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Thank You for Making Advent & Christmas at St. Gertrude so Special

Christmas at St. Gertrude was wonderful! We appreciate all who attended our services, whether they attended Mass online or put on a mask and came to Mass in person. These holy days were a reminder that churches are created and nurtured by active, engaged, and generous parishioners. We appreciate you sharing your time with us and are thankful to have you as part of our St. Gertrude family!

We are also grateful for the hard work of so many parishioners who made Advent and Christmas at St. Gert’s so beautiful and festive.

So many parishioners participated in our Giving Tree program, organized to make Christmas special for families in need! The gift cards went to Care for Real and the Refugee Ministry to support their work.

Thank you for your tremendous response to our call for help. Your donations were very much appreciated.

Heavenly Horns Concert

St. Gertrude's very own “Heavenly Horns” performed for parishioners on Sunday, December 19 after the 10:30 am Mass. Selections included Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, Good King Wenceslas, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, and We Three Kings.

We appreciate all who attended and especially the talented team that performed - Jim Szmurlo, Tona Palomino, Peter Buttitta, Fran Guenette, and Nicholas Bussey.

Thank You to our Musicians

Mary Clare Barker, our talented Music Minister, wrote a special note for her volunteers:

"I want to extend a heartfelt and sincere thank you to all of the cantors and musicians who contributed mightily to the beauty of our Christmas liturgies.

We are so blessed at St. Gertrude to have so many talented musicians who give so freely of their time and share their prodigious talents with our community. I am deeply appreciative of all that they do."

Thank You for Donating to the St. Gertrude's Giving Tree!

We are so grateful to the many people that donated to St. Gertrude Parish’s Giving Tree. More thaIn total, $7,577 in gift cards was donated, with Care for Real receiving $3,000 and our parish's Refugee Ministry receiving $4,577 to support their work. This will make it possible for many families to have adequate food and clothing in these winter months and possibly beyond.

We truly appreciate your generosity!

Parish Service Awards

At our parish Thanksgiving Day Mass, this year’s Parish Service Awards were presented to the recipients. These are parish members, selected by you and the parish staff, to be recognized for their outstanding service in different areas of Ministry and Service. Congratulations to all of this year’s award recipients! And thank you for your continuing generosity of your time and talent to St. Gertrude Parish!

Here are this year’s recipients and the areas in which they were honored:

Human Concerns: Laurie & Ed Jacob, Tom Deske
Education: Peter & Ellen Buttitta; Ginevra Clark, Dorothea Tobin
Parish Life: Kathy Krokar, Laura Pigozzi, David Sullivan
Prayer & Worship: Bernie O’Connor
Lifetime Service: Jackie & Jon Blake, Marie Galoney

Therese Schreiner Awarded Spirit of St. Gertrude Award

At the celebration of our Parish Feast Day in November, the Annual Spirit of St. Gertrude was awarded to Therese Schreiner.

As the inscription read, it was given, “In grateful recognition of many years of service to the parish and the school in liturgical music, the play production, counseling, service to the senior & ailing communities through Heart to Heart and your constant, positive addition to every aspect of parish life.”

Therese taught at NCA for 22 years, then at Loyola Academy for 25 years, then back to NCA for two years. Along with time spent at other Archdiocesan schools, she was in Catholic education a total of 51 years! And that is just one of her many, many activities and services here at St. Gertrude.

Thank you, Therese, for your extraordinary example of service and the amazing spirit alive in everything you do!

Christifideles Award - Congratulations to Kevin Chears!

Each year, the Archdiocese recognizes one parishioner in each parish with the Christifideles Award for their outstanding service and ministry to the church at the parish level. I am very happy to announce that this year’s recipient is our Pastoral Associate, Kevin Chears. Kevin has been the Master of All Things That Needed To Be Done for many years, looking out for the Art and Environment in the church, being sure all the moving pieces are all lined up for any of the services in church, coordinating and training the liturgical ministers, keeping in contact with and scheduling our Sunday supply priests, and, in recent years, coordinating the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.)

