About UMMC Chapel of Comfort · Baltimore, Maryland
The Chapel of Comfort is the Catholic chapel inside the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) in downtown Baltimore. Located on the 1st floor of the Weinberg Building, across from the pharmacy and the atrium fountain, the chapel is part of UMMC's Spiritual Care / Pastoral Care department and serves patients, families, visitors, and staff of the hospital 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is not a territorial parish but a Catholic worship space within the medical center, served by UMMC's staff chaplains under the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Daily and Sunday Catholic Mass are celebrated there, and the services are also broadcast on the medical center's closed-circuit television (channel 47) for patients who cannot leave their rooms. Pastoral Care staff also coordinates with Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Protestant, and non-denominational chaplains, and the broader spiritual-care team offers sacraments (Baptism, Confession, Communion, Anointing, Marriage), religious items, and crisis and bereavement support to people of all faiths.
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Baltimore
Why belong here
The Chapel of Comfort exists to bring the sacraments and prayer of the Catholic Church to people at one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives — during hospitalization. Patients and families can attend weekday and Sunday Mass in person or watch it on the hospital's closed-circuit television from their rooms, receive the sacraments (Confession, Communion, Anointing of the Sick) at the bedside, and find a quiet place open around the clock for prayer and meditation. Visiting or praying in the chapel is open to anyone who walks through the Weinberg Building doors, and a chaplain is on call 24/7 for spiritual and emotional support.
Mass times at UMMC Chapel of Comfort
Weekly Mass schedule
About the Chapel of Comfort
The Chapel of Comfort is the Catholic chapel of the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), the academic medical center in downtown Baltimore that anchors the University of Maryland Medical System. It is not a parish in the territorial sense but a house of worship embedded inside the hospital, available to anyone who walks in. The chapel sits on the first floor of the Weinberg Building along the main atrium route, across from the lobby fountain and the UMMC Pharmacy at Weinberg, and it is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for personal prayer and meditation. Services held in the chapel are televised on UMMC's closed-circuit hospital television so that patients too ill to leave their rooms can still take part. Because the chapel is part of a teaching hospital, it is also a place where Catholic clergy, deacons, and lay chaplains regularly minister at the bedside as part of an interfaith Spiritual Care team.
- Open 24/7 for personal prayer and meditation
- Located on the 1st floor of the Weinberg Building, across from the pharmacy and atrium fountain
- Services broadcast on UMMC closed-circuit television (channel 47)
Catholic Mass and Worship Schedule
Catholic Mass is celebrated in the Chapel of Comfort five days a week. Weekday Mass is offered Monday through Thursday at 12:00 noon, and Sunday Mass is also celebrated at 12:00 noon, giving hospitalized patients and their families a regular opportunity to attend the Eucharist. A Wednesday evening prayer service (Vespers) is held at 7:30 PM. Holy Day Masses and other special liturgical services are scheduled as announced by the Pastoral Care office.
- Catholic Mass — Monday, 12:00 PM
- Catholic Mass — Tuesday, 12:00 PM
- Catholic Mass — Wednesday, 12:00 PM
- Catholic Mass — Thursday, 12:00 PM
- Catholic Mass — Sunday, 12:00 PM
- Evening Prayer / Vespers — Wednesday, 7:30 PM
- Holy Days and special services — as announced
Sacraments for Patients and Families
Through the Chapel of Comfort and the UMMC Spiritual Care department, Catholic patients and their families can request the full range of sacraments typically offered in a parish setting. The pastoral care staff makes these available at the bedside or in the chapel as needed, including Baptism (including emergency baptism of infants and adults in danger of death), Reconciliation (Confession), Holy Communion, Anointing of the Sick, and Marriage (in extraordinary circumstances, with proper preparation). Patients or family members can request these by calling the Pastoral Care office during business hours or by asking any nurse to page a chaplain at any time, day or night.
