Barat Reprieved! Simony Thwarted.

The Lake Forest Preservation Council has stopped demolition of the Chapel of Convent of the Sacred Heart at Barat College. Thanks to all that have assisted in the preservation of the chapel in their research, testimony, prayers, and general belligerence.

It is still possible for the Lake Forest City Council to overturn the Preservation ruling, but the momentum is against destruction and in favor of maintaining the Chapel as a community space.

Shall we celebrate with The Litany of Mary?

Celebrated Author to Show Churches

Denis McNamara, the author of Heavenly City, will be giving a series of lectures this autumn. Denis gives a fine presentation and is a great tour guide. Come see a Founder of the Society of St. Barbara at:


Wed 9/13: Serra Club talk, Oak Park
Tuesday 10/10: Tour of Chicago's great churches with Miles Jesu
Monday 10/16: Tour of Chicago's Basilicas with Lumen Cordium Society

And the image? A tapesty of the life of St. Denis, of course.

St. Peter's Church New York City

In Remembrance:

"The body of the Rev. Mychal F. Judge offically the first casualty at the World Trade Center was brought to St. Peter's by firefighters on September 11, 2001 and laid before the altar"

In David W. Dunlap's "From Abyssinian to Zion"

Classical Church Architect Named to Top Post

From the Wall Street Journal:

The federal agency that builds courthouses, border stations and other federal buildings is set to name a new chief architect, a move that could usher in a return to a more traditional type of architecture in the government's $10 billion construction program.

The General Services Administration has selected Thomas Gordon Smith, an architect based in South Bend, Ind., according to several people who have been informed of the decision.

Mr. Smith is best known as a practitioner and promoter of traditional architecture that finds inspiration in Roman temples and palaces. His portfolio includes religious buildings in the Midwest, homes and the renovation of a building at the University of Notre Dame, where he served as chairman of the architecture school from 1989 to 1998. Mr. Smith said he is "delighted" about the appointment, but declined to comment further until the GSA makes an official announcement. A GSA spokeswoman declined to confirm the appointment.

The chief architect office is considered one of the most prestigious positions in the field of building design. It will oversee $1.6 billion of construction this fiscal year and has a long-range plan that includes around $10 billion of projects. Federal buildings are often the most prominent in town.

The previous chief architect, Edward A. Feiner, retired in January 2005, and the position has remained unfilled since. Through his "design excellence" program, Mr. Feiner recruited prominent as well as cutting-edge architects, including Richard Meier, Thom Mayne and Robert A.M. Stern. Mr. Feiner, now with architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, declined to comment.

Many, though not all, of the projects under Mr. Feiner eschewed the classical tradition of white marble and columns common in pre-World War II federal architecture. In its place are buildings such as Mr. Mayne's futuristic San Francisco Federal Building, a metal-clad rectangular structure.

Mr. Stern, dean of the Yale School of Architecture and well known for embracing classical architectural traditions while tolerating modern ones, called Mr. Smith "a wonderful choice," though one that will "probably get a lot of people crazy." He says Mr. Smith has "a strong point of view, and that's great." Mr. Stern adds, "But he has the capacity to shift and manage his position without closing the door to others."

Others are worried federal architecture will lose its cutting-edge focus. Henry Smith-Miller, of Smith-Miller + Hawkinson, a New York firm, which designed a border station under construction in Champlain, N.Y., said he finds Mr. Smith's appointment "deeply troubling." He called Mr. Smith's traditional views "anti-progressive." It "picks up the imperial nature of Roman architecture, which was in service to the empire rather than service to democracy," says Mr. Smith-Miller.

It must be: Eugene Liebert

What should a classic prep school have for buildings?

Let's see, ivy-covered bricks, beautiful gothic architecture, a serene chapel with stunning stained glass windows and a coffeted ceiling, it could only be the Indian Community School of Milwaukee (and you were thinking St. Albans!), right in the heart of urban capital of Germanic Architecture in the USA.

The former Concordia College a Lutheran "synods finest educational institution" in its day, was built in 1900 by my current study, Eugene Liebert, the teutonic master. I have become so taken with Liebert's buildings that I drove up to Milwaukee today to search a few out, and was lucky enough to be welcomed by Jim Laux, the facilities manager, to the Indian Community School of Milwaukee.