Last year, as we were preparing for the start of a new academic year, when the Coordinator of Religious Education surprised us by resigning just days before the new year was to start, Kevin generously agreed to step in and get the Religious Education program up and running -- and did that during the pandemic! Kevin and her husband, Victor, are long-time parishioners who bring great vitality and positive energy to everything they do. Congratulations to Kevin, this year’s recipient of the Christifideles Award!

Thank You for Supporting our Repair, Renew, Refresh Campaign!

Our Repair, Renew, Refresh campaign is over! Our goal was to raise $100,000 to address some specific needs in our parish buildings and to establish an assistance fund for parishioners with children attending NCA. I am very happy to report that we have received over $165,000!

These funds will enable us to continue the mission of St. Gertrude by maintaining our buildings and supporting Catholic education. The much-needed repairs include: Exterior repairs to the church and rectory roofs, and internal repairs from water damage, installation of two handrails between the main floor of church to the sanctuary, and two handrails from the lower sanctuary level to the altar level to increase accessibility, re-carpeting the church, rebuilding the deteriorated entrance stairs to the parish hall/gym/classroom building and the stairs at the south (accessible) entrance to the church.

Additionally, we will establish a Fund for Catholic Education for parish families with children attending NCA in need of financial help to enroll, as well as to have funds available for families in crisis due to health, employment, or other unexpected situations.

Thank you to all those who contributed to the campaign!! Your gift makes this possible!

~ Father Rich

Pictured: Handrails being installed with funds from the campaign

Previous Events at St. Gertrude

Our St. Gertrude Community

Our community is blessed to have supportive, talented parishioners. Below are some older events celebrated at our parish.

Hospitality for St. Ignatius Parishioners

Thanks to all our volunteers who provided the hospitality on Sunday, June 6, 2021 for our welcome event for St. Ignatius parishioners! The gathering in the courtyard after the 10:30 am Mass turned out perfectly! Even the weather cooperated with temperatures in the low 80s and a great breeze! It was a pleasure to meet many St. Ignatius parishioners and assure them they are always welcome here at St. Gertrude.

Thanks to Mike Tobin, Kim McInerney, Allen Stryczak, Gail Smith, and Denise Robinson for being on the Welcoming Committee and making sure we were ready to offer such delightful hospitality!

Congratulations to our Newly Confirmed!

We are so proud of their hard work and are so blessed by their kind hearts and loving presence in our parish. Please continue to hold them in your prayers as they continue to grow in their faith. (June 2021)

Click here to see photos from both Masses, videos, or download a confirmation booklet

First Communion 2021

On Saturday, May 8, 32 children from the Religious Ed program and NCA made their First Communion at 10:00 am in church. We are so proud of their hard work and are so blessed by their kind hearts and loving presence in our parish. Congratulations!

Religious Ed Update (End of 2020-21 School Year)

We are so grateful for our Religious Ed community, who has been incredibly patient and supportive this unpredictable year. The students are truly wonderful kids and I am so impressed with how kind, smart, and creative they are.

I'm also so thankful to those volunteers who joined me as a Religious Ed teacher:

Ginevra Clark - first and second grade
Suzanne Stryczek - fifth and sixth grade
Steve Monti - seventh and eighth grade

They worked incredibly hard to provide engaging lessons via Zoom and made sure each child learned important information about our faith.

If you're interested in registering for the fall, forms can be found HERE.

~ Kevin Chears, Pastoral Associate

RCIA: Celebrating the Easter Sacraments

On Holy Saturday, April 3, 2021 at the Easter Vigil, those in the RCIA celebrated the Easter Sacraments. Congratulations to Jessica Navarro, Corina Cleja, and Daniel Geihsler on becoming members of the Catholic Church and our faith community!

First Reconciliation

On Monday, March 15, 2021, 31 students from Northside Catholic Academy and our parish's Religious Education program made their First Reconciliation. We were so grateful to the students who worked hard to prepare for this important day and for the loving support they received from their families.

Special thanks to the following Religious Ed and NCA teachers for preparing their students - Kevin Chears, Ginevra Clark, Ewa Jablonska, and Cristine Salazar.

