Catholic nerd pilgrimage: Saint William

Back to a domestic church visit, today I went to the Saint William parish in the Mont Clare neighborhood of Chicago.

The church building is a 1959 building with a very mid-century modern aesthetic to it.

The iew of th outside of the church. The main entries are on either side of a broad tubular structure with a statue of Saint William on it.

the tinterior, meanwhile, reflects the final days of pre-Vatican II architecture with side chapels and a sanctuary surrounded by an altar rail.

The sanctuary of the church showing the tabernacle on the original altar behind the new altar and the altar rail around teh sanctuary. Circles are a key aspect of the design language of the church

It’s hard to get much of a sense of a parish from a weekday mass. There was no music, although I did notice a drum kit to the side of the sanctuary, presumably used at one or more of the Sunday Masses. They also had a side chapel dedicated to Saint John Paul II.

A side chapel with a statue of John Paul II at its center, a photograph of the Pope appears on the right wall of the chapel.

For some reason, contemporary sculptors have not yet managed to do a decent job of capturing the essence of JP2. At Our Lady Mother of the Church, the Pope looked like he was taking off in flight. Here, he looks like he’s guarding a bridge only allowing those who can answer his riddle to pass.


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