Now supported by the Pottawatamie Tribe, the school is busy and well attended. Many fine buildings adorn the campus. The "Old Main" from Concordia is no longer in use, but its structure is in fine condition, and looks ready to be used again.

Three cheers for Eugene Liebert!

Ss. Cyril and Methodius

I may need a better index. Found this on an old Memory Card. I think it is St. Cyril and Methodius, Joseph Molitor's smaller, but ruined Chicago masterpiece. Can anyone verify?

What made Wisconsin Famous: Eugene Liebert

This could only happen in Chicago.

I wandered into Prairie Avenue Books today looking for a Dover Edition on Brick Patterms for the Restoration of St. Boniface (certainly a busy man, you might note), they had it in stock, and Beth, the manager knew exactly what I was looking for. I note that PA Books sells Sacred Architecture Journal, and it sells out each issue (they should order more, you might note). In the window of the store I noticed this book, Eugene Liebert: Teutonic Style in the American Midwest.

Big photos, brick-by-brick massing, commercial, residential and ecclesiastical architecture at its Wisconsin finest. Only available at Prairie Avenue Books. I also ran into Bill Hasbrouck, biographer of Louis Sullivan, whittling away at a new biography of Dwight Perkins (my neighbor if I were around 80 years ago) that Bill is writing.

Take a look at more Liebert. This is one of the outstanding, if unknown American Architects. Unknown, that is, outside of Prairie Avenue Books. At left is his Maria Angelorum Chapel in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, a Catholic Powerhouse if there ever was one.

Please patronize PA Book for this outstanding publication benefitting the Franciscan Sisters of Perpertual Adoration.

Weigel on the Heavenly City

Nice mention here from George Weigel

http://www.archden.org/dcr/news.php?e=381&s=3&a=8042

The Churches and Chapels of Kenosha (4)

Just mentioned to my neighbor that I am travelling to Rome, as the neighbor was looking at the accompanying snapshots, stating that this church looked familiar from a trip to Rome. However Kenosha, Wisconsin, the most Italian city in Wisconsin is the home of Holy Rosary, a fine Parish with a Shrine to Our Lady of Pompeii.

An usher informed me that Holy Rosary while built in 1932, has spent over $3 Million on restoration since 2002, making the Church sparkle like new with some very fine restored carvings and painting. New stained glass along with some reclaimed from the closed St. Thomas Aquinas parish look in particularly good shape. Three Cheers for Holy Rosary, a true gem of a church!

Pardon our Dust! Evanston Crushes School

Evanston, the city with the "toughest" preservation ordinance in the USA, continues its race to the bottom in destruction of the Prairie-Gothic National Louis University today. Baker Demonstration School, the new owner of NLU, wisecracks, "Pardon our Dust" while cranes take down a 100 year old structure and its adjoining trees.

There is really not much use of any preservation ordinance, when structures such as these are taken down without a peep from the Evanston City Council. Add this to the threat to the Swedish Theological Seminary, and Henry Schlack's Evanston Civic Center, the demolition of the Covenant Methodist Church, and the demolition at Three Crowns Retirement home. It adds up to the most aggressive destruction of Architectural Heritage in the United States, outside of Hurricane Katrina.

Anyone for a nickname change from "Evanston: The Annointed City" to "Evanston: Condo's and Crackhouses"?

From the RSCJ

I am honored to present this statement from the Director of Schools for the RSCJ (Sacred Heart) to the Lake Forest Preservation Board this evening.


When the St. Madeliene Sophie Barat founded the Society of the Sacred Heart on November 21, 1800, she meant to develop educational institutions that would continue the tradition of intellectual development combined with a strong liturgical and spiritual connection to the Catholic Church.

The Barat Chapel is a built representation of Mother Barat's vision of connecting academic discipline and worship to help recover tradition and practices lost in the French Revolution. You see, many religious orders and their institutions were totally destroyed or driven abroad by radical decisions made during the revoultionary times. However, there was an upside to all this. The Society of The Sacred Heart began its mission in Chicago building and operating 2 schools near Holy Name Cathedral then

At Barat College in Lake Forest and Woodland Academy
At the Academy of the Sacred Heart on Sheridan Road in Chicago

These institutions are the direct result of the dedication of Saints such as Madeleine Sophie Barat to extending the mission of the Sacred Heart Sisters to the new world.

