Sr. Immaculata's Classroom

For over 50 years, Sr. Immaculata taught first graders in Room 4.  Take a look, it hasn't change much.



Video: Elaine McIntyre Beaudoin

STA Get Together - September 30, 2012????

There is some talk about a STA "all-class" get together on Sunday, September 30, 2012 during the morning Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas/St. Martin de Porres Church.

Is there any interest out there?

Does anyone want to work on a Committee to plan the event?

If the answer to either question is "YES," contact the editor of this blog by clicking on Elaine's photo at the bottom of the right hand column and send an email to her.

Austin Neighborhood on Facebook

Did you know that someone has put up a Facebook page called "Austin Neighborhood-Chicago"?  It boasts over 1300 "friends" on its page.   "Austin" has posted some old photos of the Austin area.

If you already are a member of Facebook, you can go directly there by clicking here.

Many STA classmates also have their own pages on Facebook.  If you join Facebook, you most likely will find some classmates you haven't been in contact with since who-knows-when.

Bill Pappas, class of 1968, thanks for the Facebook information.

Graduation - Class of 1968

Bill Pappas, class of 1968, posted a video of his graduation procession from the school to the church on YouTube.  He generously said we could repost it here on the STA Blog.  Hope you enjoy.


Video courtesy: Bill Pappas, 1968

Sr. Tarcisia and friends

Three classmates of the class of 1951 "hang out" with Sr. Tarcisia, RSM, their fifth grade teacher, c 1947-48.

John Ruckrich, Jerry Pizzotti, Sr. Tarcisia, and William Moorhead

Bill Moorhead also sent a story about Sr. Tarcisia:

"Here's a note on Sr. Tarcisia:  When she had us in 5th grade ('47 - 48") that was her very first class teaching. I think she was about 20 years old. One day she told us that some nuns (supervisors) were coming out to inspect us. US! Bah! They were her supervising teachers and they were coming to evaluate HER as a teacher! I figured this out in later years when I became a teacher and later a principal in the Chicago Public Schools. 

 

Sister T. spent days rehearsing clever things for us to do when they came and sat in our class. She actually was an excellent teacher! She had a great rapport with the boys - having grown up with brothers. One of her brothers (Jan) was studying for the priesthood out at Mundelein when we were in her class. He left before ordination (as I did)."

 

Bill

 

Photo courtesy: William Moorhead, Class of 1951

School Photos from Class of 1951

It looks like Bill Moorhead has been digging through his photos -- below he shares pictures of four of his classmates from the class of 1951.  I'm not sure what year these were taken.  Bill, can you enlighten us?

Lois Wood, Lotus Avenue

Mary Alyce O'Brien, La Cross Avenue

Mary Ellen Flanigan, Fulton Street

John Ruckrich, Cicero Avenue

Photos courtesy: William Moorhead

Sisters Tarcisia and Selma

William Moorhead, class of 1951, shared photos of two of his teachers at St. Thomas Aquinas.

Sr. Mary Tarcisia 5th Grade teacher, Room 14, c1947-48

He further notes that his 5th grade class was Sr. Mary Tarcisia first class at STA.

Sister Mary Tarcisia Moroney R.S.M., beloved member of the Sisters of Mercy for 62 years. Loving daughter of the late John Joseph and Anne, nee Igoe; dear sister of the late William and John; fond aunt of nieces and nephews. Visitation Tuesday, December 30, 2003 at McAuley Manor, 400 W. Sullivan Rd., Aurora from 10 a.m. until noon and at Mercy Convent, 3701 W. 99th St., Chicago from 3 to 8 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial Wednesday, December 31, 2003, 10 a.m. at Mercy Chapel. Interment Holy Sepulchre, Worth, IL. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Sisters of Mercy would be appreciated. Arrangements by: The Daleiden Mortuary, 220 North Lake Street, Aurora, IL 60506. 630-631-5500. www.thedaleidenmortuary.com  Chicago Tribune, December 28, 2003.

Sr. Mary Selma, 4th grade, Room 11, c1946.

Bill, thanks for the photos and Dan Carr, thanks for Sr. Tarcisia's obit.

Mother's Club 1963-1965

STA's Mothers' Club was very active during the 1960s.  In the Constitution and By-Laws of the Club it states:

"The purpose of this club shall be to secure a mutual understanding between parents and teachers and also benefit the school both socially and financially."

Over 300 active members are listed in the 24-page booklet -- all with addresses and telephone numbers.

Even though this booklet represents the Mother's Club three years after the class of 1960 graduated, several active mothers of the class of 1960 are noted:

Mrs. Thomas Redding, Co-Chairlady, October Party - Ray's Mom
Mrs. John Houlihan, April Salad Bar, Chairlady - Kathy's Mom
Mrs. John Dobias, Sisters Picnic, Co-Chairlady - Kathy's Mom
Mrs. Thomas McGrath, Children's Christmas Party, Chairlady - Tom's Mom

When time permits, addresses from the class of 1960 will be extracted from the booklet.  A separate post will be created and will also include other class of 1960 addresses collected at the March, 2011 reunion at STA.

Booklet provided by Mary Kinahan (she found it when she was cleaning out her house!).  Thanks so much.

Sr. Immaculata enjoying a luncheon, 1969

This photo was taken at a luncheon at Bill Moorhead's home (STA Class of 1951) in Oak Park on Monday, June 23, 1969.

Clockwise: Bill's mother, his father's aunt (Alice Garry Chadwick, a classmate of Sr. Immaculata), Sr. Immaculata, R.S.M., Bill's father's sister (Alice Moorhead) and Helen Quinlisk (a teacher colleague of Bill's who lived in STA parish.

Thanks Bill for sharing a lovely photo of Sr. Immaculata with your family.

Photo courtesy: William Moorhead

Classmates at Lake Lawn Lodge

Lake Lawn Lodge, Delavan, Wisconsin -

Thursday evening at the Lake Lawn Ballroom was Teen Night.  All the young people from around the lake would gather to dance to the live band.  Here we have Elaine McIntyre (with Mickey), Lucy Amore, Carole Keough and Lucy's cousin Anna Marie.  Carole and Elaine were staying at Lake Lawn Lodge, Lucy was staying at Assembly Park.

Anyone have other summer photos with classmates gathered?

Photo courtesy: Elaine McIntyre Beaudoin

Class Photo, 1963

At the March 13 gathering at St. Martin de Porres/St. Thomas Aquinas individuals from many different classes attended.  One individual who rallied her classmates was Diane Wixted.  She not only encouraged several of her classmates to attend, she also generously brought pastries to share will all of the attendees.  Recently, she sent a copy of her 1963 class photo.  Unfortunately, the reproduction is of poor quality.   But, the faces can be deciphered and the names, if you enlarge the photo, can be read.  If anyone has a better scan of the photo, send it along and it will be posted.

Siblings of the Class of 1960 in this photo include Bill Houlihan, Tom Hughes, Tom Kelley, P. Mangan, A. Salemi, B Redding, Bob Stocker and Jim O'Connor (brother of Tom).  Possibly one of those McGraths belong to our Tom?  Are there more?

To enlarge the photo, click once on the image.  When it opens in a separate window, click on the image again to enlarge to full size.  Thanks Diane for sharing the photo.

