Nestled in the northwest part of Illinois, just a few miles from the Wisconsin border, Freeport was a small farming town in the early 1920’s.  As the population grew and Freeport spread west, the Catholic population grew as well, necessitating a need for a fourth parish.  

Bishop Peter Muldoon of the Rockford Diocese originated St. Thomas Aquinas Parish on Sunday, December 4th, 1921.  At that time, all Catholics living west of West Avenue became members of the new parish, leaving the mother parish of St. Mary.  Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was a Dominican priest, theologian and philosopher.  Known as the Doctor Angelicus (the Angelic Doctor) he is considered one of the greatest and most influential Christian philosophers and theologians to have ever lived.  The Church has declared him a Doctor of the Church and the Patron of Catholic Schools.  How fitting that the new addition to the Catholic congregation of Freeport be named after this unique man.  We celebrate his feast day on January 28th.

On December 5th, 1921, The Journal-Standard reported “Marking a new epoch in the history of Catholicity in Freeport, the first service in the new St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Harlem Avenue, was held Sunday morning at 8 o’clock with the newly appointed pastor, Rev. William G. McMillan, celebrating high Mass in the presence of a congregation that comfortably filled the handsome new edifice.  With the soft glow of candlelight above the little altar of brown and gold, the ceremony was an impressive one as the priest, robed in the purple vestments of Advent, sang the Mass and administered Holy Communion to scores who knelt at the altar rail.  Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament followed the Mass.”

 

 

 

The History of St Thomas Aquinas Parish