⛪🎺 Hidden Gem Alert: Free Classical Concert @Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica! 🎶✨

⛪🎺 Hidden Gem Alert: Free Classical Concert @the Historic Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica! 🎶✨

Laetare Sunday Organ & Choir Concert @ Our Lady Of Sorrows Basilica

Experience the breathtaking beauty of one of Chicago's most magnificent and historic churches while enjoying a stunning live musical performance — free and open to the public! ✨

Enjoy a wonderful concert of classical music of Lent, Holy Week & Easter featuring a premiere vocal quartet with harp, trumpet and the basilica's recently restored historic organ, performed in this magnificent basilica operated by the Order of Servants of Mary. Come see this breathtaking 1902-built Italian Renaissance Revival church with its many side chapels — Illinois' first basilica, designated in 1956 and one of only 3 in the state! 🏛️

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📅 Sunday, March 15, 2026
⏰ 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
📍 Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica 3121 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago (Garfield Park)
🌐 ols-chicago.com

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🗓️ ITINERARY
📸 2:00–3:00 PM — Explore the basilica, take photos & chat with Father Falco
🎶 3:00–4:00 PM — Laetare Sunday Concert

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🎵 ABOUT THE CONCERT
A magnificent Premiere Vocal Quartet performed with Harp, Trumpet & the Basilica's Recently Restored Organ featuring works by: Bach, Handel, Purcell, Eccard, Charpentier, Pergolesi, Dubois & Biery 🎼

🎟️ FREE & open to the public!

💝 The church gladly accepts donations in appreciation of the concert — please give generously!
Donation baskets will be throughout the church.

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⛪ ABOUT OUR LADY OF SORROWS BASILICA
One of only three churches in Illinois designated as a Basilica by the Pope — alongside St. Hyacinth and Queen of All Saints.

It is also one of the few "Black Basilicas" in the United States, serving a significant African American community. 🙏

Founded in 1874 and administered by the Servite Fathers throughout its entire history, the current stunning building was dedicated on January 5, 1902. Designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style by architects Henry Engelbert, John F. Pope & William J. Brinkmann, it features a soaring barrel-vaulted ceiling and a magnificent high altar carved entirely from Carrara marble. In 1956, Pope Pius XII granted it the title of Basilica. 🏛️✨

The basilica also houses the National Shrine of St. Peregrine, patron saint of those suffering from cancer, and is home to the historic Sorrowful Mother Novena — which at its peak spread to over 2,300 parishes nationwide and was broadcast on radio. 📻

🎬 Fun fact: The basilica was featured in the 1987 film The Untouchables with Sean Connery & Kevin Costner, the 1989 film Next of Kin with Patrick Swayze & Helen Hunt, and the 2022 miniseries The Marian-Stained Glass Windows! 🎥

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🚗 PARKING
✅ Father Falco will open the gated church parking lot for us! 📍 Enter off Jackson on South Albany Ave — follow the signs! Also: street parking on Jackson & free parking on side streets ⚠️ Please do not arrive before Sunday Mass ends at 11:45 AM

🚇 Transit: CTA accessible (bus stops in front of the church)
👉 transitchicago.com/planatrip

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❗ RSVP REMINDER Please keep your RSVP up to date — do not be a no-show! 🙏

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🎶⛪ A truly special afternoon of music, history & architectural splendor in one of Chicago's most remarkable sacred spaces — don't miss it! 🎺✨