Photo courtesy: Diane Wixted, Class of 1963

First Holy Communion, Class of 1961

At the March 13, 2011 reunion at St. Martin de Porres/St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Marion Stocker, Class of 1961, brought her First Holy Communion photo.  Dan Carr photographed it.

Although it was in "delicate" shape, the rephotographing of it, has preserved most of the individuals' faces.  Thanks Dan for the preservation!  Bill Stocker thinks the damage was done by their parakeet chewing on the corners!!!  I think that is a much better line than "my dog ate it." 

I do see at least one 1960 classmate standing to the left of Msgr. Long --- it is altar boy Thomas O'Connor.  Do you see others?

Note, this photograph is dated 1954 as is the Class of 1960's first holy communion picture.   How can that be??

Joan Nallen Blasi knows why.  She shared with us that her mother had written on the back of their photo that the First Holy Communion Day for the class of 1961 was on Thanksgiving Day, 1954.   Both Joan and her brother made their First Holy Communion together.  Joan is pictured on the left side, second row from the top, third in from the left.  Thanks Joan for clearing up the mystery

To view a larger image, click on the photo, once it opens in a separate window, click on it again and it will open to full size.

Priests and Nuns: STA 1942-1951

Here is a bit of STA trivia for students from grammar school years (1942 - 1951) supplied by Bill Moorhead, Class of 1951.

Priests at the parish:

• Rt. Rev. Msgr. William P. Long, pastor.
• Rt. Rev. Daniel F. Cunningham, in residence while Catholic Schools Superintendent. Later became pastor at St. Angela Parish
• Fr. Vitha, later became pastor of Queen of Martyrs, Chicago
• Fr. Henry, later became pastor of St. Phillip parish, Northlake
• Fr. Buck later became pastor of Our Lady of Hope, Rosemont (one of his first curates was a former student at STA, class of '53 who was ordained in 1965, John Dewes. A classmate of John's was John McCarville who later became a pastor at STA. Fr. Dewes is now pastor emeritus of St. Anne's (Barrington)
• Fr. Dorney went from STA to St. Angela's
• Fr. Rabbitt

Teachers at the school:
During Bill's time the were no lay teachers - only nuns. Very rarely did he have a lay teacher as a substitute.  He remembers very clearly his teachers who are listed first.

• Sr. Mary Marcia, Room 3, 1st grade and Sr. Mary Immaculata
• Sr. Mary Borgia, Room 1, 2nd grade and Sr. Mary Rita
• Sr. Mary Ambrosine, Room 6, 3rd grade and Sr. Marcella
• Sr. Mary Selma, Room 11, 4th grade and ???
• Sr. Mary Tarcisia, Room 14, 5th grade and ???
• Sr. Mary Carina, Room 10, 6th grade and Sr. Mary Magellan
• Sr. Mary Annette, Room 9, 7th grade and Sr. Mary Francesca
• Sr. Mary William, Room 16, 8th grade and Sr. Mary Tarcilla

Principals: 
There were three during Bill's 8 years at STA

• Sr. Mary Fabian
• Sr. Mary Isabel
• Sr. Mary Giovanni.

Bill, thanks so much for sharing this information with us.  Perhaps someone from the Class of 1951 knows who the missing teachers are?  If so, please share this information with the rest of your STA classmates by clicking on "comments" below and letting us know.  Thanks also to Charlotte Corcoran for providing the name of the nun in the "other" Third Grade classroom.  Just two more to identify.

First Holy Communion, 1954

Many members of the class of 1960 made their First Holy Communion at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in the Spring of 1954.  The girls were dressed in beautiful short white lace and organza dresses with veils that hung down their backs, reminiscent of miniature brides. The boys looked angelic in their white ties and shirts with dark trousers and black shoes.

In the photo, Msgr. William Long proudly stands amid us as we smile for the camera, pointing our hands upwards to God.  The mural reproduction behind the altar of "The Apotheosis of Saint Thomas Aquinas" by the Spanish Renaissance artist Francisco de Zurbaran has the unique feature of Msgr. Long's likeness added to the person to the immediate left of the bronze Eucharistic tower.  At least two of the altar boys are siblings of the communicants, perhaps they all were?  Who are those two girls front and center?  Don't think they are part of those receiving First Holy Communion.
 
We prepared for our First Holy Communion by making our first confession earlier in the week.  A somewhat scary event taking place in a dark, wooden, closet-type room.  One communicant remembered at our 25th reunion how difficult it was to go to Confession with Msgr. Long due to his apparent hearing disability! If you joined us on March 13, you would have noted the confessionals looked much the same as they did in 1954.

It is hard to image what kind of an effort it took for the photographer to get 120, 7-year old children lined up, smiling, and facing forward long enough to take the photo.  But then again, we were much more obedient in those days!

How many of our classmates can you identify?

This photo can be enlarged by double clicking on the image.

Photo courtesy: Elaine McIntyre Beaudoin

The Human Web!

Six degrees of separation (also referred to as the ‘Human Web’) refers to the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, ‘a friend of a friend’ statements can be made, on average, to connect any two people in six steps or fewer. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy and popularized by a play written by John Guare.
Source: Wikipedia, 2011.


When we planned our 25th and our 50th STA reunions, we were unable to locate our classmate Margaret Maloney. It wasn’t until this February that Peggy Maloney was located on the Austin High School Reunion site. It not only listed a Margaret Maloney in the class of 1964, but it added a new last name --McGreal.

We then searched for her in Google and in many other online resources. We looked for her with a birth year of 1946 and hoped she was still in the Illinois area. Searching for a Margaret McGreal, a much more unique name, proved considerably easier than hunting for Margaret Maloney.

Amazingly, we identified a Margaret McGreal, associated with a Maloney, after just a few minutes of searching. The associated Maloney turned out to be her sister, Patti, also a graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas. But what was more amazing was the address provided. It was the same address we had for another classmate.

This classmate was contacted to see if he knew Margaret McGreal. And, he did. She lived across the hall from him! Though not close friends, they did know each other, conversed in the hall, exchanged Christmas treats and had no idea they had spent several years together at St. Thomas Aquinas.

The rest is history. Both Margaret Maloney McGreal AND her neighbor, Dan Carr, joined us for the gathering at St. Thomas Aquinas/St. Martin de Porres on March 13th. And we did it in only ONE STEP!

Higher quality 1960 Graduation Photo

We scanned an original graduation photo and now have a much better quality image. The new version has been placed at the top of this Blog. 

If you wish to see it enlarged, click on the image and when it comes up in a new window, click on it again to enlarge it to full size.  As you move over the photo, you will be able to get a great look at each of us and how looked in 1960.

Photo courtesy: Elaine McIntyre Beaudoin

Our Teachers 1952-1960

At our gathering on March 13, several additional teachers were identified.  Help us identify all the teachers we had at St. Thomas Aquinas.

