Tilburg University Chaplaincy
The University Chaplaincy helps to you give space to parts of your humanity that tend to be overlooked. Learning – together with fellow students – to better understand what you really want and what moves you, enables to study, work, make friendships –live–, more confidently, and more happily. The University Chaplaincy is there for all students, regardless of their background. Come and see!
"Lockdown Living Room"
Maranatha remains open in this period with a “Living Room Tilburg University” for all students and staff members of Tilburg University. If you want to see someone or sit somewhere else than in your own room, you are very welcome in the cozy meeting room of Maranatha, Prof. Cobbenhagenlaan 19.
Opening days with timetable
Month |
Days |
Timetable |
January |
21 – 25 - 28 |
15:00 - 20:45 hrs |
February |
1 – 4 – 8 – 11 – 15 – 18 – 22 - 25 |
15:00 - 20:45 hrs |
March |
1 – 4 – 8 - 11 – 15 – 18 – 22 -25 |
15:00 - 20:45 hrs |
Those who are present between 18:00 hrs and 19:00 hrs, basically have dinner together (sharing the expenses). Together we determine who cooks and what we eat.
A maximum of 8 people may be present at the same time. It is therefore necessary to make a reservation via the app MijnRKK. You can make a reservation one week in advance.
To gain access to this app, please send an e-mail to studentenkerkmaranatha@gmail.com, stating that you are a student or staff member of Tilburg University, and that you would like full access to the app.
Stay at home when:
- You have complaints that are compatible with corona or when you have tested positive for corona.
- Your household member has complaints that are compatible with corona or if your household member tested positive for corona.
- You have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for corona.
- You come back from a risk area indicated by the Dutch government and there is a compulsory home quarantine.
Take good care! See you!
Covid-19
For the time being, all activities take place on-line, except the 'Lockdown Living Room' (see above) and the liturgical celebrations.
For the time being, only 30 people can participate in any service. To be sure to have a place at the International Student Mass on Sundays at 5 p.m. in the 'Heikese kerk' (Stadhuisstraat 6), you should make a free reservation via the app MijnRKK. To gain access to this app, please send an e-mail to our secretariat (studentenkerkmaranatha@gmail.com), mentioning if you are a student or staff member of Tilburg University and/or if you frequent university parish Maranatha, and that you would like full access to the app.
For those who have made a reservations, their places will be kept until 4:50 p.m. After that time, all remaining free seats will be given to those who arrive without a reservation.
Stay at home when:
- You have complaints that are compatible with corona or when you have tested positive for corona.
- Your household member has complaints that are compatible with corona or if your household member tested positive for corona.
- You have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for corona.
- You come back from a risk area indicated by the Dutch government and there is a compulsory home quarantine.
The Sunday Holy Masses are also broadcast via live streaming at live.chaplain.nl.
If you need any help in this situation or know a person who does, write us via helpmij@protonmail.com
Wanna help us help people in this situation (f.e. by doing shopping or going to the pharmacy for people who can't leave their houses)?
- First of all: take good care of yourself
- Write us at ikhelp@protonmail.com
On-line lunch
Every Friday, at 12:30 p.m., we have lunch together, on-line! Each in her own room, with your plate in front of the screen. See some faces and talk a bit about how things are going! You can join anytime.
Ask the zoom link at the secretariat (studentenkerkmaranatha@gmail.com) or find it in the app (see 'Install our app!').
27 March: T.L. De Victoria's Tenebrae Responsories
Tomás Luis de Victoria (ca.1548 - 1611) is one of the greatest Spanish composers of his time. At a young age he is sent to Rome by Philip II to study. There he meets Palestrina. From 1578 he lives with Philip Neri; he becomes a priest and joins the Oratorians.
In 1585 he completes his most ambitious masterpiece, the 'Officium hebdomadae Sanctae', a complete composition of the liturgy of Holy Week, of which the 'Tenebrae' responsories, six for the Matins of Maundy Thursday, six for those of Good Friday and six for Holy Saturday, are the most famous parts.
The texts of the responsories are about the arrest, trial, suffering, and death of Jesus; the renaissance music of La Victoria dramatically helps one identifying with Jesus' passion.
The eighteen responsories are written for four voices. In the run-up to the Holy Week, which begins on 28 March, we'll watch and listen to a performance of the 'Tenebrae' responses by the University of Texas Chamber Singers, conducted by James Morrow, recorded in Mission Concepcion (San Antonio, Texas).
University chaplain Michael Peeters will give a short introduction.
The sung lyrics are subtitled in both Dutch and English.
