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El sábado 7 de septiembre, la comunidad cubana de la Arquidiócesis de Chicago se reunió para una misa especial con nuestra parroquia en la Iglesia de Sta. Ita para honrar a la Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, la querida patrona de Cuba. Esta celebración en español destacó la influencia perdurable de la Virgen en la fe y el espíritu del pueblo cubano. Los periodistas del "Católico" tuvieron el privilegio de hablar con Delia González, organizadora desde hace mucho tiempo, quien compartió con nosotros el significado de "Cachita" y la fuerza unificadora que brinda a través de la oración. La Hora Católica: Misa y Más https://youtu.be/B2F1TTThyC0 Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre -"símbolo religioso más fuerte, más poderoso que los cubanos tienen." https://youtube.com/shorts/erI0Qo5XvXA Delia González - "está el sentimiento hacia Dios y es la Madre de Dios." https://youtube.com/shorts/l8oYsw5Exuw On Saturday, September 7, the Cuban community of the Archdiocese of Chicago gathered for a special Mass with our parish at St. Ita Church to honor Our Lady of Charity of Cobre, Cuba's beloved patron saint. This Spanish-language celebration highlighted Our Lady's enduring influence on the faith and spirit of the Cuban people. Reporters from the Chicago Catholic had the privilege of speaking with long-time organizer Delia Gonzalez, who shared with us the meaning of "Cachita" and the unifying force it provides through prayer.
Click the links above to watch the videos.
Read below to get to know Kaylee and see what kind of work she will be doing over the next couple of weeks! If you would like to learn more about the parish history project, contact our Communications Coordinator Stephanie Held. What will you be doing for the parish archive? My role is to combine and organize the historical papers and artifacts of St. Ita, St. Gregory the Great, and St. Thomas of Canterbury. I am creating a history room at the Parish Center (next to St. Gregory the Great) where parishioners and community members can access original materials. My job also includes writing a set of guidelines so that items can be used, preserved, and added to the collection in the future. Why should parishioners at Mary, Mother of God Parish be excited about this project? The parishioners are the most important part of this project! As I organize and inventory the collection, my goal is to make this history as accessible as possible. Once the guide to the collection is completed, I highly encourage parishioners to come to the history room and browse the archives. These records are meant to be explored for any reason, be that research or just for fun! What has been the best part of the project so far? Or what are you most looking forward to? The best part of the project so far has been reading about the construction of all three churches! The archives have extremely detailed records of the manufacturers and artisans involved in all parts of the building process, which is not always guaranteed for buildings over 100 years old. If you ever have a question about a stained-glass window, for example, the archives are the place to go. What do you like to do in your spare time? In my free time I like to do fiber arts like crochet and cross stitch, despite the best efforts of my yarn-obsessed cat. The Mary, Mother of God Parish Archive In-Progress
(El Archivo Parroquial de María, Madre de Dios, en marcha)
On April 30, students from Loyola University unveiled their digital history exhibit which explores the legacies of the three parishes – St. Thomas of Canterbury (1916), St. Gregory the Great (1904), and Saint Ita (1900) – which make up our new parish. The students and their professors joined parishioners in Jubilee Hall for the presentation. Students shared highlights from their research which included archival documents, interviews with long-time parishioners, and visits to each of our churches. Attendees also had an opportunity to ask questions and share their own stories. We are very grateful to the students for the time they spent documenting our community’s history and how thoughtfully they treated the project. Soon their final digital exhibit will be ready to share so you can see their work for yourselves! Event Photos*Photos courtesy of volunteer Dina Kwit Research PhotosOur parish has a rich treasury of over 50 relics. The collection speaks to the history of our three churches, our stewardship under the Conventual Franciscans, and our new identity as Mary, Mother of God Parish. These relics are on display across our parish and can be easily viewed in person or you can explore them in more detail in the new digital gallery below! Following the main gallery, photographs are further grouped into Franciscan Saints, Saints of Mercy, and Parish Church Patrons (click "read more"). Click on the photograph to expand it. You can read more about the Church's tradition of venerating relics here! May is traditionally the month of Mary, with May crownings and traditions to honor our Blessed Mother. During this month, we strongly encourage all our parishioners to explore the depictions and images of Mary at all three of our parish!