We also thank Mary Clare Barker, our musician, as well as Father Mike Gabriel, Father Mike Bradley, Father Louis, and Father Rich.

Thank You for Supporting our Parish Auction

We are so grateful for the overwhelming support of our parish's Auction 2021! We have raised more than $28,000 - exceeding our target of $25,000!

There were so many people that helped make the Auction a success. The Auction Committee - David Sullivan, Laura Pigozzi, and Kathy Krokar - did an amazing job planning the auction and guiding us all through it! Dorothea Tobin worked so hard to get donations for our auction, Mary Clare generously shared her incredible musical talent with us, and Greg Pierce served as our auctioneer at our live event. We are equally grateful for Margie Guadagno, Laurie Hasbrook, and Kevin Chears, some of our amazing Rectory staff, who put in so much time to make the Auction happen.
Thank you to everyone that donated items, placed a bid, and joined in our Live Auction. We are so grateful that so many people helped and participated!

Thank you for your generosity!

Thank You for Supporting our St. Gert's Giving Tree (2020)

A very special thanks to all who helped in any way with our Giving Tree! The collection totaled $7,343! All the gift cards collected went to support Care for Real and families that are part of our Refugee Ministry.

St. Gertrude's Refugee Ministry collected a total of $3,961! Our donations were:

$2,705.00 in Target gift cards
$1,150 in Jewel gift cards
$100 in Aldi gift cards
$6.00 in cash

Our collection for Care for Real totaled $3,382! Donations were:

$3,320 in Target gift cards
$62 in cash

Additionally, throughout the year, St. Gertrude serves as a strong supporter of Care for Real through our sharing program. This past fiscal year, we raised $2,886.70 for Care for Real.

Thank you for your generosity!

Parish Greenery Sales a Success (2020)

Our annual Balsam Pine Sale was a success! Last Friday, we sold out of our entire inventory of trees and garland, as well as our 18”, 24", and 36" wreaths.

We are so grateful to Steve Peavler, Mike Tentler, Art Blumberg, and Robert Clarke, who organized this sale, their amazing delivery team, and the supporters of our balsam pine sale! The team made $3,413.50 in revenue for the parish, with 106 individual deliveries made over two weekends! We appreciate their great work!

Thank you for Supporting our Refugee Ministry (Christmas 2020)

Thank you for all your extraordinary support of the Refugee Ministry. Because of your generosity, we have been able to once again extend a helping hand.

The Giving Tree resulted in over $4,000 in gift cards to our ministry! We are going to share gift cards with the three families we are currently helping, offer some to Catholic Charities for other refugee families, and keep the rest for our next families.

This is yet another example of how, with the generosity of our fellow parishioners, we have been able to sustain our ministry and help so many people over the last four years. It's truly a wonder! Our families are listed below, and now seems like a good time to reflect on the goodness in the world and to pray for their continued success.

Your support has helped these families:

Official sponsorship with Catholic Charities:

A Rohingya couple with three kids – January 2016
A Rohingya couple with a daughter – Rohingya – August 2016
An ethnically Nepalese family from Bhutan, a husband/wife/child plus their parents and an aunt – March 2017
A couple from Afghanistan – April 2018
A single Rohingya mother and three kids – August 2018
A Rohingya couple with kids – November 2018
Khadidja and two kids, Central African Republic – April 2019
A Rohingya couple with three kids, including 2-year-old twins - September 2020

Unofficial sponsorship:

Bruce - we didn't support him officially, but Tomas was an essential early friend. Bruce is doing great, working and going to school
Syrian family and kids, a security deposit for an apartment, two adults, four kids
Congolese family, rent support, one adult, four kids

May the good work we have begun together continue into the new year!

~ Denise Goodman on behalf of the Refugee Ministry

Celebrating our COVID Team - Recipients of the 2020 Parish Service Award

On Thanksgiving Day, we we gathered together to give thanks to God for our many blessings. We also honored the recipients of this year's Parish Service Award - all the volunteers from our newly established COVID-19 team!