Due to the corona situation, physical Cobbenhagen Evenings cannot take place at the moment. But the on-line CobbenhagenAvond is also freely accessible. You're most welcome to join! We start on Saturday, 27 March, at 8 p.m.
In order to participate, send an email to studentenkerkmaranatha@gmail.com no later than 24 March, to receive the zoom link on March 25. Then see you, via zoom, on March 27!
What is the meaning of everything? Why, in the end, do you do what you do? Understanding the other and society is possible only if your own life, in all its facets, if 'you' – who and what you are, not just the way you function and your results – are taken seriously.
Tilburg University Chaplaincy offers its contribution to university life, not so much by dealing with 'different matter', but by constantly considering the question of the meaning of everything.
Tilburg University Chaplaincy offers time and space for this by organizing regular activities, which are open to everyone, excursions, an International Student Mass and Christmas and Easter celebrations on campus.
See the chaplain
If you wish to have a personal talk about anything (grief, joy, identity or loneliness), or simply for a cup of coffee. Meet the chaplain, Fr Michael Peeters, at 'Maranatha' student church, Prof. Cobbenhagenlaan 19 (next to the Sports center; from the campus, go three hundred meters towards the city center; the church is on the left-hand side of the road), or in a video call. In order to make an appointment, please send an email to chaplain@tilburguniversity.edu, containing a number of time slots that suit you, preferably on Monday, Thursday or Friday in the afternoon, and also indicate whether you want to come by yourself or if you want to talk by Skype. You will then receive a proposal for an appointment by e-mail, which you then should confirm.
In emergencies, call the chaplain at any time at 06-10405358.
Maranatha evenings
An easy and nice way to see if the Chaplaincy is something for you, is to participate in one of the Maranatha evenings, usually on Thursdays.
Maranatha evenings are cultural evenings, starting with a meal at 6:30 p.m., followed by a movie, listening together to a piece of (classical) music, getting to know a great work of art or literature, or a discussion about a theme.
To participate, you should register by 3 p.m., either in our app MijnRKK (see below), or by sending an e-mail to maranathaevening@gmail.com. For the meal, a contribution of 5 euro is asked.
Due to the Covid-19 measures, for the time being, the Maranatha evenings take place on-line. Register in the same way and you'll receive instructions on how to participate!
Come and have a look some Thursday!
The programma of the Maranatha evenings in 2020-2021:
Date | Time | Theme | Program |
Thu 10 Sept. 2020 | 6:30 p.m. | Movie | Cineforum 'Hidden Lives': The Lives Of Others (2006) |
Wed 23 Sept. 2020 | 6:30 p.m. | Lecture | Life and work of Vincent van Gogh |
Thu 1 Oct. 2020 | 6:30 p.m. | Music | Franz Schubert: 'Wanderer' Fantasy in C major (D760) |
Thu 15 Oct. 2020 | 6:30 p.m. | Movie | Cineforum 'Hidden Lives': Of Gods And Men (2010) |
Thu 29 Oct. 2020 | 7:30 p.m. (online) | Movie | Cineforum 'Hidden Lives': The Road Home (China, 1999) |
Thu 5 Nov. 2020 | 7:30 p.m. (online) | Book discussion | The Reading Club: C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters |
Thu 12 Nov. 2020 | 7:30 p.m. (online) | Music | Antonin Dvorak: Piano Quintet No. 2 in A (op. 81) |
Thu 19 Nov. 2020 | 7:15 p.m. | Lecture | An introduction to Pope Francis' encyclical Fratelli tutti |
Thu 26 Nov. 2020 | 6:30 p.m. | Movie | Cineforum 'Hidden Lives': The Mission (1986) |
Sat 5 Dec. 2020 | 6:30 p.m. | Special | Sinterklaas (register by 30 November!) |
Thu 10 Dec. 2020 | 6:30 p.m. | Music | Russian Folk Songs |
Thu 17 Dec. 2020 |
6:30 p.m. | Movie | Cineforum: 'Hidden lives': Babette's Feast (1987) |
Winter break | |||
Thu 4 Feb. 2021 | 7:30 p.m. (on-line) | Movie | Cineforum 'Hidden Lives': Molokai (1999) |
Thu 11 Feb. 2021 | 7:30 p.m. (on-line) | Music | W.A. Mozart: 'Great Mass in C minor' |
Thu 18 Feb. 2021 | 7:30 p.m. (on-line) | Book discussion | The Reading Club: F.M. Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov |
Thu 25 Feb. 2021 | No Maranatha evening | ||
Thu 4 March 2021 | 7:30 p.m. (on-line) | Discussion | More Society, Less State (in view of the elections of 17 March) |
