Madonna Della Strada Chapel facts for kids
The Madonna della Strada Chapel is a special church building located at Loyola University Chicago in Rogers Park, Chicago. It is named after a famous painting of the Virgin Mary called Madonna Della Strada. This painting is kept in a very important church in Rome, Italy, called the Church of the Gesù. This church is the main church for the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits.
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History of the Chapel
Building this chapel was a big dream for Father James Mertz, S.J. He worked hard to collect all the money needed to build it. The Madonna Della Strada Chapel is the main chapel on Loyola University Chicago's Lake Shore Campus. It was built right next to Lake Michigan, with the water almost at its front door!
The chapel was designed by an architect named Andrew Rebori. He used the Art Deco style, which was popular at the time. The chapel first opened its doors to the Loyola University community in 1938. We don't have many old records, so it's hard to know exactly which artists created each part of the chapel's decorations. However, a Chicago artist named Edgar Miller played a very important role in making many of the artworks.
Some other chapels in Latin America were also named after this chapel in Chicago. This was done to honor the Jesuit missionaries and students from Loyola University Chicago who traveled there.
Amazing Stained Glass Windows
The chapel has beautiful stained glass windows. On the north side of the main hall, there are seven windows. Each one shows a saint and represents one of the seven colleges that were part of the university when the chapel was built.
- St. Thomas Aquinas - Represents Arts & Sciences
- St. Luke - Represents Medicine
- St. Anne and Mary - Represent Nursing
- St. Thomas More - Represents Law
- St. Matthew - Represents Business Administration
- St. Vincent de Paul - Represents Social Work
- St. Apollonia of Alexandria - Represents Dentistry
On the south side of the main hall, there are another seven stained glass windows. These windows show the main ways the Jesuits serve people.
- St. Peter Canisius - Represents Education
- St. Francis Regis - Represents Spiritual Life
- St. Francis Xavier - Represents Foreign Missions (helping people in other countries)
- St. Ignatius - Represents The Spiritual Exercises (a special way of praying and reflecting)
- St. Joseph - Represents helping people who are dying
- The Blessed Virgin - Represents the Sodality of Our Lady (a group dedicated to Mary)
- The Sacred Heart - Represents a devotion to Jesus
Updates and Renovations
The Madonna della Strada Chapel was updated between July 2006 and August 2007. During this time, new systems were put in place to keep the chapel cool and to improve the air circulation.
The Katheryn "Kay" Stamm Memorial Organ
A brand new pipe organ was built and installed in 2008. It's called the Katheryn "Kay" Stamm Memorial Organ. This organ is very large and has 70 "ranks" of pipes. These pipes are controlled by three "manuals" (keyboards) and a pedalboard. The organ is played from a special console located at the back of the chapel.
Every Halloween at midnight, the chapel hosts a fun event called the "Midnight Organ Blast." During this event, eerie and spooky melodies are played on the organ! The university also hosts free organ concerts on the third Sunday of each month.
See also
- Madonna Della Strada
