By Tom DeMint
Special contributor
There is glory on Chicago’s Southeast Side. And Bishop Joseph N. Perry hopes it will not be lost.
One day earlier this year, Bishop Perry, vicar of Vicariate VI, talked about his concern for preserving many of the old parish churches in that area. There are many, he acknowledged but he pointed to five. Our architectural gems,” he called them, “five churches, the likes of which we will never see again.”
Those churches are St. Ambrose, 1012 E. 47th St.; St. Anselm, 6045 S. Michigan Ave.; St. Philip Neri, 2132 E. 72nd St.; Our Lady of Peace, 7851 S. Jeffery Blvd.; and St. Michael, 8237 S. Shore Dr.
All five are very active, with dedicated parishioners and faithful Sunday attendance. Built to seat well over a thousand at every Mass, these churches now average a small fraction of that each Sunday.
St. Ambrose: Construction began in 1906, financed by wealthy Irish Catholics. A magnificent stained glass window imported from Belgium depicts the founding pastor in his former role as a battlefield chaplain in World War I, celebrating Mass for American soldiers. Another window depicts the pastor’s mother praying before a statue of the Blessed Virgin.
Pastor Father David Jones pointed out that the architect of this rare Gothic church, Zachary Taylor Davis, also designed the original Comiskey Park.
St. Anselm: An important church to Chicago’s Black Catholics, this is a less ornate but no less significant church. Divine Word Father William Hegarty, pastor, likes to talk about the church’s history which includes the distinction of having been the home parish of James T. Farrell, author of the novel “Studs Lonigan,” whose fictional characters were modeled, they say, after not-so-fictional parishioners and neighbors of the late author.
St. Anselm was designed in 1910 by architect William E. Gubbins at a cost of $350,000. Its beautiful stained glass windows were made in Germany and memorialize Irish families like Finn and O’Reilly. Architectural tours coming from Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago stop to admire its beauty. Exterior restoration has recently been completed with the help of grants and loans from the archdiocese along with generous parishioners who pledged $185,000 to their recent Millennium Capital Campaign. “This parish,” said Bishop Perry, “is a symbol that the local Catholic Church has kept its commitment to Chicago’s black Catholics.”
St. Philip Neri: Words are hard to find that do justice to this church. Designed by Joseph McCarthy and completed in 1928, the church is a blend of Gothic styles with Norman and Tudor influences. The first parishioners called this style “South Side Gothic.” Today architectural critics call it simply spectacular!
The altars, installed in 1936, are Carrara marble. The Stations of the Cross are gold-leafed Florentine glass and mosaic tiles. The 90-foot-long communion rail, also of Carrara marble, is one of the longest ever installed in the Chicago Archdiocese. The magnificent windows, which dominate the space above the altar as well as the entrance, would rival cathedrals of Europe.
Designed to seat over 1,600 people, this incredible “cathedral class” edifice cost $600,000 or about what a medium-priced home on Chicago’s North Shore costs today.
St. Philip Neri’s 1998 restoration was made possible by loans and grants from the archdiocese. Father Lawrence Duris, pastor, said that it was also designed with a natural cooling system which circulates air though the walls and false ceiling beams. One cannot leave St. Philip Neri Church without also admiring the beauty of its exterior and the nearby stately rectory, both clad in Plymouth granite.
Our Lady of Peace: This is the “Blue Church of Chicago.” In 1919, at the request of Archbishop George Mundelein, this new parish was named in honor of the Blessed Mother’s new title, “Queen of Peace,” which had been created by Pope Benedict XV. Construction of this church, also designed by Joe McCarthy, was not completed until 1935 because of the Great Depression.
From the outside, a visitor is reminded of many of the great churches of Rome because of the Italian renaissance style. But inside one is surprised by the soft blue tone of the ceiling coffers, the sanctuary and its furniture and the “Belgian Blue” tiles in the sanctuary and aisles.
Architect McCarthy wrote, “This church will present an appearance entirely unique in this part of the country, a distinctive monument to Our Lady of Peace.” He called the interior “exquisite” and the church “beautifully and durably finished” with American black walnut abundantly treated with inlay.
On any Sunday now, the morning sun filters through a beautiful imported stained glass window depicting St. Patrick holding a three-leaf shamrock casting a colorful glow on a sparse but devout congregation of mostly Hispanic and Haitian Catholic families.
St. Michael: This church had a little help from a corporate angel, said Father Thomas Franzman, pastor. He said that Illinois Steel Co. (later U.S. Steel) donated the original iron beams needed for its construction in 1909. That donation kept the cost of this enormous and beautiful church down to $260,000.
The predominantly Polish parish, with origins dating to the St. Michael the Archangel Society of the 1880s, broke ground on the north side of 83rd Street in 1907 for a great Gothic church designed by William J. Brinkman.
The highly valued windows are listed by the Art Institute among the architecturally significant F.X. Zettler windows of which only a few still exist in Chicago. The altar is made of Wisconsin butternut and maple. The candleholders alone would cost $2,400 each to duplicate today. The church seats 1,300 people and was actually built to be a cathedral, said Franzman, who also demonstrated his great skill on the church piano, once used by the world famous Polish composer/pianist Ignace Paderewski.
To keep the parish running, Franzman said, the archdiocese matches each dollar he can raise with three more. But with only 600 families (a mixture of Latino, African American, Nigerian, Haitian and Filipino and some of the original Polish) and not a millionaire in sight, the challenge is ... well challenging!
“The people love this church and are very generous,” Franzman said. “They feel that St. Michael’s is the only thing that hasn’t gone away. The restaurants are gone. The funeral home across the street is closed. Most businesses have given up and moved away. But for many, this church reminds them of their former homeland.
These are gems of brick and mortar, but also of heart and soul. Bishop Perry’s dream of resurrecting and retaining these parish churches awaits financial help from “angels.”
A version of this article will appear in the Department of Stewardship and Development newsletter.
