One of the largest Polish churches in Chicago and one of the more thriving parishes around which the Polish community was integrated. Various Polish social, cultural and educational activities were carried out here.

The largest Polish church in Chicago
The Church of Our Lady of the Angels is one of the largest Polish churches in Chicago and at the same time one of the leading examples of the so-called Polish Cathedral Style, which is characterised by a combination of historical forms. It impresses with its grandeur, as it is more than 70 m x 38 m at the base, the height in the dome is more than 45 m, and the two towers measure more than 21 m high each.

The temple was built between 1903 and 1928 to a design by architects Henry Worthmann and John G. Steinbach. Distinctive features of the five-nave basilica include a two-tower façade with a rosette window, reminiscent of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, and an octagonal dome, reminiscent of the solution used in St Peter's Basilica in Rome. Also worth noting are the figures of angels, indicating the church's name and located above the cornice crowning the façade. The decoration and furnishings of the church were created in stages. The author of the painting decorations is John A. Mallin, who was commissioned to do them on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the parish (i.e. in 1948).

Due to the declining number of parishioners, funds for ongoing repairs to the church ran out in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1988, a decision was made to close it and demolition was ordered. However, this was met with protest from the Polish community, who raised more than $1 million in donations, which allowed the church to be repaired. In 1991, the church was reopened to the faithful.

Prior to the First World War, some 2-2.5 million Poles, emigrants from all corners of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, settled in the United States of America. At that time, Chicago was one of the largest centres of Polish emigration in the USA. The city became a centre of Polish cultural and religious life, the seat of several Polish parishes, newspaper editorial offices, libraries and a number of other social institutions.