Those Places Thursday: St. Margaret Mary Catholic Parish, Rogers Park, Chicago

Here are some photos I took in August 2017 of some of the buildings of St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago - the ones my dad and his siblings would remember.  Click on photos to view them in larger format.

Above: the 1937-38 church, designed by Joseph William McCarthy.

Below: front doors of the church. 

Above: detail of the rose window and the bell tower.

Below:  detail of the main front door.

Above:  detail of the light fixture above and columns around the front doors.

Below: detail of the cross above a side entrance, with a stained glass window behind it.

Above:  altar area of the church - the wood trusses of the roof are visible.

Below:  detail of the main altar.  The words just below the tabernacle are "Sanctus Santus Sanctus," Latin for "Holy Holy Holy."

Above:  detail of the crucifix above the main altar.  It was part of the original church the parish used for worship.  The words above it read "Introibo ad altare Dei," which is Latin for "I will go to the altar of God."

Below:  The rose window above the main entrance, and some of the stained glass windows and Stations of the Cross along the walls.

Above:  Statue of the church namesake, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, in what was originally the priest's booth in one of the confessionals.

Below:  The 1948 rectory, designed by the architectural firm Barry and Kay.

Above:  St. Margaret Mary School, Chicago [2007, cropped] / Kevin Dooley / CC BY 2.0.  Built in 1924 and also designed by Joseph W. McCarthy, it also served as the church until the 1937-38 building was completed.

Below:  Statue of St. Margaret Mary near the top of west side of the building.

Above:  Brickwork cross above a west side entrance to the school.  Note the medallion for Northside Catholic Academy - the school now serves as the middle school (grades 5-8) campus for the merged six parish schools in the area.

Below:  Front entrance to the old St. Margaret Mary Catholic School - now Northside Catholic Academy middle school campus.

Above:  Sign above the entrance door to the 1924 St. Margaret Mary Catholic School - "Sancta Margarita Maria - Georgius Cardinalis Mundelein Fundator," which is Latin for "Saint Margaret Mary - George Cardinal Mundeline Founder."

Below:  S077-0104 – St. Margaret Mary classroom at 7318 N Oakley Avenue – 8x10 [December 8, 1951] / [donated by the St. Margaret Mary Archives to] Rogers Park West Ridge Historical Society / CC BY-NC 2.0

On February 6, 2020, it was announced that St. Margaret Mary would be consolidated with the nearby St. Henry Parish, St. Timothy Parish, and Blessed Alojzije Stepinac Croatian Catholic Mission (which is located in the 1905 St. Henry building), effective yesterday, July 1, 2020.  While St. Margaret Mary will be the headquarters, the new parish has a new name, Holy Child Jesus Parish.

© Amanda Pape - 2020 - e-mail me!