Question

Wow!  I have just joined but posted on here and received such a great response.Wow! I have just joined but posted on here and received such a great response. Happy to have found this group. With that, I am looking for more recommendations. We are looking for a Catholic Church in the area. St. Peter and Paul is beautiful but, with respect, I know my husband went to one mass there that he really had trouble connecting with due to the father who was leading it that day. Maybe we just need to go again? Any other parishes in the area worth checking out? Thanks in advance!  

Answer 1

We like st Elizabeth seton

Answer 2

Try St. Raphael. the priests are great! We really enjoy going to mass there.  

Answer 3

Come to Saints Peter & Paul again! Our Pastor, Fr. Brad, gives amazing homilies. We have a wonderful associate pastor, Fr. Chris, who also gives excellent, relatable homilies. If you have children, we have mass in our chapel on Sundays where many young families attend.  

Comments

Fr. Brad is wonderful!  

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Try SSPP again. I wholeheartedly agree with Shannon’s advice. SSPP has been a great home for our family. ❤️ Best of luck to you.  

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Agreed on SSPP. Or depending on where you are. Check out Our Lady of Mercy in Aurora too. Both are wonderful in my opinion. Good luck! When I was in your shoes, I went to every church in the area.  

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@shennashensi it takes time. And I also went to different Mass times to see if the vibe was different. You will find a church.  

Answer 4

St Raphael is great! They have children’s mass at 9 am

Answer 5

I grew up going to St Raphael. I loved it and such a beautiful church.  

Answer 6

St Thomas is a more progressive, casual church. St. Margaret @workout is somewhere between the two. St. Thomas is my favorite, but we live so close to St. Margaret Mary, that’s the parish we attend. One thing I didn’t know, R. E. for kids at St. Thomas ends around Spring Break, the others go closer to the school schedule. It would make life so much easier if RE was over for the year when the end of school craziness starts

Answer 7

Our Lady of Mercy in Aurora

Answer 8

St. Irene in Warrenville. I’ve been going there all my life. Beautiful church, but unfortunately our pastor Fr. Jim, is retiring in June. He is wonderful! Whoever is his replacement has some big shoes to fill!  

Comments

@workout your church is so lovely. Hope your next pastor fills them well.  

Answer 9

We go to St Raphael due to location, and love it. But St Peter and Paul is great too!  

Answer 10

We enjoy St Thomas. The RE program is nice as well.  

Answer 11

St Raphael

Answer 12

We go to one of three. St. Joan of Arc (has a great children’s chapel offset through alter so the children can see Mass as it happens), St. Scholastica, and Our Lady of Mercy.  

Answer 13

We go between Our Lady of Mercy and St Raphael. both awesome!  

Answer 14

St Peter and Paul was a bit too old school for my husband and I as well. (I’m ELCA Lutheran, so I was used to a more progressive church. ) We have found St Raphael to be just right for our family and we adore Fr Dan.  

Answer 15

Father Mark Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church Aurora/Illinois is absolutely amazing! We are parishioners there. Many families from other amazing churches come to our church now because of Father Mark and Father Don.  

Answer 16

We love Our Lady of Mercy!  

Answer 17

We use to go to SSPP & switched to Margaret Mary

Answer 18

St. Raphael is great. We used to go to St. Elizabeth Seton but as the priests have changed over time we found that we relayed better to the priests at St. Raphael.  

Answer 19

Heard great things about St. Thomas

Answer 20

We have had great experiences at St. Thomas especially when St. Peter and Paul and St. Raphael’s turned us away because we were out of their zones. Considering my next door neighbor goes to one of them and we were turned away It immediately put a sour taste in my mouth.  

Comments

@icebound510 most catholic parishes will encourage you to join the one you are geographically in. But you can talk to any pastor and have an exception made. It isn’t turning you away as much as they don’t want to appear to poach from each other.  

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@icebound510 I'm sorry that happened to you. How far out were you?  

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@asci5 I live off of Montgomery and Rt. 59. It happened almost 17 years ago. I was just surprised as our neighbor is a member of one of the churches. I asked if the zoning was between our yards as I was surprised that anyone would turn people away. St. Thomas will take people from wherever you live as long as you don’t mind the drive.  

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@icebound510 we were members there from when we lived off of Washington street. We were married there and kids were baptized there.  

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@icebound510 I used to live in Darien but worked on 75 Th and Naper. St Margaret @workout was a 5 min drive for 5:00 Saturday mass but they wouldn’t let me join. I attended mass there anyway. ( I’m such a rebel) haha!  

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@glaze I have no idea now. This was about 16 years ago.  

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@burg5889 thank you!  

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@icebound510 I’m so sorry that happened! Please come and try St. Raphael again. I live in Bolingbrook and we’re parishioners and my kids go to school there too. Everyone is welcome!  

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@watters thank you!  

Answer 21

Definitely try SSPP again, I cannot say enough good things about the Parish, School and Fr. Brad. The church is beautiful and the mass in the ministry center on Sunday mornings has a children’s play area downstairs and a children’s liturgy at 9:30am mass. Tons of families attend! I would be happy to answer any other questions you might have, feel free to PM me

Answer 22

Love St Margaret Mary!  

Answer 23

St Elizabeth Seton

Answer 24

Our Lady of Mercy. love it ! No school there so they are able to focus on our parish, ministries, missions and community. Fr Mark is great!  

Answer 25

St Thomas

Answer 26

We LOVE SSPP! The 9:30 mass this morning was beautiful and so relevant  

Answer 27

St. Thomas for sure

Answer 28

We used to go to St. Peter and Paul fir years we decided to check out other parishes and decided on St. Thomas we live it there and very happy we chose them over all the others , the parishioners were most welcoming and very helpful and the RE program is well run and I love the content .  

Answer 29

St. Raphael.  

Answer 30

St Raphael. Father Dan is the best you will find.  

Answer 31

If you want to venture to Warrenville, we love St Irene’s

Answer 32

St Thomas the Apostle.  

Answer 33

Saint Joan of Arc has that nice balance of traditional but not super catholic old school that saint peter and Paul has. The church has lots of light and is not dark

Answer 34

We have really connected at St Thomas!  

Answer 35

I went through the same journey. Try St Peter and Paul again. Father Brad is great. This a Roman Catholic Church. St Thomas is not. They have a great community there but it’s not the catholic mass structure I grew up with.  

Comments

@onus do you mean that the mass setting at St. Thomas is less traditional than what you were used to growing up? Both of these churches are Roman Catholic, part of the Diocese of Joliet.  

Answer 36

We love St. Thomas!  

Answer 37

I'll put in a plug for st. Margaret @workout . We have been member for 20 years and love it. They have the traditional masses and then a contemporary choir mass at 10 that gets people clapping and really enjoying the mass. Come check us out!  

Answer 38

St Margaret Mary!  

Answer 39

Always give a church 3x

Answer 40

St. Raphael! Many parishioners from other parishes come to mass at St. Raphael to hear Father John and Father Dan. They are the best! Your husband will like it there I’m sure! Good luck finding your new church home.  

Answer 41

@iata9 Seaton awesome choir