Queen of All Saints Basilica

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Queen of All Saints Basilica is a historic church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago located at 6280 North Sauganash Avenue in Chicago's Sauganash neighborhood. It is along with St. Hyacinth and Our Lady of Sorrows, one of three basilicas in Chicago.

1 History
2 Architecture
3 Queen of All Saints Basilica in architecture books
4 External links

[edit] History

Founded in 1929 in a lightly settled area on the far northwest side of Chicago in the Forest Glen community. The area was filled up as residential area after World War II. The parish and neighborhood have a wide diversity of European ethnic groups, and include many young professionals.

[edit] Architecture

The church, designed in a modernized Gothic style by Meyer and Cook was completed in 1960. The Magnificent, cathedral-like church was raised to the dignity of a basilica by Pope John XXIII on March 26, 1962. The large window over the choir loft features eight different shrines of the Virgin Mary: Our Lady of Czestochowa, Our Lady of Knock, Our Lady of Einsiedeln, Our Lady of the Snows, Our Lady of La Salette, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of Fatima. This display alludes to the theme of the universality of the Catholic Church by highlighting that although these shrines are particular to a certain country or culture, the Cult of the Virgin Mary bridges over all these barriers, bringing together the different ethnic groups living in Sauganash area of Forest Glen.

[edit] Queen of All Saints Basilica in architecture books

Queen of All Saints Basilica is featured in a number of books on church architecture, among them "Chicago Churches: A Photographic Essay" by Elizabeth Johnson (Uppercase Books Inc, 1999), "Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago" by Denis R. McNamara (Liturgy Training Publications, "Chicago Churches and Synagogues: An Architectural Pilgrimage" by George A. Lane (Loyola Press 1982), 2005) and "The Archdiocese of Chicago: A Journey of Faith" by Edward R. Kantowicz (Booklink 2007).