Chicagoland

Explore treasures in the archdiocese with our bucket list

By Chicago Catholic staff
Sep 18, 2025 10:43:00 PM

Explore treasures in the archdiocese with our bucket list

The Archdiocese of Chicago abounds with spiritual riches. Within Cook and Lake counties, there are shrines, chapels, basilicas and grottoes. There are unique devotions to various saints, along with outdoor processions in honor of Jesus and his mother. People could live their whole lives in the archdiocese and experience only a few of these gems. To help people find more opportunities, Chicago Catholic created a Catholic bucket list of places and events they can check out. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Lily and Max, owned by Cynthia Bhatt, pose for a picture during a pet blessing in celebration of St. Francis at St. Bruno and St. Richard Parish on Oct. 2, 2021. Parishes throughout the archdiocese host pet blessings each year. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Melissa McNulty hangs clothes that were donated amongst the wide selection available to bargain hunters. Volunteers sort through and price items at the House of Hope Resale shop in located 955 S. Rand Road, in the Deerfield Commons Retail Center, Lake Zurich on July 24, 2023. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Over 400 horses carrying members of Club Los Vaqueros Unidos (United Cowboys Club) from the Chicago area make their way to place a rose at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines on Dec. 7, 2019 as part of a pre-celebration for the feast day on Dec. 12. The horseback pilgrimage is the unofficial start of two days of festivities at the shrine where more than 100,000 people make a pilgrimage each year for event. The feast celebrates the appearance of Mary to indigenous peasant St. Juan Diego in 1531 near present-day Mexico City. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Interior artwork at St. Benedict the African Church, 340 West 66th St. in Englewood in Chicago. The church is full of religious artwork that depicts African-American Catholics. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Holy Name Cathedral, State and Superior Streets in Chicago. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Dancers at St. Procopius Parish in Pilsen celebrated Day of the Dead on Oct. 31, 2021. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Leonard Giuliano attaches donations from parishioners to the statue of St Rocco following Mass before a long procession. Parishioners at St. William Church, 2600 N. Sayre Ave., celebrated the 115th annual feast of St. Rocco with a Mass and outdoor procession Aug. 19, 2018. Parishes throughout the archdiocese hold festivals around the feast of saints important to the community. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)
Parishioners view some of the relics following Mass at the Shrine of All Saints at St. Martha Church, 8523 Georgiana Ave. in Morton Grove, on Nov. 1, 2015. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic)

The Archdiocese of Chicago abounds with spiritual riches. Within Cook and Lake counties, there are shrines, chapels, basilicas and grottoes. There are unique devotions to various saints, along with outdoor processions in honor of Jesus and his mother.

People could live their whole lives in the archdiocese and experience only a few of these gems. To help people find more opportunities, Chicago Catholic created a Catholic bucket list of places and events they can check out. Note: This is not an all-encompassing list of our favorite events or places in the archdiocese.

• Visit or attend Mass at Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State St., the mother church of the archdiocese.

Be sure to look up at the ceiling to see the thousands of hand-carved wood pieces covering the 19th-century ceiling in a gingerbread style.

Also look up in the sanctuary to see the red hats hanging from the ceiling. Those are “galeros,” a traditional hat of a cardinal that is raised to the ceiling of his cathedral upon his death. The hat hangs until it turns into dust,  a reminder that all earthly glory is passing.

The center hat belonged to Chicago’s first cardinal, George Mundelein. From left to right, the galeros represent late Cardinals Albert Meyer, Joseph Bernardin, Mundelein, John Cody, Samuel Stritch and Francis George. The practice of the pope presenting new cardinals with a galero was discontinued after the Second Vatican Council. holynamecathedral.org

• Visit the Healing Garden of the Archdiocese of Chicago, just west of Holy Family Church, 1080 W. Roosevelt Road.

Established in 2011 with the blessing of Cardinal George, the garden was the brainchild of sex-abuse survivor Michael Hoffman. It is a permanent testimony not only to the clergy sex abuse that happened, but also to the efforts at reconciliation between victim-survivors and the church.
protect.archchicago.org/healing-garden

• Participate in the Polish pilgrimage from Chicago (usually starting at Immaculate Conception Church) to Merrillville, Indiana, in honor of Mary, held the second weekend of August.

This 33-mile walking pilgrimage is a local version of a traditional pilgrimage in Poland that takes place around the feast of the Assumption. salwatorianie.us/pilgrimages

• Visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 1170 N. River Road, Des Plaines.

If you can, go during the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration  Dec. 11-12.

The weekend before the feast day features a pilgrimage of hundreds of riders on horseback, and another of trucks. Pilgrims traditionally bring roses for Mary.

 The shrine is recognized by the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico as a place that pilgrims can fulfill “mandas,” or promises made to Mary, if they cannot travel to Mexico. solg.org

• Attend an outdoor Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) on Good Friday. Check local parishes for one near you. One of the largest processions takes place in Pilsen.

• Have your pet blessed for the feast of St. Francis, Oct. 4. Dozens of parishes throughout the archdiocese hold blessings on or around the feast day.

