Although St. Laurence Church is closing June 30, parishioners wanted to celebrate its faith story through the Parish Pride feature.

This parish knows history and hard work. Its first church rose on marshland in 1884, with parish boundaries stretching for miles. Today’s handsome Romanesque edifice, designed by Joseph Molitor, cost $82,000 to build in 1911 and $82,000 to decorate 15 years later.

Nothing was spared, from hand-painted murals and Italian marble altars to stained glass windows from the Munich studios of Emil Frei.

A heritage of faith was handed on in the 1960s from early parishioners who sacrificed, to a smaller African-American population who also sacrificed. Cardinal Bernardin praised them at the centennial in 1986 for their “patient endurance.”

They have done all they can to stay afloat—women’s club fund-raisers, Father’s Day barbecues and lots of love and help from sharing parishes and the archdiocese. When the last Masses are offered at 8 and 10:30 a.m. June 30 and the historic doors close, many generations will have graced its sacred confines. Their witness of prayer and good works begun here, continues as a blessing on the entire archdiocese.

Pastor: Father Gerald K. O’Reilly
Masses: Saturdays 4 and 5:30 p.m. • Sundays 8 and 10:30 a.m.
Seating capacity: 675
Phone: (773) 493-1118
Parish founded: 1883