#SaveTheShrine
On Sunday, November 15, 2015, the community at the Institute of Christ King Sovereign Priest held its first Mass in “The Upper Room” at First Presbyterian Church. Located on the same South Side Chicago block as the Shrine church, First Presbyterian is one of many stand-out contributors who are helping keep the Institute and Shrine alive in the Woodlawn neighborhood. Over 200 parishioners and visitors attended the Inaugural Ceremony and Solemn High Mass that Sunday, led by Canon Matthew Talarico. Being fortunate enough to visit for the proceedings myself, I got to capture a glimpse of the groups that both contribute to and receive support from the Shrine. These communities of folks are key to keeping the Institute embedded as part of Woodlawn and the South Side.
The Institute is currently raising funds to bring the Shrine church to its rightful glory. You can help restore this Chicago landmark and help the Shrine community be contributing to the GoFundMe campaign.
Playing a prominent role in both saving the church through the fire and the
ceremony was Chicago’s Fire Department. Dozens of Chicago’s bravest took on the
fire the morning of October 7th to keep the structure from being a
total loss. Some items, like the statue of the Infant King and the high altar
paneling only survived the flames because of their fine efforts. Several pews in
The Upper Room were set aside to host many of those firefighters. As Canon
Talarico and the Shrine community recognized the squad, each of them were given
a rosary as a further token of thanks.
“Today is an Easter
moment.”
The
parishioners were in full force at the Shrine from well before Mass time
through to the end of the reception several hours later. Starting with
literally two attendees at their first Mass a little over a decade ago, the
community at the Shrine now numbers in the hundreds. Furthermore, the Institute
has expanded to fill eleven other churches in the United States, primarily in
the Midwest. The Institute of Christ King Sovereign Priest is best known as a
purveyor of the traditional Latin Mass. While most Catholic masses are given in
the local vernacular language today, the Latin Mass has been sung (yes, sung is
the proper term) for centuries and is still a viable form of worship in the Catholic liturgy.
As part of the Latin Mass, it is traditional for
parishioners to kneel at the communion rails to receive Communion.
While the
support of outside neighbors and organizations was important in bringing the
Institute to The Upper Room, the parishioners provide the lifeblood that make
the Institute thrive despite its setbacks. Their efforts were essential in
making a worship space out of an indoor tennis court in The Upper Room. The
youth of the Shrine often participate in the Mass as altar servers and choir
signers. Their willingness to give their sweat, money, and time allows the Shrine and its work in
the Woodlawn neighborhood to remain alive.
“We
will not be defined by this tragedy.”
The campaign to save the Shrine church has had waves of “Good Fridays” and
“Easter Sundays” since the Inaugural Mass at The Upper Room. Early in the new
year, the Archdiocese of Chicago applied for a demolition permit after
concluding it was cost-prohibitive to save the building[1]. Shortly
after, a bevy of donations totaling over $500,000 gave the Institute just enough
money to bring Archdiocese back to the negotiation table and explore the
possibility of slowly restoring this locally unique example of Renaissance
revival architecture[2]. As of press time, these talks are still
ongoing. Hope to save the Shrine church is alive.
“But, today, just inches from those ashes, our Shrine community is rising up to honor our Infant King, under the gaze of the church steeple which is our home.”
What started as an empty indoor tennis court
transformed into a remarkable worship space within a couple weeks after the
fire at the Shrine church. Sitting on the same block as the Shrine church,
visitors and parishioners alike are exposed to the gravity of the fire at the
Shrine while simultaneously shown the strength that remains in the Shrine
community and its supporters in Woodlawn. While the Institute has been
recovering what religious articles it can from the church and its other
properties, many of the “church parts” that are in these photographs were built
or shared from carpenters and closed churches.
These
pews came to The Upper Room from Ohio.
These
pews came to The Upper Room from Ohio.
Volunteer labor from the Institute’s church in
Wausau, Wisconsin helped build a new altar, while the high altar paneling was
saved from the Shrine church after the fire.
Shrine of Christ King Sovereign
Priest
Additional Sources:
*Quotes within the article come from Canon Matthew Talarico’s
homily at the Inaugural Ceremony and High Mass in The Upper Room on November
15, 2015.
**Special thanks goes to the canons, staff, and volunteers at the
Shrine, who invited me to visit and offered much of the information and access
at the Shrine that allowed this post to come to life.
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