God In Chicago

The rain begins to fall as I make my way north through the middle of the west side. Traveling through this section of the city can only be described as passing by block after block of what used to be. As I turn on Madison Street, I passed a boarded-up, trash-filled, abandoned building; where campaign posters for a local politician hang ironically from a chain link fence.Even this majestic building which is my destination used to be something else: a center of life for a community of Irish Catholic Chicagoans who have who have long since migrated away from the surrounding neighborhood of West Garfield Park.Your first impulse when entering this hall is to look up towards the ceiling, and along the walls. Two sets of large stained glass windows depicting what I assume are scenes from the Bible rest in the walls closest to me. In the middle of the hall, a pair of beautiful circular stained glass windows face each other from opposite sides of the hall.This is such a traditionally religious space, built from a very