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.