Help Us Honor Our Lady
We are inviting friends of Our Lady to make an offering and a prayer intention to Our Lady of Czestochowa. All prayer intentions will be placed in the restored altar when it is completed.
Our Lady’s altar is in dire need of repair and restoration.
Updated June 24, 2022
We are now at 73 %, $172,628.00, funded of our goal! This includes a donation from a generous soul, who matched the tithe of the Canons $ 23,500.
Updated June 15, 2022
The Canons Regular of St. John Cantius have made a tithe of $23,500 toward the restoration - 10% of our total goal of $235,000. We are now at 60.7%, $142,737, funded of our goal. We invite you to also make an offering and a prayer intention to Our Lady for this project. Envelopes and prayer intentions sheets are found in front of Our Lady's Altar. Please make checks payable to “AMDG Foundation.” All intentions will be placed inside the restored altar and remembered at a Holy Mass celebrated at the altar. Please prayerfully consider supporting the Altar’s restoration here.
Updated May 26, 2022
Thank you to each and every one who has helped make the restoration of Our Lady’s Altar possible. What a wonderful way to observe the Month of Mary! This project is now 48 percent collected of the needed $235,000. The Canons Regular of St. John Cantius recently made a tithe of $23,500 for this restoration. Below you will see the progress we’ve made, but there’s still more to do. Our Lady’s Altar still needs your help. Please prayerfully consider supporting the Altar’s restoration here.
Thanks to many of you, the important and long stage of strengthening the structure of the altar architecture is behind us. The restoration of the entire surface of ornaments, bases, column capitals, moldings, and frames is also complete. These surfaces were then covered with the first layers of yellow clay which will cover imperfections and will then be sanded before applying the next layers of clay.
Additionally, some of the missing large and small ornaments (pictured above) from different parts of the altar were reconstructed at the studio. Continued work on the reconstructions will prepare the surface for gilding at the church.
Here are a few photos of the progress described:
The first layers of yellow clay were applied.
Strengthening the structure, fixing deformed surfaces, and filling cracks with adhesive and epoxy putty.
Strengthening the structure of the altar with screws, adhesives, and epoxy putty.
Our Lady’s Altar Restoration
It has sustained a wide scale of damage due to the passage of time, the aging process of wood, and the materials used. There are numerous abrasions and unstable areas. The structure of the wooden ornaments and other gilded decorative elements is fragile and cracked, including four entire missing compositions which must be completely reconstructed.
This past Ash Wednesday, restoration began.
Our Lady’s altar has always been an important station of prayer for parishioners. Cantius’s earliest churchgoers donated their precious gold and family jewelry to make up Mary’s crown. We invite you to join our founding parishioners in making your mark on Our Lady’s altar by making your offering here:
Our goal to complete the restoration is $235,000.
Please make your prayer requests here:
The restoration is expected to be finished on this year’s Feast of the Rosary, October 7.
WE INVITE YOU to make an offering with your prayer intention to Our Lady of Czestochowa:
Donate Online now or send in a donation by mail.
Submit your prayer intention online or include it it with your check
All submitted intentions will be permanently placed in the restored altar where Mass will be celebrated. We are also seeking leadership gifts from individuals who can assist the Canons Regular in this project. If you are interested in making an offering above $5000, please contact Father Joshua Caswell, SJC at office@cantius.org or call the office at 312.243.7373. Please make checks payable to the “AMDG Foundation” with, "Our Lady's Altar" in the memo line. Mail checks and prayer intentions to: Our Lady's Altar AMDG Foundation 1025 W. Fry Street Chicago, IL 60642 Download a prayer intention form below.