First Grade: Sr. Mary Immaculata and Sr. Corona???
Second Grade: Sr. Mary Gilbert and Sr Mary Agneda(?)
Third Grade: Mrs. F. Lane and Sr. Mercy
Fourth Grade: Miss or Mrs. Jones and Sr. Mary Cyril
Fifth Grade: Sr. Mary Beatrice and ???
Sixth Grade: Miss Patricia Delaney and ???
Seventh Grade: Mrs. Watts and Sr. Mary Audrey
Eighth Grade: Sr. Mary Stella and Sr. Mary Damien

Principals: Sr. Mary Giovanni and Sr. Mary Honore -- Does anyone know the years each was principal?

If you can identify our missing teachers, click on red "comments" just below and let us know.

Photo courtesy: Dan Carr

Photos, STA Gathering, March 13, 2011

Dan Carr has posted his photos and a video from our March 13, 2011 gathering at St. Martin de Porres/St. Thomas Aquinas Church and School.  They are all quite beautiful, as we have come to expect!  Thanks Dan so very much.

Here is Dan's video which incorporates some photos taken at the Church and a video from a portion of the Mass.



If you wish to view it full screen you can go to Dan's Aquinasville blog.


Dan put some of the photos taken in the School together in a video.  This is really nice!



And, Dan's latest effort, a slide video of the refreshment set up and then our gathering after the tours in the School's canteen! Yes, it was a wonderful day.



Dan also has posted all his photos which chronicle the day. They are not to be missed. View them at Dan's slide show.  Each of the photos has its own page so if you wish to leave a comment on one of the photos, you may do so.  When in the slide show, left click in the upper left hand corner on "Click back to dtimcarr's Return to STA set."  Then you can pick out the photo from the gallery.   Dan tells me that in addition to leaving a message you can click "actions" for a drop-down menu, select "view all sizes," select "original" and run your eyes over an amazingly large and detailed version of the photo.  As Dan says, its "something to get lost in!"

The images are all exquisite as was the day.  Thanks again, Dan, for capturing our wonderful experience.

Enjoy!

Photos from March 13 with a Twist

When John Kivlehan sent us his photos from our gathering on March 13th, he also sent this note:

"We can't thank you guys enough for the excellent tour of our old church and school.  It really has turned back the hands of time.  Many good memories of long ago.  I wish my mother were alive to share it with me.  She used to wash and iron the vestments for the clergy there on a weekly basis.  She dragged my sisters and me to mass every, and I mean every, morning.  We practically lived there.  I can just laugh about it now.  But at the time... ohhhh did we get our indulgences.

I thought you would enjoy some special, 3D photos that I took.  Get your red and cyan glasses on.  This is like 3D in the old days, but I enjoy it as one of my hobbies. I intended to take some more pictures after we were wrapping up, but they padlocked the church on us.   I'll just have to go back again sometime."

John

John, thanks for the regular photos, the 3D photos and the note.  As John suggests - GET YOUR RED AND CYAN GLASSES ON! - for the 3D photos.

Google View of STA

This past Sunday, at the reunion gathering at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Kathy Dobias and her sister noted the shape of St. Tommies' Church was in the form of a cross.  This cruciform shape is quite common in Gothic styled churches but from the inside you often don't realize its true form.  Kathy provided this Google sky view which clearly shows the cross-like structure of the church.  Her comment, and I think we all would agree: " It's really quite magnificent when you look at it."

Thanks Kathy.

Google view of St. Thomas Aquinas Church

If you click on "Comments" below this posting, you can read what Dan Carr wrote.  He provides a "one click" access to a Google view of the whole STA Neighborhood.  Check "Here" in the comment.   Thanks Dan for directing us to Aquinasville so we can  "move" around the neighborhood.

A Few Photos from March 13

Here are some snap shots from our day at St. Thomas Aquinas.   It will have to hold us until Dan Carr get his photos together.

The turn out was excellent, the St. Martin de Porres congregation was warm and welcoming, the tour of the school made everyone giggle, we ate too many delicious pastries and, in general, had a most wonderful day at our alma mater.  If you were there, I think you would agree.  If you weren't -- perhaps next year?




Photos courtesy: Elaine McIntyre Beaudoin

Leaflet Prepared for March 13, 2011 Alumni Gathering

In celebration of the March 13, 2011 gathering at St. Martin de Porres Church, formerly St. Thomas Aquinas Church, a leaflet was prepared which provides background on the architectural and design characteristics of the church along with a parish history timeline and some interesting bits of information regarding the parish's long history.  The information for the leaflet was garnered from a number of publications, many of which have been transcribed and are included on this Blog following this post.

To read the page images, double click on each and then click again to fully enlarge.

First Article Mentioning Parish at Washington and 51st Ave. - 1909

Church dedicated to Joan of Arc --

The new parish, of which Rev. Daniel Luttrell is pastor has been dedicated to Blessed Joan of Arc. It is situated at 51st avenue and Washington blvd. and ground will be broken for the new church, Oct 1.  It will cost between $50,000 and $60,000.

The New World, September 25, 1909, page 5.

STA Church Celebrating 25th Anniversary - 1937

Note: This article, although mostly correct concerning dates and events, seems to err when it speaks of the date the Parish was founded.  This discrepancy is addressed in A History of the Parishes of the Archdiocese of Chicago, published in 1980, as well in the contemporary short article in The New World, September 25, 1909.

Feast of St. Thomas is Solemnly Observed Here

History of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish - 1908

In the measure of territory covered, St. Thomas Aquinas parish is one of the smallest in the Archdiocese.  Its group of buildings is prominently set out by the curve in Washington Boulevard near Laramie Avenue, the beautiful broadside of the church commanding a full view of this busy thoroughfare entering the city from the west.  Here is really the center of the four-street strip of parish from east to west, but from north to south the location is on the last street south.

Founded in 1908

Second niche to the west of the entrance

St. Thomas Aquinas Parish was established in August, 1908 by the Rev. Daniel Luttrell from St. Genevieve's in Cragin, His Grace, the Rt. Rev. James Edward Quigley then presiding as Bishop of the Archdiocese. The deeds conveying title to the property were signed at Boston, August 17, 1908.  That same afternoon building material was delivered on the property and volunteer men from the neighborhood immediately began work on a temporary structure to serve the needs of the new parish.  On the Saturday following, the building was completed to accommodate four hundred and fifty people. The altars and statues, confessionals, stations and pews were all in place.  The first Parochial Mass was celebrated in this building, Sunday, August 22, just five days after its beginning.  A new record was made in church construction. Continuing the pace, two weeks later saw ground broken for what was to serve as a three-story combination church and school building.  This edifice was solemnly dedicated July 5, 1909.  The school was opened in September with the Mercy Sisters from St. Patrick's Academy in charge.  Joan of Arc was to have been the name of the parish, but when it came time for the dedication of its buildings, this saint was not as yet fully enrolled in the catalog of approved patrons.  Her statue in one of the niches in the facade of the church is to remind the parishioners of what was intended in her honor.  Toward the close of that same year, 1909, a new rectory was completed and occupied by the priests.  To house the Sisters a convenient flat building on Laramie Avenue was purchased and renovated.

