Introduction
Our Lady of Humility Parish is a Catholic Church that is located on the Northeast of Lake County, (Beach Park) Illinois, United States.
The people of Our Lady of Humility Church, a branch of the one vine, the Risen Lord Jesus. People are led by a living God, joined together through Jesus Christ, empowered by His Holy Spirit to be His Church. People are called to share the Gospel of Jesus, and to continue His good works. In joy, all celebrate this relationship with the Lord, and with one another in the Roman Catholic tradition of faith.
As the disciples of long ago heard the Lord’s call to be ministers of His good news, we are called upon to be disciples in our own time. We are Christians in mind, body, and spirit. Christ is the center of our lives, a model for us to imitate. Through Him we are intimately bound together and compelled to love, comfort, and care for one another. Through His presence we teach and nurture all in our Parish Family, young and old, in the ways of the Lord Jesus.
With Him we are called to minister in service to others. We strive to be aware of the needs of the people in our community, and to care for the least of our brothers and sisters. In Him we reach out to be a positive force in the world, using our talents to work for change where needed, becoming actively involved as a unified voice against wrong-doing, and promoting Christian values wherever we may be.
In the unity of the Holy Spirit, we cannot experience the good news without the desire to pass it on. Guided by the Spirit, we reach out to welcome those near and far, those who have never heard of the Lord Jesus, and those who have been alienated from the church.
With the help and intercession of Our Lady of Humility, we pledge our work, our ministry, and prayer together that all glory and honor be given to God, our almighty Father, forever and ever.
History of Our Lady of Humility Catholic Church, Illinois
After the Second World War, the Catholic family communities of Zion, Beach Park, Winthrop Harbor and rural Northeastern Lake County experienced an accelerated population growth. Parishioners had to drive for miles to either the St. Patrick Church in Wadsworth, Illinois or the St. Anastasia Church in Waukegan, Illinois.
The seeds of our Church were planted on Wednesday, November 16, 1949 at the B. B. Pharmacy Dugout in Zion, Illinois. The purpose of this meeting of Catholic families was to discuss petitioning His Eminence, Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Archbishop of Chicago, for the establishment of a mission parish to serve the spiritual needs of the Catholic families of Northeastern Lake County.
The first Mass of this newly formed Mission Parish and the first Mass in the history of Zion was celebrated on October 2, 1950, in the Zion Theater by Father Joseph Garrity, pastor of St. Anastasia. This was the beginning of our Mission Parish which then grew to 250 families by 1952.
An eleven acre site and rectory was purchased on Wadsworth Road south of Zion and a small chapel attached to it. On July 9, 1954 the formation of the parish was announced in The New World. Father John E. Hayes, a former assistant at St. Mary Church in Des Plaines, Illinois, was appointed “to form a new parish in the vicinity of Zion.”
The name of the parish was chosen by Cardinal Stritch in keeping with the Marian Year then being celebrated and because of his affection for the title “Our Lady of Humility” – the same as that of the chapel in the old North American College in Rome where he had completed his studies. Planning for a school began shortly after the church was completed.
Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus agreed to staff the school. Parishioners undertook a 3-year pledge campaign to finance its construction. The design of the 8 room building was in conformity with the church. Permission was given to construct the Church and the cornerstone was laid January 22, 1956 by Monsignor Joseph Garrity.
The Church was planned so it could be enlarged at a later date without disturbing the lines of the basic structure should the growth of the parish require it. The blend of line, material and decoration produced an atmosphere of warmth and quiet, conducive to devotion. The church was dedicated on November 18, 1956 by Cardinal Stritch.
On September 8, 1958 classes began in the new Our Lady of Humility School for grades one to six. The student body was comprised of 146 children. Blessing of the school was done on May 24, 1960 by Cardinal Meyer. The present enrollment of 275 students, includes a kindergarten that was added in 1974. With the loyal support of the parishioners and the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, the school has been able to maintain a high level of educational excellence.
The complexion of the parish was and still is made up of many ethnic and racial backgrounds, blue and white collar workers, crafts persons and professionals. Their spiritual needs were initially ministered to by Fr. John Hayes with the assistance of such groups as the Women’s Club, Mothers’ Club and Men’s Club. When money was needed, these and other groups would step in and develop, organize, and run a fundraiser to fill the financial needs.
During Fr. Hayes’ tenure as pastor, our school was threatened with closing because of a financial need and the possible loss of the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus as faculty and staff. The parish support groups went to work looking for a fundraiser that would bring in the necessary funds to help with the support of both the church and the school. Bingo became the thing to do on a Saturday night. We’ve been very fortunate to have been able to share with Fr. Hayes many challenges over the years but also his fiftieth year as a priest, his seventieth birthday, and the burning of the initial mortgage!
Our Lady of Humility Catholic Church, Illinois – As the parish prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2014, we reflect on the activities of the past and look to the challenges of the future. Ever grateful to and strengthened and enriched by the legacy of its community, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and under the spiritual direction of its pastor, Our lady of Humility Parish looks to the future with a renewed commitment towards its vision and its mission.
