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QUEEN OF HEAVEN CEMETERY

1400 South Wolf Road, Hillside, Illinois 60162

directions

From the center of Chicago, take I-290 West for about 13 miles to Exit 16, the Wolf Road exit. Turn left onto South Frontage Road and then take a right onto Harrison Street. After a little less than 0.5 mile, turn left onto South Wolf Road. The Queen of Heaven Cemetery will be on your right after a little less than 1 mile.

history

Two historical events seem to affect the paranormal activity at this cemetery. One event is tragic, while the other is uplifting.

On December 1, 1958, shortly before classes let out for the day, a fire broke out at the foot of a stairway in Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago. While the school was officially in compliance with fire codes of the time, it was still somewhat of a death trap for those caught inside during the fire. There was only one fire escape and few exits from which people could escape. The second-floor windows were a full 25 feet from the ground. Many people were trapped and killed inside of the building. Many more were injured or killed from jumping out of the second-story windows. All told, 95 people were lost in the fire. Of those killed, 92 of them were children at the elementary school. The victims of the fire were buried at the Shrine of the Holy Innocents at Queen of Heaven Cemetery.

The other story about the cemetery involves a man named Joseph Reinholtz, who was mostly blind. He went to Bosnia Herzegovina to visit a Virgin Mary apparition site and, upon returning home, was again able to see. He went back to the site in Bosnia and spoke to a visionary there named Vicka, who told him to go home and find a large crucifix by a three-branched tree to pray. Joseph found a crucifix that matched the description in the Queen of Heaven Cemetery.

For two years, Joseph prayed at the crucifix until, on August 15, 1990, the Virgin Mary appeared to him there. On November 1, the Virgin Mary appeared to him again, along with four angels. For a while, Joseph would experience the apparitions almost daily and reported to have seen apparitions of Jesus and Saint Joseph as well.

Since this time, the cemetery has become a pilgrimage site, where more than 11 million people have come to try to experience the holy apparitions themselves. The Catholic church has not yet designated the location as an official apparition site.

ghost story

Besides the apparitions of the Christian figures that have been reported at the crucifix, several other strange things have reportedly happened at Queen of Heaven Cemetery since Joseph first saw the apparition in 1990. The hands and feet of the crucifix have reportedly bled in front of witnesses. Witnesses will smell a strong scent of roses when they are in the vicinity of the crucifix, even in the middle of winter and despite no roses being close by. Another strange occurrence involves a rosary turning to gold.

There are also strange things that happen at the Shrine of the Holy Innocents. People report hearing the voices of small children, as well as crying. Others say that they see strange balls of light floating around the shrine. Some have captured these balls of light on film.

visiting

While Joseph Reinholtz saw apparitions at this site quite often, he strangely never experienced the apparitions or any other strange events on Tuesdays. If you go to the cemetery, you may want to avoid going on Tuesdays because, apparently, this is the day when you are least likely to experience something paranormal. The cemetery is open from sunrise until sunset daily. Make sure to exercise proper respect when walking onto the cemetery grounds because this is a sacred place. The crucifix is still at the cemetery, but its feet have been vandalized. Joseph Reinholtz is buried in the cemetery, as well, with the inscription, “Holy Mary Mother of God Pray for Us.”