St. Mary of the Angels, Chicago, Illinois - Christmas in Chicago Advent Series, Part 2

St. Mary of the Angels is certainly one of the most iconic of Chicago's Catholic Churches.  Most people see its proud dome and twin towers while speeding by (or while being caught in traffic) on the nearby Kennedy Expressway (I-94) northwest of the Loop in Downtown Chicago.  At a closer level, finer details emerge, like these angels lining the main roof of the church.

Side note (a proper post will describe this later): Roamin' Catholic Churches is on Instagram!  I started taking photos while on a trip last month.  I bring it up here because my first Instagram post came from this church!

The layout inside the church, with the large done and barrel vaulting, along with the largely light-toned interior give St. Mary of the Angels a very elegant look.  A seminarian from a neighboring parish described the interior as being like "Angel Food Cake."  I think it's easy to see why.

"Gloria in excelsis deo..."  (Latin)

"Glory to God in the highest," for those you you who just sing the line at Christmastime (like me).

Fairly dramatic (and pretty) window display.  There is a dedication near the bottom of the middle window, "Parafia Sw. Stanisława Kostki," or the Parish of St. Stanislaus Kostka, the mother church of all Chicago's Polish parishes.  With that is seems safe to assume we have the Virgin and Child facing St. Stanislaus Kostka, who is in the left window.

St. Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei.  Opus Dei (Latin for "God's work") priests have administered the parish since 1991, as St. Mary of the Angels was on the brink of meeting the wrecking ball [1][2][3].  Restorations in the years since have helped pull the church from the cliff of destruction and are helping cement the church as an icon of the Bucktown neighborhood.

        

Left: St. Mary as Mother of the Fairest Love and Child.
Right: Depiction of the Pietà.

"Jezus upada po raz pierwszy.  Oddz Sw. Barbary."  (Polish)

"Jesus falls the first time.  Branch of St. Barbara/" (English)

"Congregatio a  resurrectione domini nostri jesu christi"  (Latin)

"Congregation of  the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ" (English)

Jesus & the Sacred Heart, with more Latin to translate above if you are a little ambitious.

'Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus." (Latin)

"Holy, holy, holy." (English)

The Assumption of St. Mary is the focal point of the dome above the altar.

Look closely above the columns (or click on the image to see a larger version), you can see a papal tiara in the terra cotta among other religious insigniia. 

It is safe to say the exterior of St. Mary of the Angels deserves it's own blog post.  Angel statues, the towers, the dome, the significance of this building to the gentrifying Bucktown neighborhood...there are lots of ways to talk about this church.

St. Mary of the Angels Parish

1850 N. Hermitage Avenue Chicago, IL 60622

http://www.sma-church.org

Additional Posts on St. Mary of the Angels:

Holy Thursday Night - Agony in the Garden  http://roamincatholicchurches.blogspot.com/2014/04/holy-thursday-night-agony-in-garden.html

Additional Sources

[1] http://www.sma-church.org

[2] http://www.josemariaescriva.info/section/biographical-profile

[3] http://www.opusdei.org/en-us/

Basilica of St. Hyacinth, Chicago, Illinois - Christmas in Chicago Advent Series, Part 1

Chicago is full of incredible churches, especially "Polish Cathedrals," a name assigned to the grand houses of worship built by Polish immigrants and their immediate descendants.  This church however, is the only one of the grand Polish churches to be granted status as a minor basilica in Chicago.  In fact, the basilica's umbraculum (Latin for umbrella), or Papal umbrella, is visible on the far left of the photo.

Contextual Note: On December 30th of last year, I took a day trip to Chicago primarily to take pictures of a few of Chicago's churches while they were decked out in all of their Christmastime splendor.  Originally I planned to post them shortly after my visit, then as a "Christmas in July" series.  Now here we are, almost a year later, and I am finally starting to post them.  Perhaps the Advent season, which started this week, is more fitting for these photos anyway, but I'll let you, the reader, ponder that.  Another note: For the sake of speed, I didn't use my tripod for any of the photos I plan to use for this series, Sometimes, that decision is reflected in the photo quality (all the more reason to re-shoot!). 

One of the Basilica's many highlights is the dome above the center of the nave, featuring a painting that includes dozens of religious figures of both Polish and more general Catholic history.  I wasn't able to get a great picture of the dome itself, but here is the stained glass window that makes up the centerpiece of the dome.  

Jesus presenting St. Peter the Keys to the Kingdom as noted in the Gospel.  Note the inclusion of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City near the top of the window.

Left: Side chapel featuring Our Lady of Częstochowa and Child.

Right: St. Barbara.

Left: Area to the right of the main altar, including the Basilica's tintinnabulum (bell), several shrines to St. Mary, and the Basilica's main crucifix.

Right: St. Joseph and Child.

St. John Cantius, Polish saint and the namesake for another of Chicago's Polish cathedrals.

The high altar.  The Host was exposed for veneration at the time of my visit (see center).  While most churches and chapels that I have visited are deathly silent when the Eucharist is visible (a time of Eucharistic adoration), I recall hearing vacuums inside the Basilica while I was taking pictures.  Flanking the sides of the altar are Sts. Peter & Paul.

