Sisters of the Resurrection Chapel

In 1925, John Mallin was hired to decorate the Chapel of the Sisters of the Resurrection in the Norwood Park neighborhood on the far northwest side of Chicago. The Sisters of the Resurrection were founded in Rome in 1891 by a widow, Celine Borzecka, and her daughter Hedwig Borzecka. The community expanded to Poland, and in 1900, four of the Sisters travelled to Chicago where they worked to open a school with St Mary of the Angels Church. In 1914, the Sisters purchased land on the Northwest side of Chicago for a high school and a convent. Mallin decorated the chapel inside the convent building in 1925-26. The chapel was redecorated in the 1980s, and the original convent building was torn down in the early 2000s and replaced with a smaller building. The chapel stained glass windows were restored and placed in the new chapel. However, the 13 acres of land and convent building where the current chapel resides are up for sale.

A document provided by the Sisters of the Resurrection includes Mallin’s detailed specifications for decorating the chapel. The sanctuary ceiling was to be decorated with gold leaf stars, which are visible in the black and white photos. The emblems and sanctuary stencil work mentioned in the specifications can also be seen. The original document specified a painting of the Resurrection behind the altar. This sentence was crossed out. Instead, one of the Resurrection Sisters herself, Sister Benigna Pilchowska, painted the Resurrection picture that is shown in the photos. When the chapel was torn down, the Resurrection painting was damaged except for the painting of the head which the Sisters were able to save and display in their current building. The total cost of the work by Mallin was $1,680.

References

Sisters of the Resurrection History. http://www.crsisterschicago.org

Nadig Newspaper, November 15, 2017. http://nadignewspapers.com

Personal communications, Sister Barbara Sniegowski, CR.

Photos provided by Resurrection Sisters and C Bradley Publishing.