St. Peter’s Catholic Books & Gifts

This review is for the church. I have never been to the book shop. This church’s location is super convenient if you work in the loop and want to pop in and light a candle during lunch or say a prayer for somebody. They also have mass during lunch time and it’s only about a 40 minutes mass so it’s totally doable during the work day. I haven’t gone to confession, but I have noticed that there is sometimes a line for that and they always have someone in the confessional, ready to hear all your sins.

It’s a awesome little store. I’ve always going there since my twenties, I’m close to 50s age. It’s practical and very simple religious store.

Beautiful! It’s easy to miss this if your whizzing by in a bus, car or taxi. This place is in the middle of Chicago. literally surrounded by offices. The gold doors and gigantic crucifix mark it’s location. Inside is marble beauty in the slightly Italian, moreso American Catholic style, without being too contemporary or stuck in the 70s!

I grew up in a horrific parish in Chicago in the 90’s and it almost scared me away from church entirely. After talking with some Jesuits and trusted relatives, as well as reading Karen Armstrong, I decided to see if St. Peter’s might be less sadistic.
This Franciscan church was traditional and refreshing. The Sunday mass I attended was as elegant as the architecture and the pain of my childhood parish washed away.
The only reason I’m not giving 5 stars is that dozens of homeless people gathered outside the doors to beg before mass started. I don’t know whether St. Peter’s offers any services for them — didn’t look like it.

Best selection of crucifixes in the city and other cool iconic stuff. And say a couple hail Marys upstairs. But watch out for Father Nelson!

Very beautiful and traditional looking Church that is convenient to get to if you work in the loop. Otherwise, there are several ways to get here via public transportation. There’s free street parking on Sundays too!

This makes being a working catholic in the loop a lot easier. During holy days they have masses all day long from 6 am onward. They offer confessions all day long wellIt makes it really easy to get to mass on holy days of obligation or stop in for morning mass during lent or any other time. All the masses in LP/​Oldtown where I live are too late in the morning or early in the evening for me to attend, so St. Peter’s offers me the best mass times.
They keep mass quick (if they are the ones without music) because they know that most people are coming before or during work hours. They always have nice homilies that make you think and leave you in a good mood for the day. They also have a gift shop in the basement.
To top it all off it is a really beautiful church with elegant stone work. It’s quite a nice sanctuary right off the wash/​wells brown line stop.

If you are Catholic, think God has forgotten you, and you haven’t been to Confession in a very long time– Stop in. You don’t have to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Just stop by to pay Jesus a visit.
It is QUIET. Even in the heart of Chicago, near the L, it is QUIET.
If you do decide to go to confession, you have come to the right place! Reconciliation is the friars’ main business. You can choose the confessional or «box» if you want complete anonymity, or you can request in the gift shop or the front office to have a priest-​friar sent up to the mezzanine for face-​to-​face. The friars are extremely good at this, true doctors of the soul.
If you decide to go to confession, you can probably pick up a Mass immediately after and will be in a state of grace to receive the Eucharist. :-)
I’ve never seen the poor harassed in this church. Far from it. If I did, I would contact Fr. Hartrich.

If you work in the Loop, being a good Catholic just got way easier.
St. Peter’s may not offer as many Masses as its Roman namesake, but they keep it close. Masses are offered by the good Franciscan friars throughout the day, giving everyone a chance to attend no matter how lengthy or varied their work schedule may be. If you can’t make it to Mass, though, the doors are open from 5:30 a.m. to 7:00 p. m, always leaving plenty of time for a quick prayer. The gift shop on the lower level is a real treat, too. Lots of Catholic kitsch, but no shortage of literature, either. I picked up a cheap copy of Mere Christianity here the other day.
I’ll second Laura G’s review in that St. Peter’s looks as if it were carved out of a city building. The inside feels that way as well. It’s easy to walk by without noticing, but you’ll be glad to have found it.

Gorgeous angelic church. Went here for the first time with my Nunny. they have pretty frequent masses during the lunch hour, which is nice for people who wanna get their ‘pray on” during lunch.
parking sucks folks. right in the heart of the loop, so choose alternate transporation if you can
Cute gift shop downstairs

Located in the Loop. My dad attended evening mass here every Sunday. I would accompany him once in a while. I did like the mass services here and I was always eager to join my dad on Sunday evenings. If my dad missed the Sunday evening mass it was easy to find another time for him to go. The architecture is very beautiful on the inside.

mass availability several times in the day. confession from 7 – 5. eucharistic adoration. this is a great service to the city and to the parishioners. inside it looked slightly modern but the very reverent. i wish the churches in my area would look like that too!

THe architecture on this building is amazing very intricately done. A great view and reminiscent of the Baroque era.

There is no mistaking this as a church with the enormous relief of Jesus Christ on the cross within a Gothic archway. St. Peter’s in the Loop was built in 1953 and is staffed by Franciscan Friars who live above the church.