Catholic Nerd Pilgrimage: St Thomas of Canterbury

St Thomas of Canterbury is located in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, an area that is undergoing gentrification, pushing out the poor residents of the neighborhood, albeit not completely as evidenced by the fact that there was a group of people waiting for the church’s food pantry to open when I arrived for the morning Mass.

The priest began the Mass talking about how today was the feast of St Thomas of Canterbury, partly because it meant that the readings at Mass would be different from the regularly scheduled readings (and also to explain why he was wearing a red chasuble rather than the seasonal white) and his homily was about the life of the saint and its meaning for contemporary life.

The brick and limestone neoclassical façade of the church. People waiting for the food pantry to open can be seen scattered outside the churchThe confessional area at the back of the church. The original confessional has been repurposed to hold a statue of a saint (Francis?) while confessions are now held nearby in a pair of facing chairs or, for those who prefer, a kneeler with a screen separating the penitent from the priestAn Asian-styled shrine at the back of the church. The church is close to the nearby “second Chinatown” of Chicago which is home to a large Vietnamese population


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