Today, we are able to discuss matters in a much more polite manner. We can evaluate the historical significance of a building versus the pressures of the real estate market. Yet, buildings such as the Chapel represent more than just wood, stone and terra cotta. They represent a connection to our past and an example to a future well worth maintaining, preserving and honoring our traditions, our Sacred Heart alumni, and our religious and architectural heritage.

As many of you know, Sacred Heart Schools on Sheridan Rd. is restoring its chapel. We would be interested in items from the Barat Chapel because of the strong connections between and among Sacred Heart schools around the world. Of particular interest to us is the window depicting St. Madeleine Sophie across from the entrance to the chapel. We would welcome other items and would honor them for their present and past significance to Sacred Heart students, families and alumnae." Sincerely,

Susan Maxwell,rscj
Religious of the Sacred Heart Sacred Heart SchoolsDirector of Schools

Let us pray that the gentle people of Lake Forest are less viscious than the French Revoultionaries towards Holy Mother Church.

Stop Simony! (2)

Now the Chicago Tribune has put one of their top reporters on the case of Barat Chapel. Quoting, the President of Landmarks Illinois, (and a good friend of the SSB)

"Barat Chapel is the most beautiful thing there. Why they would blow that away, I don't know," said David Bahlman, executive director of Landmarks Illinois, a Chicago preservation organization."

How about Susan Benjamin, who wrote the text for the excellent North Shore Chicago book?

North Shore historian Susan Benjamin described the chapel as "one of the most beautiful interior spaces on the North Shore, comparable to the Bahai temple."

OK, thanks Chicago Tribune for recognizing this. Now can the right minded people of Lake Forest, Lake and Cook County and the entire Chicago Community please show up with rosaries and pitchforks tonight to:

"to oppose the plan during a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday of the City Council-appointed Lake Forest Historic Preservation Commission. The meeting will be at City Hall, 220 E. Deerpath Rd. The City Council must approve the plan before it is made final."

The Churches and Chapels of Kenosha (2)

Today featuring St. Elizabeth's. Brilliant copper green bowler hat capping the steeple. All Copper entryway. Fine stained glass. Altar has a few issues, as it looks like St. Elizabeth is a later add-on to what was previously a statue of St. George
St. Elizabeth's Parish was formed from the consolidation fo St. George and St. Casmir Parishes. The current building is the old St. George's, and has a German style. (Please correct me if I am mistaken). The entire parish complex is quite nice, and large, containing a grade school, large parish hall, and beautiful Georgian Rectory.

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Church Architecture as Heaven On Earth

The Liturgical Institute at Mundelein Seminary will be hosting a conference on Catholic church design entitled "Heaven on Earth: Theology and Design of Catholic Church Buildings" on October 25-27th, 2006. If you or someone you know is building or renovating a church and wants to learn how to re-connect with the architectural tradition of the Church, please recommend this conference to your pastor or architect. The web site tells the theme of the conference:

"In the great tradition, the Church has understood that a church building is an 'earthly heaven.' This sacramental building makes present the realities described by St. John in the Book of Revelation, where the Angel of the Temple gives a tour of heaven, revealing its golden, jewel-covered walls and angels and saints singing the praises of the Trinity (Rv 21:15). Always more than a meeting house, church buildings use art and architecture to make this hoped-for vision of our heavenly destiny knowable to the senses, filling churches with the “signs and symbols of heavenly realities” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 123)."

Speakers include architect Ethan Anthony of HDB/Cram Ferguson, historian Denis McNamara, theologian David Fagerberg, church decorator Jeff Greene of Evergreene Studios, iconographer and theologian Fr. Thomas Loya, fundraiser Rita Perrett, architect William Buckingham of Keefe Associates, theologian Rev. Mark Daniel Kirby, O.Cist., and Christopher Carstens, Director of the Sacred Worship Office ofthe Diocese of La Crosse.

Beuatiful churhces are possible--come and find out how! www.liturgicalinstitute.org

Visit to St. Vincent de Paul's

A hearty welcome in New York was enjoyed by the Society of St. Barbara, highlighted by a visit to St. Vincent de Paul, the historic French Catholic Parish in the booming Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. More details to come, but I thought I would post some snapshots of SVdP, to document the fine architectural heritage of the French Parish of New York City. Vive St. Vincent de Paul!

Restoration 3: From Chicago to the Raj

Take a look at the cover of Simon Winchester's book on the Architecture of the Raj. You may assume that the dandy uniforms, and classical architecture were the result of the grand English building tradition, muscularly showing itself over its empire. In that, you would not be entirely accurate.

