Thirteen Green Cupolas on Rice Street
On Chicago's near west side, where the neighborhoods of West Town and the historic Ukrainian Village meet, the green cupolas of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral rise 167 feet into the sky. Thirteen of them cap the building, the central dome surrounded by twelve smaller ones that, by tradition, recall Christ and his twelve apostles. Topped with gold crosses and visible from blocks away, the silhouette has made the cathedral one of the most recognizable houses of worship on the city's west side and a touchstone of Chicago's Ukrainian Catholic community for more than a century.
The present building was modeled after the eleventh-century Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, and its style is described by local architectural observers as Neo-Byzantine with Cossack-Rococo detailing. Inside, the iconography is the work of the Munich Studio of Chicago, and a nine-tiered golden chandelier imported from Greece hangs from the central dome, fitted with four hundred and eighty lights. The parish describes the building as a center of community life that welcomes new neighbors and offers relief to those in need, and the cathedral's doors are kept open to visitors throughout the year.
From a Wooden Chapel to a Cathedral
The parish was founded in 1906, when Chicago's Ukrainian Catholic immigrants were still small in number but growing fast. The community quickly outgrew the small wooden church that served those first years, and work on the present cathedral began shortly afterward. By 1915, the new cathedral on West Rice Street was ready to receive the faithful, and the building has been in continuous use ever since. The current cathedral complex now includes the church itself, the parish school, the arts school, a cemetery, the parish offices, and gathering spaces that host both liturgical and community events.
Throughout its history, the cathedral has served not only as a place of worship but as a hub of Ukrainian religious and cultural life in the Midwest. The Byzantine liturgical tradition, inherited from the church of Kyiv and shaped by centuries of East Slavic Christianity, is preserved in services celebrated in both Ukrainian and English. The cathedral belongs to the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with Rome, and falls within the Chicago Eparchy of Saint Nicholas, whose bishop, Venedykt Aleksychuk, has signed the cathedral's pastoral messages alongside the other Ukrainian Catholic hierarchs of the United States.
A Week of Divine Liturgies in Two Languages
The cathedral keeps one of the most complete weekly worship schedules of any parish in the city. Every day of the week opens with the Divine Liturgy at 8:00 in the morning, and every evening closes with Vespers at 5:00 in the afternoon. The morning Divine Liturgy is celebrated in Ukrainian from Monday through Saturday, with a bilingual English and Ukrainian Liturgy offered on Friday mornings. The evening Vespers throughout the week is bilingual in Ukrainian and English.
Sunday is the heart of the week. Four Divine Liturgies are celebrated: at 8:00 AM in Ukrainian, at 9:30 AM in Ukrainian, at 11:30 AM in English, and at 6:00 PM in Ukrainian and English. Confessions are heard during each Sunday Liturgy and may also be arranged by appointment through the parish office. The full weekly schedule is published on the cathedral's online worship page, where times may change around major church holidays.
For those unable to attend in person, the cathedral maintains an active livestream. Liturgies and Vespers are broadcast through the cathedral's video library and are also carried by Zhyve TV, a Ukrainian Catholic television ministry. A sermon archive is kept online, with homilies in both Ukrainian and English. The cathedral's YouTube channel hosts recent services going back many months, and a large library of recorded Divine Liturgies, Vespers, and homilies is available for viewing at any time.
Inside the Liturgy
The Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas is the Byzantine-rite liturgy shared by the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, celebrated with the full ceremonial that has marked the tradition for centuries. The service typically lasts about ninety minutes. The faithful stand for most of the liturgy, though pews are available along the sides of the nave for those who need to sit. Incense fills the air, the choir chants the responses, and the priest prays before the iconostasis, the great screen of icons that separates the nave from the sanctuary.
Liturgical books and service leaflets are provided in both Ukrainian and English, and visitors are welcome to follow along even if they do not know the prayers by heart. The cathedral encourages everyone present to participate at their own pace: to sing when they wish, to stand when they are able, and to ask a parishioner for help finding a place or a book. Children are welcomed as full members of the assembly. Parents who need a moment with a restless child are invited to step into the vestibule and return when they are ready, with the assurance that the community understands.
For non-Catholics and those who do not share Byzantine customs, the cathedral asks only that visitors be present with reverence. All are welcome to attend, to sing the responses, and to follow the prayers. Holy Communion, however, is reserved for baptized Catholics in full communion with the Catholic Church. Visitors who are not receiving communion are welcome to come forward at the time of communion and ask the priest for a blessing, crossing their arms over their chest as a sign.