This extraordinary corps of volunteers makes it possible for us to have masses, funerals, weddings, and baptisms every week! Without them greeting every member or guest who comes into church, checking names, or having people not already on the reservation list sign in, taking temperatures and spritzing sanitizers on hands, directing traffic during Communion time, and cleaning up after every mass and service, we couldn’t have services in church. Not only have they provided this excellent ministry, but many of them have also served almost every week since we re-opened for services in June. Truly much for us to give thanks for this year.

Patrick Robinson
Joan Dowdle
Michael Kowalsky
Hallie Burhoe
Debra Novak
Marty McDermott
Brigid Cronin
Claire Bushey
Dorothea Tobin
Michelle Kuehlhorn
Carol Ann Munro
Barb Daly
Dan Kilelea
Ginevra Clark
Nancy Kuhn
Deborah Kern
Ann Casey & sons
Mark Kollar
Jeff Dunning
Erika Dunning
Joseph Dunning
Elizabeth Dunning
Thomas O'Brien
Troy McMillian
Mark Huffman
Katie Huffman
Rich Martin
Peter Morin
Brian DeVarenne
Suzan Cibulskis
Peter Cashman
Sheila Cashman
Allen Stryczek
Denise Plunkett
Victoria Healy
Jane Palomar
Monica Wyman

Father Mike Runs for Heart to Heart - October 2020

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 November 1, more than 300 people have donated $23,661.15 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 HeartClick HERE to donate to Fr. Mike's Run

Thank You For Participating in our Thanksgiving 2020 ECRA Food Drive

Thank you to all parishioners who joined in the virtual ECRA Interfaith Thanksgiving Service this past Sunday! Special thanks go to the Resounding Wayves, a men's group made up of several parishioners, and Mary Clare Barker, our music minister, for their hard work.

All of the food collected at St. Gertrude over the course of the past two weekends and Thanksgiving Day will be donated to Care for Real.
Thank you for your generosity to our neighbors in need!

ECRA Pack the Pantry a Success

On Saturday, October 3, 2020, 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 (2020)

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!

Parade for Ms. Harrington Celebrates Her Legacy of Love

The NCA school community and fellow St. Gertrude parishioners are heartbroken over the death of our beloved Joan Harrington. She was a talented and loving preschool teacher who cared so deeply about the students in her care. Joan created lasting relationships with her students, parents, teachers, parishioners, and so many others who had the pleasure of her friendship.

Last Friday, prior to her death, NCA leaders organized a parade of 200 cars on Friday for Ms. Harrington, to share messages of love and appreciation to her and her family. She was able to watch it from her steps with her family.

We’re so grateful we were able to honor Mrs. Harrington right before she went to be with The Lord. Please continue to keep Mrs. Harrington’s family in your prayers.

Please click the link below to view the video of the parade:
https://youtu.be/V-l8j3FzHfE.

Click the link below to view ABC 7 News story:
https://abc7chicago.com/society/former-northside-teacher-honored-with-car-parade-just-2-days-before-dying/6081915/?fbclid=IwAR0617ivZ9Mi7Guw8HQxvUUK31L582KRPJ3AYnK1zb4v5DA_LM5ndFsFapo

Thank you, Boy Scouts!

Special thanks to Boy Scout Pack 3822 for providing hospitality after Mass on Sunday, February 9, 2020! They did a great job!

Feast Day Celebrations 2020 - Note: Concert Rerecorded

Watch the Recorded Recital/Lecture Featuring Works of Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and Lil Hardin

Mary Clare Barker, our incredibly talented Music Minister, put on an amazing recital and lecture to celebrate the Feast of St. Gertrude on Saturday, November 14. It featured the music of three Chicago African-American Women composers, Florence Price and her protégé, Margaret Bonds, and Lil Hardin Armstrong, wife of famed trumpeter Louis Armstrong. All 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.

The concert can be viewed on our parish Facebook page and on our parish YouTube channel. The video was recorded on Thursday, December 17 as trhe inital video had sound issues.

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 prolific 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.

Lil Hardin Armstrong was a sought after pianist in Chicago’s vibrant jazz scene of the 1920s. At a time when women, especially black women, were relegated to being singers or dancers in a chorus line, Lil had a serious career as a jazz composer, pianist, bandleader, singer, and arranger.