St. Haycinth as a priest, is depicted above the Host carrying a ciborium away from a Mass in Kiev, where he served for a time.  Warned of an attack from an invading Tartar army, St. Hyacinth is shown while passing a statue of St. Mary & Child (shown to the left of St. Haycinth).  As is summarized in Fr. Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints, a voice called to St. Hyacinth summoning him to carry the statue with him out of Kiev.  As difficult as it seems to lug a statue around while avoiding invading troops, this saintly story meets its peak when St. Hyacinth is forced to cross the river Dnieper, and does so by walking across its surface.^[1]

From the narthex, another image of Our Lady of Częstochowa and Child.  The icon at the far right is the Polish eagle, while the Polish text arching over Our Lady and Child.

One of bronze sets of doors at the main entrance of the Basilica.  Sculpted by Polish artist Czesław Dźwigaj, we see among other events, the building of the Basilica and St. Hyacinth himself with Our Lady and Child on the right door.^[2]  These doors were installed in 2005.^[3]

The St. Hyacinth School building.

Nativity scene by the rectory.

Does it look like the Polish have some influence in Chicago?

St. Hyacinth Basilica 

3636 West Wolfram Street, Chicago, IL 60618
http://sthyacinthbasilica.org

Additional Sources
[1] Butler, Fr. Alban. Lives of the Saints, Charlotte, NC: TAN Books, 1995 reprint of 1955 edition, 423.
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_St._Hyacinth
[3] http://sthyacinthbasilica.org/about-2

St. Peter's Catholic Church, Stevens Point

It's only fitting that this church visit came barely a week prior to the canonization of St. John Paul the Great, better known as the late Pope John Paul II, and lesser known as Karol Wojytła.  St. Peter's is one of very few, if not the only church that he visited in Wisconsin.  His visit to Stevens Point was largely driven by the strong Polish-American culture in the area^[1].  St. Peter's Catholic Church remains a bastion of this Polish-American culture in Stevens Point today, as seen in much of the church's artwork.

Note: Click on any photo to see it in greater detail.  The details in some of them will make it worth the effort!

Gothic altars reign supreme in the front of the church and statues abound.  There are 21 statues that I can pick out in this photo alone.  Church yearbook photos indicate that these altars and most of the statues have been in the church since at least the 1920s.

                  

Left: St. John

Right: St. Casimir, King of Poland

High Altar detail.

Left: St. Agnes, Martyr

Right: St. Peter, holding the "keys to the Church"

The Easter scene at the church is one of the more elaborate I have seen, complete with the empty tomb.  The smell from the fresh flowers filled the church on Holy Saturday afternoon.

                

Left: St. Hedwig, Queen of Poland

Right: St. Rose of Lima, first canonized saint from the Americas

Left: "Wypłyń na głębię." (Polish)  "Put out into the deep." (English)  Relating to the story of St. Peter from the Gospel of Luke.
Right: "Totus Tuus." (Latin)  "Totally yours." (English)  Motto of Pope John Paul II.^[2]

The floor was updated in the last few years with these and other religious artwork.

Not a terrific photo by any means, but worth a closer look (click to do so) simply to look at all the detailing that makes this rendition of Our Lady of Częstochowa and Child.  My limited translation tools did not generate a sensible translation for the message at the bottom either.  If you can translate the Polish well enough, feel free to comment at the end of the post!

St. Peter, from above the front door of the narthex.

St. Peter's is surrounded by a host of stately buildings.  The Parish school, which I did not photograph, is off to the right from this photo's vantage point.  The rectory is in the foreground in this picture.

Across the street to the side of the church is the Stevens Point Area Co-op.  Based on the stone at the top of the building, it was originally built as Kosciuszko Hall.  The Co-op has this to say about their building:

"The SPA Co-op building was constructed in 1909 and served the community for many decades, as a mercantile and grocery store on the main floor and a dance hall upstairs, before becoming a furniture store and warehouse in the 1960s.

The SPAC has dedicated itself to renovating and preserving this historic building.^[3]"

It seems safe to argue that a healthy Parish and Co-op aren't just good for the buildings they exist in, but for the neighborhood as a whole.

Our Lady of Częstochowa and Child at the portal from the nave to the narthex.

St. Peter's Parish

800 4th Avenue, Stevens Point, WI 54481
http://www.saintpetercatholic.com/

Many thanks to the young seminarian who gave a more detailed tour of St. Peter's after Easter Sunday Mass!  Also to the other folks who offered help in my visit!

Additional Sources
[1] http://journaltimes.com/news/local/wisconsinites-remember-soon-to-be-pope-s-visit-to-stevens/article_c9fb2ef8-6dde-5f26-b098-6f47a14ae510.html
[1] http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullRecord.asp?id=55071&qstring=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wisconsinhistory.org%2Fwhi%2Fresults.asp%3Fpageno%3D61%26keyword1%3DU.S.%26search_type%3Dbasic%26sort_by%3Ddate
[2] https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/DailyTake/Article/TabId/736/ArtMID/13645/ArticleID/14269/Totus-Tuus-Prepare-for-canonization-with-Pope-John-Paul-II-Marian-consecration.aspx
[3] http://www.spacoop.com/history.html