Written by Jacqueline Lucca ’14, English and Catholic Studies
So often, Sunday nights can get lost in last minute homework cramming stress or that dreaded feeling – I am sure we are all familiar with – that it’s the ending of the weekend.
In Chateau Burgundie this is not the case.
Every Sunday evening at 6p.m., Chateau Burgundie (the fancy name we have for the little house on Cretin and Summit) begins to fill up with students from every area of study to share a meal together. The house is easy to recognize these nights as the golden and white papal flag is flying from it and it is with bursting laughter and conversation. These dinners are not only a great way to get free food, which is obviously enticing, but also a beautiful way enter into Catholic community. Although one does not need to go to St. Thomas or even be Catholic to come, we always begin the meal with a decade of the rosary and end the night with the Salve Regina. These two prayers are the perfect bookends to keep the night focused on Christ through Mary and bring us together in prayer.
These dinners, which were started by the Catholic Men’s house – the Fraternity of St. Michael, were originally much smaller. While originally there were only a couple of people coming to the dinners, there are now often over 50 people per night.
The first dinner of this semester had close to 60 people there, all of whom enjoyed as much taco salad as they wanted. Since the evening was lovely, students spilled out onto the lawn to enjoy the last of the warm weather. Every night has a slightly different feel as there is always some variety in who the chefs are, what style food they choose to make, and which awesome people decide to show up. One night we had huge pots of chili boiling on every burner at Chateau Burgundy and people filling up the chairs, stairs, and kitchen. Other nights we had chocolate chip pancakes and it was a little quieter. After the meal there are always people who stick around to chat some more, clean up, or occasionally, even start swing dancing. I’ve also known nights which end with people standing around the baby grand piano and singing duets at the tops of their lungs.
How could anybody say no to free food and good company steeped in Catholic tradition?
One fateful night during the Catholic Leadership Interns Spring Institute in Chicago, Illinois, the idea for “The Catholic Edge” was born. When focusing on the once “Community Night”, the Interns found themselves asking, what is our objective; what is the purpose of these nights? It seemed that an important element was missing: Challenge. The interns realized that what the Catholic community at St. Thomas needed was 
This year’s kick off event held true to its usual Ice Cream Social theme complete with CS Faculty and Staff. However, Catholic Studies decided to mix it up by adding a substantial food element. Clearly, this was a smart move 
because Famous Dave’s had nothing on Sitzmann Hall with the amount of people that showed up for some good ol’ BBQ. The attendance at this event was very high in relation to previous years (at least 200) and no one would probably deny that it was a success. To prove this perhaps undeniable statement even further, the event ran out of food. Twice. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, within the first half hour the BBQ and ice cream had run out. 
