Tour of the Basilica

Welcome  to Queen of All Saints Basilica. In the words of a former pastor, Father Clark (pastor 1978 -1991) : "From humble beginnings Queen of All Saints parish has reached a position of preeminence in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Most of its story is hidden in the memories of people, and some of its story is lost with those who have died."

"But the buildings which make up the parish complex are a symbol of the sacrifice of thousands of people. These buildings are also a symbol of their deeply-rooted faith, of their conviction that they indeed are the people of God."

Our parish and this church are where they are today because our pastors have seen what God has given them in the way of people of faith who share their God-given talents and financial blessings with the Sauganash area and other areas of the city and the world.

The Basilica of Queen of All Saints is built in the ageless Gothic style. Gothic cathedrals were products of deep religious faith and a perfect blend of art, architecture, engineering, human dreams and that faith. Many of them were erected first to honor God, and second to give tribute and veneration to Mary, His Mother. Queen of All Saints was planned and designed in the style of old world shrines.

Constructed of Wisconsin Lannon stone, it is trimmed with Indiana limestone. The gray-green Vermont slate roof peaks eighty feet about the street and the cross in the tower is 140 feet above the ground.
 
The building measures about 240 feet in length and approximately 80 feet in width at the transept. At the northwest comer of the basilica, extending out over the driveway, the Porte Cochere provides a sheltered side entrance into the narthex, the interior vestibule.

The main entrance of the basilica requires one to pass through heavy oak doors into a transitional vestibule leading to the narthex. The narthex, with a bright marble floor and walls made of Crab Orchard stone, spans almost the full width of the nave.

To the left is the hand-wrought gate of bronze, beyond which is the Baptistry. To the right, the doors open to a side corridor that exits to the Porte Cochere.

Straight ahead, the fourth wall is another example of art work in bronze. Large panels of glass, set within the framework of satin bronze,  form wide picture windows and doors through which the interior of the church is viewed.

Over the center of the doorway, done in bronze, is the coat of arms of Pope Pius XII, the Pontiff when the basilica was planned and constructed.

Before entering the basilica, on the back wall above the marble topped desk of bronze, is the coat of arms of Pope John XXIII, the Pope who bestowed the regal honor of Basilica upon our church.

The entrance to the Baptistry is a pair of gates decorated with hand wrought bronze grill work. Standing in the very center of the room, raised upon a platform of Rosso Levanto marble is the Baptismal font, itself carved from a single block of rich red porphyry. The room, platform, and font are each octagonal in form and design. Early Christians considered the number "8" a symbol of completion and perfection. The font's cover holds a bronze statue of John the Baptist. Attached to the four angular walls, are custom reliquaries in satin bronze containing the precious relics of numerous saints.

The windows of the Baptistry tell much history. To the entrance’s left begins with a window of Columbus the Explorer stepping ashore and ends with a picture of the present basilica protected  by Our Blessed Lady. The second window depicts this area's settlement beginning with Father Badin who preached to the Indians on the site of the present city of Chicago; to the historic signing of the Treaty of Chicago in 1835, where the U.S. acquired the territory that would become Chicago, at what is now Rogers and Kilbourne Avenue. Chief Sauganash, the negotiator for the Indians, was one of the earliest settlers of Chicago and it was for him the neighborhood of Sauganash was named.

The coat of arms of Queen of All Saints Basilica is located on the back wall of the Nave on the west side. 

Surmounting the coat of arms is a golden crown topped by fleur-de-lis, the French lily, symbolic of the Blessed Virgin, the Queen of All Saints. Within the shield, the field of Marian blue is strewn with silver Latin crosses from which each one of the golden rays emanate. These crosses indicate the countless multitude of saints.

The Right Rev. Msgr. Francis J. Dolan, the pastor who built the Basilica and under whose guidance the church achieved its present distinction, is honored by the crescents which the Dolan family coat of arms bears. Queen of All Saints' coat of arms show the crescents tinctured in blue to harmonize with the colors of the Basilican shield.

Opposite the coat of arms of Queen of All Saints, on the east side of the back wall, is the coat of arms of Pope Paul VI, the first anointed after the basilica's consecration.

To the east side, in the rear of the nave, is a shrine to the Queen of All Saints School Endowment. 

Noting that parish schools and school parents were under new financial pressures, most notably from the shift in teacher staffing from primarily religious women to lay teachers, the School Endowment Fund was established.  A Jesus Welcomes the Children shrine to the QAS School Endowment was created. Centered in that shrine is a depiction of Jesus teaching children surrounded by the names of the many generous donors to this fund. 