Madonna of Humility (Our Lady of Humility)
Madonna of Humility refers to artistic portrayals of the Virgin Mary which depict her sitting on the ground, or upon a low cushion. She may be holding the Christ Child in her lap. The term Virgin of humility is also used to refer to this style of depiction. The iconography originated in the 14th century, and was most common in that and the following century.
Humility is a virtue extolled by Saint Francis of Assisi, and this style of image was associated with Franciscan piety, although it was not the creation of the Franciscans, since the artist first associated with the image, Simone Martini, had ties with the Dominicans and may have created the image for them. The word humility derives from the Latin humus, meaning earth or ground.
The earliest known painting of this type dates to 1346 and is at the Museo Nazionale in Palermo. It represents a Madonna seated on a small cushion just above the ground. The Christ Child partially looks at the viewer. The painting bears the inscription Nostra Domina de Humilitate, with the low cushion intended to express her humility.
This painting in Palermo is, however, of a somewhat mediocre quality and was perhaps based on a work of Simone Martini. A similar painting in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, and both paintings were probably based on a Madonna of humility by Martini. A Virgin of humility fresco by Simone Martini survives in the Palais des Papes in Avignon, France.
An altar was dedicated to the Madonna of humility in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence in 1361. This style of painting spread quickly through Italy and by 1375 examples began to appear in Spain, France and Germany. It was the most popular among the depictions of the early Trecento artistic period.
History of Our Lady of Humility
Domenico di Bartolo’s Madonna of Humility, painted in 1433, was described by art historian Andrew Ladis as one of the most innovative devotional images of the early Renaissance. The formal symmetry of the strips below her feet and those hovering above her symbolize the harmony of her human nature and status as an earthly woman, with her heavenly queenship.
Despite the low seating position, the star and the gems as well as the halo signify her regal status. In this painting, which is at the Pinoteca Nazionale in Siena, Domenico did not use cast shadows as he did in other works such as the Madonna Enthroned.
Filippo Lippi’s Madonna of Humility, painted between 1431 and 1437, is also an important work and illustrates Lippi’s early style, when he was attentive to Masaccio’s use of large and round figures. It was painted during a period when Lippi had dropped out of sight, and had perhaps gone into exile with Cosimo de’ Medici.
A miracle attributed to the fresco of the Madonna of Humility painted in circa 1370 gave rise to the construction of the Basilica of Our Lady of Humility in Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy. The fresco is sometimes attributed to Giovanni di Bartolomeo Cristiani, but was perhaps done by a local painter from Pistoia. The Basilica, built by architect Ventura Vitoni, is an important example of high Renaissance architecture. Giorgio Vasari built the octagonal dome atop the Basilica in 1562. The original fresco remains within the Basilica.
Other key examples include Bernardo Daddi’s central panel in the De Carlo Triptych in which the Madonna is shown sitting in a very low chair, rather than on a cushion. Francis Angelico’s representation of about 1430 (which includes two angels) is notable in that Jesus is approached from above, focusing on his divinity. Giovanni di Paolo’s depiction of about 1456 represents a transition in the perception of nature, with the visual landscape forming itself around the seated Madonna.
Our Parish's Patron Saint
Our Patron Saint is Jesus’ Mother, Mary. Cardinal Stritch named our Parish Our Lady of Humility to commemorate the Marian Year being celebrated in 1954. The Cardinal’s choice of name also reflected his fondness for the “Our Lady of Humility Chapel” in the old North American College in Rome where he had completed his studies.
Marian Years are decided on and declared exclusively by the Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. In Church history, only two Marian Years were pronounced by Pope Pius XII and Pope John Paul II. In 1953, with the encyclical Fulgens Corona, Pope Pius ordered a Marian Year for 1954, the first in Church history. The year was filled with Marian initiatives, in the areas of mariology, cultural events, charity, and social gatherings.
The principles of Christianity, which the Virgin Mother of God incited us to follow with eagerness and with energy, can be entirely and lastingly productive only when actually put into practice.
The Pope promoted appropriate sermons and discourses to explain Marian beliefs. The purpose was to increase the Faith of the people, and their devotion to the Virgin Mother. Marian Churches and Marian Shrines all over the world, “or at least an altar, in which the sacred image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is enshrined” should invite to public services the devotion of the Christian people. The Pope invites especially to celebrations at the Grotto of Lourdes, “where there is such ardent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived without stain of sin.”
Feast Day - 17th July
The Feast of the Humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary was on July 17. It was included in the General Roman Calendar of 1954 among the feasts pro aliquibus locis (in some places), but was removed from the General Roman Calendar of 1960.
Upon the election of Pope Francis in 2013, Russian Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev gifted an icon of Our Lady of Humility, which the Roman Pontiff accepted; then donated to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI during their farewell meeting at Castel Gandolfo.
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Contact Info
10655 W Wadsworth Rd, Beach Park,
IL 60099, Illinois United States.
Phone No.
Tel : +1 847-872-8778
Accommodations
How to reach the Church
Chicago O’Hare International Airport located on the Northwest Side of Chicago, Illinois is the nearby airport to the Church.
Zion Train Station in Zion, Illinois is the nearby Train Station to the Church.
