St John Cantius Church

The Tridentine High Mass at 12:30 is authentically pre-​Vatican II. I wish all their Masses were in Latin.

My favorite church (besides my home parish).
St. John Cantius is run by the Cannons Regular of St John Cantius. The mission of the Canons is the restoration of the sacred. They do this through devout and reverent liturgies, devotions, sacred art, and sacred music.
Spending time at this beautiful church is a little bit like sneaking a peek at what heaven will be like.

I drive into the city most weeks for mass at St. John Cantius. The entire Church is wonderful. The music, liturgy, and atmosphere are beautiful. During Sunday mass there are usually four or five confessionals available. There are traditional Tridentine masses as well as mass in the ordinary form (Latin and English are offered on Sundays).
SJC is staffed by the Cannons Regular of St John Cantius. Their mission is to «help Catholics rediscover a profound sense of the sacred through solemn liturgies, devotions, sacred art and sacred music, as well as instruction in Church heritage, catechesis and Catholic culture in the context of parish ministry.» The Cannons Regular are doing a fantastic job fulfilling their mission.
If you get a chance, check this place out.

This particular outpost represents everything that is wrong with the Catholic Church today. This is one side of the coming schism in the Church. And to exemplify that, see a hateful, judgmental email from one of the cheerleaders of this particular brand of the Catholic faith that not only demands adherence to the gay-​hating, anti-​woman position espoused by the extreme wing of the faith practiced here — anyone that disagrees is «ignorant», and everyone who doesn’t want to string up a queer is obviously going to hell. Watch out for these people. They preach hate and rejection, not Jesus’ love. And to the coming onslaught — save your prayers for my soul. I act in service to my fellow humans as Jesus preached, not in judgment. These people clinging to their Tridentine mass as the «true» mass and are judging the majority of catholics, and won’t hesitate to judge you. So, if you want a pharisee and a hypocrite to greet you, by all means — head over to St. John Cantius and back to the 12^th Century; just remember to watch out for the Plague!
–
Hi Christina,
I read your review for Cantius and you are sadly mistaken about what Vatican II was trying to do. You’re obviously ignorant of the Vatican II documents. VII never said that the priest is now to turn and face the people. VII never said to start handing out communion in the hand. VII never said that we can now stand to receive communion. VII never said to do many of the things that are horridly done now in the «new age modernist» Mass that we have in many liberal parishes.
If you read many of the other reviews, you will notice that most of them disagree with you. And the few that also gave it bad reviews are obviously ignorant of what the TRUE Catholic faith really means.
I am ultra conservative and very traditional when it comes to the Catholic faith. I sure hope you are not pro-​choice and I sure hope you are not for gay unions of any kind. Usually people like you who do not like the Latin Mass and more traditional reverent Masses are of the liberal kind. I pray God’s mercy on your soul.
Sandra L.

Went here at least 5 or 6 times, maybe more. Fr. Frank C. Phillips is amazing, somehow managed to create this work of art out of rubble. This place was about to be closed and he resurrected it. Now it’s a fully functioning, always open parish. They even teach Latin in the school! They also host Liturgical Concerts, and other classes. They even have a museum inside!

This church is a good as it can get. I experienced my first Latin Mass, since my conversion to the Catholic Church. The mass’ that are celebrated here, are very traditional and more in line with what Vatican II, ACTUALLY SAID. You will get no watered down Catholism here. The priests here are very reverent, and will always take the time to answer your questions, bless your holy items, give you confession. Keep in mind the priests here won’t tell you what you want to hear they will tell you what you NEED to hear, because their main concern is the salvation of your soul. And leading on the correct pain towards Jesus.
The people here are very friendly as well, when I usually go with a friend of mine, but when I went by myself, I had people come up to me and introduce themselves and ask me what I thought of their church.
The music, the chanting, and even the building itself is extremely beautiful. I would recommend that everyone attend this parish at least once in their lives.
I just want to add, the people on here that are complaining about how out of touch the church, is don’t know what they are talking about, what we see going on at so many other churches, was never called for by the council, and it is outside of the rubics for the mass of the Paul the VI. St. John Cantius is what Vatican 2 actually envisioned not what certain prelates and Bishops lied to us about, if one thinks watering down the faith, and trashing the liturgy is progress, well then quite frankly they need to look up the meaning of the word, also I would seriously doubt any priest there had the nerve to say being a jew or a muslims is like walking into hell fire, I have been attending mass there for over a year both the N.O. and the TLM, and I have never heard a priest say something like that, true when it comes to Catholic Doctrine the priests don’t mince their words, because the priest formed at this parish understand you need to be clear and conscience in order to avoid confusion.