Thu 11 March 2021 | 7:30 p.m. (on-line) | Music | W.A. Mozart: 'Requiem' |
Thu 18 March 2021 | 6:30 p.m. | Lecture | An Introduction to the Churches of the East, in occasion of the fact that Pope Francis has placed the Armenian Saint Gregory of Narek on the general Calendar of Saints. By university chaplain Michiel Peeters |
Thu 25 March 2021 | No Maranatha evening | Participate on Sat 27 March in the on-line CobbenhagenAvond with the Tenebrae Responsories by T.L. de Victoria | |
Thu 1 April 2021 (Maundy Thursday) |
No Maranatha evening | Mass of the Lord's Supper at 8 p.m. at Maranatha | |
Thu 8 April 2021 | No Maranatha evening | ||
Thu 15 April 2021 | 6:30 p.m. | Movie | Cineforum 'Hidden Lives': A Hidden Life (2019) |
Thu 22 April 2021 | 6:30 p.m. | Music documentary | Mariya Yudina: The Pianist Who Moved Stalin |
Thu 29 April 2021 | 6:30 p.m. | Music | W.A. Mozart: 'Coronation Mass' |
Thu 6 May 2021 | 6:30 p.m. | Book discussion | The Reading Club: Chr. Dawson, Religion and the Rise of Western Culture |
Thu 13 May 2021 (Ascension) | No Maranatha evening | International Student Mass at 5 p.m. at Maranatha | |
Thu 20 May | 6:30 p.m. | Movie | Cineforum 'Hidden Lives': Miracle of Marcelino (1955) |
Thu 27 May | Music | W.A. Mozart: Piano concerto no. 20 in D minor (K. 466) | |
Thu 3 June | 6:30 p.m. | Special | Jeu de boules & BBQ |
School of community
What is the relationship between my study and the rest of my life? How can I grow without being alienated by sterile specialization? Can we say something about the ultimate meaning of things? Can religious faith possibly be reasonable?
These and other fundamental questions are treated critically and systematically during a weekly 'School of community', every Friday from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (from 15 January) at 'Maranatha' student church (Prof. Cobbenhagenlaan 19). Come and participate freely.
Because of the Covid-19 situation, it is also possible to participate in School of community online, via zoom. Ask the zoom link at our secretariat: studentenkerkmaranatha@gmail.com.
Studying at Maranatha
Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is Study Day at Maranatha from 8:45 a.m. until 5:15 p.m. You can work in Maranatha's library or meeting room. Coffee, tea, and Wifi, are available. You can bring and eat your own lunch. Of course, bring your own textbooks and laptop.
Not in the week after Easter (6-9 April 2021), the months of July and August, and the weeks 52, 53, 1, 2, and 3.
University parish
The university chaplain is also parish priest of Catholic student parish 'Maranatha' (Professor Cobbenhagenlaan 19).
Holy Mass on Sundays (at the 'Heikese kerk')
The Sunday Holy Mass of Tilburg University Chaplaincy is at 5:00 p.m. Attention, not at Maranatha, but in the so-called "Heikese kerk" in the city center. Address: Stadhuisstraat 6, Tilburg.
The Mass is alternately in English (odd week numbers) and Dutch (even week numbers). However, he booklet, the homily, and the announcements, are always in both languages; therefore, English-speaking people can always follow the entire service.
For the time being, only 30 people can participate in the services. To be sure to have a place at the Sunday International Student Mass, you should make a free reservation via the app MijnRKK. To gain access to this app, please send an e-mail to our secretariat (studentenkerkmaranatha@gmail.com), stating that you are a student or staff member of Tilburg University, and/or a regular visitor of Maranatha, and that you would like to obtain full access to the app.
For those who have a reservation, their places will be kept until 4:50 p.m. After that time, all remaining free seats will be given to those who arrive without a reservation.
Holy Mass on Christian holy days (at 'Maranatha')
On the following holy days in 2021, there are extra celebrations (they will all take place at 'Maranatha', Professor Cobbenhagenlaan 19)
- Wednesday, 17 February, Ash Wednesday: Holy Mass in English at 5:30 p.m.
- Thursday, 1 April, Maundy Thursday: Mass of the Lord's Supper in English at 8 p.m.
- Friday, 2 April, Good Friday: Way of the Cross at 2 p.m.; Good Friday Liturgy in English at 5 p.m.
- Saturday, 3 April, Easter Vigil in English at 9:30 p.m.
- Thursday, 13 May, Ascension: Holy Mass in English at 5:00 p.m.
