Mission Statement

Mission Statement Saint Mary's Church

The history of St. Mary’s Parish goes back to 1989. Before the grand opening, before the ground-breaking ceremony, and even before renting St. Peter’s Church in Bartlett, IL, there was a vision. The Assyrian Church of the East community sought to expand to the northwest suburbs of Chicago and build a new parish where they could join in fellowship and praise our Lord. Under the blessings of the late HH Mar Dinkha IV, HG Mar Aprem Khamis conducted a meeting in 1989 with 28 candidates for the nomination of a president to oversee this new project. Mr. Kando Mako was selected as president at the conclusion of this meeting. After the election, he stated, “I consider this a blessing from God to take on such a role”.

On December 6th, 1989, the Assyrian parishioners of the northwest suburbs celebrated their first Sunday Mass in the recently rented St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Bartlett, IL. During this time, there were approximately 124 Assyrian families living in the suburbs of Chicago. From 1989-1991, Sunday Mass was conducted by Reverend Archdeacon Aprem DeBaz of Chicago. In 1991, Reverend Khoshaba Bouza was relocated to the Saint Mary’s Parish from Canada, where he would serve as parish priest until 2012. While Sunday Mass services were temporarily being held in Bartlett, the committee had their sights set on constructing the new parish in Roselle, IL. By 1994, under the leadership of Kando Mako, Joe Jacobs, and Esha Peera, the community was ready for breaking ground. Altogether, construction took 3 years to complete by the late Robert Cimo of Forest Knoll Construction Company. By God’s blessing, Robert Cimo worked tirelessly on this construction project, and often times would include services at no extra charge.

On Thursday, June 19th, 1997, with God’s help and the support of the community, St. Mary’s Parish was officially open to the public. During the opening day ceremony, thousands of devoted Church of the East faithful poured into the church to celebrate this monumental occasion. In attendance were HH Mar Dinkha IV, HB Mar Gewargis Sliwa III (now HH Mar Gewargis Sliwa III), HG Mar Emmanuel, HG Mar Aprem Nathniel (formerly Reverend Aprem), Reverend Khoshaba Bouza, as well as other Prelates, Reverends, and Deacons from across America, Canada, and overseas. It is also worth mentioning that on the opening day the parish raised over $135,000 in donations from the faithful alone. On the following day, the first mass was celebrated by HH Mar Dinkha IV. A few months later, on the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on August 15th, 1997, HH Mar Dinkha IV and HH Mar Raphael of the Chaldean Catholic Church began the consecration of the new St. Mary’s Parish. After the completion of the Rite of the Blessing of the Altar, HH Mar Dinkha IV started the Mysteries of the Holy Qurbana. In the evening, a banquet was held at 13 Colonies Banquets in honor of the consecration of the new church. A full capacity crowd of 1,160 people were present for this event.

Over the course of 20 years St. Mary’s Parish has grown both in size and in spirit. As previously stated, there were roughly 124 Assyrian families living in the Roselle area in those early years. By the Grace of our Lord, that number has now increased to over 400 households. In 2012, Reverend Khoshaba Bouza retired as parish priest after serving the parish for over 21 years (including 6 years at St. Peter’s Church in Bartlett). In that same year, Reverend Tawer Andrious began serving as the new parish priest. St. Mary’s Parish has continued to grow and prosper under his leadership and guidance. Reverend Tawer has worked tirelessly in his first 5 years as parish priest, including his great efforts to help fund the Mar Benyamin School expansion. On November 13, 2015, HH Mar Gewargis Sliwa III consecrated the newly constructed classrooms of Mar Benyamin School. The school expansion has been a blessing to the students who come to learn about their Christian faith, as well as learn their mother tongue, Assyrian. It has also been a blessing for the St. Mary’s youth group as they now have a classroom of their own to plan meetings and host bibles studies.

As we reflect on these 20 years, we must remember that it all began with an idea. And this idea can be compared to a mustard seed – the smallest of all seeds which grows greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree (Matthew 13:31-32). By the Grace of God, this mustard seed of an idea to expand has led to a beautiful parish with now over 400 families. May we all continue to praise our Lord for the blessings he has bestowed upon us.