Reconciliation:
Tuesdays - 11:00AM (Holy Family Chapel) & 7:00PM (Church) *No 11:00AM confessions on the 2nd Tuesday of the month Thursdays - 7:15AM & 4:30PM (Church) Saturdays - 4:00PM (Holy Family Chapel) 10:30AM (Holy Family Chapel - 4th Saturday of the month) Sundays - 7:00PM (Church) |
Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church
Holy Family Chapel: Sunday - 9:30AM* and 11:00AM
(*childcare available at the 9:30AM Mass) |
Our Mission |
The members of Saints Peter and Paul parish are part of the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ for the salvation of the world. We are a community of believers united in the Christian faith with Peter’s successor, the Bishop of Rome, and all those in communion with him including our bishop, the Bishop of Joliet. As such, the mission of our parish, like the mission of every Catholic parish, is to help people grow in holiness by living lives that reflect the love of the Most Holy Trinity. We do this by studying and proclaiming the Word of God, and by celebrating the Sacraments of the Church, including, preeminently, the Eucharist in which Christ feeds the faithful with His very Body and Blood. By following the call of the Holy Spirit, by imitating Jesus Christ and seeking to do the Father’s will, we share the truth of the Gospel with others by our testimony and example. Through acts of charity and social justice we seek to build a culture of life in the world today as we long for the Kingdom of God in the world to come.
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Our History |
Saints Peter & Paul was founded in 1846 and is the oldest established parish in DuPage County. The parish was originally established as St. Raphael’s, after the given name of its pastor, Rev. Raphael Rainaldi. The first church served 25 families, and was a small frame structure with a lean-to attached to the south side, which served as both sacristy and priest’s residence. This church was built on the west side of Front Street (Ellsworth) and faced east.
The school was started with a lay person as a teacher in 1853. In 1852 the church was enlarged by a frame addition and the lean-to was moved to the west side of Ellsworth Street and was used as the parish school. In 1862, Rev. Peter Fischer became pastor of the parish and changed its name from St. Raphael to Saints Peter & Paul. During his time as pastor, work was begun on a stone church to serve the needs of the parish which had grown to 230 families. This new church, located on the same site as the present church, was dedicated in March, 1866. The original frame church was converted into a two room school with 100 children attending. In 1892 a new school was built to accommodate an enrollment of 180 children. Work also began on the rectory located at the site of the present parish office building. In 1911, the school was destroyed by fire. A new school was built and at its opening in 1912, the enrollment was 250. Fire was to strike Saints Peter & Paul again. On Pentecost Sunday, June 4, 1922, the church was completely destroyed by a fire that still remains the worst in Naperville’s history. Out of the ashes, the 350 families that comprised Saints Peter & Paul parish at that time, built the magnificent church we have today. The new rectory was completed in the fall of 1996. Because of the growing needs of Saints Peter and Paul, the new parish Ministry Center was dedicated in 1999. This building houses all the parish offices, the religious education offices, space for meetings and the parish auditorium/chapel. The parish now serves over 4,000 families. |