When we got to Chicago, we we still had no idea what was in store for us. There was so much to the city. Everywhere we looked was another church. So, we decided to take a Chicago Church Tour.
We had a friend from Julia’s childhood (now a FOCUS Missionary. Check out more about FOCUS here) come up to stay with us for a week, and we went out in 0 degree F temperatures to find some great churches. We only saw a small fraction of the churches in Chicago, but we really loved them.
Holy Name Cathedral
We took our friend to the Cathedral. We had seen the Cathedral already on a couple of our visits to Chicago. You can read about it here.
Holy Trinity Polish Catholic Church
This church was beautiful. But, what makes this church so special is it’s the one remaining Polish church in the city. Chicago is the largest population of Polish people outside of Poland anywhere in the world. When they settled in Chicago, they built stunning churches all over the city. This is the one church that still speaks Polish. Their signs are in Polish. Their Masses are in Polish. Even their bulletin is in Polish. When we were visiting, a group of children were playing in the parking lot, and they were speaking Polish. It feels like a part of the history of the Catholic Church in Chicago was preserved in this church.
Saint Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Church
St. Stainislaus Kostka is the original Polish Catholic Church in Chicago. So many other churches that we visited, and some we didn’t have a chance to, were planted by this church. As St. Stanislaus grew, it needed room to expand to handle all of the people, and so they built more churches. The Chicago Church Tour was all possible because of this church. This is where it all began.
St. John Cantius
St. John Cantius became one of our favorite churches in Chicago. A brief history:
The church, once a great Polish church, was falling down. A priest asked if he could start an order called the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius to do something about it. With help, they restored the church to its former glory, and now it often ranks as the most beautiful church in America. Their motto is “Restore the Sacred.” And, that’s just what they do.
Everything they do is very reverent. They have a gorgeous high altar. They have High and Low Traditional Latin Masses, and Novus Ordo Masses in both Latin and English, all celebrated Ad Orientem. This means the priest faces the altar and tabernacle where Jesus is located while celebrating Mass. This makes a lot of sense as he is praying to God, not the people. He is leading the people to God. This is an example of how you can have both Traditional Latin Masses and Novus Ordo communities come together under one roof and worship God reverently without infighting. We love St. John Cantius and usually attend Mass here whenever in town.
St. Mary of the Angels
This, in my opinion, is the most beautiful church in Chicago. Julia thinks St. John Cantius is, but it’s a close toss up. This church has an amazing dome and painting that is breathtaking. As with St. John Cantius, this church was falling down and it was set to be demolished.
But, just in the nick of time, an order called Opus-Dei asked if they could take it over, and the diocese gladly allowed for it. Opus-Dei restored it completely, and man am I glad they did. I loved to just go in and sit there and feel the peace it gives. They also have more Confession times than any church I have ever seen. They offered Confession multiple times a day, and for long periods of time. I was very impressed. If I only had time to see one Church while stopping into Chicago, this would be the one on the top of my list.
Do Your Chicago Church Tour Soon
We went on to see more churches in Chicago later on (see more here), but these remain our favorite to this day. Chicago seems to have an endless list of beautiful churches, but sadly with the decreasing Catholic population, a lot of these beautiful churches are being closed down. If you want to seem some of them in person, you should probably go sooner rather than later.
Until we visit Europe, I don’t know if we’ll ever see a place that rivals Chicago on the beauty of their Churches. The Polish put so much pride into the building of their churches, and Chicago bears that as a result.