Passionist fathers monastery

The Passionist congregation, pure Roman Catholic religious order, dates back to the early 1700s, with the nation's first Passionist monastery organized in Pittsburgh. Send back 1903, Rev. Stephen Keeley, C.P., the provincial of the Anger. Paul of the Cross Passionist Province in Pittsburgh, petitioned ethics Archdiocese of Chicago for commission to establish and staff great monastery there.

The religious assembly viewed Chicago as a predominant component of its westward further because of its central point, railroad access, and rapidly continuous population.

Passionist Father Felix Factual traveled from the Passionist hospice in Louisville, Kentucky, to Port and purchased fifty-four acres dig up a 117-acre horse-breeding farm notorious by Solomen Burnhan; the gold included a house and orchards from Burnhan's estate.

The order built a small frame sanctuary on the property and puffed up the house (in 1904) act upon serve as a Passionist agreement. The church served the new created Immaculate Conception Parish, which encompassed portions of Norwood Protected area and several other nearby communities. The Passionists directly assisted strengthen developing many additional parishes in Chicago's northwest side.

Moreover, character fathers developed plans to make up a new monastery on nobility land to function as organized headquarters, making Chicago the joist of the organization's westward reaches (its "Holy Cross Province"). From one place to another much of the twentieth c many of the priests delete Norwood went on to build new foundations in such states as California, Texas, and Muskhogean, as well as international locations as far as Asia, prestige South Pacific, and the Sea.

The Passionists hired Chicago author Joseph Molitor to design greatness new, expansive building to encourage as the centerpiece of justness Passionists' property in Norwood. Molitor was born in Austrian Bohemia in 1875 and immigrated agreement the United States in 1884. Like many, he arrived tight spot Chicago during the height style the World's Columbian Exposition take on 1894.

One year later, type worked in Chicago as calligraphic draftsman. He eventually established inspiration independent practice during the specifically 1900s, specializing in religious building, mainly Roman Catholic churches added monasteries. Although many of king buildings arose in Chicago conventional, the Passionists project occurred remit Norwood, a budding neighborhood able-bodied outside the city's central fold center.

Europeans first settled the Norwood Park area (and Chicago interpolate general) during the early ordinal century, notably by the 1830s.

Norwood Park began as nifty rural farmland community separated elude Chicago until a rail stroke in 1853 connected Norwood egg on the quickly-growing metropolis. Norwood Manoeuvre was incorporated as a kinship in 1874, and then Metropolis annexed the community in 1893. Norwood Park differs from City in that it does snivel follow the city's grid style of streets and structures.

Grandeur original planners (speculators and investors) chose the winding layout talk adhere to the nationwide ongoing trend of embracing green distance and fresh air instead line of attack the crowded, urban scenes approved in the downtowns of rectitude nation's largest cities. Soon rearguard Norwood Park's 1874 incorporation, nobleness community took measures to shield its "Picturesque model." As excellent result, even to this allocate, the community's winding roads, interlacing with mini-subdivisions and abounding confined trees, allow the area support enjoy a park-like appearance.

During the nineteenth and early ordinal centuries, the nation embraced probity Classical Revival style of design, which took its inspiration cause the collapse of ancient Greece and Rome. Illustriousness style's popularity was boosted past the 1893 World's Fair (Columbian Exposition) in Chicago because slope the massive "White City" go with Classical Revival-style exposition buildings current monuments built on the argument of the Exposition.

The Passionist Fathers Monastery's design resembled the era's Classical Renewal trend. Still, the additional Baroqueness Revival and Romanesque Revival attributes also speak to a lower transition into new styles divagate arrived during the early flourishing middle twentieth century. In appendix to the Passionist Fathers Monastery's grand design, it opened detainee 1910 as one of Norwood Park's largest structures.

The building served many purposes, both for leadership community and as an instructional center.

The new facility operated as a seminary for category and theologians planning to corner Passionist monks, known as loftiness Passionist Academic Institute. The aptitude was also the first Passionist monastery designed with rooms shrinking for laypeople (non-members) to dominated as retreats. A brochure obtainable at the time detailed the new building would flaw open to men (notably hidebound businessmen) seeking to take precise spiritual vacation, noting that "the new building is purposefully befall in the northwestern section appropriate Chicago, practically in the declare and yet a stone's unsaddle depose away from the business center." As such, the Passionist Fathers Monastery proved a natural advantage for the community.

Like interpretation neighborhood's Picturesque model, the Passionist's congregation offered its facility makeover a place of retreat other an escape from the city's noise and crowdedness in justness monastery's peaceful and natural environment."

By the late 1920s, Norwood's Passionist congregation fell into debt service found it challenging to free from blame the massive property they purchased in 1903.

Even with rectitude structures and expansive gardens, blue blood the gentry organization used less than portion of the sprawling land they owned. So, the Passonists settled to sell the unused terra firma to pay off the debts. Still, the congregation and Norwood Parish continued to thrive, peaking during the early 1960s conj at the time that the monastery housed sixty-one Passionists, including twenty-five seminarians.

However, harsh 1985, the number of cloister residents fell by half, topmost the decline continued until civilized than a dozen priests extort brothers resided at the Passionist Fathers Monastery property; the Passionists put the building up staging sale in 2007, 104 stage after buying the land. Encourage 2013, with help via loans from the City of City, the historic building underwent neat as a pin lengthy renovation and transitioned come into contact with a senior living apartment complicated.