- Monday, 1 November, All Saints: International Student Mass in English at 5:30 p.m.
- Tuesday, 2 November, All Souls: International Student Mass in English at 5:30 p.m.
- Friday, 24 December, Christmas Midnight Mass in English at 11:00 p.m.
- Saturday, 1 January 2022, New Year: Holy Mass in English at 5:00 p.m.
Holy Mass on weekdays (at 'Maranatha')
(From 25 Jan. until 30 March, from 12 April until 2 July, and from 1 Sept. until 23 Dec.)
On Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, at 5:30 p.m., and on Fridays at 8:15 a.m., there is a short weekday Holy Mass at Maranatha. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the Mass is in English, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, it’s in Dutch.
Ecumenical morning prayer (at 'Maranatha')
(From 25 Jan. until 30 March, from 12 April until 2 July, and from 1 Sept. until 23 Dec.)
On Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, at 8:15 a.m., there is an ecumenical morning prayer in English, at Maranatha.
Install our app!
Install the app MijnRKK to receive access to Tilburg University Chaplaincy's and University parish Maranatha's updated Agenda. After installation, choose as "Mijn parochie" (= "My parish"): "Studentenkerk Maranatha". Then you can enter the app as a guest. To get access to the entire app, including the Agenda, then choose at the bottom of the menu the option "Lid worden" (= "Become an app member"). After a few days University parish Maranatha will invite you to become an app member. Then you can use the entire app, including the updated Agenda.
Sacrament of Reconciliation
The Sacrament of Reconciliation can be received at 'Maranatha' on appointment with the student chaplain, and also, without appointment, every Sunday from 4:30 p.m. in the 'Heikese kerk', Stadhuisstraat 6.
Other Sacraments
The chaplain is also available for preparation for and administration of the other Sacraments (Baptism, Marriage, Sacrament of the Sick) for members of the university community.
The church is open
Daily, except on Saturdays, university church 'Maranatha' is open from 8:00am until 6:00pm for visits and prayers.
Choir
A small polyphonic choir with a beautiful, international repertoire, accompanies the International Student Mass. From 4 October 2020 onwards, it rehearses every Sunday at 4 p.m. in the Heikese kerk, Stadhuisstraat 6. If you like to sing, just come and join!
Because of the Covid-19 situation, for the time being the choir is not rehearsing or performing.
Other Chaplaincy activities
Tilburg University Chaplaincy organizes
- annual excursion to the most beautiful church of the Netherlands, St. John's Cathedral in 's-Hertogenbosch (6 February 2021), to the Kröller Müller Van Gogh Museum (September), and to the Holy Land (18-25 april 2022)
- a nocturnal pilgrimage in June (26-27 June 2021)
- study weekends in the exams periods
- charity activities
- many other things
Feel free to come by to see what's happening!
A hospitable inn
The meeting room of student church 'Maranatha' regularly opens its doors for activities by students and student associations. Do not hesitate to ask about the possibilities.
Install our app!
Install the app MijnRKK to receive access to Tilburg University Chaplaincy's and University parish Maranatha's updated Agenda. After installation, choose as "Mijn parochie" (= "My parish"): "Studentenkerk Maranatha". Then you can enter the app as a guest. To get access to the entire app, including the Agenda, then choose at the bottom of the menu the option "Lid worden" (= "Become an app member"). After a few days University parish Maranatha will invite you to become an app member. Then you can use the entire app, including the updated Agenda.
University chaplain
University chaplain Fr Michael Peeters (1976) studied Slavonic languages and Law at Leiden University. After a year of working at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he went to Rome in 2001 to study philosophy and theology.
Since 2007 he is a Catholic priest and from 2006 until 2011 he worked in Russia: first in Siberia and then in Moscow.
In 2011 he came back to the Netherlands, and he is the chaplain of Tilburg University since September 2012.
Contact
University church 'Maranatha'
Prof. Cobbenhagenlaan 19
5037 DB Tilburg
Telephone: 013-4675302
E-mail: studentenkerkmaranatha@gmail.com
Opening hours church: Sunday-Friday from 8 am until 6 pm
Opening hours secretariat: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 am until 12:00 p.m.
Bank account: IBAN NL76RABO0354297589; Subject: 'R.K. Par. Wederkomst van Chr."
Social Media
Are you interested in the activities of Tilburg University Chaplaincy? Follow us on social media!
- Instagram @tilburguniversitychaplaincy
- Facebook @studentenkerkmaranatha
- Twitch @chaplainnl
- Twitter @chaplainnl
You can also become a member of Facebook group Tilburg University Chaplaincy!