the Archbishop’s Commission on Racial Healing, and as a member of Concerned Black Catholics of St. Thomas Aquinas & Friends. She has shared her voice and love for the written word as a Proclaimer of the Word for decades in her parish of St. Paul, in addition to active involvement in other ministries. She is currently writing a book of poetry.
