HOUGHTON — St. Albert the Great University Parish, serving students, faculty and staff of Michigan Technological University and Gogebic (“Go-Gee-Bick”) Community College, will host the annual Masses in the Our Lady of the Snows Ice Chapel during MTU’s Winter Carnival.

The Roman Catholic Mass is celebrated in a chapel hand-built from ice and snow by MTU students and community members. The ice mass has gained international attention; it is a unique expression of Catholic faith in the deep snow country of the Keweenaw with over 800 in attendance in 2025.

There are three Masses: 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 6, as well as at 10 a.m. EST on Saturday, Feb. 7. The masses at 5:30 p.m. EST and 10 p.m. EST on Friday Feb. 7 will be live-streamed on Facebook (and embedded on our website, mtucatholic.org/icemass).

MTU students transform ice, snow into chapel

Building a chapel out of ice and snow originally came to the attention of St. Albert the Great University Parish at the suggestion of a parent. Seeing this to be a ‘fun idea’ during Michigan Tech’s Winter Carnival, a small group of students at St. Al’s decided to give it a go back in 2016 alongside their pastor Fr. Ben Hasse. They were quickly surprised by how the word spread and how excited people, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, were to come to such an event leading to international coverage in 2021. Eleven years later, building the Our Lady of the Snows Ice Chapel is a well-known annual tradition for the students, locals, and people from all over the world.

The ice chapel is built each year by college students and community members in the Keweenaw peninsula town of Houghton, Michigan, USA. Over the course of a month, people can be found outside shoveling, bucketing, stomping, and carving from a mountain of snow. Through their efforts, and plywood forms held together by 2x4s, the ice chapel is brought to life. More and more students get involved each year, and they bring with them their creativity to further add to the beauty of the chapel. Examples include stained ice panes, a raised pulpit, a Marian grotto, and arched side aisles. Another unique feature is the acquisition of an ice slab pulled up by hand from a nearby bay to use as the chapel’s altar.

The priests at St. Al’s will celebrate three planned Ice Masses in the Our Lady of the Snows Ice Chapel: 5:30 p.m., 10 p.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 6, and 10 a.m. EST on Saturday, Feb. 7. The first two Masses will be livestreamed. You may visit mtucatholic.org/icemass to register for the link. You do not need to register if you will attend in-person.

To learn more about the Ice Mass or St. Albert the Great University Parish, visit mtucatholic.org/icemass. To learn more about Michigan Tech’s Winter Carnival, visit mtu.edu/carnival/2026. To learn more about St. Albert the Great University Parish, visit mtucatholic.org