The Queen of All Saints School Endowment Fund provides income to supplement the annual parish school operating income from parish subsidy, student tuition and fees. The Endowment accepts donations of any amount.

To make a donation to the QAS School Endowment, please contact our parish office.

The symmetrical beaming of the vaulted ceiling is a brilliant sight. Springing out from the piers, on both sides of the nave, extremely heavy wooden trusses curve upward and inward to form the Gothic arch. Down the full length of the nave, at the peak of the ceiling is a regal cresting repeated in every arch. 

The center line of the nave where all points converge is tied with a royal shield upon which the fleur-de-lis is emblazoned, the repeated symbol of Our Lady's royalty. 

Around the perimeter of the nave is a six-foot-high frieze. Against a charcoal black background, striped with lines of Florentine red, the white edged lettering of the frieze stands out. On the east side, the inscription reads (from the rear): "Thou are Peter and upon this rock I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'' (Matt. XVI, 18). On the west side (from front): "Whatever thou shalt bind of earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt. XVIII, 18).

The stained glass windows of the basilica are too numerous to give extensive detail here. Credit must be given to the artists who designed and executed these windows: Mr. Leo Cartwright, of Carmel, California; and Mr. Erhard Stoettoer, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

The lower windows of the Nave in the central panels pay tribute to the various titles of Mary as Queen, as found in the Litany of Loretto. All images are portrayed under a golden crown.

On the east, front to back, are:

• Queen of Martyrs - a sword between two palm leaves (above)
• Queen fo Apostles - crossed keys and twelve tongues of fire
• Queen of Patriarchs - a Patriarchal cross with twelve stars
• Queen of Angels - an Angel’s face, surrounded with wings

On the west side, front to back, are:

• Queen Assumed into Heaven - throne adorned with the letters A.M. interlaced
• Queen of Peace - dove with an olive branch
• Queen of the Most Holy Rosary - rosary
• Queen of Virgins - lily 
• Queen of Confessors - rose bush (right)

Themes of the Stained Glass Windows

East Windows:

• The Establishment of the Church
• The Apostles
• The Evangelists
• The Missionaries
• The Martyrs
• The Doctors

West Windows:

• The Virgins
• The Widows
• The Confessors
• The Church at Work
• The Saints of Many Nations
• The Popes

The Basilican Pavilion

The first symbol of a basilica is the "canopeum" or "ombrellino". In English it is more properly called the pavilion. Only churches of basilican rank are allowed to possess and display this papal emblem. It is a large ornamental umbrella with alternating stripes of bright scarlet and yellow silk terminating in scallops of contrasting colors attached to a wooden umbrella. The silk canopy drapes beneath an ornate finial, a large ball topped by a cross, both in gold. 
 

The Basilican Bell

The tintinabulum or basilican bell is another sign of basilican status. Probably used in early times to announce the Pope's arrival or a Papal procession, it is now ornamental. The small bell is enclosed within an elaborate baroque frame. The wood carving at the top surmounted by a golden cross includes the papal tiara and crossed keys.


 

The altar is made of onyx imported from Pompeii. The table or mensa on top of the altar is a single slab of hard and durable white Bottocino marble, four inches thick in the center and in the four corners of which the relics of the martyrs are recessed. On the front of the altar appears the large figure of a pelican with its wide wings extended. This example of Florentine mosaic symbolizes our Lord in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Legend recounts that whenever the male would find its offspring close to death or dying, it would instinctively pierce its own breast to revivify the young with its own blood.

According to local tradition, the structure of an altar is not complete unless a canopy as a mark of distinction and honor surmounts it.

Above the basilica's altar supported on brackets is a canopy in golden bronze, forming a regal crown. The metal filigree shows a blossoming rose plant, the Mystical Rose, a design symbolic of our Lady.

Rising to the rear of the altar is a Venetian mosaic of our Blessed Lady as the Queen of All Saints. It is composed of more than thirty-three thousand pieces of glass and was executed at the Vatican galleries, according to an original drawing by Professor Lelio de Ranieri. Portrayed ascending out of a bank of clouds, she wears a cerulean blue cloak adorned with fleurs-de-lis.The title of the masterpiece is on a "scroll" of golden ribbon held by two life-size angels who stand beneath the mosaic - "Hail, Holy Queen."

Fastened to the interior walls, are twelve sconces, signs that the Basilica was consecrated. Most churches are blessed and dedicated for the service of God, but not in perpetuity. 

