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On March 27, 1921 Cardinal George Mundelein established St Margaret Mary Parish and named Rev George McCarthy as its first pastor. When the parish was established it consisted of 135 families.

St Margaret Mary Parish was established to meet the needs of the Luxembourg community who was willing to work to build a fine parish where they could worship the God who blessed them and to build a school to educate their children.

In March of 1924, Cardinal George Mundelein approved the plans for a two story plus basement building that would house the church on the first floor and eight classrooms on the second. The basement would house the social center/gymnasium. The church/school was dedicated June 21, 1925 and the Sisters of St Joseph from LaGrange Illinois were asked to staff the school.

In June of 1937 construction of the present church started. It was dedicated on December 18, 1938.

Since then the building on Claremont was purchased and became the parish convent. Following WWII the rectory was built and the Activity Center completed the campus.

Since its beginnings in the ‘20s, St Margaret Mary Parish has grown to 800 families with a school of 180 students and a Religious Education program that serves over 50 young people in our parish community.

From that small group of people from Luxembourg, the parish now hosts people from all over the world. The makeup of the parish has changed so dramatically that on Pentecost we celebrate The Diversity of Culture and the Oneness of Faith. It is a joy that SMM welcomes diverse people who gather as one in faith to celebrate the Eucharist.

St Margaret Mary Parish looks forward to many years of service to God’s people in the West Ridge community and welcomes everyone.

Come to visit, plan to become part of our parish community.

 

AN EXPLANATION OF THE SYMBOLS

SMM Floor Front

In order to understand the symbols in the newly renovated floor of our parish church, we must look at it as a whole. If we stand just inside the main doors of the church looking in, we will see how everything is connected to one another and leads our attention to the altar upon which the Eucharist is celebrated.

Upon entering the church, the first thing we will come to is the baptismal font. This particular baptismal font has been a part of the parish for many years. It stands at the center of the gathering space because it serves as a reminder of the moment when we were baptized. It was at baptism when our journey to God began and we became a follower of Jesus Christ.

SMM Floor Labyrinth

As we walk down the aisle, we will come across the symbol of the labyrinth. This is a replica of the symbol that is in the Chartres Cathedral in France that was built in the 12th century. The labyrinth has been a prominent feature of the famous cathedral and draws pilgrims to it even to this day. Borrowed from pagan origins and given a new understanding in light of the Christian faith, this symbol has been used by Catholic Christians for close to 800 years as a way to grow deeper in their relationship to God. The true purpose of the labyrinth was to serve as a reminder of the path Christians take on their journey to God.

As we may well know, the path to God never follows a straight line. It is never that easy. We derail ourselves so many times and in so many different ways. The sins we choose to commit take us off the path and God must redirect us. A traumatic or sad moment in life can also take us off the path and God must again redirect our steps. At times, we may feel as if we are wandering in circles and getting nowhere in our faith journey. We may sometimes feel as if God has left us alone in our wandering. We struggle to make sense of life. What will help us make sense of it all?

Mass Schedules

Weekdays Mass Schedule

Monday - Friday
8:00 a.m. Bilingual - English/Vietnamese

Weekend Mass Schedule

Saturday
4:00 PM (English)
6:00 PM (Vietnamese)

Sunday
7:30 a.m. Vietnamese
9:30 a.m. English
11:30 a.m. Vietnamese
1:30 p.m. English

Confession

Saturdays from 3:00-3:30 pm. 
1st & 3rd in English
2nd & 4th in English & Vietnamese

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