Left Work Unfinished

After a few years more than a decade of administration, in a brief sketch telling of the beginning and progress of the parish and prepared for the Diamond Jubilee of the archdioceses, Father Luttrell pays a rare tribute to the worth, to the zeal and cooperation of his first assistants - the one "a dynamo of energy, zeal and optimism," the other "kindly and courteous in manner, cultured and scholarly in attainment."  It is a compliment that should ever endear them in the hearts of the people of St. Thomas.  In that same letter he proudly announced that the parish was free of all indebtedness on buildings, grounds and equipment.  He was now ready to undertake the erection of a new church edifice, a church that would fittingly express a proper sense of gratitude for heaven's blessings and since God came to dwell among us, to offer Him a worthy home for His condescension from heaven to earth in the Sacrament of Love.  He planned the structure and started the work but, sad to tell, never lived to see the realization of his dream.  On April 25, 1924, he was made a Domestic Prelate with the title Monsignor, and on December 13 following he died.  His funeral Mass was the first said in the new church just barely under roof.

Father Dondanville's Pastorate

On January 1, 1925, His Eminence, George Cardinal Mundelein appointed the Rev. Edward L. Dondanville of Maternity Church to be second pastor of St. Thomas.  His immediate task was to complete the work of enlarging and converting the combination building into a sixteen-room school at an approximate expense of what the whole structure had cost in the beginning.  In the meantime the church must be finished and partly put in order to accommodate the congregation.  Then through the fat years and the lean years began the steady grind to reduce the heavy debts accumulated.  In the year 1931 it was decided possible to erect a suitable convent for the Sisters.  Ground was purchased on Leamington Avenue, just North of the church and a model convent and school gymnasium were set in place. This completed the present parish plant.  Today, as Monsignor Luttrell announcement toward the close of his pastorate, Father Dondanville can also boast that the entire indebtedness of the parish is well in hand and easily manageable.  Like his predecessor he too attributes much of his success to the fine assisting priests appointed to go along the way with him.  Best of all, however, are the people themselves, ever most generous, steadfastly loyal, interested and proud of their church

Nears Completion

St. Thomas Aquinas Church is a fine specimen of the Tudor Gothic style of architecture set off with a conventualized Eucharistic tower to lift up the cross and point to heaven. When it was first completed the editor of the rotogravure section of the News pronounced it one of the outstanding "architectural gems of the city."  Since Father Dondanville had nothing to do with the design of the church he decided to leave his impress in its interior appointments.  These must be in keeping with the dignity and style of the setting provided.  Accordingly, there is not a single commercialized, standardized or catalogued piece in all its equipment.  The altar is in colored terra cotta with a thirty-foot solid cast bronze Eucharistic tower for tabernacle.  For the Communion rail there is in place a replica of DaVinci's Last Supper table, as significant of welcome as a rail is of separation.

Shrine of St. Thomas

The Shrine of St. Thomas is a wood carving in life-sized figures from Feurstein's picture of St. Thomas before the Cross. The stations of the Cross are a Ceramic-Mosaic composition made in France and designed by a brother of the priest director of Liturgical Art in Rome.  The font in the baptistry strives for an adaptation for practical use without the loss of artistic values.

The Windows

Best and richest of all, however, are the stained glass windows with their ember glow of living colors and the graceful elongated figures of the Saints in an upward swing emphasizing the verticality of Gothic lines.  In the sanctuary as tribute to the pastors is featured the sacrifice of the altar with the patron saints, Daniel and Malachy, Edward and Louis.  In the front cross section of the Church the founders of the religious orders and communities are honored.  In panels richly set with the symbols of heraldic art stand in deserved honor the Soldier, Monks or Gallant Knights of old.  The larger transept window presents the life of St. Thomas in twenty-one medallions and the other follows the seven Sacraments in their prefiguration, gospel fulfillment and present use.  Under the clerestory are pictured the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary and on the opposite side the seven spiritual and corporal works of mercy illustrated in practice with some best exponents.  An odd window in this group is in honor of St. Oliver Plunkett on Tyburn's bloody scaffold, donated by Mr. Plunkett and his two brother missionary priests, distant relatives of the great martyr.

The upper clerestory windows in the body of the church change to the grisaille type so as to admit more light.  Each window is like a "common" in the Missal or Breviary and presents four of the most interesting Saints in its class -- Virgin Martyrs, Virgins, Queens, Widows of Great Mothers (sic) -- and on the mens' side, Martyrs, Popes, Priests, and Laymen.  These windows will be in place by Easter time.  There are no ancient monks or spiritualized nuns here for the laity to imitate but rather the great ones in honor; who won their crowns in the ordinary pursuits of life.  In the large choir window, just installed, is glorified the Queen of Angels surrounded by the different ranks of these heavenly beings all aglow in robes of mingled flames.   The whole layout is like the illustrations in a story book of religion in which childhood and old age, rich and poor, the learned and ignorant, may study their favorite interest or pore over a specially loved picture reminding them of a reality beyond this life to which the church itself is but the portal.  Two or three times during the year the school children visit the church in a body and are instructed on the significance of these things to give them appreciation and a love for sacred art.  During the Lenten season the older folks look forward to their turn for the same favor.

Organ Heard Around the World

The new organ in the loft completes the full furnishing of the church.  It is the one built with so much exacting care for the Century of Progress and to answer the strict requirements accompanying the famous soloists, choral societies and orchestras and all who came here to give us their best in music.  Its beautiful tone qualities were made familiar to all the land as the great masters of many a cathedral loft brooded over its keyboard and the radio carried their harmonies as far as stretch the heavens.

St. Thomas Aquinas Parish has passed its building days, is well established, and now takes its place among the older churches of the archdioceses to give the very best of service to its people and to carry on the work of religion in God's Holy Name.

The New World, March 12, 1937, page 8.

Photo courtesy: Elaine McIntyre Beaudoin

Austin Church Blends Old and New, Black and White - 1972

The religion writer for the Chicago Sun Times, Roy Larson, penned this article in 1972 about St. Thomas Aquinas Church and its priests.

Austin church blends old and new, black and white

En route to St. Thomas Aquinas church in South Austin, the cab driver turned east on Washington Blvd. at Central Av.

On the southeast corner of the intersection there stood one of the signs of former times -- a graceful home bearing the unmistakable signature of Frank Lloyd Wright.

As the car headed east, signs of the present came into view -- some refurbished old buildings, a few abandoned buildings.  On a light pole, a leftover campaign poster proclaimed "Carey fights crime, not people."

Then, there was the church.  Italian Gothic a la Chicago, 1923.  Soaring steeple. Prominent cross.  Splendid stained-glass windows.  Formidable rectory. Parochial school with cutouts of the pilgrim fathers pasted on the windows. On the doors, invitations to "Play Bingo Monday Night.  One jackpot game!"

The church doors were locked: "If you wish to visit the church, ring the bell at the rectory."  Outside the rectory door, there was a telephone:  "If the phone rings, please answer it."

The phone didn't ring but the door was opened anyway by the pleasant housekeeper who welcomed a visitor as she finished the last bites of her lunch.

The reception room inside looked like dozens of other rectory reception rooms -- the inevitable desk, red carpet, leatherette armchair, and two or three wooden chairs from somebody's old dining-room set. From his place inside a picture frame, a smiling Pope John XXIII looked down, appearing to give his blessing.

"Father," the visitor said, as the Rev. Charles Tobin walked into the room, "there's been a change of Popes.  Haven't you heard?"

