Читать книгу Chicago Haunted Handbook - Jeff Morris - Страница 18

HOLY SEPULCHER CEMETERY

6001 West 111th Street, Aslip, Illinois 60803

directions

From the center of Chicago, take I-55 South for more than 6 miles to Exit 286, Cicero Avenue. Turn left onto Cicero Avenue and follow it for almost 7 miles before turning right onto West 95th Street. Follow West 95th Street for 2 miles and then turn left onto Ridgeland Avenue. After 2 miles, turn left onto West 111th Street. The cemetery will be on your right.

history

After World War I, this cemetery was one of the forerunners of the modern cemetery. Upkeep of plots was, for the first time, guaranteed indefinitely. This cemetery was also the first in the area to offer headstones that did not stand, but were instead laid flat across the ground. Famous people from the area, such as Mayor Richard Daley and baseball umpire Stephen Cusack, are buried in this cemetery.

In the early 1930s, a local girl began to garner a reputation as a miracle healer. She was very religious, and people around the area would come to her hoping for some sort of miracle cure for their sickness. Tragically, the girl, named Mary Alice Quinn, died in 1935 at the age of 14. Knowing her reputation throughout the area and knowing that people seeking her help would flock to her grave and perhaps desecrate it looking for souvenirs or relics, her parents buried her in secret, in an unmarked grave within the family plot in section 7 at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery.

The plan did not work. People flocked from all over the world to the unmarked plot, digging up the ground to have dirt from her gravesite or leaving prayer books and rosaries. Still more people from around the world reported having visions of the girl and, as a result, went on pilgrimages to the cemetery to see her grave. Eventually, she was given her own stone.

Many people attribute miraculous healings to having visited the grave of Mary Alice Quinn.

ghost story

A young couple gave birth to a baby that was struck with a terrible illness. The doctors told the parents that the child would not live to see its first birthday. Unwilling to give up on their baby, the parents decided to bring it to the grave of Mary Alice Quinn. They laid the baby on the grave and were suddenly overcome by the smell of fresh roses. The baby got better and has not been sick since. The parents called it a miracle.

Others have experienced the smell of fresh roses when walking near the grave of Mary Alice Quinn. Others have reported actually seeing the ghost of the little girl. The ghost is said to appear in the form of a white mist or figure, which hovers over the top of the girl’s headstone.

visiting

You may only enter the cemetery during regular business hours. It is open 8:30 a.m.–7 p.m. in the spring and summer, and 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. during the fall and winter. All of the paranormal activity in this cemetery is reported during these hours, mostly when the sun is shining at its brightest, so these hours are by no means limiting. Do not remove anything from the grave of Mary Alice Quinn.