In April 1927 Cardinal George Mundelein gave the first pastor of Berwyn's new parish an unusual privilege: he let him choose its name. Fr. William J. Roberts named it for St. Odilo, abbot of Cluny, who had ordered the monasteries under his rule to keep an annual commemoration of all the faithful departed — the observance the Church keeps on 2 November as All Souls' Day.
Berwyn was a fast-growing city of its own on Chicago's western edge, flat Cook County ground that held a large Czechoslovak population from the 1920s to the 1970s. The parish opened in a storefront at 22nd Street, now Cermak Road, at Clarence Avenue, where the first Mass was said on 12 June 1927. A cornerstone went down in May 1928 and Mundelein dedicated the finished church that November. At the dedication Mass he founded and sanctioned a shrine inside it to the poor souls, and granted an indulgence of two hundred days, applicable to the souls in purgatory, for each visit.
The altar that carries the dedication stands on the west side of the church toward the front. Above it is a gold relief; below and around it, votive candles and a book of remembrance in which visitors write the names of their dead. In the choir loft a stained-glass window shows Odilo saying Mass, with angels above him and the souls in purgatory beneath.
📜 History & Spiritual Significance
Odilo governed the Benedictine abbey of Cluny in Burgundy from 994 until his death on 1 January 1049. He instituted, for every monastery dependent on Cluny, an annual commemoration of all the faithful departed, kept with alms, prayers and sacrifices offered for the souls in purgatory. That Cluniac observance spread outward from Burgundy and became the Church's All Souls' Day.
Nine centuries later Mundelein commissioned Fr. Roberts to raise a parish for Berwyn and left the choice of patron to him. Roberts took Odilo. The parish began in rented commercial space on 22nd Street on 12 June 1927, at an eight o'clock Mass.
Construction on a permanent church began the following spring. The cornerstone was laid in May 1928, the building was finished roughly six months later at a cost of $150,000, and Mundelein dedicated it on 4 November 1928. He used the dedication to establish the shrine — the parish's own history records it as founded and sanctioned that day as the Shrine of the Poor Souls, with the two-hundred-day indulgence attached to each visit and weekly devotions in honour of the poor souls set up alongside it. The parish describes itself as the only Catholic parish in the United States dedicated to the Souls in Purgatory.
The church of 1928 was replaced in the next generation. Ground was broken on 4 July 1962, and Bishop Cletus O'Donnell dedicated the second building on 9 September 1963; it cost over $550,000 and was finished inside with Carrara marble and walnut. The Holy Souls altar, the book of remembrance and the choir-loft window belong to this church.
In 2002 the parish opened its seventy-fifth-anniversary year on 1 January, the feast of St. Odilo, with a Mass and coffee afterwards. Under Fr. Bart Juncer, the present pastor, a Latin Mass and devotions for the poor souls were added to renew the parish's emphasis on the shrine it holds.
The National Association of Shrine and Pilgrimage Apostolate lists the National Shrine of the Poor Souls at Berwyn in its directory of national shrines in the United States. The parish belongs to the Archdiocese of Chicago.
☩ Pilgrimage Sites in Berwyn
St. Odilo Church, National Shrine of the Poor Souls
The brick church at East Avenue and 23rd Street occupies the ground where Mundelein's building of 1928 was raised. Inside, on the west side toward the front, is the altar dedicated to the Holy Souls, with a gold relief above it, a rack of votive candles, and the book in which visitors enter the names of their dead. The window in the choir loft shows the patron at the altar, angels around him and the souls in purgatory below. Carrara marble and walnut finish the interior. The indulgence Mundelein granted in 1928 attaches to a visit made praying for the souls in purgatory. The parish plant — rectory, convent and former school — shares the church's address; the shrine and the parish are one congregation in one building.
🕯️ Annual Feast Days & Celebrations
All Souls' Day — November 2
The commemoration Odilo established at Cluny is the day the whole dedication points toward. The Church keeps it on 2 November, and the parish that carries his name keeps it at an altar built for exactly that intention. Requiem music has its place in the day here: a recording made in the church on 2 November 2010 preserves Fauré's Requiem sung in the building, and the parish has published a Requiem Mass for All Souls on its own channel.
