St. James at Sag Bridge is a Roman Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Chicago. We were founded in 1833.

St. James at Sag Bridge is a Roman Catholic parish that embraces the perfect union of Holy Scripture, Magisterial Teaching, and Sacred Tradition.  We commit ourselves to living the Faith through personal, intellectual, and spiritual growth and by donating out time, talent, and treasure.  In this way we strive to build the Church for the salvation of souls and help those in need.

To be a part of St James at Sag Bridge is to be a part of history.  You stand on holy ground, not only for this parish but for the diocese and indeed for the greatness of Chicago.  You stand on an ancient island that became the place of refuge for early French explorers paddling down the River of the Plains.  As the nascent city of the smelly onions yearned for its place in the nascent Republic of Washington, Adams and Jefferson, hardy and faithful immigrants from the Emerald Isle raised this humble church to house the Redeemer of the world.  Little could they have known how significant their back breaking days on the canal and their devout hours of prayer on these hard wooden benches would affect generations to come.  

Fr Iranaeus St Cyr, the French born newly ordained priest offered holy Mass at his first log cabin church just outside Fort Dearborn as well as at his second log cabin church here in 1833.  Fr Cyr states in his diary, that over 300 Potawottomi Indians attended his first Mass.  It is said, that this humble little church has a power all its own to draw souls to Jesus Christ.  Stand for a moment if you will and look up at the intriguing "eye of God" as the Divine looks down on you.  Or better yet, kneel for a moment to feel the intimacy of His real presence as the little red candle flickers its soothing message, "I am here".  Sit for a moment and realize that the early St James parishioners were gathering in prayer in this wilderness outpost while memories of the great Revolution were still fresh as they talked away the evenings around a friendly ale. 

Now find yourself a modern St James parishioner and discuss with him the struggles of the faith today.  We may not struggle with cholera and dysentery and it may not take 24 hours to travel from Chicago to LaSalle, but he will tell you that the struggles of the faith remain as hard as ever.  As hard as the limestone blocks brought here from the Lemont quarries to erect this precious temple. He will tell you, how so many people, of all walks of life, find the "right stuff" to endure the temptations of the times, and to tell others about the lure of the little church on the hill. He will say, "Come and see a place that time has almost forgotten.  The sentiments of the thousand souls laid to rest here can almost be heard: "Life is hard my friend we know, but don't give up. Stay close to the good Lord and your family and your parish priest. You need it. Your country needs it. Perhaps your times need it even more than ours."  

Talk to him about faith, faith as strong as the Alaskan timbers that support our roof, faith that accepts, all that Holy Mother Church advances for our belief.  Here we believe we are not called to understand fully, but believe wholeheartedly.  While the unredeemed world declares all of its “no’s”;  “no to human life”, “no to the sacredness of right ordered romance” or “no, to the idea of a divinely established church”, we profess our “yes”.    St James is the Jewel of the Archdiocese.  Come.  Pray with us and see how every great society of laborers needs a pearl of such great price, a pearl of faith that leads the humblest of folk to discover that laboring for the salvation of souls is the work that makes all other work a joy.  Discovering St. James of the Sag means that you will never forget her. 

02-23-2020