Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Chicago Illinois

What a wonderful surprise!  While visiting my glass supplier in Chicago with a friend/customer, she suggested we don't just go home but take a sidetrip into the downtown area.  My supplier is actually in Warrenville, about an hour away.

So many times churches are closed due to fear of vandalism and you can't get in.  We saw people going in and out, scaffolding all around the church, and it was very intriguing.  So we walked in.  This church has beautifully painted murals on the ceilings.  Intricate iron grids over some of the window openings.  Very traditional stained glass throughout the church that is beautifully painted as well.

This is a very active church and while there a prayer vigil was going on.  Pam and I stopped for a while, kneeled down and prayed the rosary in English and Spanish - although the Spanish was not something either one of us could join in on.  The whole time we were taking in the beauty of the building and the vibrancy of the church.  I was impressed that during this depressed economic time, the church was able to fund a huge renovation effort including work to their bricks, roof, paint, etc.

A bit of info from the History page of their website includes:  W E L C O M E - B I E N V E N I D O

...to Our Lady of Lourdes - a wonderfully, diversified parish!  We are considered the "Mother Church" of this region, because of our original boundaries which included English speaking Catholics in the area bounded by Devon Avenue to the north, Belmont Avenue to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, and the Chicago River to the west - an area which now encompasses ten parishes.  In 1916, the Spanish Renaissance-style church with its distinctive red-tiled domes replaced the original frame church.

It is well worth a visit to their church, their website, and I would love to get pictures of the interior that can be shared if anybody has them.

Pat Deere

LINKS:  Our Lady Of Lourdes Church website.

National Shrine of the Little Flower, Royal Oak, MI

National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, MI is kind of one of those hidden treasures.  I heard about it many times, passed by it on several occasions, and finally go the opportunity to stop by last year. 

The story of St. Theres can be read by clicking on the link below.  In part, it reads:  Thérèse was a spiritual prodigy. At age three, she began to "refuse nothing of what God asks of me." Recalling an ocean sunset observed at age five, Thérèse wrote in her autobiography, "In the evening, at that moment when the sun seems to bathe itself in the immensity of the waves, leaving a luminous trail behind, I went and sat on a huge rock with Pauline. I contemplated this luminous trail for a long time. It was, to me, the image of God's grace shedding its light across the path the little white-sailed vessel [Thérèse herself] had to travel ... I made the resolution never to wander far away from the path of Jesus in order to travel peacefully toward the eternal shore."

The history of the church can be read in full on the link below, but it starts out as:  In early May 1925, Michael J. Gallagher, the Bishop of the Diocese of Detroit, traveled to Rome to witness the canonization of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Determined to establish the first parish in her honor in the United States, he telephoned from Rome with instructions to name the new church after her. The Bishop chose Royal Oak for the new parish, although only 28 Catholic families resided there at the time because he foresaw that the booming auto industry would attract many Catholics to the area. The new pastor was to be a young priest who already had earned a reputation for stimulating Mass attendance: Father Charles E. Coughlin.

We would love to hear your feedback about this church, post photos you have taken, etc.

Pat Deere

LINKS: 
The Story of  St. Therese
National Shrine of the Little Flower Home Page