- Baptism — including emergency baptism in danger of death
- Confession (Reconciliation) — by request to the on-call chaplain
- Holy Communion — brought to patient rooms on request
- Anointing of the Sick — available during serious illness and before surgery
- Marriage — available in extraordinary circumstances
Spiritual Care Chaplaincy Team
The Chapel of Comfort is served by UMMC's Spiritual Care department, whose chaplains are trained in clinical pastoral care and represent a range of faith traditions. The current Catholic staff chaplain is Fr. Samuel Uzoukwu, an extern priest of the Archdiocese of Owerri (Nigeria), appointed by Archbishop William Lori effective February 1, 2023. The broader chaplaincy team includes Protestant ministers, a Jewish rabbi, a Catholic deacon, and non-denominational chaplains, and the department collaborates with community leaders from the Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jehovah's Witness traditions as needed. A dedicated Palliative Care chaplain rounds with the palliative medicine service.
- Fr. Samuel Uzoukwu — Catholic Staff Chaplain (Archdiocese of Owerri, Nigeria)
- Deacon Mark Loepker — Staff Chaplain
- Rev. Kyrian Buba — Staff Chaplain
- Rev. Meagan Downing — Staff Chaplain
- Rev. Melvin Dupree — Staff Chaplain
- Rev. David Harness — Staff Chaplain
- Dane Nesbeth — Staff Chaplain
- Rabbi Ruth Smith — Staff Chaplain
- Rev. Nancy Werner — Staff Chaplain
- Rev. Janine Zaabriskie — Staff Chaplain
- Rev. Debrah Zuercher — Palliative Care Chaplain
Multi-Faith Services and Resources
Although the chapel is identified as the Catholic worship space of UMMC, its calendar and physical resources are intentionally interfaith. Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim services are scheduled in the chapel on special holy days and as needs arise, and religious items for each tradition are kept on hand so that patients and visiting clergy of any background can pray comfortably. UMMC also maintains dedicated kosher facilities, a kosher pantry stocked through Bikur Cholim, and liaison relationships with the Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society) and a Bikur Cholim / Committee for Visiting the Sick volunteer network, among the most developed hospital-based Jewish resources in the region.
- Evening Prayer / Vespers — Wednesday, 7:30 PM
- Jewish services — special holy days as announced; Sabbath candles, kosher refrigerators, prayer books
- Hindu services — holy water from the Ganges and guidance on medical exemption from fasting
- Muslim services — prayer rugs and copies of the Quran
- Bibles, rosaries, Qur'ans, prayer books, and menorahs available on request
Personal Prayer and the Prayer Journal
Because the chapel is accessible around the clock, anyone in the hospital — patients, family members, visitors, or staff — can step in for quiet prayer or meditation at any hour. A Prayer Journal is kept in the chapel for visitors to write down prayers and intentions; these written prayers are remembered by the chaplaincy team and are a distinctive feature of the Chapel of Comfort's pastoral ministry. The closed-circuit broadcast of services also means that patients who are confined to their rooms can follow Mass and other services live on hospital channel 47.
- Chapel open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Prayer Journal available for written prayer intentions
- Live broadcast of services on closed-circuit channel 47
Visiting the Chapel: Location and Access
The Chapel of Comfort sits inside the Weinberg Building of the University of Maryland Medical Center, the downtown Baltimore hospital at 22 South Greene Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. From the main lobby, follow the atrium concourse to the first floor of the Weinberg Building; the chapel is directly across from the lobby fountain and the UMMC Pharmacy at Weinberg. Patients who cannot leave their rooms can still participate in services via the hospital's closed-circuit television (channel 47). Visitors arriving by car should use the UMMC visitor parking garage on South Greene Street; the medical center is also served by Baltimore-area public transit and is adjacent to the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus.
- Address: 22 South Greene Street, Baltimore, MD 21201
- Chapel: 1st floor, Weinberg Building, across from the atrium fountain and pharmacy
- Pastoral Care phone (weekdays 8 AM – 4:30 PM): 410-328-6014
- After-hours chaplain: 410-328-8667 (ask the operator to page a chaplain)
- Closed-circuit TV: channel 47
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Samuel Uzoukwueffective Feb. 1, 2023
Appointed Catholic Chaplain at the University of Maryland Medical Center by Archbishop William Lori; Extern Priest of the Archdiocese of Owerri (Nigeria).