"Well, I guess some of the Popes are more popular than others," the young priest replied.

Soon the two who were gathered together were joined by a third, the Rev. Edward McKenna, another member of the parish's three-man team of ministers.  The third team member, the Rev. John McCarville, was out of town.

"This parish was organized before World War I," Father McKenna said. "Most of the people were Irish or Italian.  The building was put up in 1923.

"At its peak -- that was in the 1940s and 50s -- the church served somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 families.  In those days, I understand, the ushers wore pinstrip pants, tails and boutonnieres.

"Now, we have 300 or 400 families on our register.  Nearly all the people are black, although a few elderly whites still live here.  And then there's a sprinkling of Spanish people.  We have a Spanish mass at 9:30 a.m. every Sunday."

Zestfully, the priestly teamsters described their efforts to fashion a parish that is truly "catholic" in the dictionary sense of that term: "Affecting people generally ... Inclusive in human affairs ... comprehensive or very broad in sympathies, understanding, appreciation or interests ... not narrow, isolative, provincial or partisan."

About the only word in that definition the priests would not buy is the word "partisan."  They claim they are partisans for the poor, the oppressed, the victims of injustice.

Father Tobin has been treasurer of the Organization for a Better Austin, the militant community organization which has attempted to insure that Austin residents will have a voice in determining the destiny of their area.  Father McKenna, who recently came within 19 votes of being elected president of the OBA, has been chairman of the organization's housing committee which has waged a long-term fight against slumlordism and panic-peddling.

Housed in the church building is the so-called base station of "Soul Patrol."  Operating under OBA auspices, Soul Patrol is a two-way radio network which enables neighborhood residents to get in touch quickly with police when they become aware that a crime has occurred or is about to occur.

Unlike some social activists, the priests at St. Aquinas take seriously the liturgical and theological traditions of the church.  As a matter of fact, their catholicity is so broad that they are willing to concede there is a place in the life of a reform-minded parish for some of the non-elitist customs of conventional Catholicism -- bingo, for example, and a "giant five-car raffle" and a fashion show.

"We have a retired priest who comes here, an old monsignor," Father McKenna said. "he attends and sends us money because, in our attempts at reform and ecclesiastical house-cleaning, we haven't thrown out everything. 

"I have the feeling that some reformers have engaged in a lot of trashing -- that is, wholesale abandonment of tradition.

"No one would ever think of Saul Alinsky (the radical reformer) as a liturgical guide, but I do.  I vividly remember a speech in which Alinsky hammered away at the idea, 'Know your history.  Then you'll understand where you're at."

With this not-so novel idea in mind, the St. Aquinas team weaves into its liturgical services threads drawn from many centuries.

On Pentecost Sunday last May, for example, the liturgy for confirmation included a Gregorian chant as well as music by such contemporary composers as Flor Peters, Randall Thompson and the black priest, the Rev. Clarence J. Rivers.

In October, a "Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary" included a hymn from the 16th Century Genevan Psalter and a Latin musical setting for the mass written by Palestrina.

At 3 p.m. on Nov. 25 a solemn requiem mass for "all the faithful departed of our parish and for our beloved Catholic President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy," will be offered with most of the polyphonic music coming from the work of a Renaissance priest, Tomas Luis da Victoria.

By blending the old and the new, the black and the white, the church in the street and the church in the sanctuary, the St. Aquinas team hopes it is being faithful to "the God who was and is and is to be" and hopes it will be successful in creating a Catholic parish that is catholic in every sense of that term.

Chicago Sun Times, November 18, 1971.

STA Holds 50th Jubilee Celebration - 1973

St. Thomas Aquinas Holds 50th Jubilee Celebration

CHICAGO -- St. Thomas Aquinas Church will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its dedication with a solemn high Mass Nov. 11, 2 p.m.  Auxiliary Bishop Michael R. Dempsey, vicar delegate of the West Side for John Cardinal Cody, will be the principal celebrant of the Mass, with Father Peter Frazen as homilist.

Concelebrants will be the present members of the parish staff, some former assistant pastors, and priests ordained from the parish.

Father Edward McKenna, a recent master's degree graduate of the University of Chicago in music composition, has composed the music especially in honor of this festival.  The work is dedicated to John Cardinal Wright, perfect of the Vatican's Congregation for the clergy.  It is a musical setting of the complete, revised Order of Mass for chorus, vocal soloists, organ, and several musical instruments including brass, woodwinds, strings and percussion. It is composed in such a way as to incorporate full congregational participation, both sung and recited.

The First Mass said in the church was the funeral Mass for the founding pastor, Msgr. Daniel Luttrell.  Although the parish was officially founded 65 years ago, work on the church did not begin until 1923.

The massive solidly built Tudor Gothic church was designed by Karl Vitzthum, who lived in the parish until his death in 1967.  Mr. Vitzthum was also responsible for the mural behind the high altar, a copy of the "Apotheosis of St. Thomas Aquinas," by the Renaissance Spanish master Zurbaran.

The church was not finished and opened for use until December, 1924.  Much of the artistic finery of the church was purchased by the second pastor, Father Edward L. Dondanville.  The stained glass windows were made in Munich.  The terra cotta main altar, installed in 1929, and the Kilgen pipe organ, purchased from the Swiss pavilion of the 1933 Century of Progress, were all purchased by the second pastor.

In redecorating the church 20 years ago, Msgr. William Long replaced the Gothic line of the church with paintings which turned the ceiling into an array of brightly mottled colors.

Father Lawrence Fitzgerald is said to be the best administrator the parish has ever had, according to Father Edward McKenna, the present administrator.  At his retirement in 1968, the church was in excellent condition spiritually, physically, and fiscally with all the parish records carefully catalogued.

Father Peter Frazen's brief pastorate, cut short by two heart attacks, was marked by the entry of the parish into a transitional, more community oriented phase, both as to mission and renewed dedication to the people.

Following the Mass there will be a banquet at the Mar-Lac House, 104 S. Marion.

The New World, October 26, 1973, page 6.

Aquinas' 50th Year Mark - 1973

We had hoped that Fr. Edward McKenna, mentioned in this article, would be able to join us at our September 30, 2012 reunion, but he already had vacation plans and is unable to change them.


In a Chicago Today article, dated November 9, 1973, religion editor, Myron Weigle, reports on the plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of St. Thomas Aquinas' church building.

Aquinas' 50th year marked

St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 5112 W. Washington Blvd. a West Side landmark, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its dedication with a solemn high mass next Sunday at 2 p.m.

Auxiliary Bishop Michael R. Dempsey, vicar delegate of the West Side for Cardinal Cody, will be the principal celebrant of the mass, with the Rev. Peter Franzen the homilist.

Concelebrants will be members of the parish staff, some former assistant pastors, and priests ordained from the parish.

The first mass offered in the church was for the funeral of the founding pastor, Msgr. Daniel Luttrell.

Outstanding is the 12-story tower of the church, said to be still the highest structure in the Austin Community.

Karl Vitzthum, designer of the massive, solidly built Tudor Gothic church, lived in the parish until his death in 1967.

Vitzthum also was responsible for the mural behind the high altar, a copy of the "Apotheosis of St. Thomas Aquinas" by the Renaissance Spanish master Zurbaran.

