Catholic nerd pilgrimage: Saint Monica

The normal tradition in the Catholic church is that saints are commemorated on the anniversary of their deaths, which makes the fact that the feasts of Saint Monica and her son Saint Augustine occupy consecutive days seem a bit suspect, although apparently, the day was shifted from May in 1969 so it’s not merely coincidence (as I’ve been doing this project, I’ve been encountering lots of interesting bits of sausage making with the saints). 

The church itself is deep into the northwest side of Chicago in a neighborhood that seems more suburban than city. The parish consists of two churches and a school, with one of the churches almost exclusively having liturgies in Polish (it has a few weekday masses in English).

The exterior of St Monica church the main entrance is not visible in the photo. The tower in the center of the church provides skylight lighting into the church.The view from the back of the church of the sanctuary. It’s the modern semicircle design for the church with pews arranged to keep everyone as close as possible to the sanctuary. Today was a school Mass day so the contingent of retirees in attendence were banished to the back of the church, one of whom is giving me a disapproving look as I photograph the church.


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