Welcome to Our Parish! Here is the Latest News:
Our Annual Balsam Pine Sale is Online This Year
St. Gertrude Feast Day Celebration Planned for November 14 at 6:30 pm
St. Gertrude Feast Day Celebration Planned for November 14 at 6:30 pm
St. Gertrude Feast Day Celebration Planned for November 14 at 6:30 pm
St. Gertrude Feast Day Celebration Planned for November 14 at 6:30 pm
St. Gertrude Feast Day Celebration Planned for November 14 at 6:30 pm
For Sale: Breaking Bread Hymnal for 2021 for Personal Use
St. Gertrude Feast Day Celebration Planned for November 14 at 6:30 pm
For Sale: Breaking Bread Hymnal for 2021 for Personal Use
Rel Ed Classes Begin on Tuesday
Photo gallery from Father Mike's Run for Heart to Heart
For Sale: Breaking Bread Hymnal for 2021 for Personal Use
Photo gallery from Father Mike's Run for Heart to Heart
Photo gallery from Father Mike's Run for Heart to Heart
Photo gallery from Father Mike's Run for Heart to Heart
Thank you for Coming to our Pet Blessing
Photo gallery from Father Mike's Run for Heart to Heart
Photo gallery from Father Mike's Run for Heart to Heart
Recent Videos Shared: Sunday Mass, First Communion, Confirmation
Recent Videos Shared: Sunday Mass, First Communion, Confirmation
Recent Videos Shared: Sunday Mass, First Communion, Confirmation
First Communion and Confirmation Celebrated
Recent Videos Shared: Sunday Mass, First Communion, Confirmation
Recent Videos Shared: Sunday Mass, First Communion, Confirmation
Renew My Church
St. Gertrude Refugee and Immigrant Ministry: Kadidja Finds Grace and Refuge
St. Gertrude Refugee and Immigrant Ministry: Kadidja Finds Grace and Refuge
St. Gertrude Refugee and Immigrant Ministry: Kadidja Finds Grace and Refuge
St. Gertrude Refugee and Immigrant Ministry: Kadidja Finds Grace and Refuge
St. Gertrude Refugee and Immigrant Ministry: Kadidja Finds Grace and Refuge
This Week at St. Gertrude
St. Gertrude Refugee and Immigrant Ministry: Kadidja Finds Grace and Refuge
Reopening Information Page
St. Gertrude Annual Balsam Pine Sale
Order Your Christmas Greenery Today!
Once again this holiday season, we're selling Christmas greenery! Items will be delivered.
Save the Date-November 14: Feast of St. Gertrude Celebration
Recital/Lecture Featuring Works of Florence Price and Margaret Bonds, African-American Composers
Please join us for a free Feast of St. Gertrude event on Saturday, November 14 at 6:30 pm in the church! Due to COVID-19 protocols, we cannot have choral singing at our traditional All are Welcome concert to celebrate our parish feast day. So this year, Mary Clare Barker will give a recital/lecture featuring the music of two Chicago-based African-American women composers, Florence Price and her protégé, Margaret Bonds. Both of these artists were very strong women much like our patroness, St. Gertrude, who used their gifts to make significant cultural contributions in a white, male-dominated field.
Florence Price was the first African-American woman to have a work performed by a major American symphony. Her Symphony in E Minor was performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) in 1933 at the Chicago World's Fair. Margaret Bonds was the first African-American woman to play as a soloist with the CSO.
Both Price and Bonds enjoyed successful careers as composers, teachers, and performers and drew heavily from the rich African-American musical traditions in their compositions. Both women were prodigious composers of over 200 works each and composed in nearly every genre. Particular attention will be devoted to providing insight into the social climate and attitudes toward women in music and the obstacles that each composer had to overcome.
Sign Up Now Open!
All are welcome to attend the live event but MUST register online or at the parish office prior to attending.
The event will also be live-streamed on Facebook and also available afterward on our parish YouTube channel.
Thank You From Fr. Mike!
Thank you to everyone for supporting me throughout the 26.2 miles of my personal marathon for Heart to Heart on Sunday, October 11! Your prayers, along with the wonderful support of parishioners cheering me on, helped me get to the finish line in 5 hours and 8 minutes.
I am so thankful that so many volunteers and parishioners came out to cheer me on and to help staff the different stations around our Edgewater neighborhood. I am grateful also to the staff of St. Gertrude Parish for their assistance and encouragement.
As of Thursday, October 15, more than 300 people have donated over $21,979.00 to Heart to Heart for my run! Thank you for your generous support and your contributions to Heart to Heart.
