• Our Parish Mission
• Description of our Logo
• Our Patron Saints
• Brief Architectural Description
• The Altar and the Screen of the 12 Apostles
• A Glance at Our Past / History

We are a Catholic faith community located just north of the city of Chicago at 191 Linden Street, Winnetka, IL 60093 - Phone: 847-446-7646 - Fax: 847-446-7630.

Our parish is essentially a group of modern day followers of Jesus, gathered in local community to love God and to serve others with skill, creativity and compassion. As Catholic Christians we are part of a tradition which has endured in good times and bad for twenty centuries.

The word Catholic implies inclusiveness. Despite our differences, we are united in faith, hope and love. Generous of heart, we support sharing parishes, a monthly food drive and are committed to the struggles of the church.

After two years of strategic planning and restructuring, we now have a parish council, finance council and five commissions: Worship / Spiritual Life, Education / Formation, Community Life, Outreach and Administration made up of lay people who are involved in all aspects of decision-making.

Parish Office Hours

"Led by the Spirit to live the Gospel, our mission is to be a welcoming Catholic Christian community gathered around the Eucharist, committed to life-long faith formation, justice and loving service to others."

In order to spiritually examine the various symbols - both new and old - this question needs to be answered: What is Faith, Hope & Charity?

Some words which define Faith are confidence, trust, conviction, commitment, belief, constancy and assurance. All of these are envisioned in the Cross. Hope is described with expectation, anticipation, desire, possibility, reliance, trust, strength, aspiration and encouragement. These are reflected in the Anchor. Charity is seen as kindness, humanity, compassion, generosity, understanding, cherish and love. Hence, the Heart!

As Christians, we are truly blest! Throughout each life there are great joys and enormous challenges. But we, as Christians, can greet each one with the incredible certitude of Faith, the certainty of knowledge that we are totally loved by a Creator, a Father, who offers us the assurance of a strength and joy which arises from the depth of our soul.

Did you know that Ss. Faith, Hope and Charity are named in the Roman Martryology on August 1?

The parish is dedicated to three virgin martyrs of Rome in the early centuries of the Church.

There is a legend that St. Sophia (St. Wisdom) was a widow with 3 daughters martyred during the reign of Emperor Hadrian.

"The daughters were Faith (age 12), Hope (age 10) and Charity (age 9). The four of them were brought before Hadrian and commanded to sacrifice to the goddess Artemis. They stood steadfast with their arms entwined and instead gave glory glory to Jesus Christ. One by one the pagan officers took Sophia's daughters and tortured them, beat them, stabbed them, threw them into fire and boiling pitch, finally beheading them. All the while St. Sophia was urging them to hold firm to their faith in hope of the life to come. She then took the bodies of her precious daughter Saints and buried them outside of town. She stayed by their graves and prayed day and night for three days, then gave her soul to God, joining her daughters in the heavenly fellowship of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ." *

"Most experts think it's likely that the entire story is a myth, but the legend spread east from Rome where there was reference to two groups - one buried under the Aurelian Way and later restored to under the Church of St. Pancras and another buried in the cemetery of St. Callistus on the Appian Way. " *

* (Copyright 2003 "Come and See" Icons, Books & Art)

Built for the ages, this imposing Church of American colonial style was designed by Edward J. Schulte of Cincinnati before the Second Vatican Council and dedicated on August 1, 1962.

Seating capacity: 1000.

The exterior's brick and Indiana limestone has a free-standing bell tower 178 feet high.

The grand interior includes a main altar of onyx marble, a choir screen flanked with the 12 apostles in burnished gold and a 14-foot mahogany crucifix above. The abstracted stained-glass windows designed in Germany evoke the walls of heaven described in the Book of Revelation as "adorned with every jewel". The stained glass windows, described as a “sermon in color and light,” are of imported, antique, hand-blown glass fashioned by the T.C. Esser Studios in Wisconsin.

Fernando Germani paused in his New York City Bach series to play the official dedicatory recital May 21, 1963 on the new Casavant organ of the Church.

From "Parish Pride" in The Catholic New World.

Did you know that the FHC Altar was carved from from Bleu Belge marble?

This black marble came from a Belgian quarry that has been in operation since the days of the Roman Empire. The pelican on the front of the altar is an ancient symbol for Jesus Christ.

Do you know the names of all the apostles on the FHC Altar Screen?

