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!
Introduction
News
In July and August, no Chaplaincy activities take place except the Sunday Masses. See below .
Covid-19 situation
With many precautionary measures - the most important one: don't come if you have a cold or high temperature - activities at student Chaplaincy Maranatha are taking place again. Read here the entire protocol for ‘Church life at a 1.5 m distance’.
In order to give as many people as possible the opportunity to come to the Holy Mass, at Maranatha there are now two Sunday celebrations: one at 11 am (in English, with a sermon in both English and Dutch) and one at 5 pm (in Dutch, also with a sermon in both languages). The Holy Masses are also broadcast via live streaming at live.chaplain.nl.
Because the number of participants per service is limited, it is necessary to reserve (free) tickets for the Sunday Holy Masses. This can be done in one of the following ways:
- by e-mail to studentenkerkmaranatha@gmail.com, by Wednesday before the relevant Sunday; indicate clearly how many tickets you want and for which Holy Mass (the one at 11 am or the one at 5 pm); if you don’t receive any further notice, the tickets will be ready for you on Sunday;
- by telephone (tel. 013-4675302, on Tuesdays from 1:30 pm until 5 pm and on Thursdays from 9.30 am until 1 pm); the tickets will be ready for you on Sunday;
- during the same time slots and after the Sunday celebrations you can also personally pick up the tickets at the secretariat of university church Maranatha (Prof. Cobbenhagenlaan 19);
- by sending a WhatsApp message to 06-10405358. This may be done also shortly before the Mass; of course then there is the risk there will be no tickets left;
- you may also come to church without having made a reservation; but if there are no places left, you cannot participate.
You are requested to arrive well in advance, preferably 15 minutes before the start of the services; this in connection with hygiene and order measures.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation can be received by appointment with the student chaplain, and also without appointment, on Sundays between 10 and 10:30 am (except on 19 July) and between 4 and 4:30 pm, not in the church but Maranatha's library .
- You can participate in the weekly School of community (Tuesdays from 8 pm to 9 pm, until 30 June) 'in real life', at Maranatha (max. 10 people) or via zoom. The zoom link is https://tilburguniversity.zoom.us/j/95252632357.
- 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 (especially: social distancing)
- Write us at ikhelp@protonmail.com
Pilgrimage Holy Land 2021
After a very beautiful excursion in 2017, Tilburg University Chaplaincy proposes another pilgrimage "in the footsteps of Christ". It will take place from 5 until 12 April 2021. We'll visit, among other things: Nazareth (Annunciation basilica, St.Joseph's church), Mount Tabor, Cana, Lake of Galilee, Mountain of Beatitudes, Capernaum (with the synagogue and St.Peter's house), Sanctuary of the Multiplication of Loaves, Church of Peter's Primacy, the place on the Jordan where Christ was baptized, Bethlehem, Jerusalem (Olive Mountain, place of the Ascension, church of Dominus Flevit; Way of the Cross; Church of the Holy Sepulchre; Mount Sion; Church of the Dormition; Upper Room; West Wall of the Temple), and Jericho.
Price: students (Bachelor/Master, at the time of the registration): 1050 euro; non students: 1650 euro. All meals & transport (flight from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv, bus transport within the Holy Land; hotels) are included. Insurance (annulment & travel) is not included.
If you participate, you should participate in the whole trip, from the beginning to the end, including the whole program.
This pilgrimage is not adapted for children younger than 16 years old or people who have any difficulties in walking.
You can register by filling this form, and, at the same time transferring an advance of 300 euro to bank account NL76INGB0001945054 of "Maranatha Parochie" stating "Holy Land 2021" and your name and surname. You can subscribe in this way until 30 November 2020 (as long as there are places). The rest of the amount for the trip should be paid before 31 January 2021. The trip will go on when at least 20 people will participate. No more than 40 people can participate. If the trip won't go (f.e. because there are too few registrations) or you cannot participate (f.e. because there are already to many people subscribed), you will be communicated this before 10 December 2020. Of course in that case your subscription fee will be restituted to you asap.
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!
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.
Activities
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 from Tuesday to Friday between 4 pm and 5 pm, 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: accessible, cultural evenings, starting with a meal, followd 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.
The evening starts with a meal at 6:30 p.m. Please register for the meal on Facebook (event 'Maranatha-avond') or by sending an email, not later than Wednesday, to maranathaevening@gmail.com. For the meal, a contribution of 5 euro is asked.
After the meal, at about 7:45 p.m., the rest of the program will start; this part is free and you can participate even when you didn't register for the meal.
Come and have a look some Thursday night!
The program for the next Maranatha evening you can find on our social media canals:
- Instagram @tilburguniversitychaplaincy
- Facebook @studentenkerkmaranatha
- Twitter @chaplainnl
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 Tuesday from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at 'Maranatha' student church (Prof. Cobbenhagenlaan 19). Come and participate freely.
Study Days
Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is Study Day at Maranatha from 8:15 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. At 8:15 a.m. we start with morning prayer in the chapel. There will be two coffee/tea breaks and a lunch break. Please bring your own lunch and, of course, your own textbooks and laptop. Wifi is available.
Of course it is possible to participate for only part of the day, so that your lecture attendance will not be compromised.
International Student Mass
The chaplain is also pastor of Catholic student parish 'Second Coming of Christ - Maranatha' (Professor Cobbenhagenlaan 19).
Holy Mass on Sundays and Christian holy days
Every Sunday (and also on 1 January and Ascension) at 5:00 p.m. there is a Holy Mass in English for students in our ‘underground church’ at Prof. Cobbenhagenlaan 19. At Christmas, there is a Midnight Mass on 24 December at 11:00 p.m and at Easter, we celebrate the solemn Easter Vigil on Saturday night at 9:30 p.m.
Christmas and Holy Week
On Wednesday in the week before Christmas (16 December 2020) the chaplaincy proposes a simple Christmas gesture with polyphonic and popular Christmas songs from different traditions. It starts at 12:30pm in the Big Foyer of the Cobbenhagen building. Are you interested to join the university choir? Contact the chaplain!
On Good Friday (10 April 2020) we’ll walk a Way of the Cross on the university campus. We start at 2:00pm from Maranatha, Prof. Cobbenhagenlaan 19. There’s no need to register.
Holy Mass on weekdays
On 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 Wednesdays and Fridays it’s in Dutch.
Ecumenical morning prayer
On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8:15 a.m., there is an ecumenical morning prayer in English.
Visit and prayer
Daily, except on Saturdays, the university church is open from 8:00am until 6:00pm for visits and prayers.
Other Sacraments
The chaplain is also available for preparation for and administration of the sacraments (sacrament of penance, baptism, marriage, sacrament of the sick) for members of the university community.
Choir
A small polyphonic choir with a beautiful, international repertoire, accompanies the International Student Mass. It rehearses every Sunday at 3:30pm [not in corona times] in Maranatha’s meeting room. If you like to sing, just come and join!
Other Chaplaincy activities
Tilburg University Chaplaincy organizes
- annual excursion to the most beautiful church of the Netherlands, St. John's Cathedral in 's-Hertogenbosch (15 February 2020), to the Kröller Müller Van Gogh Museum, and to Rome
- a nocturnal pilgrimage in July (20-21 June 2020)
- 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.
Student 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: Tuesday from 1:30 pm until 5 pm and Thursday from 9:30 am until 1 pm
Bank account: IBAN NL76INGB0001945054 ; Subject: 'Maranatha Parochie'