SS. Cyril and Methodius in Lemont

SS. Cyril and Methodius
Church
SS. Cyril and Methodius
Church
Coordinates: 41°40′13″N 87°59′40″W / 41.6702°N 87.9945°W / 41.6702; -87.9945
Location Lemont
Country United States
Denomination Roman Catholic
Website SS Cyril and Methodius's Parish
History
Founded 1884
Founder(s) Polish immigrants
Dedication SS. Cyril and Methodius
Architecture
Functional status Active
Heritage designation For Polish immigrants
Architect(s) Erhard Brielmaier
Architectural type Church
Style Polish Cathedral style
Groundbreaking  ()
Completed 1929 (1929)
Specifications
Materials Brick

SS. Cyril and Methodius in Lemont (Polish: Kościół Świętego Cyryla i Metodego) - historic church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, located in Lemont, Illinois.

It is a prime example of the so-called 'Polish Cathedral style' of churches in both its opulence and grand scale. Along with the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago, it is one of the two monumental religious edifices that dominate the Lemont skyline.

History

Poles are noted in the Lemont area as early as 1860 working in the local quarries. SS. Cyril and Methodius parish was founded in 1884 as a Polish parish. The surrounding area was called Jasna Góra, in reverence to the shrine of the Black Madonna in Poland. The parish offers mass in both Polish and English and is currently home to 1,965 families.

Architecture

The church was designed by Erhard Brielmaier, and sons, who are most well known for their design of the magnificent St. Josaphat Basilica in Milwaukee as well as the now closed parish of St. Salomea in Roseland. The Romanesque style edifice was completed in 1929, replacing a former church that burned down in 1928. Some of the church's highlights are the beautiful original rose window, the new entryway, and the church's steeple which is the highest elevation in all of Cook County, Illinois.

Patron saints

Cyril and Methodius were brothers born of Macedonian nobility, who became priests in Constantinople. They evangelized to the Slavic peoples, translated the liturgy into Slavonic and made numerous converts. They are also credited with devising and spreading the Glagolitic alphabet, which was used for Slavonic manuscripts before the development of the Cyrillic, the alphabet derived from Glagolitic, that, with small modifications, is still used in a number of Slavic languages. Both brothers were canonized in The Eastern Orthodox Church as "equal-to-apostles". In the Roman Catholic Church they are also jointly revered as Apostles to the Slavs and their cult was further glorified in 1980 when Pope John Paul II declared them the patron saints of Europe.

Church in architecture books

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/9/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.