St. Stanislaus Kostka Church (Chicago)

Coordinates: 41°54′21.4″N 87°39′44.7″W / 41.905944°N 87.662417°W / 41.905944; -87.662417
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Saint Stanislaus Kostka
Catholic Church
Polish Cathedral style
GroundbreakingJuly 1, 1877 (1877-07-01) - present church
CompletedJuly 10, 1881 (1881-07-10) - present church
Specifications
Capacity1,500
Length200
Width80
MaterialsBrick

Saint Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Church (

Chicago, Illinois, United States
. It is designated as the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy of the Archdiocese.

The Church is the "mother church" of all

Holy Mass
.

It is a prime example of the

Basilica of St. Hyacinth, St. Mary of the Angels Church, St. John Cantius, and St. Hedwig Church it is one of many monumental Polish churches visible from the Kennedy Expressway that runs through Chicago
.

History

Saint Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Church was founded in 1867 as the first Polish parish in

Resurrectionist Order has administered the parish since 1869 and later founded many other Polish parishes in the City, Saint Stanislaus Kostka is often denominated the "mother church" of Chicago's Polish community. Antoni Smagorzewski-Schermann, the first permanent Polish resident of Chicago, was one of the prominent founders of the Church and was named its first president.[1]
Smagorzewski-Schermann also donated some of his land for the site of the Church.

The original church edifice survived the

New York, built the present church that is located on the southeast corner of Noble and Evergreen Streets from 1871 to 1881.[2]
At the end of the 19th century, it was one of the largest parishes not only in the City but in the whole nation, with more than 35,000 parishioners in 1908.

Along with

Holy Trinity Polish Mission, Saint Stanislaus Kostka was the center of Chicago's Polish Downtown, which once caused its formerly to be nicknamed "Kostkaville".[3] Much of this was due to the Church's first pastor, Reverend Vincent Michael Barzynski, who was described as "one of the greatest organizers of Polish immigrants in Chicago and America".[4] Barzynski was responsible, in various ways, for founding 23 Polish parishes in Chicago, 6 elementary schools, 2 high schools, one college, orphanages, newspapers, Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital, and the national headquarters of the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America.[4]

As a cultural node for Chicago's Polish Community, the church has hosted governmental officials from

President Woodrow Wilson and Małgorzata Gosiewska
.

The Church lost one of its 2 belfries that were "so reminiscent of Kraków or Łódź[,] from a lightning strike in 1970".[2] The Church was to be demolished to construct the Kennedy Expressway, yet intense effort of Chicago Polonia in the late 1950s resulted in shifting the planned right of way east thus rendering demolition unnecessary. The Church remained predominately Polish through most of the 20th century, but since the 1970s, it has gained a significant number of Latino parishioners. Masses are celebrated in English, Polish, and Spanish.

Architecture

The church was completed in 1881 and designed by

St. Stanislaus Kostka. Żukotyński, who came to Chicago in 1888, was considered one of Europe's foremost painters of religious subjects. Other artistic treasures in the church include the Stained glass windows by F.X. Zettler of the Royal Bavarian Institute in Munich and the chandeliers in the nave by the studios of Louis Comfort Tiffany. The southern cupola was destroyed by lightning in 1964, and the northern cupola
was rebuilt with a more simplified profile in 2002.

In addition to the church, the two-block physical plant of the Saint Stanislaus Kostka Parish complex contained a large performance hall, a

rectory, a gymnasium and a two-year commercial school for girls, staffed by the School Sisters of Notre Dame. In 1906, a fire destroyed the school and convent, as well as an auditorium that was under construction. Two years later, the school had been rebuilt with 54 classrooms and three meeting halls, making it the largest elementary school in all of the United States when it opened in 1908. The complex also includes a modernist-style 1959 school building designed by Belli & Belli of Chicago.[5]

St. Stanislaus Kostka is the future home of the planned

The Divine Mercy. At the heart of the chapel will be the Iconic Monstrance of Our Lady of the Sign which will be the focus of 24-hour Eucharistic adoration. The new sanctuary is designed by McCrery Architects of Washington, D.C.[6]

In September 2011, the parish began a fundraising campaign to complete needed repairs. The work will correct structural deficiencies, repair pews, restore decorative paintings and glass, install flooring and upgrade electrical and sound systems and will be completed in phases. The total budget is expected to cost $4.4 million.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Rodziny, Polish Genealogical Society Newsletter, Fall 1986, p. 29.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0226494326
    .
  3. ^ Braun, Stephen (4 June 1994). "The Ways and Means Chief of Kostkaville: Politics: It's all the little things that 'Danny' Rostenkowski does for the 5th District that make his neighborhood so loyal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  4. ^ a b Bayne, Martha (8 May 2008). "A Tale of Two Villages". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  5. ISBN 978-0156029087
    . Retrieved 2013-10-28.
  6. ^ "Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy". McCrery Architects. Retrieved 2013-10-30.
  7. ^ "Repair and Restoration". St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish. Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2013-10-28.

Further reading

  • Howe, Jeffery (2003). Houses of Worship: An Identification Guide to the History and Styles of American religious Architecture. Thunder Bay Press.
  • Johnson, Elizabeth (1999). Chicago Churches: A Photographic Essay. Uppercase Books Inc.
  • Kantowicz, Edward R. (2007). The Archdiocese of Chicago: A Journey of Faith. Booklink.
  • Kociolek, Jacek (2002). Kościoły Polskie w Chicago {Polish Churches of Chicago} (in Polish). Ex Libris.
  • Lane, George A. (1982). Chicago Churches and Synagogues: An Architectural Pilgrimage. Loyola Press.
  • McNamara, Denis R. (2005). Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago. Liturgy Training Publications.
  • Schulze, Franz; Harrington, Kevin (2003). Chicago's Famous Buildings. University Of Chicago Press.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=St._Stanislaus_Kostka_Church_(Chicago)&oldid=1210168485"