St. Vincent de Paul Church is a historic parish church of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago The Archdiocese of Chicago ( la, Archidiœcesis Chicagiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. It was established as a diocese in 1843 and ...

located in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The parish was founded by the

Vincentians Vincentian can refer to: *A citizen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines *A person from Saint Vincent (island), the largest island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines *A member of one of the orders or societies in the Vincentian Family, both Roman ...

in 1875. It is affiliated with

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

History

First known as "Father Smith's Farm", St. Vincent de Paul Parish was founded by Rev. Edward Smith, C.M., in 1875 at the corner of Webster Avenue and Osgood Street (now Kenmore Avenue) for German and Irish Catholics. This multi-use structure served as the church, school, parish hall, and rectory until 1891, when St. Vincent's School was established in a separate building. With the original building now largely vacated, the structure was heavily remodeled, adding a third floor, and was repurposed as the home of the new St. Vincent's College in 1898. This school later became

. After the school's opening, planning started on the current church building at Webster and Sheffield Avenues. The new St. Paul's Church was dedicated on May 1, 1897 by

Patrick Feehan Patrick Augustine Feehan (August 28, 1829 – July 12, 1902), was an Irish-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first archbishop of the newly elevated Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois between 1880 and his death ...

, Archbishop of Chicago.

Architecture

The new church was designed by James J. Egan of the firm of Egan & Prindeville, in the Romanesque Revival style with

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

touches. The church is constructed of

Indiana limestone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...

and is considered representative of his best work. Its twin towers stand 140 feet tall.McNamara, Denis Robert. ''Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago'', Liturgy Training Publications, 2005, pp.22-23
/ref>

Interior

Four large columns are used at the intersection of the nave and the transepts allowing for an uninterrupted view of the sanctuary, a somewhat unusual approach at the time. The stained glass is by Mayer & Company of Munich, Germany. The window in the west transept depicts

Saint Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, Congregation of the Mission, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan people, Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poverty, poor. In 1622 Vi ...

, patron of the church and founder of the

Congregation of the Mission , logo = , image = Vincentians.png , abbreviation = CM , nickname = Vincentians, Paules, Lazarites, Lazarists, Lazarians , established = , founder = Vincent de Paul , fou ...

. The east transept window depicts Christ the King. A new south rose window was created by Conrad Schmitt Studios of

New Berlin, Wisconsin New Berlin () is a city located along the Milwaukee /Waukesha County Border in the U.S. State of Wisconsin. The population was 40,451 at the 2020 census, making it the third-largest community in Waukesha County after the cities of Waukesha and ...

to replace the original destroyed in a fire in 1955. The twenty-two foot window "was designed with the theme ‘Sun of Splendor,’ symbolizing God and the blessings that radiate from him. Eight doves represent the beatitudes, while twelve angels holding stars symbolize the twelve divine praises." John A. Mallin painted the ceiling of the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

. The Carrara marble altar was designed by Augustine O'Callahan and features inlaid mother-of-pearl and mosaics."Saint Vincent de Paul Church", ''Choose Chicago''
/ref> The altar displays lilies, acanthus leaves, passion flowers, and shafts of wheat carved by Carl Beil.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

*
St. Vincent de Paul Parish's website

Congregation of the Mission's website

Photo of interior

Picture of the rose window
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Chicago

Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was a Occitan French Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor. In 1622 Vincent was appointed a chaplain to the galleys. Afte ...

Congregation of the Mission Roman Catholic churches completed in 1897 Religious organizations established in 1875 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States