Photos of St. Thomas Aquinas Church Interior, 2011

On February 22, 2011, Bill Stocker, Dan Carr and Elaine McIntyre Beaudoin took a tour of St. Thomas Aquinas/St. Martin de Porres Church in preparation of our March 13th gathering.

Our resident photographer, Dan Carr, took some incredible photos of the interior of the Church and put them together in a slide presentation.  Take a look -- we know you will be pleased to see how well the Church has been cared for since we were all students here.



For a beautiful full-screen slideshow of the Church's interior, click on this link: St. Thomas Aquinas Church Interior.  When the link comes up, click on the small black square with the four arrows in the lower right hand corner of the screen.  To remove the photo information at the top right, click on the small "X" in the upper right hand corner.  Voila, you have a clean full-screen version.

Don't these photos make you want to see the Church in person?

Thank you Dan!

Architectural Design of STA Church

Mary Kinahan Kribble sent us this write up by George A. Lane in his work, Chicago Churches and Synagogues: An Architectural Pilgrimage, Loyola University Press and The University of Chicago Press, 1982, pages 168-169.

In the introduction to the book, Mr. Lane states that "This book singles out 125 architecturally significant churches and synagogues..."   Our St. Thomas Aquinas/St. Martin de Porres is one of them.

St. Thomas Aquinas Church
1923-1925
5120 West Washington Boulevard (100 North)

Architect: Karl M. Vitzthum
Style: Tudor Gothic
Seating: 900

"The twelve-story tower of St. Thomas Aquinas is the tallest structure in the whole Austin neighborhood. It has an array of picturesque elements including pinnacles, flying buttresses, gargoyles, English Gothic windows, and surmounting the uppermost octagonal tower, a Celtic cross.  This cross is a reminder of the predominately Irish West Side Catholic community which built this massive church in the 1920s.

Immaculate Conception window

"Above the three portals of the main entrance on Washington Boulevard is a huge stained glass window with delicate tracery.  It is called the Immaculate Conception window, featuring the Virgin Mary in the midst of angels.  Seen from the inside, it is a brilliant mosaic composed of thousands of pieces of glass imported from Munich, Germany, and executed in the style of early English and French cathedral windows. The Church, which is cruciform in plan, has similar large mosaic windows in the east and west transepts.

Grisaille windows

Vault over side aisle

"The upper clerestory windows, five on each side of the nave, change to the grisaille style of glass and admit an abundance of light which gives the whole church a bright, open atmosphere.  Immediately beneath these windows are spandrels containing medallions of the saints set in backgrounds of gold mosaic.  The vaults over the side aisles are also decorated with gold mosaics as is the area behind each of the side altars in the front of the church.

Eucharistic Tower

"The high altar is of terra cotta construction and was installed in 1929.  Rising above the altar is a unique Eucharistic tower made from two tons of cast bronze.  The tower rises about 35 feet and contains twenty bronze figures.  Behind the altar is a hand-carved walnut reredos with individual figures of the twelve apostles across the top.  Above and behind this is the giant mural, a copy of The Apotheosis [glorification] of St. Thomas Aquinas by the Spanish Renaissance master, Zurbaran. (Note: the mural was removed/painted over in the late 1990s).

Station of the Cross

"Along the side aisles are stations of the cross done in ceramic tile mosaic by M. Louverse of Deserves in northern France.

"The Three-manual Kilgen pipe organ was purchased from the Swiss Pavilion of the 1933 Century of Progress.

Ceiling decoration

"All of the ceiling decoration and the paintings around the church as well as the gold mosaics were done in the early 1950s by the John A. Mallin Co. of Chicago.

"The tower of St. Thomas Aquinas, once a symbol of the faith of a largely Catholic community, is now a symbol of service and welcome to a largely non-Catholic community.  The priests and people of the parish have been leaders in community organization and quality education in the Austin neighborhood for many years."

Now, if that description doesn't make you want to visit on March 13, I don't know what will!  If you are able to join us, be sure to bring your cameras.

Mary - Thank you so much for sharing this information with us!

Photos: Courtesy Elaine McIntyre Beaudoin, 2011 - Double click on images to enlarge, click again to fully enlarge.

March 13 Visit to STA only three weeks away

The following email was sent on February 17 to all 1960 STA Classmates for whom we have an email address:

Hi STA Classmates –

We have sent out invites – snail mail and email – to 62 of our 1960 STA Classmates for the March 13 gathering and tour at St. Thomas Aquinas (now St. Martin de Porres) Church and school. The response has been wonderful and we are expecting about 25 of our classmates and perhaps another 25 representing other STA Classes. They are coming from as far as Nevada and Ohio – quite impressive!

As requested on the invitation, a number of you responded to the tally count on the STA Blog site. Unfortunately, we are unable to determine who has actually responded on the site, so if you have responded in this manner, we would really appreciate it if you could also send me an email confirming your attendance – ah, technology!

There are 22 classmates we still are unable to locate. If anyone knows how to contact anyone of them, please let us know and we will see an invitation to the March 13 event is provided.

Hope your calendars are marked for Sunday, March 13, 2011. We begin with Mass at 10:30 a.m.; followed by a tour of the Church and school; and, end with refreshments in the school canteen including a lot of catching up with classmates and friends. Continue to check the website at http://stthomasaquinasreunion.blogspot.com for additional information.

UNFOUND 1960 STA CLASSMATES! 

Can you help us locate them?

Joanmary Carroll

Diane H. Cullnan

Robert J. Hutchison

Linda R. Kovach Bollin

Richard J. LaRose

Jeanette M. Lawlor

Michael P. Letson

Margaret A. Maloney

John P. McAuliffe

Elizabeth A. Neil

John T. Quinn

Marion J. Riester

Donald A. Rio

Violet M. Scalise

Constance M. Schleimer

Regina M. Sears

John S. Sexton (Rigney)

Louise M. Tito

Sandra I. Tromotola

Lucille Valentino

Lynette M. Vivacqua

Janice R. White Carlson

Special thanks to Bill Stocker who is the emissary with St. Martin de Porres’ Pastor, Father Peter, and is arranging the visit.  Looking forward to seeing everyone on March 13.

Elaine McIntyre Beaudoin
Just click on my name to send me an email

If you have one of these.........

then we hope you will join us on March 13 as we visit our school and Church.  The number of attendees is increasing, about 40 at the moment.

Bill Stocker has visited the facilities twice. He reports the Church is as awesome as ever and the school is in surprisingly good shape.  He noted the school canteen, where we will gather after the tour for some refreshments, looks much like it did in these 1960 photos. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

We hope you are planning to join us on Sunday, March 13, 2011 at 10:30 a.m.  A small parking lot is available just west of the Church at Leamington Avenue and Washington Boulevard.  Additionally, there is street parking along Leamington and Leclaire avenues as well as along Washington Boulevard.

Found one - Lost one

Through the detective work of Dennis "Sherlock" Czechanski, we have located Pat Carroll Picha.   She said she is interested in the March 13 gathering at St. Tommies.  Hope she will be able to make it.

Unfortunately, we have "lost" Donald Rio.  He was in Lombard until recently, but his invitation to the March 13th event has been returned.  Does anyone know how to contact Don?

I also understand that we have a lead on yet another one of our "unfound" classmates.  Hope it pans out.

The count for March 13 is about 30 attendees at the moment.  This includes 17 from the class of 1960 and nearly as many from other classes.