Consecration is a ceremony reserved to the Bishop, who, according to the solemn blessings and anointings with the Holy Chrism, dedicates a building to the service of God and elevates it to a higher and sacred order in perpetuum. 

When a church is consecrated, two transverse lines are drawn across the floor of-the nave with blessed ashes. This rite, an ancient Roman custom, is equivalent to inscribing the cross of Christ on the foundation. After the entrances of the building are blessed and the altars anointed, then twelve designated places on the interior walls are anointed by the Bishop with Holy Chrism, and in censed. They are forever marked with twelve ornamental candles.

In both corners of the sanctuary are marble shrines - to the left, the east side, the Shrine of St. Anne, the mother of our Blessed Lady, and to the right, the west side, St. Joachim, her father. 

Two side chapels form the transept and give the basilica its cruciform outline. On the left side, the east side of the nave, the chapel is dedicated to the honor of the Sacred Heart. On the right, or west side, the chapel is dedicated to St. Joseph.

Behind the sanctuary, entered by one of the two doors on the back wall, is the entrance to the Basilica Foundation Memorial. Listed are the many (over 750) generous donors who have contributed to this Foundation that is used to help take care of the basilica. Created in 1963 by Monsignor Dolan, the Foundation monies are used in three ways - for weekly masses for the foundation donors, maintenance and supportof the basilica itself, and for the education of the men at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary.

To the right or west side of the sanctuary is the Mother's Chapel. A large wide picture window and glass doors afford a close up view of the sanctuary and altar for the occupants of the chapel. The wall is recessed so as not to be directly seen from the body of the church. Within the chapel, above the glass looking out to the sanctuary is a colorful mural, an original oil painting, created by the ecclesiastical artist Mr. Leo Cartwright of California. The blessed Lord is portrayed in his youth, as a shepherd boy seated upon the stump of a tree. The tall beam of the cross he supports is marked with the graphic red stains in the upper portion. Angels sit in adoration of the person of Christ.  On both sides of the shepherd four woolly sheep graze, each signifying four contrasting ways the invitation of Christ is received: some who listen and remain unfaithful, some who are more concerned with food and hunger, some who turn their beads aside for lack of interest, and those who listen intently and give themselves wholeheartedly to his requests. 

The triple lancet stained glass window is dedicated to the Queen of All Saints as the Mother of God. In the center she is seen holding the Christ Child upon her lap welcoming all children of the world to him. Symbol and scenes of the nativity are in the lower section. To the right and left of her, the children of the world come bearing gifts to the Infant King and his royal Mother. The underlying theme, which inspired the creation of this window, is "Suffer the little children to come unto me, for such is the kingdom of heaven."

Over the rear wall of the nave, above the choir loft and under the rearmost vault is the Window of the Apparitions. Containing more than fifty-seven thousand  pieces of colored glass, domestic and imported from France, England, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Czechoslovakia, the window is constructed around the central theme of "The Apparitions of Our Blessed Lady." The predominant color shades are those traditionally associated with Mary the Queen, royal blue and exquisite rose.

The lower portion of the window contains four medallions depicting the Apparitions of our Blessed Lady, each one recreating a scene when the Blessed Mother appeared to some gifted souls. The recurring theme of the decoration of the basilica is found in the upper portion of the window. Within the arch is an extensive and elaborate quatrefoil with the Blessed Lady standing supreme over all. Our Blessed Mother, the Patroness of the United States, is enshrined above the shield of our country, bestowing her motherly care on its citizens.

At the front of the choir loft is the organ console, custom made exclusively for the basilica. The organ contains over 3,330 pipes ranging in size from thirty two feet to the size of a small pencil. On both sides of the choir two large balconied openings provide the setting in which the exposed pipework is displayed. The organ's pipes rise up in perfect symmetry, small and thinner at the outside rising to a peak with the taller and broader pipes at the center.

Queen of All Saints enjoys an extraordinary setting facing a full city block of park-like lawn. The basilica towers above the carefully landscaped lawn encompassing the outdoor shrine to our Lady set in front of the rectory/parish office to the east. 

After passing the basilica and rectory from the north, there is the Lemont Avenue school building with the gymnasium and classrooms; the Benedict Center which was formerly the convent for the Benedictine nuns who taught here for 65 years and now holds the Early Childhood Center, Religious Education offices and various parish ministries; and, as you complete the path around the block, the Keene Avenue school building.