MADISON – It’s not often a church re-opens its doors, but St. Mary’s (Ukrainian) Catholic Church in Madison did just that.
This may not seem like a lot to some — a new church — but to the Ukrainian Catholics in the Madison and Granite City communities, it is a rebirth of their heritage.
The church closed its doors more than 5 years ago and the little chapel on Iowa Street fell into disrepair. A group of Ukrainian descendants decided it was time to resurrect the church and with help from the Ukrainian Diocese of Saint Nicholas of Chicago, they were able to accomplish it.
There is a rich history of Eastern European immigrants in the twin cities of Madison and Granite City. These people moved to the region for the promise of jobs in factories, mines and mills and it’s where they built places to practice their faith.
The church was originally built in 1912 and since it is closing the building had been stripped of all its copper piping and other materials, however, the art, most of it done by renowned church muralist Max Autenrieb, remained intact.
The congregation, with assistance from the Ukrainian Diocese’s Bishop Benedict Aleksiychuk was able to raise $30,000 to re-open the parish.
Ukrainian Greek Catholics are Eastern Rite Christians who follow the Bzantine-Slovonic traditions. In 1905, a small group of Ukrainian laborers conceived the St. Nicholas Parish in Chicago.
Ukrainian Greek Catholics are the largest church of the 23 Catholic Churches that observe an Eastern rite. There are approximately 16 million Eastern Catholics in the world, of which 7 million are Ukrainian Greek Catholics. Approximately 50,000 Ukrainian Greek Catholics live in the United States and are a community that is diverse geographically, linguistically and socioeconomically.
Since Bishop Aleksiychuk’s arrival at St. Nicholas in 2017, he has taken steps to strengthen the Ukrainian church and its parishes.
St. Mary’s re-opened in mid-November and will hold a Christmas liturgy, which to many means the gathering of community to celebrate a new life.
A sign of a church reopening its doors is a sign of renewal and rebirth. It’s a sign there is a new vision for the future and I want to wish the parishioners at St. Mary’s (Ukrainian) Church a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
