The National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe

Friday, Jul. 28, 2023

Donna Masek

Special to the Intermountain Catholic

The 28th International Eucharistic Congress took place in Chicago, Ill. on June 20-24, 1926. This five-day event included a Eucharistic procession three miles long through a crowd of approximately one million pilgrims at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Ill. Masses were offered each night for specific groups of the lay faithful in Chicago’s Soldier Field. This monumental display of Catholicism offered a visual witness to the belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament. 

A fruit of this historic event was the establishment of the Sisters of the Benedictine Order of Perpetual Adoration adjacent to the seminary property. With its primary apostolate to pray in adoration for seminarians and priests in Chicago, the religious order formally opened its Chapel of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament in 1932. Modeled after the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls in Rome, the chapel houses a 5’2” monstrance crafted in Germany. Symbols of the four evangelists – John, Mark, Luke and Matthew – are at the base of the monstrance, and a relief depicts Our Lady crushing the head of the serpent. Encircling the Blessed Sacrament are eight medallions representing various scriptural references to the Eucharist. The words Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus (“Holy, Holy, Holy”) are carved in the marble steps that lead up to the Altar of Exposition, enhancing its sacredness.

Historically, the Benedictine community’s primary source of income was the production of altar breads. In 1955, they produced millions annually. However, due to dwindling vocations and financial reasons, the Benedictine Sisters of Clyde, Mo. decided to consolidate monasteries and put the convent on the market in 1978. With ecclesial permissions and the intervention of Divine Providence, the Conventual Franciscan Friars of Marytown in Kenosha, Wisc. acquired the property, and chapel renovations began. Mosaics complementing Franciscan history were incorporated, and other liturgical updates were made.  The Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel reopened on Sept. 15, 1979, the 31st anniversary of the founding of Marytown.  

In 2000, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops designated Marytown the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Perpetual adoration continues to be a primary ministry of the Conventual Franciscan Friars. Even when a large piece of the structure’s gold-leafed coffer ceiling collapsed causing extensive damage in 2006, Eucharistic adoration continued at the site; though it was relocated to a temporary chapel in the adjourning conference center. Immediately, reconstruction and other improvements began. A celebratory service that included a Solemn Mass, Eucharistic Procession and Benediction reopened the chapel on Sept. 15, 2007. Eucharistic adoration from the site is also available online, at https://kolbeshrine.org/chapel-live-stream. 

 With its life-size statues, colorful mosaics, and numerous stained-glass windows, the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe at Marytown surely will continue to invite all to the footsteps of our Eucharistic Lord for years to come.