This past Sunday I was a guest at this amazing church. Beautiful Mass. I have never been to a Latin mass before this. The building is amazing to view. Find someone who knows and ask about the churches work in restoration of artifacts for other locations. They are doing good works here. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

The Mass here is beautiful, whether in English or Latin. I love that they have Gregorian Chant. It’s awesome. Highly recommended!

IF YOU ARE VISITING CHICAGO, COME TO THIS CHURCH:
REVIEW PERSPECTIVE: Primarily Ascetics. Come experience the liturgy that inspired the great classical composers like Bach, Beethoven, Berlioz… etc… And if you’re lucky, you’ll hear these great composers’ work in the context which inspired it.
This Church and it’s liturgical schedule gives you the finest example of how instrumental the Catholic Church has been in forming Western Culture throughout history.
They offer both the «new» Mass facing the traditional way, ad Deum, and the «Old» Mass. Both have exquisite choirs/schola…they have several choirs there, actually! The Gregorian Chant is good to excellent. Their cadence is a little disturbing at times, but nothing to dislike. It’s overall great quality chant. The other music, the choirs and orchestras are truly remarkable, and blend well into the space which is highly «Polish» Gothic. The servers are marvelous, neither too militaristic, nor too relaxed.
The Church itself is incredible. It is somewhat overdone with shrines and statues and looks as if they were later additions «forced» into a space. It fights the existing architecture and looks as if too much is crammed together. I appreciate the way the Church is being restored; re-​gilding the old gold and I assume, repainting the ceilings and walls with scroll work and images.
The ambo does not belong in that space. It should be removed entirely. It is a distraction and belittles the space as do the choir stalls. The new wood floor, from skilled tradesmen in Poland I’m told, is magnificent, and I feel guilty for even walking on it! It lends itself perfectly to the Church.
I only ask the dear Fathers, and they are all fantastic men, to step up the homilies. This is not the 1950’s. The SJC crowd knows the right answers, help them understand WHY they are the right answers. Give us a good theological exegesis. Give parishioners some ammunition to help evangelize. Fr. Scott is the very best preacher because he takes time to explain the reasons for the rituals, I am always so moved by them, and I hope Christina R would hear them, perhaps her criticisms would be less shrill.

We are registered parishioners of SJC, but due to moving out to the burbs we rarely make it down there now and instead go to our local parish (thank you so much, OPEC gas prices).
Yes, this is a VERY Traditional church, but it is the epitome of what Vatican II envisioned. They offer Masses in English and Latin. The English Mass is at 9 am. The Latin Mass is at 11:30, and the Latin Tridentine Masses are at 7:30 am and 12:30 pm. All of the Masses are celebrated with great dignity and care for the rubrics. The 11:30 Mass has the MOST beautiful music, oftentimes with soloists who can be found at the Lyric Opera House, and with full orchestral accompaniment.
One of my favorite things is that you can ALWAYS go to Confession during Mass, and they are the old-​school anonymous confessionals where you and the priest cannot see each others’ faces.
Even though the Mass environment is very solemn, I have yet to have someone give me a dirty look if my kids are not wearing their angel wings. Some churches are not very inviting of kids (odd, I know) but the parishioners here understand that kids get unruly from time to time, but that is no reason to not bring them to Mass.
Baby #3 comes in a few days and I can’t wait to have him baptized at SJC.
Oh, by the way…6 years ago when we were planning our wedding I worked very closely with the choir director in selecting music. I grew up singing sacred music, and he knew it was very important to me, and although I only had a budget of $ 500 he was able to accomplish the MOST beautiful ensemble for us! We had 4 vocalists, strings, organ and trumpet. SOME DAY I intend to make a huge donation to the music program, in his honor. I have friends (accomplished musicians themselves) who still comment on how lovely the music was at my wedding. It was one of the most cherished memories of my wedding day.

This church is old-​school, very traditional, and that’s why we love it. Three of the four Sunday masses are performed in Latin, and we attend the Ordinary Mass in English. The previous reviewers are correct: there are no women who take part in the Masses. That is because SJC is the home of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius
a religious community of men dedicated to the Restoration of the Sacred.
There are many different types of religious life in the Catholic church. Benedictine monks live in monasteries. Friars went out among the people to preach, such as the Dominicans and Franciscans. Canons Regular are just another type of religious order with their own very distinct characteristics.
The only other «big» Catholic churches I’ve been in are Holy Name in downtown Chicago and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC. And SJC is more beautiful than either of those. My husband and I take our two boys (3 and 5 yrs old) to SJC as often as we can (they love the music and the outright splendor of the church).
Although we live in a different parish in the city, and our children will attend Catholic school in our home parish, it is our privilege to to be able to worship at St. John Cantius whenever we can. And, no: I am not a «mantilla-​clad baby machine» as another reviewer observed so bitterly. My husband and I both are professionals with many, many interests in life. It just so happens that our children and our family life is at the top of that list of interests, and a traditional Catholic church serves our needs.
So, if you’re looking for a non-​traditional mass, SJC is not for you. But if you enjoy a beautiful, lyrical traditional Catholic mass that espouses traditional values and morals, you’ll love this place. :-)