Altho the church was officially founded 65 years ago, work did not begin on the structure until 1923.  It was not completed until December, 1924.

Much of the artistic finery in the church was purchased by its second pastor, the Rev. Edward L. Dondanville.

The stained glass windows were made in Munich, Germany; the terra cotta main altar installed in 1929, and the Kilgen pip organ came from the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress Swiss pavilion.

Twenty years ago, Msgr. William Long replaced the Gothic line of the church with paintings which turned the ceiling into an array of brightly mottled colors.

A highlight of the golden anniversary mass will be the work of the Rev. Edward McKenna, a recent master's degree graduate of the University of Chicago in music composition.

Father McKenna has composed the music especially in honor of the festival, his work dedicated to Cardinal Wright, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy.

It is a musical setting of the complete, revised Order of Mass for chorus, vocal soloists, organ and several musical instruments including brass, woodwinds, strings and percussion, and composed in such a way as to incorporate full congregation participation.

Chicago Today, November 9, 1973.

Memories Fill Church Set for a Rebirth - 1990

The Chicago Tribune, on December 28, 1990, carried a story about the "rebirth" of St. Thomas Aquinas Church on page 1.  It talks about St. Thomas becoming St. Martin De Porres, a new parish which incorporates the parishes of Resurrection, St. Mel-Holy Ghost and St. Thomas Aquinas.  The author, Patrick T. Reardon, is a graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Memories fill church set for a rebirth

Look up to the right, above the St. Joseph altar, at the painting of St. William.  The face is that of Monsignor William Long.

Look under the metal plate in the second stair of the majestic, pre-Vatican II main altar, and see the keyboard on which the altar boys would sound a sequence of chimes at the holiest parts of the mass.

Go outside, across Leamington Avenue, to the parking lot where signboards used to stand.  Look back up at the church building, up at the steeple, the highest point in Chicago's Austin neighborhood -- where, one noon, the Angelus was sung by Elvis Presley.

Come with me to St. Thomas Aquinas Church, once the center of a large, vibrant Roman Catholic parish, my parish for the first 19 years of my life -- but now closed.

It was named after the 13th Century Dominican friar whose wealth of writings earned him the reputation as "the" Christian philosopher and theologian of the Middle Ages.

The story of the church, which stands 12 stories tall at the northeast corner of Leamington Avenue and Washington Boulevard, is one with many echoes throughout the archdiocese.  This year alone, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin ordered 28 parishes to close, and at least three more will be eliminated in 1991.  The reason: low church attendance and large financial problems.

The story of St. Thomas Aquinas, however, has a different ending.

The church, which opened in December, 1924, was closed in December 1988 following the consolidation of the parish with two others, Resurrection at 5072 W. Jackson Blvd. and St. Mel-Holy Ghost at 4301 W. Washington Blvd.

All three, for more than a half century, had served communities that were predominately Irish and entirely white.  In the 1960s, though, a great migration of blacks took place across Chicago's West Side, and nearly all of the whites in the three parishes moved away -- flight that was fueled by panic-peddlers, prejudice and fear.

There were fewer African-American Catholics to fill the pews, and, finally, at the urging of Bernardin, the three parishes joined together as one, under the name of St. Martin De Porres, a 17th Century Peruvian black who ministered to the poor.

The new parish decided to use the St. Mel-Holy Ghost church for its Sunday masses and the Resurrection church for its weekday services.  But that was only temporary.  They wanted a new church -- estimated cost: $1 million -- and they asked Bernardin for financial help.

To their chagrin, Bernardin said the archdiocese didn't have enough money for that.  But he said it could help pay for a renovation of the one church of the three that was in the best shape: St. Thomas Aquinas.

So, the church, which has stood empty except for occasional use by the still-vigorous parish school next door, is facing a resurrection that could come as early as next December.

Yet, the church was never really empty.  Too many thousands of people spent too much of their lives -- and too many important moments of their lives -- in this building.  As long as it stands, it will be filled with their footsteps.

Come on inside.  It's cold now in the pews with the heat turned on just enough -- 52 degrees -- to protect the structure from rot.  For an old building, especially one out of use for 24 months, there is very little rot.  Indeed, it is the lack of change in the building over all the decades that is most striking to those familiar with it.

In this sacred space, I can see the grownups and children coming in to kneel on the dark wood pews or stand in a line outside the confessionals -- the children whispering and giggling together -- on a Saturday afternoon in spring.  I can see the black gospel choir warming up at the small organ in the right wing of the church, just in front of the Statue of St. Thomas Aquinas. I can hear the altar boys -- myself, my brothers, my friends -- kneeling at the foot of the altar as the start of the old Latin mass, rushing through the first of the responses, "Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam."

Next year's renovation won't be the church's first.  In the early 1950s, Long, then pastor, oversaw a major facelift.  As a thank-you perhaps, an artist involved in the project painted Long into the decoration, putting his face on St. William [see image below] and his head on a major red-cassocked figure, just below St. Thomas Aquinas, in the 50-foot tapestry that looms behind the church's altar.

There is no painting of Elvis, but his moment at St. Thomas Aquinas remains vivid in the minds of those who heard it.

This is how it happened:  Each noon, bells from the church would ring to signal the Angelus, a mid-day prayer.  St. Thomas Aquinas Church didn't have bells, but used a record.

One day, someone -- an altar boy, it is supposed -- snuck into the church and replaced the record.  That noon, instead of solemn bells tolling, the sound that parish members, such as my mother, heard coming out of the loudspeakers at the top of the church steeple was "You Ain't Nothin' but a Hounddog."

Chicago Tribune, December 28, 1990, pages 1 and 7.

Image of St. William is in the likeness of Msgr. William P. Long

Photo courtesy Dan Carr, 2011.

St. Martin De Porres Church Symbolizes Unwavering Faith - 1999

Patrick T. Reardon, a graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas and a journalist, wrote this article in September, 1999 for the Chicago Tribune Magazine.  It was written as part of a series entitled "Overlooked Chicago."

In a neighborhood shaken by change, St. Martin de Porres Church symbolized unwavering faith

You won't really know the city till you've visited . . . St. Martin de Porres. The Chicago of the postcards is the city that tourists see. But there's another Chicago unobserved by visitors, a city that is rich with history and with the pulse of life. This is the second of five occasional stories.

As Dorothy Cobb sings, unaccompanied, the traditional gospel hymn "To God Be the Glory," her voice soars. It booms and echoes off the stone walls and high ceiling of St. Martin de Porres Church, filling every corner, from the heights to the depths, a benediction of grace.

"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!"

And, as Cobb sings, she looks out over the congregation of 100 or so fellow parishioners to the back of the church and the huge stained-glass window there. With the noonday sun pouring in, the window is a spectacular splash of bright colors, mainly blue, and in the center is the image of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

It is to Mary that Cobb directs her song. The image of Mary helps Cobb bring focus to her song and strength to her singing and to her life. ("It seems like she helps me make it through whatever I'm trying to get through," Cobb later explains.)

But there's more than personal significance to this. The link of Cobb's song with Mary's stained-glass window reflects a connection that St. Martin's congregation has to all the other Roman Catholics who have worshiped within these walls through more than seven decades.