Mary Clare Barker compiled a list of resources to learn more about these women. The list contains songs they wrote, books and articles written about them, and YouTube links to performances.

Spirit of St. Gertrude Award Given to Renew My Church Team

We celebrated our parish feast day the weekend of November 14-15 at all the Masses.

The Spirit of St. Gertrude Award was presented to the Renew My Church Parish team: Denise Goodman, Lisa Erceg, Rob Sierzega, Mark Huffman, Kim McInerney, and Tim Harrington.

These parishioners have given many hours for meetings and a lot of homework to participate in the discussion with the other members of our grouping parishes in order to make a recommendation to the Cardinal for our future configuration in the Rogers Park/Edgewater community.

They have provided extraordinary leadership not only for St. Gertrude Parish, but for the entire grouping of representatives from St. Jerome, St. Ignatius, and St. Gertrude parishes.

Click here to watch the concert/recital

Thanksgiving 2019 ECRA Celebration

Thanks to all who Attended!

This year, the annual ECRA Thanksgiving Service was hosted by the combined St. Ita and St. Thomas Church, 5500 N. Broadway, on the afternoon of Sunday, November 24. The general theme was compassion and gratitude for all we have received.

St. Gertrude was represented by our talented parishioner, Bridget Dunne, singing “We Sing for the Children” accompanied by our Music Minister, Mary Clare Barker, and children from our parish playing violins.

Canned goods and a free-will offering was collected for Care for Real.

The Edgewater Community Religious Association (ECRA) is an interfaith association of religious organizations that work toward fostering friendships and understanding of other faiths, and to nurture a thriving and just neighborhood. For decades, ECRA has linked religiously diverse neighbors to create solutions to local problems, including the Edgewater Community Council and creating Edgewater’s food pantry, Care for Real.

ECRA hosts several events annually that bring together Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, as well as our friends from the Jewish, Muslim, and Hindi faith.

Thank You from A Safe Haven

Collection Drive for Domestic Violence Shelters in October was a Success!

During the month of October 2019, our parish partnered with the Archdiocese of Chicago Domestic Violence Outreach and collected diapers and pull-ups, new children’s pajamas and socks, and full-sized toiletries needed by victims of domestic violence and their children living in local shelters.

The staff of A Safe Haven, one of the eight shelters that benefitted from the collection drive, recently wrote to us and the other parishes that participated,

thanking parishioners for their generosity:

“WOW!! On behalf of The Safe Haven Network and our donation recipients, I cannot thank you enough for your unprecedented response to our annual

Supply Drive! You helped us collect more donations than we have ever collected, and those donations will directly support domestic violence shelters and

animal shelters in and around Chicago that serve YOUR friends, family, and neighbors. You are amazing!!”

Congrats to Joe Donnelly!

Congratulations to Joe Donnelly, Recipient of the 2019 Spirit of St. Gertrude Award

Each year on St. Gertrude's Feast Day, we honor one parishioner who has shown by a tireless example of service to the community, that he or she carries within the spirit of St. Gertrude.

We are happy to announce that this year’s Spirit of St. Gertrude Award recipient is Joe Donnelly! Joe has been a founder of the Refugee Committee, active in Helping Hands making sandwiches, a general helper at funerals, including acting as our ‘go-to’ altar server, Eucharistic Minister, Minister of Care, Heart to Heart volunteer, and has provided service in a wide variety of ways and occasions to the parish community.

Congratulations, Joe, on a great example for all of us! Thank you for your outstanding service!

United Power September Meeting with Mayor Lightfoot

Thank you, parishioners who attended!

On Sunday, September 22, 2019, United Power for Action and Justice met with Mayor Lori Lightfoot to discuss our shared goals of mental health and addiction services, gun safety, and housing development on the city's South and West Sides.

Thank you to the 24 parishioners from St. Gertrude that joined the nearly 100 religious and civic groups gathered at DRW College Prep in Homan Square! The hope is that Mayor Lightfoot acts on the concerns expressed and works to work with residents address them.