Purposes of the Chapel
Brigham and Women's chapel is used by patients, family, visitors, and staff as a quiet sanctuary for prayer, meditation and relaxation. Located on the first floor of 75 Francis St , near the Tower 1 elevators, it is at the heart of a busy and sometimes overwhelming institution where love and care are necessarily mixed with anxiety and fragile hopes.
The chapel is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Please come to the chapel:
- To have time for quiet reflection, meditation, and prayer
- To record a prayer for yourself or a loved one on the prayer board
- To read the religious texts and pamphlets available for general use
- To participate in the daily Interfaith Chapel Service from 12:00pm-12:15pm. All are welcome to attend!
Daily Noontime Service
Every day of the week, a chaplain or student chaplain leads a short, multifaith service in the chapel from 12:00pm – 12:15pm. The service is different each day but often includes reading aloud prayers and intentions from our prayer board located in the far corner of the main chapel space. All are welcome to join us and to participate in the chapel service each day.
Holiday Services
As we are able, we host special services to celebrate the holidays of various faiths in our community. Sometimes these will be hosted in the Chapel, at others times they will be elsewhere in the hospital. In addition to the electronic schedule visible on Vitals and monitors throughout the hospital, you can typically find updates about upcoming special services posted to the chapel doors.
Muslim Prayer
We have many prayer rugs available at all times of day for use in Muslim prayer. They are located on a shelf of the chapel to the left when you enter the main space. The Qibla is posted on the chapel wall above the prayer rugs to aid our Muslim community members in finding the direction to face during prayer. We ask that prayer rugs be returned to where they were found in the chapel after being used.
When the chapel is not otherwise reserved, all are welcome at all times to perform daily prayer. Occasionally our noontime chapel service will conflict with the timing of midday prayer. When this is the case, we encourage community members to pray alongside the service as they feel comfortable. If they would prefer to take rugs to a quiet space outside the chapel, we welcome it and only ask that they return to the chapel after use as normal.
We are unable to host a regular Jummah prayer service in our chapel on Fridays. However, Boston Children’s Hospital hosts a Jummah prayer in their multifaith chapel on the 1st floor of the Farley Building (300 Longwood Ave) on Fridays at 1 p.m.
Chapel Windows
Outside of the chapel, there is a stained glass window, which was donated by the Cutler family in 1981. This stained glass is a representation of the Austrian Alps and was created to provide inspiration of eternal hope and a reminder of God's never-failing covenant of love.
The stained glass windows inside the chapel were designed by Kristin Mackay in 2004 and dedicated in memory of Lisa Marie Groebl, RN, a long time Brigham and Women's nurse. They are entitled "Compassionate Souls."