In many church designs, the pillars holding up the structure are adorned with statues of the 12 apostles. This is appropriate because our foundational beliefs come from the testimony and example of the apostles. “Apostle” means one who is sent, and the earliest use of the term designated those who were sent by Jesus to preach the Good News, just as Jesus was sent forth by God to reveal the Good News that God's love is stronger than sin and death. The term has been used broadly to include anyone specially sent forth to spread the faith, such as Paul, but it is most commonly used to refer to "the Twelve," those disciples selected and authorized by Jesus to carry on his mission.

The number 12 corresponds to the 12 tribes of Israel, showing the connection to the faith of our spiritual ancestors in the Old Testament. These first apostles were Jesus' friends. They knew Jesus well, spent time with him, witnessed his Baptism, traveled with him as he preached, and watched his suffering, death, and resurrection. We know we can trust their accounts of Jesus' life and message. The Acts of the Apostles (1:13) includes the following list of 11 apostles (The twelfth had been Judas Iscariot, who was replaced after Jesus' Resurrection by Matthias, another longtime follower of Jesus). The 11 are: Peter; John; James; Andrew; Philip; Thomas; Bartholomew; Matthew; James, son of Alphaeus; Simon, the Zealot; and Jude (Thaddeus), brother of James. Despite their positions of authority, the apostles lived as servants of the church, spiritual shepherds, and fellow members of the community. They stayed true to their faith through much suffering. Many even died as martyrs.

Our parish was founded in 1936. However, its roots go back much further in our history.

1674 - Father Jacques Marquette was the first Catholic priest to visit this area when he and his companions explored the western shore of Lake Michigan from Green Bay to Chicago.

1696 - The first Catholic community was the Mission of the Guardian Angel founded by the French Jesuits to serve the Miami indians hereabouts. However, the Governor General in Quebec ordered it closed when things became too hazardous.

1832 - With the end of the Blackhawk War, settlers, including farmers from Trier in Germany, were allowed to settle in this area.

1845 - The Catholic farmers built St. Joseph Parish at Grosse Point (now west Wilmette) near the present Lake Avenue and Ridge Road intersection.

1869 - The Village of Winnetka was founded. Gradually, tension grew between the Protestant temperance movement centered at Northwestern University and the beer-drinking German Catholic farmers. This may have contributed to the resistance which our parish encountered when it was first started.

1936 - Anna and Magdalena Alles, granddaughters of one of the earliest German settlers, donated 3.5 acres of their family farm for the construction of our parish. Initial opposition by the Village of Winnetka was overcome when the Supreme Court of Illinois ruled in favor of the parish. The original Church (now the Gym) and the first wing of the school were built in 1939. Monsignor Burke, our founding pastor, diplomatically healed the wounds created by the controversy. Our parish was established by Cardinal Mundelein. The first Mass was celebrated in New Trier High School auditorium on December 20, 1936 with 375 people present.

1939 - To celebrate the early parishioners successful court action, an outdoor Mass was celebrated on May 1, 1939 on the grounds where our new school was to be built. Thanksgiving Day of 1939 was a great day of celebration for the Parish Anniversary Mass was, for the first time, celebrated in the new building which would house the temporary Church (and continues today as our Gym)

1942 - 21 students formed the first graduating class from our parish school. Eventually enrollment reached a peak of 576 students in 1964.

1946 - Having paid off the initial indebtedness of the parish, Monsignor Burke and the parishioners began plans to expand our facilities for a rapidly growing population. The Convent and Rectory in 1951, the north wing of school in 1954, and the auditorium and additional classrooms in 1957 were part of those plans.

1963 - Our new Church was dedicated by Cardinal Meyer. Its 178 foot bell tower is the highest point in Winnetka. Vatican II also began, bringing far reaching changes to our parish especially in terms of worship and lay leadership.

1971 - Monsignor Burke retired and Monsignor Lyons was named as the second pastor. In 1976 - Our first pastor died from leukemia just a few weeks after celebrating his 50th ordination anniversary.

1988 - Monsignor Eugene Lyons retired after completing the "Renew" program which translated the spirit of Vatican II into strong and deep grassroots relationships among our parishioners. Father Tom Ventura was appointed to serve as our new pastor on New Year's Day of 1988. Father Ventura continued the process by empowering the laity and supporting the growth of programs such as Vision 2000, CRHP, adult ministry training, scripture study and the sharing committee.

2001 - Father Ventura celebrated his 40th anniversary of ordination, and ended his tenure at our parish; Father Robert Kealy was appointed pastor and served for ten months.

2002 - Father Kevin Spiess was named our parish's fifth pastor. As the Church began its second millennium, our parish experienced a period of expansion with many new families, a growing population in the Day School, Sunday School, teen and adult programs, Sharing projects, etc.