Begun by the Franciscans when Boston’s Prudential Mall first opened, and staffed by the Oblates of the Virgin Mary since 1982, the recently renovated Saint Francis Chapel is located in the Hynes Court of the mall at the base of the Prudential building, one of the tallest buildings in Boston. M.I.T., Boston University, Northeastern University, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Berklee College of Music, Symphony Hall, Fenway Park, and the Boston Conservatory of Music are all located within a few blocks of the mall.

People from all over the world come through the chapel, where Mass is celebrated four times every weekday and ten times (in two languages) every weekend. Priests are available for the sacrament of Confession every day, and eucharistic adoration is also a part of the daily chapel schedule. The chapel hosts devotions such as the rosary, prayer to St. Jude, the Divine Mercy novena, and the Way of the Cross as well as a Fall speaker series and an Ignatian spirituality program.

But what people value most about the chapel, say the Oblates, is that it is a quiet and prayerful space in the midst of a busy and noisy city. More than one person has called the chapel an “oasis of silence” and an “oasis of prayer.”

Here’s a video introducing the chapel: