Day 71: The Holiest Name of All

     It is often said that you can get a good glimpse into a community if you look at its houses of worship.  Chicago is no exception.  And while there are dozens of houses of worship in the city, THE big one for the Catholic archdiocese is Holy Name Cathedral.  The roots of the church go back to September 30, 1843, when the Diocese of Chicago was formed.

     In 1852, the Diocese found its first home in the Church of the Holy Name.  However, when 1871 rolled around, the Great Chicago Fire came through town and destroyed everything in its wake.  The Church was doomed to the same fate as the first Marshall Fields store, the original station for the Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad, as well as hundreds of other buildings: destruction.  The church's pastor immediately started touring the country to raise money for the rebuilding.  For the next 4 years, the parishioners worshiped in a boarded-up home on Cass St. known as the Shanty Cathedral.  Finally, the church reopened on November 21, 1875.

     Just over a decade and a half later, the church was found to be sinking into its foundations, so another renovation project was undertaken.  By 1915, all was well and the church was doing great.  9 years later, Archbishop George Mundelein was elevated to the rank of Cardinal, and upon his return from Rome was greeted by more than 80,000 Catholic well-wishers.  Mundelein died in his sleep in October 1939, and the anticipated crowds were expected to be so great that the city had to hurry up and pave over State Street(where the subway was being constructed at the time) so that the road could handle the flood of mourners.

     Of course, that wasn't the only funeral held at Holy Name over the years.  Roger Ebert, Harry Caray, and Ron Santo have all been memorialized in services held at Holy Name.  In more recent history, the Cathedral survived a massive fire on February 4, 2009.  Normally a fire of that magnitude would've completely destroyed the building, but the Chicago Fire Department saved the building with their tenacity and courage, so that it can continue to inspire Chicagoans fro decades to come.