Gratefully,
Father Mike Bradley
Click HERE for a photo gallery from Fr. Mike's Run for Heart to Heart
Click HERE to donate to Fr. Mike's Run
Religious Ed Update-Oct 23
Religious Ed Begins on Tuesday!
Dear St. Gertrude Religious Education Families,
Thank you so much to those parents and guardians that were able to attend one of our parent meetings on Tuesday. I appreciate your time and the ideas you shared to make this year meaningful for our students yet considerate of the many stressors our Religious Ed community is facing during this pandemic.
I am also grateful for our catechists who attended, Ginevra Clark (first and second grades), Suzanne Stryczek (fifth and sixth grades), and Steve Monti (seven and eighth grades).
This Tuesday. October 27, the first of our Religious Ed classes will begin! This first week will be low-key and a chance for the teachers and students to introduce themselves and get to know one other. No prep work is assigned to any of our students. Zoom links for each session, which will remain the same throughout the school year, were in the email sent out this week. Contact me if you did not receive our Rel Ed newsletter.
Religious Ed Books are Coming Soon!I'm expecting the books for this year to be delivered to the Rectory next week. I plan to share pick-up times after organizing them into family packets. Since there is no class on Tuesday, November 3, the first time students will need the books is just before our November 10 class. I'm hoping that will give parents enough time to make a trip to the Rectory or Church to grab their children's materials. As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns! I'm looking forward to seeing your children on Tuesday,
~ Kevin Chears, Pastoral Associate
Parent Packet, Catechist Needed, Fees, Sacramental Info
- The Religious Ed parent packet can be found HERE. (This online version of the packet does not have Zoom links.)
- We are looking for a volunteer to teach third and fourth-grade!. We have one person that is interested in teaching and cannot commit to weekly sessions. They are willing to co-teach and are looking for a partner. If you are interested, please email me!
- If you still need to reschedule your child's First Communion or Confirmation from spring 2020, please email me at kchears@stgertrudechicago.org or call the Rectory at 773.764.3621.
- Later in the school year, there will be parent meetings for those who have children making their First Reconciliation, First Communion, and Confirmation in spring of 2021 and those parents of 7th graders who are in their first year of Sacramental prep for Confirmation,
- Fees for Religious Ed can be paid online via GiveCentral. Parishioners pay $185 for their entire household. The cost for non-parishioner families to attend classes is $205. Sacrament fees are $50.
Recent Videos
Sunday, October 25 - Confirmation
Saturday, October 24 at 5:00 pm - First Communion
Mass on Sunday, October 18 at 10:30 am
5:00 pm Mass on Saturday, October 17 - First Communion
More children from our parish made their First Communion!
10:30 am Mass on Sunday, October 11 - First Communion
Eight children made their First Communion at this Mass!
8:00 am Mass on Sunday, October 11 - Confirmation
Young adults from our parish made their Confirmation (delayed from Spring 2020) this weekend!
St. Gertrude Pet Blessing
Our parish's pets were blessed on Sunday, October 4!
Sunday, October 4 Mass at 10:30 am
Confirmation celebrated
Saturday, October 3 Mass at 5:00 pm
First Communion celebrated
Video from the Refugee & Immigrant Ministry
Check out this great video from our amazing Refugee & Immigrant Ministry!! Donate here: https://www.givecentral.org/location/8/event/20998
St. Gertrude Chicago YouTube Channel
All Masses can be found on our YouTube channel HERE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmuc-q8Bc2I-y2q83FbYJAA
ECRA Pack the Pantry a Success
More Than Two Tons of Items Collected for Care for Real
On Saturday, October 3, volunteers from ECRA (Edgewater Community Religious Association) hosted a collection drive for household and personal hygiene items at the Ismaili Jamatkhana. So many people came out to help and even more to share what they had to give to those in need. More than two tons of food and personal-use products were collected!
We are so pleased that the Edgewater and Rogers Park communities came together to support Care for Real in its effort to provide much-needed assistance to our neighbors.
Thank you to all who volunteered and brought items!
Thank You From the Refugee & Immigrant Ministry
The St. Gertrude Refugee and Immigration Ministry is so very grateful for the generosity of this community of faith on September 26-27. So far, $1,472 has been donated.
All funds will go towards commitments to current families and sponsoring new refugee families. Thank you so much!
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
For many, home is a place of love, warmth, and comfort. It’s somewhere that you know you will be surrounded by care and support, and a nice little break from the busyness of the real world. But for millions of others, home is anything but a sanctuary. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are victims of physical violence by a partner every year. And during the pandemic, domestic abuse incidents have skyrocketed.
