Remember My Church

Items

• Stained Glass Windows of St. Ita's
  The stained glass at St. Ita's are a main staple of the church with them being present from inside and outside of the church. The stained glass is made with over six million individually stained glass pieces. The imagery depicted allows for people to understand the story of Christ if they are not able to read or are not familiar with the story of Christ. The art was part of the church designed by Henry J. Schlacks. The stained glass windows give a wonderful glow when the light hits them and shine through, representing God's light shining on the parishioners within. The St. Ita site on the Mary, Mother of God website gives a detailed account of each and every stained glass window that is present in the church.
• Daniel Lagacy Oral history interview
  Daniel Lagacy is the director of music and liturgy coordinator for the Mary, Mother of God parish. He has worked at St. Ita for over 20 years and has continued his role into the merger. In this interview, we discussed his religious and musical career within the church, and how this has intersected with the Mary Mother of God merger. In addition, this interview gives an insight into community building within the church, and how the church’s history has impacted the merger. This interview is roughly an hour and twenty minutes long. It took place in person in the St. Ita Rectory. “The interview took place as part of the Gathering Places project at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. For more information, see https://uwm.edu/gatheringplaces.”
• Screenshot of St. Ita's weekly mass schedule
  This is a screenshot of St. Ita's weekly mass schedule. It can be found on the Mary Mother of God website. It lists the times for both the English and Spanish mass services.
• Easter Sunday of the Lord's Ressurection/Domingo de Ramos de la Pasión del Señor
  This is a link to the recording of the 2024 Easter Sunday of the Lord's Ressurection/Domingo de Ramos de la Pasión del Señor Spanish service. This video can be found on the Mary Mother of God Facebook page. It was initially published as a live stream and is now available as a video.
• Oral History with Leroy Blommaert
  This interview is with Leroy Blommaert, a long time parishioner of St. Ita's Church. Leroy speaks about his time with St. Ita's since he joined the parish in 1965 and how it has changed over time. He also speaks about the church architecture and how he values it. Leroy has spent time as an usher as well as a money counter at the church. He talks about his time he has spent with the parish and the relationships he has formed because of it. His favorite part of the church was the design of the church because it stands out against it's surroundings due to its nature in the French Gothic Style.
• Picture of Father Crowe
  Father Crowe was the founding reverend of St. Ita's church. He gathered 53 parishioner families and held the inaugeral mass in the guild hall before the church even had its own frame building. In the ensuing frame building Father Crowe established the convent that would run the school he established in the basement of the frame church. Eventually the parish would grow so much that Father Crowe would plead the archdiocese to commission a church to be designed and build. This church was build in the French Gothic style and it is still standing over 100 years later. Crowe unfortunately died after being struck as a pedestrian in a hit and run.
• Shrine to Our Lady de Cobra
  An image of the Shrine to Our Lady de Cobra, origionally located on the Mary Mother of God website. This shrine, created in the 1970s, is located in the back of the church.
• Image of the outside of St. Ita
  This is a black-and-white image of St. Ita taken from the back of the building. The exact date of the image is unknown, but it is presumed to have been taken sometime in the 1950s.
• Invitation for 90th anniversary of St.Ita
  This is an image of an invitation card for St Ita's 90th anniversary dated October 13th, 1990. It states the itinerary for the event: a thanksgiving mass offered by Bishop Timothy Lyne at 4pm, followed by an open reception in the school, a birthday dinner at 6pm in the Jubilee hall, and finally, entertainment at 9pm.
• Image of the Sanctuary of St Ita's
  This is an archived image of the Sanctuary of St Ita's Parish. The Sanctuary is the holiest place in the congregation.
• Church of St. Ita Diamond Jubilee Flier
  This is a flier for St. Ita's Diamond Jubilee, dated October 12th, 1975. The bottom of the flier notes that it is a mass of Thanksgiving.
• Newspaper Clipping - Six Million Pieces of Glass in Them - Stained Glass of St. Ita's
  This image is of a newspaper clipping speaking about how the stained glass at St. Ita's church contains six million individual stained glass pieces and how they glitter and produce a jewel-like effect when the sun shines on them. The newspaper also says they are called the finest in the country and it also speaks on how the main attention-grabbing image is of the crucifixion while also talking about the other stained glass that is a part of the church. There are many different depictions in the stained glass with some of the main figures being Christ, Mary, and a variety of the apostles. There are also depictions in the medallion windows that show different events in the books of the Bible.
• Newspaper Clipping Announcing Start of Work on New Uptown Church
  This image depicts a newspaper clipping talking about the new St. Ita building that was beginning to be built in 1923. The church was designed in the French Gothic style by Henry J. Schlacks. The church at the time cost $500,000 which in today's time (2024) costs $9,132,514.62. The church was being build on the northwest corner of Broadway and Catalpa. The church was allowed to be built after Rev. Crowe pleaded with Cardinal Mundelein. Henry J. Schlacks, the architect, designed not only the church itself but also the pulpit, and all of its furnishings inside.
• Picture of the Guild Hall that the St. Ita's Parish was founded in
  This image depicts the guild hall where Rev. John Crowe was tasked to establish the St. Ita's Parish. The guild hall was used for the meetings before the frame building of the church was created. It was home to meetings for different parts of the Edgewater community before they had their own buildings. The parish's first meeting was in the guild hall and the pastor gave the sermon on a wooden box in order to stand above the crowd. The guild hall was only a short part of the life of the church, it was only the meeting place for the parish for a couple months before the frame building that held the school building in the basement.
• Image of St. Ita's Organ and Rose Window
  A Black and white image of the organ and rose window located within St. Ita's church. The organ was installed under Monsignor Gerard Picard in 1951.
• Letter to Father Crowe to establish St. Ita Parish
  This image is a letter depicting Archbishop Patrick Feehan writing Reverend John Crowe to establish a new parish in the Edgewater community in Chicago, Illinois. The parish was established by him in 1900 in the guild hall that was nearby. The parish was established with 53 parishioner families in attendance. It was established to serve the Irish and German immigrants in the Edgewater community. The parish boundaries at the time were extensive and served many families in the community as it grew, eventually growing into a school and convent. Father Crowe helped grow the church through his meetings with the parish members and fundraising bazaars.
• Rev. Crowe Newspaper Announcement
  An image of a newspaper clipping announcing the death of Reverend J.H. Crowe. Rev. Crowe was killed in an automotive accident while he was crossing the street. The driver tried to flee but was caught by three people who witnessed the accident. The image is from August 30th, 1930. Father Crowe is to be remembered through his fundraising and through his talks with the parishioners about how to fundraising and how much they should raise. The parishioners remember Father Crowe through his walks around the parish and how he used to encourage the school boys from the rectory window with their efforts in their snowball fights.