Located at 3121 West Jackson Boulevard, within the Archdiocese of Chicago, it is, along with St. Hyacinth and Queen of All Saints, one of only three churches in Illinois designated by the Pope with the title of basilica.

The sorrowful mother novena was a major devotion at the parish during the first half of the 20th century, drawing worshippers from across the country and reaching many more listeners by radio.

[1] The basilica also appears in the 1989 film Next of Kin in a scene with Patrick Swayze and Helen Hunt, as well as an episode in the 2022 miniseries The Marian Stained Glass Windows.

The church was designed in an Italian Renaissance Revival architectural style by Henry Engelbert, John F. Pope, and William J. Brinkmann.

It features a barrel-vaulted ceiling that wraps around a high altar made entirely of Carrara marble.