First time to visit after a few years. New pastor is primarily a musician and worship leader, but…read morewow... his sermon/teaching today was solid, deep, and inspiring! It's a beautiful building with friendly people. Many function rooms where the community can hold meetings, events and outreaches. As in most churches, summer time us when the regular musical crew takes a break, but Im pretty confident this church would have a rich & diverse musical menu, well performed.

This is a warm, inviting community of all ages and backgrounds. Extensive youth programs for all…read moreages. Active all week with programs of music, Bible Study, Prayer and Fellowship.

What a wonderful service held here for a friends mom before going to her final resting place at…read moreQueen of Heaven Cemetery. I was pleasantly surprised at the amp space and beautiful church indeed. Of course, I did expect me to blow up in combustible fire, but that did not happen. The pews are plentiful and the place is immaculate (fancy that). As you can probably guess, I am so not religious. I am spiritual, but probably not the "spiritual" you are use to . The father who maintained the hour, I thought was pretty good. But when I meet him at the cemetery, I found him to be quite dry and border line rude. Like he didn't want me to speak to him. And I just complimented on the beautiful service mind you. Not to mention I just gave them a nice offering and I am not catholic! So why give me the "leave me alone" attitude. Oh well, I could say more but that's not the deal here. I was really impressed by the cleanliness of the church, and the choice of solo singer to do the songs. She really doesn't belong in church. But whose to say that she was not just there to sing for the special occasion. She sang so beautifully and that made me tell her (whispering through the air) thank you. She smiled as she belted out the tunes of Amazing Grace. I had to contain myself because she did give me chills. All in all, not a bad church to frequent. But again, I am so not religious.

Attended LaGrange Bible Church this morning for the first time. Everyone was so "genuinely"…read morewelcoming. Thank you for making me feel comfortable. I learned a lot from the Pastor's talk. The music was beautiful! For the time that I am in LaGrange, I will make this my home!

I was raised Catholic and this was the church I would come to "catch the holy ghost". The church…read moreitself is really nice inside and offers lots seating. As a child, I remember Saturday evening and Sunday services always being full. Services were offered in English and Polish. I attended the English masses. There were a couple of priests (Father Ted and later Carmelo come to mind) whose sermons were powerful and meaningful. As the years have gone by, the church has adjusted to the changing neighborhood and offers masses in English, Polish, and Spanish. I tried attending the Spanish which has a live choir who also play instruments and it offers an experience. Personally, I wasn't feeling it so no more masses en Espanol for me . Sadly, with the area changing, the church has lost many parishioners in both the Polish and English masses. Hopefully it survives and doesn't close down like their private school did.

It is my Parish and I live far. When my best friend pasted away her Parish Holy Ghost couldn't do a…read morefuneral because they were booked. However, St. John Vianney: Fr. Luke and the Office Ruby, got my friend in on a Holy Day, the Feast of the Annunciation at 9am. He gave an exquisite Eulogy with great reverence for Our Lord and the deceased!

My home Parish! It's not close to home, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! I started coming…read moreto this Parish occasionally for confession since they have plenty of opportunity to go everyday, except Sunday of course. Then, as I started attending the mass, I could just feel the peace and radiance. As well as the faith filled homilies, that are easy to follow and full of great spiritual deepening words! I have grown so much in the last 3 years. However, my faith journey didn't really take off until 2025-2026, when I started attending mass on Saturdays and Sundays, then weekday masses and going to the Perpetual Adoration Chapel across the street once a week for a Holy Hour. I intend to keep this going and hope I can continue to grow in faith and holiness. Then, continue to lead others to do the same. There's a great community of friendship, love, non-judgemental, welcoming and the true Catholic faith! No sugar coating or wishy washy teaching. I love knowing and learning the full truth about my faith and how beautiful and miraculous it truly is! God Bless!

What a beautiful church! Fr. Anthony gives thoughtful homilies that leave me with something to…read morethink about after every mass. Someone mentioned that the pews' kneelers aren't padded. In the back half of the church, they aren't. Come to the front half and you'll have padded kneelers. Now there's free coffee, tea and tasty food at reasonable prices downstairs after Sunday morning masses. There you can strike up a conversation with the parishioners, whom I've found to be welcoming. As mentioned it's one of the few churches open 24/7 for prayer. There's a security guard on duty all day too for safety sake.

History talk of this oldest church in the city, open 24/7!. Beautiful altar and woodwork. Am…read moreamazing history and presence in the Polish triangle of Chicago, not far from the Polish museum.

The Christmas vocal showcase is one of the best I've ever seen. Their medleys made me cry.read more

St. Mary's is a Roman Catholic church in Riverside. I was baptized here, I did my first Communion…read morehere, I was confirmed here, and I have attended Sunday mass here (usually the 11:30) for my entire life, excluding the years I was in college. While I may not have met many people specifically through the church, many Riverside community members go to St. Mary's and I always am comforted to see plenty of people I know at church. The church itself is pretty intimate--certainly no megachurch. There are plenty of pews on the main floor, although I've only sat there a few times in my life. The choir loft almost always has seating or at least standing room that doesn't get in everyone's way if you happen to be late. Like any church, everyone flocks here for Christmas and Easter, so masses are held in the gym instead (which is part of the St. Mary School). The music isn't huge here (like huge churches that shell out thousands), but there are some incredibly talented cantors and sometimes there are instrumentalists who volunteer to play the harmonies (most recently, three high school violin players). The only reason I took away a star is because some of the priests have strong accents so I struggle a little to understand what is being said for the Homily. Overall, I love St. Mary's and I will certainly continue to attend mass here for as long as I live in the area. If you come to St. Mary's, I promise you will feel welcomed. "All Are Welcome." Note: I don't know why St. Mary's is listed in the "Colleges and Universities" categories. It's definitely a church!

