By chance today, I heard part of a radio report about basketball in Lithuania. Seems that Lithuanians are keen on the sport, at levels of devotion usually seen for soccer in other countries. There is also a basketball program at the Lithuanian World Center on this side of the Atlantic, namely in suburban Lemont. Not a surprise, since the center is home to about 50 Lithuanian organizations.

We encountered the remarkable Hill of Crosses at the center in July. Within sight of the hill is a church building of a distinct modernist cast.

One of less-known works of Charles Murphy (d. 1985), Chicago modernist, whose highly visible portfolio includes One Pru Plaza, McCormack Place, the Daley Center, and the original terminal in O’Hare and some of the later ones, too.

Looking every bit 1964. Not built for Lithuanian World Center – that was still more than two decades in the future – but as part of D’Andreis Seminary, a Vincentian Catholic seminary.

After the seminary bugged out, the Lithuanians bought the property and invited the Blessed Jurgis Matulaitis Mission to use the church, where they say mass and administer sacraments and so forth. Apparently the Diocese rents the structure from the center.

The stained glass might be in English, but masses are in Lithuanian, I understand. It’s all very Chicago, even if it’s in the suburbs.