This connection can result in beauty, as with Cobb's singing. But there have been times when the link was one of pain.

In the window, Mary's face is as white as snow. At her microphone, Dorothy Cobb is a rich, deep, dark brown.

The story of St. Martin's church is one that can be told, in one way or another, about many Catholic parishes and neighborhoods throughout Chicago. It's a story of common faith and racial fear. It is a story of failure: the inability of whites who prayed in the same pews to open their arms and hearts. But it is also a story of success, to which the small but vibrant African-American community of St. Martin de Porres Church bears witness.

The 12-story-high church building at 5114-30 W. Washington Blvd. -- the tallest structure in the Austin neighborhood -- is a symbol of this bitter and sweet history.

A minor architectural gem, the Tudor-Gothic structure of brick and limestone was the brainchild of Rev. Daniel Luttrell, the parish's first pastor, appointed in 1909. Initially, the parish was to be dedicated to St. Joan of Arc, but, within a year, the patron saint had been changed to St. Thomas Aquinas, the Middle Ages' leading Christian philosopher and theologian.

The new parish, mainly comprising Irish immigrants and their descendants, quickly put up its first building, a church-school at 116 N. Leclaire Ave., followed soon by a rectory for the priests and eventually a convent for the Sisters of Mercy who taught in the school.

But from the beginning, the goal, as it has been for Catholic congregations through the centuries, was to construct a more monumental church building -- a song of praise and faith in stone. In 1923, ground was finally broken.

The completed church, all but finished by the end of the next year, was a triumph, but Luttrell didn't live to enjoy it. In fact, his funeral in late December 1924 was the first mass celebrated in the new building.

Designed by an architect in the parish, Karl M. Vitzthum, the new St. Thomas Aquinas Church featured flying buttresses, gargoyles and, atop its tower, a Celtic cross. Over the entry doors was the huge stained-glass window of Mary that, decades later, Dorothy Cobb would come to love. Made of glass imported from France, the window was designed by the F.X. Zettler company, which, during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, beat out Tiffany's for the award for stained glass.

The high altar, installed several years later, was constructed of hand-painted terra cotta and topped by a 30-foot tower made from two tons of cast bronze. Behind it was a hand-carved walnut screen with figures of the 12 apostles.

And, as if all that beauty weren't enough, in the early 1950s, Msgr. William Long, pastor at the time, ordered a redecoration of the church during which many of its upper walls were filled with paintings of biblical scenes and images of the saints. The piece de resistance, installed behind the altar, was a 50-foot-tall replica of "The Apotheosis of St. Thomas Aquinas" by Spanish Renaissance artist Francisco de Zurbaran.

The painters doing the redecoration, obviously adept at currying favor with clerical clients, put Long's face on the body of a cardinal in the center of the Zurbaran copy and also on the head of St. William over an altar dedicated to St. Joseph.

That visage is one of the many white faces that still look down on the congregation today. But there are few white faces in the pews.

In the late 1960s, as African-Americans began to move into Austin and attend St. Thomas Aquinas, whites fled. Within two or three years, the neighborhood around the church had gone from all white to virtually all black.

"The enemy was the real estate developers," says 86-year-old Justin McCarthy, one of the few whites to remain in the community. Panic peddlers would call homeowners and tell them that the incoming African-Americans were going to drive down the value of their properties. "It was purely economics," says McCarthy.

But, in truth, it was more. Many of the whites who lived in Austin had a deep-seated antipathy toward blacks. They didn't want blacks as neighbors, and they wouldn't have blacks as neighbors. So they left, just about all of them.

The pain of that blanket rejection must have been deep for the African-Americans moving into the parish at the time, but, today, black parishioners talk about the white flight philosophically.

Nathaniel Ruben, who began attending St. Thomas in 1970, says he'd hoped the neighborhood would remain integrated: "But you know the old saying: Blacks move in; whites move away. It's funny -- we can work together, we can socialize together, but we can't live together." Of course, it's not funny at all.

The vast majority of the whites who moved away were Catholic. Most of the African-Americans who moved in were not. So it was a much smaller congregation that worshiped at St. Thomas over the next 20 years. Then, in the late 1980s, the church was closed.

St. Thomas was consolidated with two nearby parishes, Resurrection at 5072 W. Jackson Blvd. and St. Mel-Holy Ghost at 4301 W. Washington Blvd. (Since 1985, the archdiocese has closed nearly 70 parishes through such consolidations because of declining memberships and rising costs.)

The new, combined parish was named St. Martin de Porres in honor of the 17th Century mulatto physician who, because of his work among the sick and poor of Peru, is that nation's patron saint of social justice. Church services were held in the chapel at the still-operating Resurrection grade school. But the St. Martin parishioners, like those of St. Thomas more than 60 years earlier, wanted to build a church of their own, and they asked Cardinal Joseph Bernardin for help with the $1 million project.

The cardinal seemed open to the idea at first, but later he decided to renovate and reopen the old St. Thomas Aquinas church building instead, at a cost of $700,000. For those who had worked long and hard on the plans for a new building, Bernardin's decision was a sharp disappointment. Even nine years later, the wounds remain tender for some church members.

Yet, despite that setback, the St. Martin parish members have drawn together and made the new (old) church building their own.

A bronze bust of St. Martin is prominently displayed just inside the front door, and a life-size statue of the saint has its own niche, just behind where the parish choir and musicians set up for services.

And near the bust of St. Martin is a baptismal font that was fashioned out of parts of the fonts from the three original churches: the bowl from St. Mel, a blue mosaic lamb from Resurrection and a glazed terra cotta relief of the baby Jesus from St. Thomas.

Once again, the old St. Thomas building is a comfortable, elegant place of worship.

Yet, for Elizabeth Becnel and most other St. Martin parishioners, the church is more than stone and glass. "The building itself, I like," says Becnel. "The stained-glass windows are absolutely beautiful, especially when the sun is shining. But it's not so much the building. It's what's in here."

She crosses her hands over her heart.

It's the people, she says, who pray and sing and smile and weep together inside the church building's walls. And, each Sunday, as Becnel drives to St. Martin's from her home in Hillside, she can't wait. "I'm excited because I know that I will be worshiping with my church family," she explains.

"When I turn the corner -- Ah! I'm home."

Chicago Tribune Magazine, September 12, 1999, page 17, Patrick T. Reardon author.

[Illustration]

PHOTOS 4; Caption: PHOTO (color): A procession of altar boys heralds the start of Sunday mass at St. Martin de Porres Church in Austin. PHOTO (color): Two girls dressed in their Sunday best take advantage of a lull in the liturgy to squeeze in a quick nap. PHOTO (color): A worshiper prays against the brightly colored backdrop of stained- glass windows installed when the church was still known as St. Thomas Aquinas. PHOTO (color): St. Martin de Porres Church stands in the background of gritty urban life that some days may include a basketball game with a makeshift hoop. (Magazine, page 2.) Tribune photos by John Lee.

Historical and Architectural Importance of Church

On the Chicago Landmarks, Historic Resources Survey (City of Chicago) website, St. Thomas Aquinas/St. Martin de Porres Church is listed. 

St. Martin de Porres/St. Thomas Aquinas Church holds an "orange" designation.