This is not a review as such but the addition of historical information to the review of Christine…read moreB. I attended St. Clare of Montefalco school from 1938 to 1946. At that time, there were only two buildings on the property: the one now called The Old School, and east of it a condemned structure that had once been the parish church. The rest of the block up to 54th St. between Washtenaw and Talman was vacant and provided an enormous playground. At that time, the church was in the part of the Old School building nearest to 55th St. Those of us who attended St. Clare assumed that that part of the building was to have served as a gymnasium but had to become the church after the original church building was condemned. The basement of the Old School was where we could hold a school breakfast after first-Friday Communion, take part in Miss Green's dancing class, watch a movie, or put on a play. Boy Scout troop 411 was founded at St. Clare about 1943 and provided excellent opportunities for boys to develop personal character and abilities. The school consisted of 8 grades, a single class per grade. Our teachers were the good nuns of the Adrian Dominicans. Records of the Order of St. Augustine indicate that Rev. William L. Fink, O.S.A., was Pastor and Prior from 1939 to 1947. Fr. Joseph F. O'Malley, O.S.A, was Assistant Pastor from 1943 to 1951. I once upset Father O'Malley terribly. I arrived late for my first altar-boy assignment and he--having already started saying Mass--saw me about to come from the sacristy wearing a red cassock because none of the black ones fit me. He sent the other server to keep me from entering the sanctuary. The memory of his post-Mass vociferation is part of my life. Father O'Malley taught at St. Rita High School from 1951 to 1960, when he returned to St. Clare as Pastor.

This rating was determined by : The Architecture of the…read moreChurch The Website Meeting Father Celichowski, the Pastor Church Review #2 My quest to put a "face to the place" - - that is "Picture to the Page" - Yelp Business Page, of course! My day got off to a late start this morning but it turned out to be a good thing - - kind of a "Divine Timing" thing! I wanted to get some pictures of the church for my review. Not only was my timing great because the church was open and I was not disturbing any services, but also because I was able to chat with the Pastor, Father John Celichowski. He clarified a few of my memories and observations about St. Clare and now I feel a bit more confident presenting this review. MEMORY LANE /a little history As I mentioned in my St. Simon the Apostle review, most churches in the area were founded by immigrants of a certain ethnic background. I grew up near St. Clare of Montefalco Church and really was never aware of any strong ethnic origin. It seemed there were a number of Irish, although I also knew kids of Polish and Slovak descent that went to school here. This was in the 1950-60's. I attempted to find more information online but was not successful. Father Celichowski confirmed that the church was a blend of nationalities and mentioned Irish, German and Lithuanian in those earlier days. The neighborhood has changed since then and now the area is mostly Hispanic and most of the Hispanic people are Mexican - - and so are the parishioners of this Parish. I mentioned to Father that I believe the Sisters that taught the grammar school in the 1950-60's were from the Dominican Order in Adrian, Michigan. We then talked about the priests and he mentioned that the original order at St. Clare was Augustinians. Father Celichowski, Father Weller (Resident Priest) and Father Martinez (Associate Pastor) are OFM Capuchin. I did not think to ask when the order of priests changed at St. Clare. Online I found a Facebook page for nearby St. Rita of Cascia. It seems in 1909, St. Rita had three mission churches : St. Clare, St. Gall and St. Nicholas of Tolentine. All three eventually became separate parishes in the area. I had never heard this before and I thought that it was interesting. BUILDINGS of St. Clare of Montefalco St. Clare of Montefalco had the whole block - - 54th Street to 55th Street /Talman Avenue to Washtenaw Avenue. The church is at the corner of 55th and Washtenaw. The church was built in 1953. It was a beautiful church then and it still is. The rectory is north of the church. The "new school building" is in the middle of the block on Talman Avenue. I think it was probably built in the 1960's (I forgot to ask). A Tribune article in January 2001 said the school would close that year and the school - - as a parochial school - - did close. There is also the "old school building", which is on 55th Street near Talman. The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) now leases those buildings and it is Talman Elementary School. The convent was the building just north of the "new school". I am not sure how that building is presently used, but I think it might also be used by Talman School. I noticed that there is now a children's playground on the sw corner of 54th Street and Talman Avenue. PARKING There is plenty of parking in the lot on the north end of the block. The main entrance to the parking lot is about two thirds down Washtenaw Avenue, which is a one - way street going southbound. There is parking on the ne corner of 55th and Talman, but I think that might be part of Talman School. There is also street parking around the block. THE WEBSITE St. Clare has a pretty decent website - - if you can find it! It did not show up when I searched for it on my tablet. I found it in the Google Review of St. Clare of Montefalco Catholic Church. It shows up as a website for "St. Clare of Montefalco Parish Church". It lists the church hours and activities. There is also a nice page about the Ministry Staff. You find these when you tap the very, very small menu box under the top picture on the home page. It would be nice if they had a page with their history because I am sure it would be a bit more reliable than my recollections - - which are to the best of my memory and knowledge and what I remembered to ask Father Celichowski! FATHER CELICHOWSKI was very nice and helpful. At the end of our conversation, I mentioned that I had a difficult time finding their website - - so it just might be easier to find in the future. It was soon time for Father to hear confessions and so our conversation ended. I really appreciate that he took the time to speak with me because I pretty much interrupted him. He was very gracious. I took some pictures in and around the church. Some did not turn out very good, so I guess I will be visiting this church again in coming days. Church Review #2 Gage Park, My Neighborhood - Review #17