🛏️ Where to Stay
Berwyn is residential almost throughout, and the nearest proper hotels are in Oak Park, the town immediately north.
The Carleton of Oak Park ⭐⭐⭐ — A hotel of 1928 in Oak Park's residential historic district, about 4.3 km from the church and the closest full-service house to it. Kitchenette rooms, free parking, and a walk to Oak Park's Metra and CTA Green Line stops. Website ∙ Reserve this hotel
Harvey House Bed & Breakfast (B&B) — A restored house on South Scoville Avenue in Oak Park, about 4.2 km from the church. Smaller and quieter than the Carleton. Website ∙ Reserve this hotel
The Urban Oasis (apartment) — A second-floor apartment in Berwyn itself, the one bookable place inside the city. A self-catering rental with no front desk; it is booked by listing rather than by street address. Reserve this hotel
🚗 Getting There
By Air: Chicago Midway International (MDW) lies about 7.5 km southeast of the church, the nearer of the city's two airports. O'Hare International (ORD) is about 18 km northwest and carries the wider international network.
By Train: Metra's BNSF Line runs along the southern side of Berwyn and stops three times within the city — LaVergne at Ridgeland Avenue, Berwyn at Oak Park Avenue, and Harlem Avenue. The nearest of the three is about 1.5 km from the church. The eastern end of the line is Chicago Union Station.
By Bus: Pace runs the local network through Berwyn and the neighbouring suburbs. CTA Route 21 covers the length of Cermak Road, a block north of the church, and Pace Route 311 links the Berwyn Metra station with the CTA Blue Line and Green Line stations in Oak Park.
By Car: Ogden Avenue crosses Berwyn on the diagonal as a segment of old Route 66. Cermak Road, Harlem Avenue and Roosevelt Road carry the city's other through traffic, and the church sits one block south of Cermak at East Avenue.
📚 Further Reading
Books:
Gerard van den Aardweg. Hungry Souls: Supernatural Visits, Messages, and Warnings from Purgatory — Accounts of visitations from purgatory drawn from Church records, with an opening section on what the Church teaches about that state. The devotion this shrine exists for, treated at length.
Marion Amberg. Mary's Miracles: A Traveler's Guide to Catholic America — A traveller's guide to Catholic shrines and holy places across the United States, useful for building a wider Midwestern route around a stop in Berwyn.
Online Resources:
St. Odilo Parish History — The parish's own account of Mundelein's commission, the storefront beginning, the 1928 dedication and the shrine sanctioned at it.
🎥 Recommended Videos
All Souls Requiem Mass — A full Requiem Mass for All Souls, recorded in the church and published by the parish on its own channel.
Faure Requiem Mass, St. Odilo Church Nov.2, 2010 pt.1 — Fauré's Requiem sung in the church on All Souls' Day 2010, the first part of a seven-part recording posted to a personal channel.
🔗 Useful Links
St. Odilo Parish — Official site of the parish and the shrine it holds, with its history pages.
National Shrines Directory — The National Association of Shrine and Pilgrimage Apostolate's list, where the National Shrine of the Poor Souls at Berwyn appears.
GCatholic: St. Odilo, Berwyn — Directory record for the church, with its address and its place in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
🧭 Nearby Pilgrimage Destinations
Chicago (14 km east-northeast) — Birthplace of American devotion to St. Jude, with national shrines to Sts. Anne, Peregrine, Cabrini and Kolbe.
Holy Hill (161 km north-northwest) — A Carmelite basilica and Marian shrine on a rise above Wisconsin's Kettle Moraine.
Peoria (197 km southwest) — The Illinois cathedral where Venerable Fulton J. Sheen served as an altar boy and was ordained, and where his tomb lies.
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (261 km south) — The Indiana motherhouse of the Sisters of Providence, with the National Shrine of Our Lady of Providence and the tomb of St. Mother Theodore Guérin.
De Pere (290 km north) — The National Shrine of St. Joseph at St. Norbert College, Wisconsin, which holds the only papally crowned statue of St. Joseph in the United States.
🪶 Closing Reflection
"From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead."