Today, we bring you the images of Mary at St. Thomas of Canterbury Church (4827 N. Kenmore). St. Thomas of Canterbury is notable for its shrines of martyrs throughout the world, but Mary features prominently throughout the church as well. The history of fifty years of Catholic Faith in a large city neighborhood — published by the grateful Parish of St. Gregory the Great, Chicago, Illinois, in joyful celebration of its Golden Jubilee - November 14, 1954 PeopleBuildingsIn the late Medieval period, St. Thomas of Canterbury was the most famous martyr of the Church—murdered by King Henry III’s knights to “rid him of that meddlesome priest.” Because of this, St. Thomas of Canterbury church has several shrines to martyrs: The Martyrs of Vietnam, of Laos, of Korea, of Japan, San Lorenzo Ruiz of the Philippines, and Friar Casimir Cypher, the Conventual Franciscan priest from Wisconsin murdered in Honduras. To further honor the martyrs of the Church, a Shrine to the Martyrs of England and Wales has been created by Joe Malham of Trinity Icons. The center of the Shrine is a statue of Our Lady of Walsingham, who appeared in England to Lady Richeldis in 1061. A shrine was built on the spot and it became the center of Marian devotion in England—Thomas of Canterbury himself visited on many occasions. As part of the Reformation, Henry VIII destroyed the shrine and statue. In 1897, Pope Leo XIII restored the shrine and had a statue made by the artists of Oberammergau, Germany, based upon images of the original statue. Our statue of Our Lady of Walsingham, also from Oberammergau, is seated upon a shelf supported by two Augustinian friars—the religious Order that served the original Walsingham shrine. A tapestry of St. Margaret’s Brocade (a design of the Tudor period) hangs between the two friars. Beneath Our Lady of Walsingham hangs a print by Daphne Pollen titled “The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales," commissioned as part of the celebration of the martyrs' canonization in 1970. Featured prominently at the center is St. Margaret Clitherow, who was pressed to death for hiding Catholic priests during the persecutions in England, which roughly spanned from 1535-1679. On either side of “The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales” are original paintings by Joe Malham. To the right one finds a portrait of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, executed by Henry VIII. They have been described as the “Peter and Paul” of English Catholicism. To the left, one finds St. John Jones (+1598) and St. John Wall (+1678), the two Franciscan friars among the forty martyrs. They were hung, drawn and quartered. Beneath the print and paintings, there is an altar with the risen lamb, bearing the flag of St. George. The wall is painted red to represent the blood of the martyrs, and is adorned with gold Canterbury crosses. Above the shrine are the words “Martyres Anglia et Cambria”—Latin for the Martyrs of England and Wales. Holy Martyrs, pray for us!   There is a centuries-old tradition — particularly in the churches of Great Britain and New England-- to paint church doors red. There are many possible reasons. Red symbolizes the Blood of Christ, through which we enter into the Church. Red also signifies the tongues of fire at Pentecost, a sign that the Holy Spirit is within the doors. Red doors also recall the sprinkling of the door lintels of the Israelites with the blood of lambs on the night of Passover. Beginning in the Middle Ages, red doors indicated a place of sanctuary which offered physical safety from outside evils.
Our parish’s former artist-in-residence, Joe Malham of Trinity Icons, chose the shade of red from the palette of Augustus Pugin, the master of 19th Century Gothic Revival design. Cardinal Mundelein, in designing St Thomas of Canterbury Church, based it on a Connecticut Meeting House to reference the New England roots of American Christianity. By painting the doors red, we honor Cardinal Mundelein’s inspiration.  'God is telling me we should start a soup kitchen'
The origins of the Soup Kitchen at St. Thomas of Canterbury are murky enough that a flier for the 10th anniversary featured “To Tell the Truth: Who Started the Soup Kitchen?” as part of its entertainment. But whatever the specifics, most agree that Terry Gates, who lived at the St. Francis Catholic Worker House in Uptown in 1978, was the one who first had the idea. The Catholic Worker Movement was founded by Servant of God Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, designed to facilitate direct practice of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy by sharing the lives of the poor, most notably in houses of hospitality that provided shelter for those in need. Terry had originally come to the house in Uptown as a guest after a car accident and family estrangement, and in the words of Jim Eder, who was also living at the Catholic Worker house at the time, “she became our poster girl, as she healed physically, spiritually, mentally.” She approached Jim with the idea for the soup kitchen first, arguing that it was in the tradition of soup lines begun by Catholic Workers during the Great Depression. He pointed out that the house already had about 20 guests to its five members, who could “barely keep [the house] open.” “She said, ‘No, Jim, you don't understand, God is telling me we should start a soup kitchen,’” Jim recounted. “So in my great love for the poor and my kindly spirit and my wonderful nature and my generous spirit, I said, ‘Well, you and God are going to have to do it, because it's a dumb idea, and it'll never work. And you can't do it.’ And then she said, ‘Well, I'm going to go down and ask Fr. Rochford if we can use the [St. Thomas of Canterbury] church basement.’ And I said, ‘Good!’ because I figured: Oh, the priest'll kill this.” Fr. Rochford, who was pastor at St. Thomas of Canterbury a couple blocks north of the Catholic Worker House, did the opposite; he opened the basement for operations. |
