In the years since the Second Vatican Council, many architectural efforts have been made to accommodate the renewed Liturgy of the Council.  In our new church, we have a unique opportunity to learn from many of those efforts while providing for a more traditional church building.

The church Romanesque style of church building, affording a real elegance, without a huge cost.  Together with the bell tower, the new church makes a very powerful and positive statement of our faith to all who pass by. 

The cruciform shaped church allows for 1,300 people to gather for Mass.  With the transepts, the congregation is still not far from the Altar, encouraging the full, active, and conscious participation in the Liturgy.  The Tabernacle is located in the apse, providing for a centralized Tabernacle in its own space, which will is available for 24 hours for prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.  At the same time, it is visible to the entire congregation.

Visit the links to the right for a series of videos produced by Dr. Denis McNamara.  In each of the ten brief videos (see the links at the right), Dr. McNamara examines various topics relating to the theology of church architecture.  These videos accompany his book, "Catholic Church Architecture and The Spirit of the Liturgy." 

Denis R. McNamara, an architectural historian who specializes in American church architecture of the 19th and 20th centuries, holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. He has written and lectured widely on the history and theology of ecclesiastical architecture, and has served on the Art and Architecture Commission of the Archdiocese of Chicago. He is currently Assistant Director and faculty member at the Liturgical Institute of the University of St. Mary of the Lake / Mundelein Seminary, and serves as a liturgical design consultant.

His unique book, Catholic Church Architecture and The Spirit of the Liturgy, delves into the deep meanings of liturgical art and architecture, and by association, the Sacred Liturgy itself. It is meant to help pastors, architects, artists, members of building committees, seminarians, and everyone interested in liturgical art and architecture come to grips with the many competing themes which are at work in church buildings today. The object of Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy is help the reader to drink deeply from the wells of the tradition, to look with fresh eyes at things thought to be outdated or meaningless, and glean the principles which underlie the richness of the Catholic faith.