The following information is from the Chicago Landmarks website. 

An inventory of architecturally and historically significant structures.

The Chicago Historic Resources Survey (CHRS), completed in 1995, was a decade-long research effort by the City of Chicago to analyze the historic and architectural importance of all buildings constructed in the city prior to 1940. During 12 years of field work and follow-up research that started in 1983, CHRS surveyors identified 17,371 properties which were considered to have some historic or architectural importance. The CHRS database identifies each property's date of construction, architect, building style and type, Chicago Landmark status (LM), inclusion in the Illinois Historic Structures Survey (ISS), and property identification numbers (PIN). A color-coded ranking system was used to identify historic and architectural significance relative to age, degree of external physical integrity, and level of possible significance.


RED (RD) properties possess some architectural feature or historical association that made them potentially significant in the broader context of the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, or the United States of America. About 300 properties are categorized as "Red" in the CHRS.


ORANGE (OR) properties possess some architectural feature or historical association that made them potentially significant in the context of the surrounding community. About 9,600 properties are categorized as "Orange" in the CHRS.


GREEN (GN), YELLOW-GREEN (YG), and YELLOW (YL) properties are those generally considered either too altered or lacking individual significance to be included in the CHRS database. However, properties with this color ranking that are included in the ISS or located within designated or potential Chicago Landmark districts were included in the CHRS.


BLUE (BL) properties are those constructed after 1940. These properties are considered too recent to be properly evaluated for architectural and historical significance and were generally not included in the CHRS database. However, properties already considered for individual Chicago Landmark designation and properties located within designated Chicago Landmark districts are included in the CHRS.


The on-line version of the CHRS is designed to provide Chicago residents, community groups, businesses and other interested parties with easy access to the database. By making it available on the Internet, the Department of Housing and Economic Development, Historic Preservation Division, hopes to increase architectural awareness in city neighborhoods, assist independent preservation efforts, and provide greater insight into city history. The CHRS was published in book form in 1996. It is no longer available for sale, but bound copies may be found at Chicago Public Libraries, university libraries, historical societies, and major research institutions in Chicago.


In addition to the information contained in the on-line version, the published report includes community histories, a guide to various architectural styles in Chicago, and more than 1,000 photos and illustrations, as well as cross-indexes by such categories as street names, community areas, architects, building styles, and building types. The published report also contains a complete explanation of the methodology and research information that was used by the CHRS surveyors.

Historic Resources Survey entry for Church:

St. Martin de Porres, 1579-1639

SAINT MARTIN de PORRES
Dominican Coadjutor Brother
(1579-1639)

Saint Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru in 1579, during the days when Spanish noblemen and many adventurers were still in the land, fascinated by the lure of the gold and silver which abounded there. He was the natural son of one of these and a young Indian woman. It was not long before his dark complexion caused his father to be ashamed of him and his mother, and to abandon them. Later the father would regret his too rapid decision, and take Martin under his protection.

The young boy often heard himself referred to as a half-breed, and all his life long, his profound humility saw in himself only the magnanimity of God amid the inadequacy of his origins. When his mother could not support him and his sister, Martin was confided to a primary school for two years, then placed with a surgeon to learn the medical arts. This caused him great joy, though he was only ten years old, for he could exercise charity to his neighbor while earning his living. Already he was spending hours of the night in prayer, a practice which increased rather than diminished as he grew older. Until his death he would flagellate himself three times every night, for his own failings and for the conversion of pagans and sinners.

He asked for admission to the Dominican Convent of the Rosary in Lima and was received first as a tertiary. When he was 24, he was given the habit of a Coadjutor Brother and assigned to the infirmary of that convent, where he would remain in service until his death at the age of sixty. His superiors saw in him the virtues necessary to exercise unfailing patience in this difficult role, and he never disappointed them. On the contrary, it was not long before miracles began to happen, and Saint Martin was working also with the sick outside his convent, often bringing them healing with only a simple glass of water. He begged for alms to procure for them necessities the Convent could not provide, and Providence always supplied what he sought.

One day an aged beggar, covered with ulcers and almost naked, stretched out his hand, and Saint Martin, seeing the Divine Mendicant in him, took him to his own bed, paying no heed to the fact that he was not perfectly neat and clean. One of his brethren, considering he had gone too far in his charity, reproved him. Saint Martin replied: “Compassion, my dear Brother, is preferable to cleanliness. Reflect that with a little soap I can easily clean my bed covers, but even with a torrent of tears I would never wash from my soul the stain that my harshness toward the unfortunate would create.”

When an epidemic struck Lima, there were in this single convent of the Rosary sixty religious who were sick, many of them novices in a distant and locked section of the convent, separated from the professed. Saint Martin is known to have passed through the locked doors to care for them, a phenomenon which was observed in the residence more than once. The professed, too, saw him suddenly beside them without the doors having been opened; and these facts were duly verified by the surprised Superiors. Martin continued to transport the sick to the convent until the provincial Superior, alarmed by the contagion threatening the religious, forbid him to continue to do so. His sister, who lived in the country, offered her house to lodge those whom the residence of the religious could not hold. One day he found on the street a poor Indian, bleeding to death from a dagger wound, and took him to his own room until he could transport him to his sister’s hospice. The Superior, when he heard of this, reprimanded his subject for disobedience. He was extremely edified by his reply: “Forgive my error, and please instruct me, for I did not know that the precept of obedience took precedence over that of charity.” In effect, there are situations where charity must prevail; and instruction is very necessary. The Superior gave him liberty thereafter to follow his inspirations in the exercise of mercy.

In normal times Saint Martin succeeded with his alms to feed 160 poor persons every day, and distributed a remarkable sum of money every week to the indigent — the latter phenomenon hard to explain by ordinary calculations. To Saint Martin the city of Lima owed a famous residence founded for orphans and abandoned children, where they were formed in piety for a creative Christian life. This lay Brother had always wanted to be a missionary, but never left his native city; yet even during his lifetime he was seen elsewhere, in regions as far distant as Africa, China, Algeria, Japan. An African slave who had been in irons said he had known Martin when he came to relieve and console many like himself, telling them of heaven. When later the same slave saw him in Peru, he was very happy to meet him again and asked him if he had had a good voyage; only later did he learn that Saint Martin had never left Lima. A merchant from Lima was in Mexico and fell ill; he said aloud: “Oh, Brother Martin, if only you were here to care for me..!” and immediately saw him enter his room. And again, this man did not know until later that he had never been in Mexico.

When he died in 1639, Saint Martin was known to the entire city of Lima; word of his miracles had made him known as a Saint to every resident of the region. After his death, the miracles and graces received when he was invoked multiplied in such profusion that his body was exhumed after 25 years and found intact, and exhaling a fine fragrance. Letters to Rome pleaded for his beatification; the decree affirming the heroism of his virtues was issued in 1763 by Clement XIII; Gregory XVI beatified him in 1836, and in 1962 Pope John XXIII canonized him. The poor and the sick will never fail to find in him a friend having great power over the Heart of God.

Source: Vie du Bienheureux Martin de Porrès, by Fr. Arthur M. Granger, O.P. (Dominican Press: St. Hyacinthe, 1941).