The Glory of the Raj was mainly a marketing technique to show permanancy, power, and stability in a contested region, something that would be in perfect position on ....... State Street in Chicago. The Viceroy, Marquess Curzon, wasn't the designed of his Raj. Nor was the Raj concoted on Pall Mall in London. Rather the Raj was a design target of Lady Curzon, or Mary Leiter. Mary designed uniforms for the Indian Colonial Armies, commissioned buildings on a grand scale, and, yes ordered the restoration of the Taj Mahal.



But State Street? How is this connected. Daniel Burnham designed this store on State Street, as the grand temple of commerce. Burnham, a leading Swedenborgian (sort of the Opus Dei of Lutheranism, if Opus Dei was mostly devoted to beautiful craftwork), designed Marhall Fields, the largest and most powerful department store in the world, during the period of the Raj. And the 50% owner of Fields? Why yes, none other than Levi Leiter, father of Lady Curzon, and the onetime business partner of Potter Palmer and Marshall Fields himself. You see the pomp, grandeur and beauty of the English Empire, owes itself mightily to the daughter of the shopkeeper, and Chicago's own Mary Leiter. And now you know...





Restoration 1 How the Restoration Started Restoration 2-Welcome to Chicago IL Believe it or not, this story is going somewhere. I am reading The Geographers Library and I can assure you, the tale of Chicago Churches is tighter than Jon Fasman's bestseller. It is more lke Paul Harvey's rest of the story.

St James Chapel Update

St. James is looking very clean and pleasant. The broken window has been replaced with a tempororary (It will be fixed, with a exact match, I am guaranteed) placeholder.

The major work is complete. The project still needs to be paid for. The Altar looks awesome. Can any spot 1 very good thing that has changed on the altar this summer, and 2 very out of place items on the East End?

Insignia 3: Vera Cruz, Alpha, Omega, Wapella

This from my home parish, St. Patrick's in Wapella. Never noticed it till I started collecting insignia. I am deducing that these windows are honoring Christ as the Alpha and Omega and St. Helena of the Cross (Emperor Constantine's mother) This morning my Aunt noted her grandfather purchased and dedicated the St. H window in 1902 and was as devoted to the true cross then, as she is today.

In reverence to and honor of the Chapel at Convent of the Sacred Heart

Please join with The Society of St. Barbara in saying this prayer daily, seeking God's providence for keeping his holy works in a sacramental condition. We pray for the Chapel at the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Barat College

"August Queen of Heaven, sovereign Mistress of the Angels, though, who from the beginning hast received from God the power and the mission to crush the head of Satan, we humbly implore thee, to send they holy legions so that under thy command and by they power, they may drive the devils away, everywhere fight them subduing their boldness, and thrust them down into the abyss.
Who is like unto God?
O good and tender Mother, thou willst always be our love and our hope.
O Mother of God, send thy holy Angels to defend me and drive far away from me the cruel enemy.

Holy Angels and Archangels defend us, keep us.
Amen."

Indulgenced by St. Pius X on 8 July 1908. Original text from the prayer
dictated by Our Lady to Fathe rCestac on 13 January 1864. via Institute of Christ the King

New Hope in the Trials of St. Boniface

"The heathens fell upon them and murdered Boniface and fifty-two companions (according to some, thirty-seven)": I suppose when you are being attacked by heathens, 15 companions can make a real difference. At St. Boniface in Chicago, we could use at least 52 companions in getting Henry J. Schlacks faded masterpiece back into shape.

Right now, we have the Archdiocese, the Vicar General, the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois, the Mayor's Office, and some folks interested in bringing St. Boniface back as a working Church. Yes, not a condo, not an arts center, not a parking lot, but a Christian Church working to build its mission on the near northwest side of Chicago. The interior was opened today by the Archdiocese in an attempt to show the current mixed condition of the church. I can report:

1) The brick exterior is in fine shape.
2) The neighborhood is fairly safe, and property values are sky-high
3) The interior has some damage, but is structurally sound. There are broken windows.
4) The liturgical ornament is falling apart, but the glory of the liturgical paintings still shows through.
5) The floors and walls need a good cleaning. I wiped off the altar. It will need wiped off again before it is used.

Can we pull in 52 companions to bring this Church back to a shade of its former glory?