A New Church: Majestic and Beautiful
In 1909 St. Mary of the Angels parish had grown to become one of the largest in the Archdiocese of Chicago, with some 1200 mostly large families. Both the church and school had become too small to hold all the parishioners and their school children. As a result Fr. Gordon hired Henry Worthmann and J.G. Steinbach to design a new church in the Roman Renaissance style, similar in style to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, but the dimensions of the new church would be about one third that of St. Peter’s in every direction: width, length, and height. The church would be located at the corner of Hermitage and Cortland and seat 2000. The dome would rise 125 feet from floor to ceiling (St. Peter’s in Rome 394 feet), 230 feet in length (St. Peter’s 694 ft.), and 125 feet in width (St. Peter’s, 451 ft.). 26 nine-foot tall angels would decorate the perimeter of the church’s roof (similar to the 140 eighteen-foot statues of the apostles and other saints on the colonnade and above the façade of St. Peter’s).
Work on the new church began on September 28, 1911. While excavating the site the workers unearthed three crucifixes. This was taken as a sign of God’s providential will for the church. On August 2, 1914 feast of St. Mary of the Angels— the cornerstone was blessed before thousands of faithful. Difficulties seemed to bog down the project with shortages of money, building materials, labor strikes, and World War I.
Fr. Gordon became provincial superior of the Resurrectionists from 1918 until 1928, while remaining pastor at St. Mary of the Angels. He followed the construction of the church and development of the parish closely.
After years of hard work and much sacrifice the present church of St. Mary of the Angels was finally finished at the cost of $400,000 ($5 million in today’s currency). Archbishop George W. Mundelein dedicated the church on May 30, 1920, which was attended by the U.S. Ambassador to Poland and the Polish Envoy to the United States. The Archbishop recognized the great generosity of the ordinary, rather poor, working-class parishioners for the many sacrifices they made in building this extraordinary edifice: “The people in this neighborhood were satisfied to contribute from their slender earnings in order that God’s house might rise gigantic, majestic and beautiful.” In fact, parishioners had mortgaged their home to raise the monies needed to build the church. To thank our Blessed Mother for her help in turning their dreams into reality, the people marched in a May procession after the solemn high Mass.
In 1920 St. Mary of the Angels had at least 28 confraternities, sodalities, fraternal societies, and clubs, which included two building and loan associations.
In 1924 Pope Pius XI made Archbishop Mundelein cardinal. The Pope also awarded Father Gordon the papal medal, Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, for his extraordinary service to the Catholic Church in Chicago. On August 5th Cardinal Mundelein presented the medal to him at St. Mary of the Angels church. This led up to the 25* anniversary celebration on December 10.
Father Gordon died on February 13, 1931. Let us thank God for his vision and generosity.
