As Saturday night began on the Boston College campus, some students found themselves participating in what has become a popular tradition among Catholics and religious seekers on campus, as well as those who simply enjoy good poetry, music, and stories. That growing tradition is a two-part event called “Koinonia.”

The evening began as over fifty students, alumni, seminarians, and Jesuits gathered at 7:00 p.m. in St. Mary’s Chapel for Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, complemented by Evening Prayer sung in a Praise and Worship style with accompaniment on guitar. The chapel lights were kept low, with candles gathered around the Blessed Sacrament, to create an atmosphere of simple and intimate prayerfulness. To aid students’ prayer, senior Leah Gunning, one of the event’s coordinators, read passages from Scripture. Several priests meanwhile provided opportunities for confession in rooms outside the chapel.

As Benediction concluded, students slowly made their way to Gasson Hall’s Honors Library for an “Open Mic Night” of food, fellowship, and performances. Dennis Carr, also known as “that Eagle’s Nest Piano Kid,” performed some of his best and newest repertoire as people gathered and socialized. Performances continued as one Jesuit Scholastic humorously told stories of “What I Gave Up to Enter Jesuit Life,” describing side-jobs during college as a fatigued Barney impersonator. Others read and sang original, religious poetry, performed a duet with guitar, an improvisational skit, and told stories.

Koinonia attracts not only Boston College students. It is increasingly well-known throughout the Archdiocese of Boston. About a third of the students present came from Olin College and MIT. Archdiocesan seminarians and Jesuit Scholastics attended as well, along with other local Catholics.

As both religious and secular media have reported in recent months, Catholic communities throughout the United States are experiencing the popular resurgence of Eucharistic Adoration. In Boston, St. Clement’s Shrine has recently reinstituted its practice of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, which captured significant media attention. All this is to the chagrin of some Catholics who view the practice as doctrinally and spiritual backward. But younger Catholics do not seem to have the same problems with the practice, as events like Koinonia show. The word “Koinonia” comes from the Greek for “communion” or “fellowship.” Young, enthusiastic Catholics intuit that Eucharistic Adoration supplies a great spiritual need in the modern day. Ultimately, it builds Saturday- night community on a foundation stronger and surer than anything else that’s around. So next time you see flyers around for Koinonia, consider joining the crowd.

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