From Lombardi to Knight Mass: Renovations renew a beloved campus chapel

For more than 70 years, the chapel inside Frank J. Sensenbrenner Hall has served as a spiritual home for the St. Norbert College community, offering a space for prayer, reflection and worship. Since its opening in the mid-1950s, the chapel has welcomed all who seek comfort, connection and faith. Over the summer, several renovations were completed to enrich this sacred space while honoring its longstanding role on campus.

The chapel is home to Campus Ministry’s Knight Mass, held on Wednesday evenings during the academic year. The weekly event has seen a significant increase in student participation over the past year, prompting updates to better accommodate the growing community. These additions include wooden flooring, new pews, an altar, ambo, and presider’s chair, all of which highlight the significance and sacredness of the space. The renovations have already resonated with students.

“Beautiful spaces help us to focus our eyes toward God, the source of beauty,” said Cati Cory ’29. “The newly renovated chapel is beautiful, and intentionally set aside as a place of prayer, which will help us to be more intentional about the prayers we say in that space.”

Many recognize the chapel through its connection to the Green Bay Packers during the Vince Lombardi era. As the story goes, Lombardi spent so much time in Sensenbrenner Hall while the Packers were housed there during training camp that some say he practically lived in the building. Although he never had a room of his own, he maintained office space in the basement near the chapel. A man known for his deep Catholic faith, Lombardi regularly attended Mass there alongside the Rev. Dennis Burke, O. Praem., and the Rev. Rowland DePeaux, O. Praem., and often assisted by serving at the altar.

While the chapel’s history is intertwined with notable figures such as Lombardi, its greatest significance today is found in the students who gather there each week.

“This is an opportunity to put God at the center of their week,” said the Rev. Mike Brennan, O. Praem., director of Campus Ministry and Pastor of Old St. Joe’s. This celebration takes on a serious and reverent, yet slightly less formal, style of worship.”

“It really helps to have places of worship on campus in order to encourage our faith life and to have places to encounter the Lord in a quiet and reverent way”

John Berschback ’29

To celebrate the renovation, the Rt. Rev. Bradley Vanden Branden, O. Praem., ’09 presided over a special Mass during the second week of the academic year. During the liturgy, the Catholic Church’s formal ritual, The Order of Blessing a Chapel, was celebrated. This event included a blessing of the entire space with an emphasis on consecrating the altar, formally setting it apart for the worship of God.

“It is so important to have reverent and prayerful spaces around campus,” said Betsy Finger ’28. “These spaces on campus give us the much needed opportunity for silence and through the silence our Lord speaks.”

Campus Ministry staff believe the renovations will ensure the chapel remains a welcoming space for prayer, reflection and contemplation for years to come.

View a full list of upcoming campus ministry events.