One of the best Churches in Chicago. They have a beautiful Latin Tridentine Mass at 12:30 on Sundays. There are so many Priests & brothers here who chant the prayers which I love. Gregorian chant is the best!
For the one who says that this Church is out of touch with tolerance (Mary J.) that is because that is the Catholic Church. «Tolerance» is overrated when it comes to certain things in matters of faith & morals. Catholics cannot be tolerant of something that is against Church teaching.
This Church is so beautiful the way a Church should be built. I remember Michael Cumbie in his conversion story talking about all the statues in a church he visited for the first time. This church is full of great statues, stained glass windows, old style Confessionals.
Speaking of Confessionals, they have Confession before every Mass on Sundays. I love it. I have not been to this Church in a while. I would like to get back there one Sunday soon.

It’s depressing to know that a church this out of touch with tolerance, community and society exists. I attended Easter mass with my parents and listened to a fascist sermon about how being a muslim or a jew is like running INTO a burning building instead of out… those were his exact words. He also managed to rail against «living in sin»…seriously? Now, mind you, none of this fire and brimstone had ANYTHING to do with the day’s gospel or the importance of the Easter holiday in Christianity. And he was preaching to a room full of women in their 30s with eight children and wearing mantillas – yes, mantillas. The last complaint I will register is that the altar was filled with about fifty priests, deacons and, ahem, altar boys (surprise!) and not one woman of the cloth present… mantilla-​clad baby machines notwithstanding.
Maybe this is what you want out of a service. I want spirituality, to be brought closer to God and to be encouraged to love my neighbors.

When I lived in Chicago, this was my church. I have never seen a more beautiful church in the United States than St. John Cantius. It will take your breath away. It is a traditional Catholic church (VERY conservative) that offers both Latin and English Masses. I’ve been to both language Masses and the music at both is incredibly beautiful with the choir. I usually sit in the first few rows because I love the smell of the incense that is freely used during the Mass. The Church offers confession right before all Masses which is very convenient. I miss their choir music… so much so that I purchased a few CDs from their web site. Their Christmas music CD is so beautiful… men singing in traditional gregorian chant. Fantastic.

Music lovers, here is your shrine! Actually, it’s a Church to serve the Lord, but one way they do that is through a phenomenal sacred music program. I’ve also been to a couple of their concerts and was really blown away.
I don’t know the Latin Mass at all, and when I’ve gone a couple of times, I’ve always gotten a little lost. The ushers are very nice and made sure we got the books with translation when we arrived. But what I loved was the spiritual depth. God is mystical and awesome and amazing beyond our comprehension, and you sense that during Mass at this parish. It reminds you of the 2,000 year-​old roots of Catholicism, the mystery that happens at Mass… Things I often forget.
This isn’t the parish for me for every Sunday, but I’m glad it’s here.

This church makes me wish I went to mass more often. The solemn masses and strong sense of ritual are really inspiring. I’m not a fan of the church’s social orthodoxy, but I guess it’s hard to combine progressive values with Tridentine masses.

This is a wonderful parish. The Masses (low Tridentine, Missa Normativa/​English, Missa Normativa/​Latin, and high Tridentine) are done beautifully. Anyone who’s heard about the Motu Proprio & wonders about the Tridentine Mass — come on down & see! And you’ll find not only a gorgeous church, not only a beautiful Mass, but some of the nicest, friendliest people ever. There’s also a parish library, and a café. Oh, and have you ever seen a priest wearing a cassock & biretta (outside of an old Bing Crosby movie, that is)? You’ll see it here — and not elderly priests, either. St. John Cantius has no shortage of young deacons & priests (they are able to offer confession DURING Mass because they have enough priests to do it). Everybody, please, come to this parish at least once!!!

This place is a real treasure to anyone who practices the Catholic faith. Going to 12:30 Latin High Mass on Sundays is like going into a time machine. I personally find it so beautiful and moving even though I do get lost or confused at times. There is a missal at the front of the Church that helps you follow along with what is going on in Latin.
The whole mission of St. John Cantius is the restoration of the sacred. That includes sacred liturgy, music, and art. It seems that so many modern churches are throwing our sacred and replacing it with the secular. St. John Cantius is going against this trend and is doing a wonderful job at it. It is a must stop for all Catholics to just get a better idea of what the Church was like before Vatican II.

THE most beautiful Catholic church in the city. High Latin mass can be inspirational for those of us generally uninspired. I went to a wedding here last year so don’t go thinking I am a good practicing Catholic or anything. Sorry Mom & Dad!