Virtual tour of St. Mark Church in Venice, IL. Consecrated on Dec. 11, 1949, Farewell Mass on October 30, 2016.

2. This third church was consecrated on Dec. 11, 1949.

3. The Cornerstone

5. The view from the Altar

6. Under the Altar cloth is the Altar Stone embedded in the Altar over which
the priest keeps the chalice and ciborium during the Mass. The stone
contains the first class relics of at least two saints, at least one of which had
to be a martyr, which were inserted in a cavity in the stone that was then

7. Behind the Altar is the large Crucifix, which
first hung in the 1892 church/school building
that preceded this structure. It was purchased
and dedicated to Father Peter Kaenders after
his death in 1921.

8. The dedication plaque on
the bottom of the Crucifix.

9. The Blessed Virgin with the Christ
Child statue to the left of the Altar.

10. The St. Joseph statue situated to
the right of the Altar.

11. The Baptismal transept and part of the main confessional located
in front of the side altar.

12. The Side Altar
where the tabernacle
was located after the
Vatican Council II
decided altars were
to be turned around
so the priest would
face the people.

13. A close-up of the
beautiful bronze
tabernacle in
which blessed
hosts are kept.

14. The Infant Jesus of Prague statue
clothed in luxurious fabrics with
imperial regalia and a golden crown
while his left hand holds a globus
cruciger and the right hand raised in
a benedicting posture.

15. The statue of Our Lady of Fatima. On the
table with the statue is the reliquary of St.
Mark the Evangelist. A close-up of the
reliquary follows.

16. St. Mark the Evangelist, the
namesake of the Parish, is
depicted in this statue.

17. Translation from Latin:
Sacred Particles
from the ashes of St. Mark the Evangelist
Gift granted on October 1, 1901
by his Eminence and Reverend
Joseph Titull S. Bernardi
Cardinal Priest Sarto
The Patriarch of Venice (Italy)
This Cardinal later was elected as Pope Pius X in 1903

18. The Pope St. Pius X statue. He
was Pope from 1903 to 1914 and
he was canonized on May 29,
1954 by Pope Pius XII.

19. St. Conrad, Bishop of Constance
(Germany) statue in a common
depiction. He is sometimes
represented as a bishop holding a
chalice with a spider in it or over it.
This refers to a story that once
when he was celebrating mass a
spider fell into the chalice. Spiders
were believed at that time to be
deadly poisonous, but Conrad
nevertheless drank the Blood of
Christ, which had been
transubstantiated from wine, with
the spider in it, as a token of faith.
He was canonized in 1123 by Pope
Callixtus II.

20. The statue of St. Rita of
Cascia, Italy. She is often
portrayed with a bleeding
wound on her forehead, which
is understood to indicate a
partial stigmata. Pope Leo XIII
canonized Rita on 24 May
1900. Her incorrupt body
remains in the Basilica of
Santa Rita da Cascia.

21. The pietá statue at the foot of the center
aisle is a reproduction of the famous Pietá
statue by Michelangelo. The statue is
complemented by the stained glass window of
blue hues and the crucifix. A stand of votive
candles and a curved kneeler were
appropriately placed in front of the statue.

22. The distinctive octagonal
windows on the doors leading to
Lincoln Avenue with two of the
short blue windows above.

23. The early morning sun
streams through the long
blue windows that were
installed in the early 1970s.

24. St. Anthony of Padua is depicted
holding the infant Jesus. Anthony
was canonized by Pope Gregory
IX on 30 May 1232, at Spoleto,
Italy, less than one year after his
death. He is the patron saint of lost
things.

25. Elizabeth of Hungary is perhaps best
known for her miracle of the roses
which says that whilst she was taking
bread to the poor in secret, she met
her husband Ludwig on a hunting
party, who, in order to quell
suspicions of the gentry that she was
stealing treasure from the castle,
asked her to reveal what was hidden
under her cloak. In that moment, her
cloak fell open and a vision of white
and red roses could be seen, which
proved to Ludwig that God's
protecting hand was at work.

26. The statue of Saint Frances
Xavier Cabrini, also called
Mother Cabrini, was an Italian-
American Roman Catholic nun.
She was the first U.S. citizen to
be canonized as a Saint by the
Roman Catholic Church, on July
7, 1946 by Pope Pius XII.

27. The Sacred Heart of Jesus
statue.

28. The choir transept and auxiliary confessional on the north side of the church.

29. The sacristy left of the Sanctuary where the priest prepared for a service, and
where vestments and other things used in worship were kept.

30. A wide view of the sanctuary.

31. The Lincoln Avenue side of the church with the side altar area and baptismal transept visible.

32. The rectory and church facades along Sixth Street.

33. The Bells of St. Mark's are now displayed at Calvary Cemetery in Edwardsville.

34. Our Lady of Fatima shrine showing one of the stone benches and one of the circular
fountains most recently being used as a planter.

35. Our Lady of Fatima Shrine, first blessed by Bishop William A O'Connor on Oct. 17, 1952
during a ceremony attended by more than 1,000 people. The statues from this Venice
shrine have a new home on a shrine built for them at Calvary Cemetery.

36. The Farewell Mass was celebrated on October 30, 2016. The St. Mary and St. Mark
Parishes had been combined in 2002.

37. Most of the statues were on the Altar in the old
previous church. The whereabouts of one of these
marked statues, St. Teresa, is unknown. The statue
of the Sacred Heart was at the back of the church.

38. The first St. Mark Church built on
Granville Street in 1882. The second St. Mark Church and School built
on Broadway in 1892.