St. Hyacinth Basilica – Chicago

St. Hyacinth Basilica is a Roman Catholic church located at 3636 West Wolfram Street in the Avondale neighborhood in Chicago. It is a member of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. It was founded in 1894 by The Congregation of the Resurrection. It is dedicated to Hyacinth of Poland. It was dedicated October 16, 1921. Since the time it was dedicated St. Hyacinth served a primarily Polish immigrant population in Avondale, known as Jackowo.

St. Hyacinth church was designed and built by architects Worthmann and Steinbach as a basilica in the Classical Revival style. It is an example of the “Polish Cathedral Style” of churches because of its grandiose beauty and large size. Its ornate interior is of the Baroque style and has paintings by renowned artists Zukotynski and Stanisia. Renovation of the interior started in the 1990s and has largely been completed with some work still being done. What I like the most about St. Hyacinth’s is that everything there has meaning. It all symbolizes something important and is preserved. It is too much to mention it all here, but one example is the 121 relics of the Saints of the Catholic Church that are viewable on All Saints Day. And something that is viewable at any time is the dome mural of over 150 saints, clergy and laity. And of course the beautiful stained glass windows prepared by Meyer Co. of Munich Germany and later ones by the Zettler Co. of New York.

The church also has a beautiful courtyard with statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary with Jesus as a boy. There is also a separate area outside that has monuments to Pope John Paul II, Father Jerzy Popieluszko and memorials to parishioners who served in the Blue Army during World War I. It is called the “Garden of Memory.”

Since it is a center for the Polish population in Chicago, St. Hyacinth’s has been visited by prominent leaders of the church, as well as politicians reaching out to Polish Americans. Former President of Poland Lech Walesa attended. Pope John Paul II attended prior to becoming Pope and President George H.W. Bush attended as Vice President and while campaigning for President. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has also spoken there.

I hope you enjoy the photos of this beautiful church as much as I enjoyed visiting the church. Seeing the care that was taken to preserve this beautiful church and its artifacts gave new meaning to my life.