St. Gertrude's Domestic Violence Resource Page
Our website has a Domestic Violence information page and a click-away button in the event someone is monitoring computer use. It lists specific information on abusive relationships, including:
- Where to Start
- Organizations that Provide Housing
- Legal Help
- Spanish-Speaking Assistance
- Asian, Arabic, & Korean Assistance
- LGBTQ Help
- Help for Teens & Young Adults
- Help Securing the Safety of Pets
- What Does Abuse Look Like?
- How to Help a Friend or Family Member
- Emotional Abuse
- Why Do People Stay in Abusive Relationships?
For Sale: Breaking Bread Hymnal for 2021 for Personal Use
Available for Purchase at This Weekend's Mass
Due to COVID-19, we do not know when we will be able to put hymnals back in the pews for communal use. Parishioners are welcome to order their own personal copies of Breaking Bread 2021 for use at home or brought to/from church. The hymnals contain the scripture readings for Sundays and the music we use in church. The start date for using it is the First Sunday in Advent (November 29).
Parishioners are welcome to purchase their own personal copies of Breaking Bread 2021 for use at home or brought to/from church. The hymnals contain the scripture readings for Sundays and the music we use in church. The start date for using it is the First Sunday in Advent (November 29).
Missals are being sold at a discounted rate of $7.00/hymnal and are available at the greeter table in church. Checks and cash are accepted. Please have the exact amount ready as no change is available.
Please note, while you may bring your personal missal to St. Gertrude, you MUST bring it back home. Any missals left in the church will be discarded.
Contact Mary Clare Barker with any questions at 773.764.3621, ext 22 or mcbarker@stgertrudechicago.org.
We hope that having your own personal hymnal will enhance your worship experience and continue to actively participate in the liturgy during this pandemic!
Rectory Hours
The Rectory office is open from 9:00 am-2:30 pm Monday-Saturday, and 8:30-11:30 am on Sunday. Please call before coming.
In-Person and Live-Streamed Masses
Weekday and Weekend Mass Times
7:30 am - Church Click HERE for reservations.
8:00 am - Church Click HERE for reservations.
10:30 am - Church Click HERE for reservations.
Click HERE for our parishioner guidelines for attending Mass in Church. Each service may have up to 150 people in attendance.
Every Sunday at 10:30 am, we will will continue to live-stream Mass from St. Gertrude Church using Facebook Live. Please click HERE to be connected to our parish Facebook page. After Mass, we upload the video to our YouTube channel.
Mary Clare Barker, our Music Minister, has created a song sheet for use at home with lyrics for music for our live-streamed 10:30 am Mass this Sunday at 10:30 am HERE.
This Weekend: First Grade & Confirmation Celebrated
First Communion will be celebrated this Saturday at the 5:00 pm Mass by the following children:
- Margaret Fulkerson
- Riley Devlin
- Ariella Gehl
- Adeline Nader
- Connor Patrick Szafoni
- Jocelyn Gehl
The Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated on Sunday, October 25 at the 10:30 am Mass:
- Antonia Zovko
- Avila Griffin
- Stella Garay
- Taylor Fost
- Griffin Bunn
- Marcus Degal
Together, we offer our congratulations and express our joy for the faith of these young people. Please continue to hold them in your prayers as they continue to grow in their faith.
Videos for previous Confirmations and First Communions are above and also posted on our parish YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmuc-q8Bc2I-y2q83FbYJAA
Parish News
Interested in Becoming Catholic?
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is a process by which adults learn more about the Catholic Church. This free program begins in late September and meets until Pentecost.
Many people who begin RCIA are non-Catholics seeking to become Catholic or at least to explore whether Catholicism might be a good home. Those who complete the process and decide to become Catholic are initiated into the Church at the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday. Others who take RCIA are already Catholic but want a deeper understanding of their faith foundation.
The RCIA process does not ask those who have been baptized in another faith to give up their denominational experiences. Rather, the RCIA process seeks to add new colors and designs to their existing faith life tapestry. In addition to attending Mass, the RCIA process includes weekly gatherings of breaking open the Word of God, sharing our stories, and learning about our faith traditions.
This year, RCIA gatherings will be a mixture of Zoom meetings and in-person gatherings after Mass.
If you or someone you know is interested in learning more about the RCIA process at St. Gertrude, contact me at kchears@stgertrudechicago.org or call the Rectory at 773.764.3621. We can set up a call or a Zoom meeting.
~ Kevin Chears, Pastoral Associate