• Visit all three basilicas in the archdiocese: St. Hyacinth, 3636 W. Wolfram St. (sthyacinthbasilica.org); Our Lady of Sorrows, 3111 W. Jackson Blvd. (ols-chicago.com); Queen of All Saints, 6280 N. Sauganash Ave (qasparish.org).

• Participate in an outdoor religious procession. Many parishes hold processions around the feast days of saints to whom their community has a particular devotion and around the eucharistic feast of Corpus Christi. Check local parishes for one near you.

• Venerate a saint’s relic. Some parishes offer veneration of a saint’s relic on the saint’s  feast day, or have veneration of relics that are visiting.

• Visit the National Shrine of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini, located across from the Lincoln Park Zoo at 2520 N. Lakeview Ave.

Mother Cabrini lived and worked in Chicago and died on the site. The shrine has a small but unique museum that includes a recreation of the room where she died. cabrininationalshrine.org

• Visit St. Martha Parish/Shrine of All Saints, 8523 Georgiana Ave., Morton Grove. The sanctuary houses relics of more than 1,600 saints and soon-to-be saints, from the apostles to Sts. Teresa of Kolkata, John Paul II and one of the church’s newest saints, Carlo Acutis. shrineofallsaints.org

• Attend the solemn novena to St. Clare Aug. 2-10, at the Poor Clare Monastery, 12210 S. Will-Cook Road, Palos Park; or the feast day Mass Aug. 11. Call 708-361-1810 for details.

• Visit St. Benedict the African Church, 340 W. 66th St., to view the unique architecture, which was designed to resemble an African hut.

The artwork in the church celebrates African American Catholics.

This is one of several archdiocesan churches that has been featured in Open House Chicago, a free public architecture festival hosted by the Chicago Architecture Center. benedicttheafrican.org

• Attend the annual Sunrise Prayer Service for Nonviolence and Peace sponsored each August by the Chicago Black Deacons at Oakwood Beach. deacons.archchicago.org/current-events/sunrise-mass

• Attend the annual  Family Fest at Misericordia Home, 6300 N. Ridge Road.

This campus-wide festival features music, food, games and other entertainment.

If you can’t make the festival, stop by The Greenhouse Inn for lunch. Residents of Misericordia help serve the food and wait on customers in this restaurant located on Misericordia’s campus. You can also take home some sweets from Misericordia’s Hearts and Flours Bakery. misericordia.com

• Join in the weekly rosary walk at St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish, 218 W. Alexander St., in Chinatown, on Monday afternoons, rain or shine. Contact the parish for times. stmotherteresaparish.org

• Pray the outdoor stations of the cross at Marytown, 1600 W. Park Ave., Libertyville.

Staffed by the Conventual Franciscans, Marytown is home to the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe,  with artifacts of the saint and the monstrance created for the 1926 Eucharistic Congress held in the archdiocese. kolbeshrine.org

•  Stop by St. John Cantius Church, 825 N. Carpenter St., on Corpus Christi weekend to see the chalk design on the steps in front of the church.

While you’re there, check out the church and its beautiful sacred art. Don’t forget to look down at the unique wood floor. cantius.org

• Visit the Madonna Della Strada chapel, 6453 N. Kenmore Ave., at Loyola University Chicago in Rogers Park. The chapel is designed in an art deco style and is situated with its doors facing Lake Michigan. luc.edu/campusministry/mdschapel

• Attend the St. Anne Novena at Our Lady of Fatima Church, 2751 W. 38th Place, culminating on her feast day, July 26. The St. Anne shrine was erected in 1900 and novenas have been held there ever since. oladyf.weebly.com

• See Pope Leo XIV’s childhood home at 212 E. 141st Place in Dolton. The city hopes to turn the modest house into a museum. 

• The archdiocese is home to the National Shrine of St. Jude, operated by the Claretians at 3200 E. 91st St. (shrineofstjude.org), and the Dominican Shrine of St. Jude Thaddeus, in St. Pius V Church, 1901 S. Ashland Ave. (http://the-shrine.orgthe-shrine.org). Visit either or both.

• St. Odilo Church, 2244 East Ave., Berwyn, houses the only shrine to the Holy Souls in Purgatory in the United States. saintodilo.org

• Volunteer at the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels, 3808 W. Iowa St. Staffed by the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago, the mission is a hub of social outreach on the West Side. missionola.com

•  Attend a Day of the Dead celebration. Both St. Procopius Church, 1641 S. Allport St. (stprocopius.org), and the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 1170 N. River Road, Des Plaines (solg.org) have large and lively celebrations.

• Attend a Lunar New Year Mass. There are several each year at various parishes, including at St. Therese Chinese Catholic Church of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish, 218 W. Alexander St. stmotherteresaparish.org

• Attend the Mass held during Fiesta del Sol each year in Pilsen. The Mass, held on the grounds of the popular festival, is a partnership between the Hispanic deacons of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry. fiestadelsol.org/festival

• Visit the House of Hope thrift store, 955 S. Rand Road, operated by St. Anne Parish in Barrington. The  large store offers everything from clothing and housewares to furniture. hohresale.org

 

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