Sacraments and Pastoral Care
The cathedral offers the full range of sacraments, or holy mysteries, of the Byzantine tradition. Baptisms are arranged through the parish office at least one month in advance, and parents and godparents are asked to attend an instruction. Marriages require at least six months of preparation, with premarital conferences required before the wedding date can be set. Confessions are heard on Sundays during each Liturgy and at other times by appointment, and a priest can be called to the parish office for confession outside the regular hours.
Pastoral care extends beyond the church walls. Parishioners who are homebound, ill, or unable to attend the Liturgy may notify the parish office to arrange a visit and to receive communion at home. If a member of the parish is admitted to a hospital and would like a priest to visit, the family is asked to notify the parish office directly, since hospitals are no longer able to share that information with clergy. In every case, the priests of the cathedral stand ready to bring the sacraments to those who cannot come to them.
Schools at the Cathedral
Two schools share the cathedral grounds and extend its mission beyond the Liturgy. The St. Nicholas Cathedral School, known as SNCS, is the parish school, offering an education rooted in the Byzantine Catholic tradition and serving the children of the parish and the surrounding neighborhood. The school sits alongside the cathedral on West Rice Street, and its students are part of the regular life of the parish, attending the Divine Liturgy together and joining in the great feasts of the church year.
A short walk from the church, the St. Nicholas School of the Arts offers instruction in music, dance, and visual art, drawing on the rich tradition of Ukrainian sacred and folk arts. The school is housed in the cathedral complex and serves as both a parish resource and a community school, welcoming students from across the region who wish to study the arts in a setting shaped by the cathedral's iconography and chant. Together, the two schools give the cathedral a presence in the education of children that goes from the preschool years through the formative years of adolescence and into the study of the arts.
Community Gatherings and Broadcasts
Beyond the daily round of services, the cathedral hosts a steady stream of community events that bring the Ukrainian Catholic community of Chicago together. The annual Rodyna Fest, held on the cathedral grounds each year, is a family celebration of Ukrainian heritage, with music, food, vendors, and activities for children. The cathedral also takes part in Open House Chicago, the citywide weekend when many of Chicago's most significant buildings open their doors to the public. During that weekend, docents lead tours of the cathedral's main floor, choir loft, and lower-level hall, and visitors are invited to learn about the architecture, the iconography, and the long history of the Ukrainian Catholic community in Chicago.
The cathedral is part of a wider network of Ukrainian Catholic life in North America and in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, led by Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, is the parent body of which the cathedral is a part, and the cathedral is a member of the Chicago Eparchy of Saint Nicholas, one of the eparchies that serve Ukrainian Catholics across the United States. For those who cannot attend in person, Zhyve TV, the Ukrainian Catholic television network, carries cathedral services alongside programming from across the worldwide church, and RoyalDoors.net serves as a resource for those wishing to learn more about the Byzantine Catholic tradition. The cathedral's own weekly bulletin, posted online, keeps parishioners informed of the coming week's schedule, announcements, and reflections.
Reaching the Cathedral
The cathedral stands at 2238 West Rice Street in Chicago, with the parish office and mailing address at 2230 West Rice Street, Chicago, Illinois 60622-4811. The parish office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and can be reached by phone at 773-276-4537 or by email at office@stnicholaschicago.org. Inquiries about the cemetery, which is also under the care of the cathedral, may be sent to cemetery@stnicholaschicago.org.
Free street parking is available around the cathedral, and a parking lot sits next to the church for those who prefer a dedicated space. The nearest CTA station is Western on the Blue Line, and CTA buses 49 Western and 66 Chicago stop within a short walk of the building. The cathedral is accessible to all visitors, with wheelchair access through the side entrance of the building and accessible parking nearby. Visitors who need additional assistance are encouraged to contact the parish office in advance so that arrangements can be made. There is no formal dress code: the cathedral asks only for modest, neat attire that shows respect for the sacred space, and visitors are warmly welcomed just as they are.
For first-time visitors and longtime faithful alike, the cathedral offers a remarkable combination of architectural grandeur, daily liturgical life, and a deeply rooted Ukrainian Catholic identity. Whether one comes for the morning Divine Liturgy, for Vespers at the end of the day, for a tour during Open House Chicago, or for a moment of quiet prayer beneath the thirteen green cupolas, the doors of St. Nicholas are open, and the parish is ready to welcome each one as a guest and, in time, as a member of the community.