Parish Pride - St. Florian Church

St. Florian Church
13145 S. Houston Ave., Chicago

St. Florian, martyred around 304 A.D., was said to have saved an entire city from flames with one bucket of water. He has protected this parish named for him, through steel mill closings, economic adversity and threats of a new Chicago airport invading its quiet residential streets.

The church occupies the first floor of this edifice designed by Bronislav Pstrong, perhaps the first Catholic Church in the country in 1927 with an entrance at street level. Thanks to a generous commitment to its Millennium Campaign, the original stained glass windows have been fully renovated, and a treasured Moeller pipe organ has been restored.

A half-mile from the Indiana border, parishioners here, many with immigrant roots, have a sense of ownership. This month they finished turning a barren area into an expansive playlot/courtyard—a “dream come true” to help kick off the parish’s 100th year anniversary.

top