This weekend we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into heaven. To quote church dogma, “The Immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin, when the course of her earthly life was over, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven.”  She who was Christ’s most faithful disciple was the first among us to experience the fullness of redemption. The first Mass in this present church building was celebrated on August 15, the Feast of the Assumption in 1886. So, we are celebrating the birthday of our church.

This area around Assumption was one of the first parts of Chicago to be settled, because it was close to the confluence of the north and south branches of the Chicago River—and in the early nineteenth century most traffic moved by water. When Italian immigrants arrived in the area after the Chicago Fire, our neighborhood was known as Smokey Hollow, because the factories that lined the Chicago River were all belching out smoke. But those years from the 1880s through the 1920’s were boom years for our parish and our neighborhood. Amidst the factories, tenements, row houses, and small businesses, our steeple towered over the community and our school on Erie Street was jam packed with students, all enjoying free tuition, as per the requirement that Mother Cabrini laid down when she brought here Sisters to staff the school.

If we could turn back the clock a hundred years and stand in front of the church on Illinois Street, we would find ourselves in a lively Italian neighborhood. Across Illinois Street were Billy Bertini’s Gourmet Grocery, Pete Nanni’s Ice Cream Parlor, and the Victoria Restaurant, which was open all night. The Victoria was the site of a famous murder, a not so gentle reminder that the curse of urban violence is nothing new. A block away was the Cavalier Athletic Club, which sponsored a baseball team for neighborhood kids; and along Clark Street near Erie were two movie houses, The Erie and The Huron (popularly known as The Big Erie and the Little Erie). The Cuneo Apartments stood east of the church, and a few blocks north on Wells were the two Italian funeral homes, Sbarbaro and Rocco & Hayes. The big church social was the Columbian Dinner, at which roast chicken and raviolo were served. Once a year, the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows was carried through the neighborhood, with the men of the Holy Name Society and the Ladies of the Santa Maria Society following in procession. Our church bells rang out the Angeles, calling people to prayer at 6:00am, 12:00 noon, and 6:00pm.

As the Italian families moved out of the neighborhood, many of the old structures were demolished, and Assumption became primarily a church for commuters. When I first saw Assumption in the mid-1970’s, the church and rectory were surrounded by a sea of surface parking lots. The Merchandise Mart kept the neighborhood lively during the day; but after dark this was considered a sleazy and dangerous area. It was not until the late 1980’s, that new housing began to spring up in the area newly christened River North.

As I was looking through the sacramental records recently, I was struck by the number of funerals that took place here in the sixties and seventies. Even though the Italian families had moved out of the neighborhood decades earlier, they would bring mom and dad back home for their funeral, knowing that Fr. Tom would wear black vestments and do everything the old way, just like mom and dad remembered it. From July 1967 to June 1968, there were 41 funerals, all for people with distinctly Italian names. Then the family ties with the old neighborhood began to fray. From July 1991 to June 1992, there were 12 funerals, 12 baptisms, and 4 weddings. From July 2025 to June 2026, we had 49 baptisms, 63 weddings, and only 7 funerals.  Three years ago I offered the funeral Mass for one of the last of the old “neighborhood kids.” Santa Young grew up above her father’s tavern on Erie Street and died at the age of 109.

Assumption began as a parish for immigrants and today we still are, but for a different brand of immigrants—not just from Italy, but from many other nations, from many Chicago suburbs, and from many neighboring states.  The picnic is a great time for new residents to mingle with long-time members, who maintain their ties with Assumption even though they do not live close anymore. Let’s celebrate our church’s 140^th birthday, and, with God’s help, celebrate many more.

                                                                           Fr. Joe