St. Bernadette's  History        

     On October 29,1902 Morgan O'Brien was born to Michael and Anna. He was ordained a priest on April 6.1929, four years before Bernadette's canonization, his ministry took him to parishes named after saints: Gabriel and Ann. When World War II came he served as a chaplain in the US and  overseas, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and receiving many honors. After the war he served at St. Leo's for only 10 months before he was called on October 22,1947, by Samuel Cardinal Stritch to establish a parish in Evergreen Park.                             

      A wind swept patch of prairie and swampland that would be transformed into what is now Saint Bernadette Parish, was originally the northwest quadrant of the property owned by the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary, it was made available when it was clear that the least expensive way to increase the capacity of the hospital would be to build up, rather then out from the existing structure.  That first winter, Masses were held in "Ketchum's Funeral Chapel", while footings were placed for the first church of Saint Bernadette, now called "Lourdes Hall", or the "Quonset Hut". The quonset was a product of the nation's wartime technology- sturdy, inexpensive and quickly erected, as thousands had been to house American soldiers and material.                  

       
     Exterior             Altar             Interior              Aerial

           The quonset hut church was the first physical sign that St. Bernadette's was in fact a parish, and it had a galvanizing effect on it's people .The accomplishments came quickly. Within fourteen months after the first Masses were said in the little church , a 12-room school building was erected and opened to receive 300 students .The pioneer parishioners bent their backs to the task of landscaping the parish grounds, and countless carnivals, raffles and other special events were organized to meet the escalating costs of construction and operation.

      It was in these early years of the commitment of the parish to educational excellence that it first received one of its greatest and most constant blessings: the dedicated involvement  of the Sisters of St. Dominic. Sister Benedict who taught 7th.& 8th. grades in those years , served as Superior to six other Sisters. They made their first home in three of the school's classrooms until the convent was ready to receive them in Septmember,1952 . For each of the thirteen young men and woman who were the first  graduates of St. Bernadette's in June,1950 , fully 100 were enrolling, and the student body soon numbered more then 300 . 
     In 1954 , the first stage of the "Little School" was opened: five second-floor classrooms were added in September ,1959: four more in March 1961. And throughout this rapid physical expansion, the people of the parish devoted themselves unflaggingly to raising the funds required.

     This sense of shared purpose, of a common striving for an important goal, pulled the people of St. Bernadette's together in what was to become at last its true spirit, the feeling of one family, one spirit among many families. What mattered was not that brick had been set upon brick, although the growth of the parish could superficially, be measured in this way. More important numbers would give dimension to the parish: Thousands  of children receiving a Catholic education; hundreds of thousands of communicants; Baptisms , Confirmations , Marriages , Funeral Masses , Devotions and Missions through which thousands were joined together in the vigorous spiritual life of St. Bernadette's. These were the numbers that gave life and meaning to the work of the people of the parish. If but one soul was saved, a single prodigal returned to his Father's house, then all of the sacrifices were worth making.

            If one were to measure the progress of a parish in a purely physical sense, the work that Father O'Brien ,the builder, began on that bleak October day in 1947,was finished more than ten years later and on Feb. 9, 1958 the First Mass in our present church was celebrated.

            The 60's brought momentous changes in both the liturgy and the organizational structure of the parish as well, by the end of the decade, a School Board and Parish Council were in place, with real authority to make the myriad administrative decisions required to keep the parish and school functioning and responsive to the needs of the times and the people. An active Liturgy Committee and Parish Choir provided avenues for lay participation in the spiritual life of Saint Bernadette's.

        The 70's saw a significant increase in the families who wanted to provide continuing religious education for their children attending the village's public schools. The C.C.D. program was established and presently this program is under the supervision of Mr. Robert Sutton 
with the assistance of parish lay volunteers . 

         The 80's was the start of our "Renew" program as away of fostering spiritual growth, and the parish also had "BERNADAYS" for four years as one of our fundraising events.

         The 90's continued to be promising years in our parish, leading up to the high point,  our  "Golden Jubilee" in"97", though after that our parish went to some difficult times that truly  tested the spirit of our parish, but the people and spirit of "One Family" survived, and is alive now more then ever.

       The simplicity of Bernadette, the vigor of Morgan O'Brien, the steadfastness of the Sisters, the sacrifices of those first parishioners --these are our models to follow, the jewels woven into  the fabric of our history. What remains is the future. It requires no new ideals, only that we remain true to those we already have.

                         For making our History Pages possible. 

History is condensed from "A Flower in the