Parishioners Prepare To Say Goodbye To St. Bernadette At Last Mass

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Sunday will be a bittersweet day for many former St. Bernadette parishioners, as the church prepares to say its final Mass after combining with Queen of Martyrs two years ago. Rev. Benedykt Pazden, pastor of St. Gianna Parish, will preside over the Mass with nearly two dozen additional archdiocesan priests concelebrating the Mass.

The final Mass will take place at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, June 30, at the former St. Bernadette Church, 9343 S. Francisco Ave., Evergreen Park. Current and former parishioners, as well as St. Bernadette School alumni are invited to join the community for the final Mass, which will also be livestreamed on the St. Gianna website.

The former Evergreen Park parish merged with Queen of Martyrs Parish on the Evergreen Park and Mount Greenwood border in 2022 under the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Renew My Church. At the time of the merger, St. Bernadette’s church records also moved to Queen of Martyrs. Over the past two years, St. Bernadette’s regular schedule of Masses gradually transitioned to Queen of Martyrs. The archdiocese closed St. Bernadette’s parish elementary school in 2014.

The merger of the two parishes was completed last year, with the renaming of the combined parishes to St. Gianna. The existing parish elementary school continues to retain the name Queen of Martyrs.

In accordance with canon law, the church will be deconsecrated during a special ceremony, which removes the church as a holy, sacred site. Once the ceremony is complete, the main crucifix over the altar and the tabernacle, with the body of Christ safely stored inside, will be removed from the space for a procession to the Queen of Martyrs site, the permanent St. Gianna Parish location. Parishioners will be invited to venerate the altar and offer their goodbyes.

Pazdan, who serves as chaplain of the Evergreen Park Fire Department, will place the crucifix on the back of an Evergreen Park fire truck, with the tabernacle placed inside an ambulance. The fire truck will lead parishioners in their cars for the 27-block procession to the Queen of Martyrs site (St. Gianna), 10233 S. Central Park Ave., Evergreen Park.

Once at Queen of Martyrs, parishioners will be greeted by students holding white roses as a gesture of welcome along with an honor guard band welcoming the group.

The cross will be lifted up, the tabernacle placed inside the church, followed by a procession inside with a final benediction. Following the procession, parishioners are welcome to stay for a reception in Vitha Hall in Queen of Martyrs School of St. Gianna Parish, 3550 W. 103rd St., Evergreen Park.

Originally meeting in Ketchum Funeral Home on a piece of land owned by Little Company of Mary Hospital, St. Bernadette has served the Evergreen Park community since 1947. A 12-room parish school opened in 1949 with additional classrooms added during the 1950s. Parishioners were also holding fundraisers to raise money for a church building. St. Bernadette celebrated its first Mass on Feb. 5, 1958 at its Francisco Avenue location.

Evergreen Park police will be managing street closures, along the procession route:

• South on California Avenue
• West on 99th Street
• South on Kedzie Avenue
• West on 103rd Street